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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 23, 2005

Greg Owen

HOUSTON, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Greg Owen for stopping in after a 2-under 70 in the third round for the Shell Houston Open. One behind the leaders heading into the final round. I know you're disappointed with the way you finished today, bogey-bogey, but you're in contention and a chance for your first win on the PGA TOUR.

GREG OWEN: I played well today. I struggled with my back a little bit this way and I struggled through the rounds. I had a difficult time getting that sorted.

I played pretty good. I had two good shots into 18 and ended up with a 5 so I felt a little bit frustrated but all in all pretty happy.

TODD BUDNICK: Talk about tomorrow, what it's like tomorrow with a chance for the win.

GREG OWEN: It's another round of golf. I'm here all year and hopefully there's going to be plenty of them. I'm going to try not to make the mistakes I made on the last two holes today.

Q. Are you the kind of guy that's going to walk away focusing on the nearly flawless 16 holes you play or are you going to be thinking about the last two holes?

GREG OWEN: I used to be the latter guy that thought about the last two holes. I'm changing that around now. I'm playing pretty well. As long as I can tee it up tomorrow and feel confident, then I'm happy. You know, I'll just go out there and play. I know I'm swinging it pretty good and there's going to be plenty of good shots.

Q. You say you used to be that guy. What were you like and how did you evolve into --

GREG OWEN: I don't think until you've been in that position you always wonder how it's going to happen and how the day is going to turn out. At the end of the day you can't determine what's going to happen. You just do your best and if the golfing gods are with you you've got a chance to win the tournament.

If I play the way I did today, I'll have real good fun. I'll try not to make mistakes that I did the last two holes.

Q. Could you walk us through those last two holes?

GREG OWEN: 17, I hit a great drive, and I just pulled out of the shot really, just the hands took over and just missed it left.

Q. What did you hit?

GREG OWEN: Just a 9-iron. It was a poor shot. There's no excuse for it, just a poor shot. Then I hit a great bunker shot and just missed the putt. It's one of those things. Then the last hole, tough driving hole today, hit a 5-iron right at it, and it just come up three yards short and then I was in a bit of a downslope in the bunker, couldn't get it high enough to stop. The bunker was a bit wet so I never really got under the ball, and I hit a decent putt on the line I chose, but wrong line.

Q. After you hit the ball, you kind of turned away. I don't know if it was disgust -- on 18 after you hit the shot, it went in the bunker, you kind of turned. Was it --

GREG OWEN: It was a great shot. I thought it was close. We were debating between 5 and 6 and we ended up hitting 5 and it still wasn't enough. It came up short and I knew it was going to be a tough shot, so I was a little frustrated on that one.

Q. Do you think there's any possibility -- you just made a nice birdie on 16. Were you kind of -- did your mind wander? Were you getting ahead of yourself?

GREG OWEN: There's 18 holes to play yet. No, I'm playing well. I mean, if it wandered -- I wouldn't be able to hit the drive down 17, down the middle and I wouldn't be able to hit the drive on 18 like I wanted to. Lack of concentration on 17 and I hit two good shots on 18 and they just weren't good enough. I'm pretty happy the way I held together.

Q. What was the wind like out there?

GREG OWEN: It kept switching around. Every now and then a big gust would come up and move your ball a little bit more than you thought, and then you allow for a wind and it never touched it. It was a little difficult. The greens are getting firm again.

You know, I enjoy these testing conditions. I'm playing well and swinging it well and we're used to it. I'm used to what the ball does in the wind, and hopefully I'll do the same tomorrow.

Q. Greens pretty quick now?

GREG OWEN: In places, yeah. In places down-grain, downwind they're rolling a little more. They've been great all week. I think if we hold it tomorrow everybody will be quite happy with the way they've been.

Q. The two birdies, one on No. 2?

GREG OWEN: 2 was about a 30-foot putt. To the green I hit 7-iron 30 feet, holed that.

7, I got a little lucky there, hit it in the rough and forced a 5-iron out around the banks to about 15 feet, holed that.

12, I hit it in the green side bunker, splashed out to about 12 feet, holed that.

16, I hit 9-iron to about eight feet I think it was.

Q. You alluded to your back a little bit. Could you kind of elaborate on what your problem is there?

GREG OWEN: I had an operation last year. I had surgery. I was out for about four months. We're working right behind you there. It's just something we need to build on and get it stronger. It's just one of those things I'm going to have to probably deal with for the rest of my career. It's a weakness and we'll have to sort it out.

Q. When did it flare this week?

GREG OWEN: Probably when I was watching a baseball game, sat for about four and a half hours on Monday night. That's probably where it kicked off, just sat there. If you have surgery there's always going to be a weakness, but we're working on it, we just need to get it stretched out.

Q. What exactly was the surgery?

GREG OWEN: My L5-S1 disc burst and trapped my sciatic nerve, I guess, my spinal column, and they had to clear it all out and trim the disc up and then just let the disc heal before I did anything. It was good, a success, I've just got to build the muscles up around it now. The other ones are just flaring up from doing too much.

Q. How much can you draw from your World Sand Golf Championship victory?

GREG OWEN: A lot. Obviously it didn't show in the bunker on the last hole, but that was fun.

Q. Can you tell the story about that a little bit, how it came to you and what it was like out there in Abu Dhabi?

GREG OWEN: It was between Dubai and the Qatar Masters on the European Tour on a Monday and we got invited to go play it. It was strange, not a blade of grass anywhere. You tee off and you hit between like green stakes down the fairway, so-called fairway, and if you're inside the stakes, you're allowed to play it on a mat. If you're not, you have to play it as it lies. Then you hit to greens which are combined with oil and sand, I think, and they have a sweeper on every clean and they walk around and clean all the footprints off. It was just different and a lot of fun.

Q. How much did you win for that?

GREG OWEN: $10,000.

TODD BUDNICK: Okay, thanks, Greg.

End of FastScripts.

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