WORLDCOM CLASSIC--THE HERITAGE OF GOLF

April 20, 2002

Cameron Beckman

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Cameron, for joining us. A nice round out there. You just played some steady golf. And why don't you make a couple of comments on your round and we'll go on to some questions.

CAMERON BECKMAN: Well, after yesterday I started -- obviously putted good yesterday and today. I just continued with good putting.

The first hole I hit about five feet and made birdie.

Second hole I hit a wedge to about a foot.

Bogeyed the next.

And then I parred the par-3. I hit a 4-iron into the par-5 and 2-putted.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: How far?

CAMERON BECKMAN: 15 feet.

And then I 3-putted 8 for bogey.

And parred 8 and 9.

Parred 10.

Actually hit a great shot in at 11. I hit too far left and hooked it around and made it.

12 was -- I made about a 20-footer there, straight up the hill.

15 I made about a 20-footer.

And then the rest pars. I made about a 20-footer for par on 17, which was nice.

Q. How much confidence are you playing with right now?

CAMERON BECKMAN: It's kind of weird, because the last two tournaments I played in were The Players and Houston and I played terrible, wasn't happy with it at all. I spent two weeks at home, really worked on my chipping and putting. And it's -- usually if you work on things, it takes a while for it to kick in. And it's kicked in big time this week, and it's been the key for me. I don't know how many greens .I've hit this week. But I'm chipping it close a bunch. And that takes so much pressure off your game.

Q. Was that the problem beforehand or was that in anticipation of Harbour Town and the small greens?

CAMERON BECKMAN: A little of both. But I wasn't chipping at all. I had terrible chips. I chipped it off the green, chipping it and chip it across. And so I had to go home and work on that. I know that sounds terrible. But it was bad. It's been phenomenal this week, it's been the key, and making putts. I guess I've driven it straight, too.

Q. What are your expectations for tomorrow?

CAMERON BECKMAN: I haven't really sat and thought about it much. But I'm definitely going to try to get in the hunt with the last nine holes to play. And as far as expectations, we'll see. This is a little different. The tournament I won, I came from behind on, with like six holes to play. It will be interesting to see how I feel, how I do. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a great challenge and either way it's going to be a learning experience for me. So I'm probably going to loosen up and try to go for it.

Q. Do you think it's going to take a low number tomorrow, a really low number?

CAMERON BECKMAN: Tell you what, those greens are firm. That's a good question. With that wind, like for instance I hit a wedge I think it landed pin-high on 18, bounced right over the green. I think it's going to be a good day to tell myself to hang in there, you just never know. With this golf course, it can get you, if you're not careful. And that will probably be one of the things tomorrow is just to hang in there and no matter what happens.

Q. Was there just a huge difference in the softness of the greens between say Thursday and now?

CAMERON BECKMAN: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think they kind of were hard on Tuesday. And then on Wednesday they were firm. And it didn't seem like the first two days they were very firm. You could actually stop it. Today was different, especially when you get out to kind of on the back nine. It seemed like there were a lot of firm greens. Like 10 was brutal. So it will be interesting to see how they are tomorrow. If they don't water them, they're going to be really firm.

Q. Are you kind of surprised to see Justin obviously had a pretty good round today, but see guys like Davis Love and Phil Mickelson play well in the past --

CAMERON BECKMAN: Did they not play well?

Q. Davis was 1-over.

CAMERON BECKMAN: It's not that hard to shoot that score here, if you -- you can hit the fairway and --

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: They're both 1-over.

CAMERON BECKMAN: It's just -- I think this golf course is the type of course where you can kind of play good, and not score well, just because if you're not in the right positions or you're not making any putts, there's not a lot of opportunities outside of the par-5s. I don't know what they did today. Billy Mayfair played well, he didn't make any birdies. He just made one bogey, which is -- I don't want to tell my mind that, but --

Q. The difference between your score, your lower score yesterday and obviously you still had a nice score today, do you think that has to do with the firmness of the greens? Were the greens more difficult to play or what do you think the difference was -- we weren't seeing the 9 unders, and I think 7 was the lowest of the day coming in?

CAMERON BECKMAN: Greg Chalmers, I told him this morning, you should be tied with me, before I even tee off. And he had 8-under at one point. I think when they tee off in the morning they're softer. And you can hit that front nine if you get off to the right start through there, and I don't know what he did. But definitely this afternoon it was way tougher to get close to the holes. For instance, on the par-3, is it 14, I landed five feet past the hole and I went over the green. And so how do you get it in there? You really can't. But that definitely is -- that's -- well, yesterday was a special day for me, obviously, shooting 29 on the front. Today was just a good day. It might have been a better round today, you never know.

Q. Pin positions, were they tougher today than they have been?

CAMERON BECKMAN: Yeah, there were some good ones. When you start tucking those pins and get the firm greens you've got to hit perfect. It's just hard to get close to the holes, you know.

Q. Yesterday they were talking about the leaderboard with Davis and Justin and Phil, all the top names. Today we've got you in there now, and you've got Heath coming up there. Does that say something about the quality of the depth of the field that guys like yourself, you're not the high profile names like they are, that you can get up there and challenge them?

CAMERON BECKMAN: Sure. This Tour, anybody can win at anytime. Craig Perks is a perfect example. He just hammered the whole field, the best field of the year. And he's one of my buddies, a great guy, but he's not a well-known player. And you just never know who's going to -- everybody works so hard. And obviously to play out here, you've got to be able to do it or you're not going to be out here.

Q. You said yesterday you came out and you didn't necessarily feel that great, and you walked off the course with a great round. Going into tomorrow's round, and it has been warm the last few days, obviously, do you feel like there's any fatigue from just the heat? Is that a thought at all?

CAMERON BECKMAN: For me tomorrow I'll be so jacked up that nothing is going to make me tired tomorrow. But, no, I think everybody is in good shape. And, actually, I like to play in this weather. It's much better than the cold weather. No jackets on or anything.

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