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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 20, 2006

John Senden

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome John Senden, tied for second place currently at 15 under, 201 after a 4 under 68 today on the Classic Club Course. John with this is your first chance playing this today and what did you think of the new course?

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, the golf course is looking great. It's a strong course. I think the back nine is quite stronger than the front, fantastic condition.

Today, obviously the wind didn't blow at all, so it was a good day. Opportunity for shooting a good score was right there. And I actually got off to a good start, 4 under through six holes and feeling like I was going to shoot a real nice score. I didn't quite get it close enough in the middle of my round and missed an opportunity on 8 and 9.

And then you hit the tough holes on 10,11, 12 so you sort of, you're not playing defensively but they are key holes to play well. Getting through 12, 4 under, I thought I was ready to sort of maybe bring a couple home, but it didn't quite happen. I was coming out of the rough a couple times but yeah, it's a good place.

I had heard on the grapevine it's going to be breezy Sunday, so, you know, it will be a test of who can get the low ball going out there.

TODD BUDNICK: You've had a little success here, I think you finished T 6 here last year, talk about that.

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, when we come to the desert here, I feel like the golf courses are in such great shape, the weather is always fantastic, so it's a good place to come and really work hard on your game because there's no breeze, you can pretty much I didn't play Hawaii this year, so I thought this would be the best start for me here this year. I always do play Hawaii but I didn't do it this year. Starting here from last year's result which was a sixth place, I kicked off the year, that was great last year. You know, just feel good about the place. It's like the golf courses are in good shape and my game is looking all right at the moment.

Q. You mentioned you were at 4 under pretty nearly your round; that said, do you feel like how do you term this round, was it a successful rounds for you?

JOHN SENDEN: I think so. It's think it's quite a successful round because I know that the other guys that played the previous couple days found it very difficult because of the breeze.

But today's round was good because I did hold my own throughout the middle of the round. And the tougher holes, and the stretch from 9 through 12, you know, they are not easy holes.

So getting through those was like, hey, so in regards to saying a successful round, I think it was. I was happy with my score. Could have been better or could have been worse. So I take what I get today and build on for tomorrow.

Q. Five rounds, long tournament, what do you do right now to keep it going?

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I'm just ready to go back down to the range. I'll probably get just some wedges, some sort irons and a couple drivers and hit some short putts and get out of here pretty quick. Five rounds is a long week, and so you've got to stay fresh. You know, you're talking about the you talk to the top players in the world, the Top 10 in the world, their best results come from because they played lesser tournaments and they stayed fresh.

Tiger Woods is probably a great example. He does such a great job out there, and everyone really looks up to that guy. I've got to learn from what someone like the best in the world does and try and get better at it. And that means getting fresher, being mentally fresh, and practicing smarter rather than longer.

Q. Have you been playing back at home prior to this, how much have you played?

JOHN SENDEN: After Tampa last year, we went home and we were home for about ten weeks. I played three events, the Open, the PGA and the Masters, two in Melbourne and one at Coolum, and yeah, so my results have kind of been quite good. I finished runner up at the Australian Open. I lost to Robert Allenby by one. Then the very next week was the PGA which I finished sixth place, and then Masters tournament the week after that was fourth place.

So I sort of felt like I've been in pretty good form and then, you know, it's just a matter of it's only been like four weeks since those last tournaments got done. You've got to have some sort of break when you're playing all year. But playing at home is nice because you sort of I feel if I had like ten weeks off and don't play a tournament, you kind of feel quite scratchy when you get back into it again, even though you're practicing but you're not competitively playing, and that's helped me this week.

Q. Given the pretty nice conditions out there today, is this course harder than the other courses?

JOHN SENDEN: I think so. I think it is. It's a longer course. It's probably the longest course, I believe. You know, today's pins were in accessible places. I think that Sunday's pins will be a little bit further back or a bit more difficult. So got to be able to get your course management out there and get it right and go out there and do the same job.

Q. Did you play this course before?

JOHN SENDEN: Tuesday.

Q. How was it then, how were the conditions?

JOHN SENDEN: I played it when it was actually calm. So it's like there was a breeze but it was coming in this way opposite to the valley. So yeah, the course is in good shape and I felt that it would be a good test with the wind blowing.

Q. Is there any other reason you come out to play for this tournament; obviously it's a long way for you to travel.

JOHN SENDEN: We base ourselves in Dallas, so we're not that far away. We play the West Coast Swing, so this is the first 1 up. We stay with some people, some friends at Rancho La Quinta, so we enjoy the company of those people. It's just a nice place. We just enjoy it because the people are friendly and it's just the golf courses are good and everything's great.

Q. Chad continues to kind of cruise along. As you go into tomorrow, do you think you need to kick it up a notch now to make up some ground tomorrow or how are you going to approach the next few days?

JOHN SENDEN: Tomorrow I'm playing Bermuda Dunes. That course is I think I suit that course. I like it. It's got good opportunity out there. The par 5s, you can shoot a low number out there, too.

So I think that if I just keep on playing the way I do and play nicely, I think that maybe I'm not sure what course Chad is playing tomorrow he's playing here tomorrow? Well, you never know what tomorrow's conditions can bring. Perez, he shot 12 under day one and he sort of battled a bit out here. You never know what's around the corner.

So I've just got to worry about what I've got to do. I'm not sure what the winning score would be, but, hey, you can't control that. So I've just got to do my best.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through your birdies.

JOHN SENDEN: 2, I hit 8 iron to about 15 feet.

3 was driver and a wedge to about ten feet.

The par 5 was the par 5 was driver, 5 iron, pitch onto about actually I wasn't quite on the green, but I putted it from off the green and had about probably 16, 17 feet.

No. 8 was driver and a sand iron to like a foot.

16 was second shot was a 7 iron and I hit it in the trap just left and hit the trap shot, released to the edge of the green and missed probably about a 10 foot par putt.

18 was driver, 5 iron pitch to about six feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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