FBR OPEN

January 31, 2004

Ricky Barnes

Q. Nice way to finish a round. Kind of a tough go on 13?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, actually I hit it the best I have all week today. I thought I hit it really well. Just a bad second shot on 13. That pretty much led up to the double bogey. Definitely a good comeback. I kind of showed some heart there and decided to get three on the way in on 15, 17 and 18.

Q. Are you pleased where you're at right now and the way you just handled the entire day?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, I definitely thought I could have shot better just because 13 is more where we're thinking about birdie and definitely not a double bogey, but all circumstances taken in, I'm definitely glad where I sit.

Q. On 15, driver, 8-iron? Is that what I heard?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah.

Q. Wow. What's that like?

RICKY BARNES: I just absolutely killed one. Maybe it was still a little heat coming off of 13, but that led to a lot of good things coming down the stretch.

I hit a great drive on 14 and wedge in there, which is probably just as amazing as driver, 8-iron into 15.

Then I swung it really good on 16, didn't hit a bad shot.

Then I hit great shots 17 and 18.

Q. How do you prepare for 16 when you know they're going to be hollering the second you put that club on the ball?

RICKY BARNES: That was my first time because Thursday wasn't bad, Friday we beat the rush, and now we were in prime time, so it lived up to its expectations, I'll tell you that.

Q. They were chanting ASU there for a while.

RICKY BARNES: Everything. You name it, you heard it.

Q. What's your mindset going into tomorrow?

RICKY BARNES: I don't know what I am, I don't think I'm more than, what, three or four shots off of the lead. I mean, that would be great to get into next week and cancel the trip to Australia, but I have one more day and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Having played well today, obviously you said you could have gone a little lower, but having played well today do you think you'll be more relaxed and can handle anything that comes up tomorrow?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, especially after 13. I tried to put myself in a bind there, went from 10 to 8, and the two guys in my group picked up one, went from 8 to 9. It's like you just lost everything. But I picked it right up, picked up the momentum and birdied 18 for my third time, so I think it's definitely a good momentum builder into tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Are the galleries helping you?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, it's kind of good, people pulling for me. There's a lot of Wildcats out there. They're my friends, too, and you kind of feed off of them and get things rolling.

End of FastScripts.