CHRYSLER CLASSIC OF GREENSBORO

October 16, 2003

David Toms

CHRIS REIMER: I want to thank David Toms for joining us posting a 7-under 65. You won in May at Wachovia and had a great start here. Is there something in the water in North Carolina?

DAVID TOMS: I feel comfortable. I told the TV people outside I feel comfortable here. I haven't been here the last couple of years in here in the springtime. I like coming to this area. I'm curious to come here in the fall to see how everything is going to be, how the golf course is going to shape up, the redo of the golf course. I've enjoyed it so far.

Yesterday we had a tough day, yesterday morning. There weren't many birdie holes out there. The wind was blowing hard. I didn't know how the course was going to play today during competition. I drove the ball well today. I could shoot at some of the flags in the corners. I took my chances when I could and backed off when I needed to. Other than a mistake I made at the 4th hole, everything else was pretty solid. I didn't come very close to making a bogey after that, although I guess on 14 I hit it over the green on my second shot but chipped it pretty close. A good solid day of golf.

CHRIS REIMER: Since May you have had two wins, you finished in the top 20 seven times. Last year you finished strong. In 2001, three of the last four events in the Top-10. What is it about the end of the year that helps you play so well?

DAVID TOMS: I've always enjoyed the fall. It seems I've always played well in the South and in the fall it's usually where we do play, following the weather around. Maybe that has something to do with it also. I'm not really scheduled to play as many tournaments this fall as I did last fall. I had a good tournament in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and got off to a good start here and I'm off to the Tour Championship next. I want to get my game in shape and get ready for the Tour Championship. That's a big event. And then the Presidents Cup after that. A lot of big tournaments left for me and I want to finish up strong.

Q. What would three wins mean, especially after 20 months or so without a win and then three?

DAVID TOMS: Any win is big, just because it's so difficult to do that. To win twice in a year is great, but I guess 2001 I won three times, and it was a great year for me, winning a major and two other tournaments. Winning three times would be great. It would get me into double digits of victories on the Tour, which is a big accomplishment for me and it's a goal that I do have. That would be pretty rewarding to get that victory, whenever it comes. I just hope it does come some day. It's tough, it really is. There are so many things you can't control. You can't control other players, you can't control a bounce, the golf course, what the weather does. There are so many variables in golf. I just try to play my own game.

Q. You say you're not playing that much in the fall. Is LSU football the reason?

DAVID TOMS: I took the month of September off. I've been to four home games already and I was hoping to make it over to Columbia this weekend where we play. If the tee times work out I will be there. We'll just see how it goes. I might end up having to watch it on television. I'm going to find some way to be in that stadium Saturday night, and I'll go to a game next week. We play Auburn next week and my plan is to go to that game, and I'll go to the game the next week.

Really my schedule is not based around that. A couple of weeks are, just because it's something I love to do. It's a hobby I have and a passion that I have. But other tournaments, it's just where they've fallen on the schedule and tournaments I don't normally play. Callaway Gardens, we lost that event and I always played there. That's one less event in the fall I'll be playing. It's just the way it's worked out so far.

Q. You shot two low rounds in the last tournament you played, 73, 72, something like that. Did something click in after two rounds there or did the weather change?

DAVID TOMS: The first two rounds I didn't play very well. I didn't drive the ball well at all. And then Saturday and Sunday I drove the ball well in the fairway the whole weekend and had two really good rounds on a tough, tough golf course. I think that carried over to this round today. The last time I was in competition, I played great. I was actually 7-under on Sunday at the American Express tournament. I bogeyed a couple of holes coming in. I just wanted to continue today. I got it going on the back nine. I wanted to keep it going and I was able to do that and I had a good solid round.

Q. When you look back on the last hole at the Wachovia, do you smile?

DAVID TOMS: It created a lot of conversation, since then, especially early on, right afterwards, because so many guys gave me a hard time about it. The media talked about it. I had friends make up T-shirts.

Q. What did the T-shirts say?

DAVID TOMS: It was a picture of the last hole and every place I went on the last hole, and it got to the green it said plus four equals eight. It was fun. The only time I thought much about it was in Memphis when I had a chance to win again. There was water all over the place on the left side and when I got that ball in the fairway off the tee, I had a sigh of relief, because I knew it was my tournament to win or lose there on the last hole. I had a good solid par and ended up winning by a couple. I was kind of over the hurdle then, because you don't know, am I going to do it again, am I going to screw up again. Both times I came out on top. I think I'm over it. Being able to win in Memphis and being able to play the last hole like I've always played the 18th hole when I have had a chance to win, I think I'm over what happened in Charlotte. I hope so.

Q. Do you have one of those T-shirts still?

DAVID TOMS: I've got a few of them. It was really funny. They did a good job on it. It was something we can laugh about.

Q. If the weather stays the same, 7-under each day?

DAVID TOMS: It's hard to say. There are enough pins out there that are difficult. They had the golf course set up pretty good. You'll see some good rounds every day, but whether or not a player will sustain that pace all week, I don't think we'll see that.

Q. Guys are talking over 20-under. Is that a little high in your mind?

DAVID TOMS: That's a little high in my mind. I think in the end, the golf course will firm up a little bit, the fairways will shrink a little bit when it firms up, and the greens also. The greens are very receptive after the rain we had a couple of days ago. I don't know. It's tough to tell. If a guy gets hot all week, stays hot, then yes; if not, it's one of those probably somewhere in the mid teens kind of tournament. If we have another day of wind like we had yesterday, that will keep the scores down, but if it stays perfect, it's tough to tell.

Q. Have you been putting well? I don't know what the final stats were today.

DAVID TOMS: In my good tournaments, yes. When I get hot with the putter, I tend to play well. Other tournaments, I've struggled this year with the putter. Overall, though, I would say this year has been pretty good to me. I haven't checked the stats to be able to tell you where I am, but I feel good over the putter anyway. As long as I feel good about it, feel like I can make them, that's a big deal, being confident whether or not you can. Your stroke can be perfect, your setup, your green reads, but if you think you're having trouble making them, it's tough to get over it.

CHRIS REIMER: Take us through your birdies and bogeys.

DAVID TOMS: The first hole I hit a sand wedge to six feet, made a birdie there.

Q. Trouble on four?

DAVID TOMS: I hit it in the bunker on four with a 4-iron, hit it out. I hit a good shot six feet, missed it.

I hit a 7-iron on six about 12 feet away, made a nice putt.

Hit a pitching wedge on seven to about three and a half feet, made a birdie there.

No. 10, I hit a 6-iron on the front left of the green and made it from about 35 feet.

11, I hit an 8-iron to about 18 feet or so and made a nice putt there.

12th hole, I hit a 6-iron about three inches from the hole, made that one.

The par 5, I 2-putted from the front. I hit a 3-wood on the green and 2-putted from the fringe.

The 15th hole, pitching wedge to about 15 feet, made a nice putt.

Q. On 18, how far was the putt?

DAVID TOMS: Six or eight feet. I had a terrible putt. I left the last couple of putts short, birdie chances short. I had an uphill putt and tried to jam it in there and hit it too hard.

End of FastScripts.