JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

September 12, 2003

J.L. Lewis

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome past champion J.L. Lewis. Good playing over the first two days, 65, 65 at 12-under par. Just maybe talk about today's round. We had some weather problems, but it really didn't affect you too much.

J.L. LEWIS: No, I played fairly well all day. I was lucky. I think the guys that teed off earlier this morning kind of got a bad end of the draw. We only had rain on a couple of holes. We were fortunate.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could just quickly talk about your birdies today. You went the first 35 holes without a bogey and then bogeyed 18, but start off with No. 2 with a birdie on the par 5.

J.L. LEWIS: Driver, 3-iron into the bunker, and I hit a real good bunker shot up there about a foot and a half.

5, hit a 3-wood, 8-iron on the green about maybe 15 feet, made that one.

10, driver, 3-wood in the bunker left of the green, pitched it out about two and a half feet, made that.

Par 3 12th, 4-iron about a 15-footer left of the hole, made that.

14, hit it over in the left bunker and I had 55 yards to the hole, and I hit a lob wedge out of the left bunker, picked it. It was a really good shot, about five feet, made that.

Then eagled 17, 3-wood off the tee, 3-wood up there short of the green and chipped it in.

Bogey on 18, hit the drive in the middle of the fairway. For some reason it took us a long time to play that hole, and I think it just took too long and hit it off to the right. I hit what I thought was a good chip and it went forward instead of having backspin and it went by 15, 18 feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You only had 50 putts the first two rounds.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I've got the same type of putter, just a little different head, and it's helping me with that. I haven't struck the ball as well as I'm capable of. Hopefully this week I can strike it better. It hasn't been bad, just hasn't been as good as it could be.

Q. Are you saying actually right now you're scoring better than you're shooting?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I'm putting awfully well. I don't know if you ever score better than you're capable of. I've scored pretty good for the way that I've played.

Q. You've been saying all along that you love this golf course. I guess you're proving it.

J.L. LEWIS: I think it's a good golf course. It rewards good shots. There's opportunities for birdies, but you have to hit the ball in the correct position to do it. I like courses like that. There's really not any holes that let up. They're all good holes. If you hit the ball straight, you get rewarded.

Q. Are you as relaxed out there on the course as you seem now? It seems like you're just taking it one shot at a time.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I'm playing the best that I can play. You know, there's -- I'm ready to go. It's just that there's more important things in life than golf. I love the game and I want to perform well, but I try not to sweat it too much. I want to win, but I'm not going to get uptight about it.

Q. Did you benefit from the rain? Did the rain help the course at all, help your round?

J.L. LEWIS: It probably softened it up and I think I benefitted a little because the guys this morning, it was pouring on them. Half the field played in a downpour. They got the worst of the tee times I would say.

Q. What was your chip on 17?

J.L. LEWIS: Probably about -- I'm going to say 20 yards maybe. Maybe.

Q. Bump and run?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I used a lob wedge and I hit it in the fringe and ran it in. It was going pretty good when it went in; it would have gone ten feet by. It was one of those things where I got a break and it hit the hole and went in. Sometimes they spin out.

Q. How much did conditions change after your rain delay?

J.L. LEWIS: Not much.

Q. Did it slow down a lot?

J.L. LEWIS: No, not much. The golf course is in good shape. It took the rain good. If they don't have any real hard downpours where the rain stacks up, I think they can play all day in the rain tomorrow if they have to, a steady rain.

Q. The course took the water that well?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, it's a really good facility.

Q. Sounds like your sand game was pretty good today?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, lob wedge bunker play was very good. Up around the greens I was good. I've been working on it a lot, so hopefully it's paying off.

Q. And the bunkers took the water well?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah. It packs them a little more so the ball comes out a little bit quicker, but it's not anything that you can't handle.

Q. Those steep faces didn't flash or anything?

J.L. LEWIS: No, it didn't wash them out.

Q. How many times have you been paired with Vijay before?

J.L. LEWIS: Oh, quite a few. I don't think I'm paired with him.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We're playing in threes so there's still players on the course.

J.L. LEWIS: Oh, yeah, a few times. A great player, good nice, pretty good friends. He's a nice guy.

Q. You said yesterday the key to your round was your mental approach, taking responsibility for your shots. Was it the same thing today?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, that's pretty much what it was. I might have been a little sharper yesterday, but I might have been trying a little harder today. I was grinding a little harder. Hopefully I can be mentally sharp this weekend. That would help. I plan on it every day, some days you're just better than others. It's hard to explain.

Q. What's the putter head?

J.L. LEWIS: It's a Bobby Grace.

Q. How long have you had that one in your bag?

J.L. LEWIS: That particular model for about 15 weeks, but this is the same head, just different material. It's all one piece instead of a two-piece head.

Q. Your win here, did you dream that you were on to much bigger things, or has your career gone about the way you expected?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I would have expected to win again by now. I've had a couple of chances, I just haven't done it. You know, I don't know if I -- my aspirations are to win every time I tee it up. I've tried to not let all the tournaments I've played in that I haven't won bother me. I've just tried to learn something and go on. That's all you can do. You can't look back and have emotion about it, it's just learning. We're all just learning something every day. Hopefully I can go out there and perform my best. I want to win, but if I don't, I'll learn something; and if I do, I'll learn something hopefully.

Q. Your family here, can you break that down for us?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, they're here. My wife is here, but she goes to all the tournaments, probably about 80 percent of them; and we have one daughter that's -- our son is in college, so he's gone, and we have one daughter that's a senior, home-schooled senior, so she's got one more year. Then her family, she has a bunch of cousins, and my parents live in Kansas, so we have a lot of family around here.

Q. You have family here?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, her family.

Q. And they're cousins?

J.L. LEWIS: Cousins, yes; cousins, aunts, uncles.

Q. Do you stay with them?

J.L. LEWIS: No, we stay in a hotel.

Q. A lot of visiting?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, we go out to dinner, things like that. We went for a -- we went out to dinner last night. That was fun.

Q. Does that help you feel more at home here?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I like it here. It's fun to be able to spend time with relatives once a year, you know.

Q. Does having them here help contribute to that relaxed attitude?

J.L. LEWIS: I think so. I think it's definitely a positive influence. They're out there pulling for me and I know they want me to do well, and I think that helps.

Q. Have you ever run into Mike Brisky?

J.L. LEWIS: I haven't seen him since the playoff. That's hard to believe. I know he was injured and he's had some injury problems, and I wish him well. I hope he plays well. I want everybody to play well.

Q. How often do you replay that playoff?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I remember the sand shot. There's a few things in your life you just kind of remember, so I remember that. That particular shot is a pretty vivid memory for me.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: J.L. Lewis, thank you.

End of FastScripts.