THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 8, 2001

Ben Ferguson

BEN FERGUSON: Firstly, I didn't have a bogey. I think I was bogey-free all day. I was solid all day. I think my putting was the highlight of the day. I felt like it I didn't real strike the ball as well as I could, but I putted really well. I hit it close on a few occasions, but I made a couple of 15- to 20-footer, which I have not been doing this year.

BEN FERGUSON: Well, I played the Pro-Am on Monday and I think it was blowing 40 miles an hour and it was really tough. Today it felt like it was blowing 10 miles an hour. It was totally different. The course is playing different from Monday and Tuesday.

BEN FERGUSON: Adjust? Yeah. Definitely. That's what I was doing on every hole. The course just plays totally different when the wind dies down like that.

BEN FERGUSON: Actually, I was playing better -- I was actually striking the ball better when it was windy, compared to today, believe it or not. But I don't mind the calm conditions, either.

BEN FERGUSON: If it stays like this, it could be -- I think definitely over 20. 20 or better.

BEN FERGUSON: Yeah, I grew up playing with Geoff. He grew up in a different state in Australia than me. We played against each other a few times for about a four or five year stretch. I know Geoff pretty well. I know all the Australian rookies pretty well this year. We're all pretty good friends.

BEN FERGUSON: I believe so.

BEN FERGUSON: I think it's good to have a group of us, countrymen here, from your own country here. It makes you feel a little more at home, if possible. They are a good bunch of players. I think the Australians that are over here. I think this is the biggest group ever on the PGA TOUR. I think as Allenby showed in L.A., there's a lot of good players.

BEN FERGUSON: Not so much. I sort of just hang out with my wife most of the time and we sort of keep to ourselves. But I'm a pretty quiet sort of guy. Not really in the group, so to speak. I sort of keep to myself and go about my business.

BEN FERGUSON: Greg Norman was always my idol.

BEN FERGUSON: From what I hear. He's just amazing, the way he's stayed in the game so competitively for so long. That's what impresses me the most about him.

BEN FERGUSON: Yeah, it was one thing getting here. And you get here and being competitive on this tour is totally different. The fields are so deep each week, with the talent; it's just amazing, how low the scoring has been. It will stay that way and maybe even get better as the year goes on.

BEN FERGUSON: I turned pro in '97 in Canada. I played the Canadian Tour 1997. I played Canada in 1998. I played my home tour, the Australasian Tour in '97 and '98. And I played the Nike Tour in '99, and I played Canada last year and then qualified for the PGA TOUR end of last year.

BEN FERGUSON: Well, I won a tournament in Canada last year. That's definitely my highlight, if not today. Today I played great, too.

BEN FERGUSON: It was in Winnipe g -- Manitoba on the Canadian Tour. That's my first victory as a pro. So that's sort of like my highlight.

BEN FERGUSON: On the PGA TOUR? Tied for 32nd in Tucson, my first event.

BEN FERGUSON: Great players. I mean, just huge amount of talent. I think they are both sort of drawing off each other, the way they are playing at the moment, having won in South Africa and Aaron has been winning in Australia. I think they are going to play really well over here in a year or two.

BEN FERGUSON: I actually wasn't home that much. I was only home for like a month in Australia. But I get on the Web site every night when they were playing on the Australasian Tour; they were drawing a lot of interest. They are just going crazy down there. Just taking over the Tour, I think, calling on the young guns. Aaron won the Order of Merit. It just goes to show.

BEN FERGUSON: I don't think so. We've just got a good crop of players coming through right now. I think it's always been there. The talent has always been there. But it's just a good group of players on the PGA TOUR this year, and I think you might see a few more victories this year from some of the Australians.

BEN FERGUSON: Neither. I did most of my golf in the state system, where the states play against each other. I represented New South Wales for two or three years and just sort of played against the other states once a year. I travelled over to play a major and amateur tournaments like the Border Cup (ph) and Western Amateur. I did that for two years. I got a little bit of experience coming in.