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BANK OF AMERICA COLONIAL

May 20, 2004

Tim Petrovic

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Tim Petrovic, thanks for joining us after the first round of the Bank of America Colonial. First round 66, puts you at 4-under. A great start for the tournament. Let's start with some opening comments.

TIM PETROVIC: I guess I could say some of the work I did last weekend at the Byron, and I missed the cut by a shot and I was working on some stuff, and I got a tip from a buddy. My wife got me a new camcorder and I was actually able to see how bad my swing looked. I said, What is this? I almost left the range. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know how to fix it kind of thing. We kind of got the ball on the map now. At least my misses are staying on the golf course. That was key. I mis-hit a couple of shots today, but I made birdie with one of them and didn't really hit anything off.

Q. Talk about your season so far. You've made 11 of 15 cuts, but I know you're still looking through your big breakthrough week.

TIM PETROVIC: I have made a lot of cuts, I just haven't been getting in the mix on the weekend. I played good in Atlanta and actually played good at Augusta, but I just didn't have enough experience to get the ball in the hole on the weekend.

I've been doing a lot of good things. Like I said, my misses have just been terrible and it's been costing me maybe a double here. You just can't win tournaments if you're making five bogeys a day, it just won't happen.

Q. Now that you've had a chance for the Augusta experience to sink in, was that a pretty big week for you? Was that a great experience, looking back at it now?

TIM PETROVIC: Bobby Jones is one of my idols and just to be able to walk in the gate and not to spectate, but to be able to play there, I just couldn't describe it. And to have my whole family there, it was a special week. I get choked up just talking about it. It was something I've been dreaming about since I was a kid. I've been dreaming about playing on this Tour -- forget about playing in the Masters, that was just an extra bonus for me. To play that this year was special.

Q. Have you seen the movie?

TIM PETROVIC: I haven't seen it. I'm debating, I actually ran into Jim Caviezel at the Houston Open. I wasn't sure which movie to see first, The Passion or Bobby Jones, because if I go to The Passion first, it might ruin Bobby for me. I just won't be able to look at that guy as Bobby Jones, so I think I'll see Bobby Jones first and then see The Passion.

Q. I don't think that's going to stay in theaters too much longer, the Bobby Jones one.

TIM PETROVIC: It's going to be a video?

Q. It's not doing too well.

TIM PETROVIC: It's a great story, but people are not -- I guess it's not a fantastic enough story for people to latch on at the theater.

Q. What's the scoring like today? Obviously you had a good score, but what are the conditions like?

TIM PETROVIC: I was going to say this is the best condition I've ever seen it in, but this is my second year here. The greens and fairways are perfect. I don't think they can get them better than they are now. The greens are soft today, they're not quite as firm as they -- they're probably get firmer as the week goes on, which will make it harder to get the ball closer to the hole because the greens are so small. There is hardly any rough out there.

With the tree lined fairways, if you miss a fairway, you might have a chance, but the greens are well protected. This course doesn't need a lot of rough to protect itself, because the greens are so small. It's normally windy here. It was a little breezy today, but the course is in great shape. It's set up for scoring today. The only reason is because the greens are soft today. I think if the greens firm up, the scoring will go up.

Q. Who got you back on track here? Who was the friend?

TIM PETROVIC: You want to know who gave me the tip?

Q. Sure.

TIM PETROVIC: I've got to give him a plug. It was Mike Hulbert. He was hitting balls behind me at the Byron last week and he was watching me go like this after every shot. He said something to me. He was watching me from the back and he said, you just look like you're standing on egg shells there. You don't look likely the Petro I know. I said I know I just saw the video. What do you think? I said I've always tended to get narrow with my stance. I was getting so narrow that I was twisting. I just wasn't getting any kind of movement or any kind of foundation.

We experimented and we got my feet wide and what looked normal on video felt like you could drive a truck through my legs. I felt like I was standing like this. That was really the big tip and it kind of help me get my feet underneath me and I started hitting shots immediately.

My left knee has been bothering me for months. I couldn't figure out why. I hurt it in the Open last year. I was hitting some shots out of the rough. My legs are so close together and all it was doing was just twisting, everything was twisting on that left knee and it wasn't good. Now I know why.

Q. So is he in for a percentage this week?

TIM PETROVIC: I'm sure it would on the air asking for a percentage. CBS is here this week. Hopefully I can keep it up, keep hitting good golf shots and keep my misses on the golf course. And I think I'll be okay. I think I'm putting really good. My bunker game is the best it's ever been. I just have to take it day by day, see if I can get in there on Sunday and make a birdie coming in and win it. That's way down the road.

Q. Do you not normally watch yourself on video, and was your wife able to get a good price on the camcorder?

TIM PETROVIC: I walked into Circuit City trying to find a recording tape for it, and the guys in the store said, Where did you get that? She got it from Sony. It was the next below a cinema camera, I believe me. Believe me, I had a big screen. I could see all the flaws right there.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's go through your round, birdies and bogeys. Start with your first birdie on No. 16.

TIM PETROVIC: I hit a nice 7-iron, actually missed it, it was straight at the hole and ended up eight feet straight under the hole. It was a hard putt. I just hit it straight and it went in.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Eagle on No. 1.

TIM PETROVIC: I probably hit the best tee shot I hit all day. I had about 235 to the hole and just hit it a smooth 2-iron and it landed right in the middle and released. I think it was about eight feet and then I knocked it in.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Bogey today on No. 4.

TIM PETROVIC: I just hit a bad chip. I missed it to the right side of the green. It was only 252 yards, par 4, I should count it as a par, par 71 today. It was an easy chip. I chipped it about 10 feet. It wasn't very good. It quit through the grass. That was my only metal error.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Finished strong, birdies on eight and nine.

TIM PETROVIC: 7 was key, because I hit it straight at the pin and hit over the green and chipped it about 10 feet past made that for par.

And made a Jack Nicklaus on 16 at the '75 Masters, up the hill and went to the right and into the hole.

Hit a great shot on the last hole, a straight downhill putt about 10 feet and trickled in there. It was nice to finish strong.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Tim, good luck the rest of the week.

End of FastScripts.

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