GENUITY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 28, 2002

Steve Allan

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome Steve Allan to the interview area. Steve shot a 6-under, 66 today. One bogey. Steve, let's get started with some openings comments about the round maybe something about the conditions that you had out there.

STEVE ALLAN: It was pretty cold out there. That was probably the most obvious one. A little bit of wind here and there, but not too bad, and I mean I think the course is in pretty good shape, greens are rolling really well.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let us talk a little bit about about your round, about your birdies and bogeys. Tell us some the clubs you hit in today, maybe some particularly good shots.

STEVE ALLAN: I guess started on 10, I hit drive and 3-wood, front bunker, got up-and-down about probably six feet.

12 I hit a wedge to about eight feet.

13 bogey was 3, hooked way left.

14 was a chip-in from just off the front.

15 was 8-iron to about probably eight feet again.

Two was 8-iron to maybe 15 feet. Probably 20.

8 hit a bad drive had lay-up wedge to about 8 feet.

9 hit 8-iron to about ten feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: How important was it to end up birdie, birdie for you?

STEVE ALLAN: Well, it was nice. I was glad to have a good round under my belt whatever way I finished, because last week I felt I was hitting the ball really well; didn't make any putts; didn't score very well on a course that everyone was scoring well, and so today I tried to be a bit more patient and few things went right. It was really nice to finish it off and have a really good score.

Q. Generally do you have good vibes starting here? How does this course set up for you?

STEVE ALLAN: I played pretty well here last year. This morning, I don't know, I felt I wasn't hitting it particularly well on the range. So I was a little bit worried as compared to like last week where I really was hitting it well. I was -- I guess today most of my misses went straight, a lot of my drives didn't stay on the fairway which is pretty important here with the rough here and the greens are probably not super firm, but a lot of pins were kind of (inaudible) off the back, it is pretty important to be on the fairway.

I don't know I guess, yeah, I played well here last year, I hit the ball well last year; didn't finish particularly well, but it sets up fairly well. I feel a lot more comfortable on it after having played last year. I think a lot of the tee shots are a little bit kind of confusing the first time around, just the way the bunkers and and fairways dog-leg at angles, at certain holes. This year I definitely feel a lot more comfortable on the course.

Q. Good driver's course, is driving a strong part of your game?

STEVE ALLAN: It can be both. If I am driving well it is a strong part because I think I hit the ball fairly long and I think Tiger has pretty much proven that any course, if you are driving it well, any course you can score on. I think this is a good example of it. A lot of the holes can play quite tough. If you hit a good drive all of a sudden you are only hitting 8, 9-iron in. My weakness is my driving can be erratic at times. Some days it is a strength and other days it's a weakness.

Q. You said you were happy with the way you played last week. What about in general this year; satisfied?

STEVE ALLAN: Not particularly, I think I have only made one cut out of 3 -- 4 that's not anything exciting. The last few weeks I think it seems like it's not far away. It felt that way the whole of last year, never quite turned around, so I think just trying to keep patient and feel like I am swinging the club better than I was last year, and if I can just keep handling that and I am sure with a bit of time some good scores and good tournaments will come along.

Q. Have you been in a situation where you have been tied for the lead yet out here?

STEVE ALLAN: Not on the PGA TOUR, no.

Q. Are you ready to win out here?

STEVE ALLAN: I think I am capable of it. I think I have get a lot of golf to go before, you know, still three rounds to go and hell of a lot of good players here, so I am going to try and pretty much keep that out of my mind because I think another one of my weaknesss is getting ahead of myself. I will be pretty much trying to play well tomorrow at this stage.

Q. North wind makes this course play a little bit easier, holes coming in?

STEVE ALLAN: It is different, yeah. I think once I hit my tee shot on 14, my first nine, it seemed like every hole coming in was playing a lot easier than it can. I think 15 can be a tough par 3, 16 action be pretty tricky, then 17 and 18 can just be flat out tough. Today with good tee shots they weren't -- in fact, 18, I had hit 3-wood, 8-iron, so it's not playing as tough as it can.

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