JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

September 12, 2003

Chris Riley

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Chris Riley, thanks for joining us, 69 today, just one off the lead of Vijay Singh. Still a lot of players yet on the course and a little sloppy out there, but you put yourself in good position for the weekend.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I played pretty good today. I obviously didn't play as well as I did yesterday. I lost a ball on No. 2 and that kind of got me going, but I'm still making a lot of birdies. Overall I'm pretty happy with 7-under through two rounds.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: What is it about this golf course? You've played well here in the past.

CHRIS RILEY: I guess the greens. I seem to make a lot of putts here. I make a lot of birdies here. I wish every week was like this on Tour where I liked it. I mean, I did seem to make a lot of putts. I didn't really hit it that good today, but I hung in there and grinded it out for 2-under. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Talk about the golf course a little bit. Is it softening up a little bit?

CHRIS RILEY: Absolutely. It was pretty tough out there today. We dealt with a lot of weather. It rained hard at times. John Brendle said that the weather wasn't going to get here until 1:00 o'clock, but we caught it on about the third hole, and it rained all day. It was tough, and 2-under is not bad. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. How did you lose your ball?

CHRIS RILEY: I actually hit one into the right bushes off the second tee. It was kind of a weird deal because I actually felt like I put a decent swing on it and it was raining pretty hard there and I don't know if water got on my club face and slid it out. I mean, it was like 30 yards right of where I was aiming. I was kind of disappointed with that, and I made double there, but then I birdied the next hole and made some good saves the rest of the way. If I can hit the ball better the next two rounds, I think I can do well.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Did you hit a provisional on 2?

CHRIS RILEY: No, I had to walk back.

Q. And that's uphill.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, but I was talking to myself up the hill. The scary thing is my next ball landed about ten yards from my other one, but it was in play.

Q. How different was the course playing today because of the weather conditions?

CHRIS RILEY: Well, yesterday it was playing pretty -- I played a lot better yesterday. The wind was a factor yesterday, and today it was just wet. There's a lot of squirter shots out there where water gets on your ball. It was tough today. The wave I got, we've had two tough rounds. We had the wind yesterday, and then today we had a lot of rain. I don't know what the forecast is for the rest of the day, but I feel like we got the tough end of the draw. We had it tough yesterday. So we'll see what happens. It's not playing easy.

Q. Does that make it more satisfying to be at 7-under then, having had the two tough days?

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, with the weather conditions, this could be the toughest weather conditions I've seen in two rounds back to back. Like I said, the greens are pretty soft, though, so there might be some low scores this afternoon because the ball is not -- you're going to be throwing darts at it, especially if it stops raining and the greens are real soft. There could be some low scores this afternoon.

Q. Did you say this is the toughest weather you've seen back to back this year?

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, for me personally, pretty good wind yesterday and then rain today. I haven't had that kind of weather this year back to back.

Q. What problem does the rain cause you?

CHRIS RILEY: Well, you've got to kind of work as a team with your caddie. Your caddie holds the umbrella over you while you're putting to keep you dry because the water does make your ball do some crazy things and makes sure your grips are dry and for you to stay dry. The caddie plays a big role in today's round with the rain.

Q. Do you feel more comfortable after getting the wedding out of the way?

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, this is my fifth year up here and I'm becoming more comfortable out here. It's a process out here. Getting paired with John Daly, this is my fourth time getting paired with him. Those are guys I looked at when I was a youngster, and now playing with them is not a really big deal. I'm feeling more and more comfortable out here, and I look forward to getting paired with these guys, Vijay and Tiger and those guys.

Q. Are you a little more comfortable now after your wedding this winter?

CHRIS RILEY: My wedding? Yeah, I feel good about that, too. Everything is going well for me. I've only been into it for ten months, but it's been good.

Q. Does it change your approach to the game?

CHRIS RILEY: Not really, no. My wife has to deal with me, but she was a golfer so she knows what goes on. It's been good.

Q. The pairing tomorrow, if you do end up paired with Vijay, you said you're kind of looking forward to that. Talk about that.

CHRIS RILEY: Sure, Vijay is a great player, and I think when you get paired with the great players, it rises your level a little bit. Vijay is just such a great player. He's up there every week. If you can hang with him and you're getting paired with him, that means you're doing pretty well.

Q. Again, the success you've had at this golf course, does it all kind of go back to 2000? Once you feel like you can beat a golf course, do you just keep --

CHRIS RILEY: Absolutely. That was my first legitimate shot at winning a PGA TOUR tournament. I didn't do it. Michael Clark made some long putts, and I got good feelings about this golf course. I know it pretty well. It's my fourth time here, and I feel comfortable out here. That's a big thing when you're playing in tournaments.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Chris Riley, thank you.

End of FastScripts.