INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY QWEST

August 3, 2002

Steve Lowery

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Steve, we appreciate you waiting. I know the front nine wasn't quite the way you wanted to start, but you battled back on the back nine and you are in great position to go into Sunday.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, I was proud of the way I hung in there and battled back. I got off to kind of a slow start and played really well on the back nine. I think I shot 4-under on the back nine and then got myself back in the tournament.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Questions?

Q. You guys were 1, 2, 3, starting that way, how much of an inspiration are you among yourselves, motivating one another?

STEVE LOWERY: We played -- we all played pretty solid. They played pretty good early. I think, yeah, good play, you just kind of feed off of that, when guys are rolling in putts, it just kind of frees everybody up, I think. The group was kind of like that today. There's a lot of putts that were holed. Mark Brooks made a lot of putts. Made makes it a little easier.

Q. Talk about coming back and playing in a tournament that you've played well and won before.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, I have a lot of confidence on this golf course. I've played well here. I think I won '94. And '96 I was leading maybe after two rounds, so I've had a lot of success here. Playing well, finished second in Milwaukee, and played in the last group with Jeff Sluman that week, finished second.

I feel good about my game. I think I need to play more aggressive, like I played the first two days, tomorrow, to win, for all 18 holes tomorrow to have a chance to win. You know, obviously Sergio made 19 points. There's a lot more players in the field than you might think. I know when I won, I don't think I was even on the leaderboard, eagled two holes and won the tournament.

So I'm going to play probably one of the best rounds of the year for me to win tomorrow. It's just that type of format, and this type of golf course, that you have to do that.

Q. By the time you guys get to No. 1 tomorrow, you probably are not going to be near the top of the leaderboard because one of those guys is going to go out and light it up early. Does that change things?

STEVE LOWERY: I think you need to know that mindset going out: When you get out you are not go going to be leading. It's not the type of golf course that you can protect your need. You need to play aggressive. I knew that going into today.

It just took me a while to get my gaming going. I hit it close on 11 and birdied 12 and it freed me up a little bit. I just need to get freed up early in the round and maintain that all the way, because it's just like I say, it's that type of golf course, and the format just dictates an aggressive style of play, and a lot of birdies in order to win.

Q. Would you talk about how quick you moved up the leaderboard? You of all people know how fast you can be on Sunday, you were hardly on TV, made an eagle at 14 and 17, talk about coming as you did out of nowhere?

STEVE LOWERY: Well, it's just, you know, when you have five points for an eagle -- I know when I won the tournament, if I birdied 17 and 18, would I not have won, but by eagling 17 for five point -- it got me into a playoff. That's a big factor, of who can make -- Sergio made an eagle today and who makes the eagles tomorrow. You know, you could really move up fast, but with a chip-in for eagle or just a series of birdies or whatever.

Q. What advantage do you have having won this tournament, and also the position you're in going into tomorrow?

STEVE LOWERY: I think the knowledge of knowing what I'm telling you right here; that you've got to go out there and make a lot of birdies and play aggressive to win, because I've seen it over and over and over, what happens.

Unless you've got a wind condition like we had yesterday afternoon, the guys goring to go low on this golf course with these par 5s playing like this.

Q. Because 17 is there, is there a tendency to think maybe you're into the mindset of, "All right, I'll do something on 17," and maybe because of that you might need some points on some earlier holes?

STEVE LOWERY: You know, I don't think so. You've got to play all of the holes aggressively. If you make par there you're losing grounds. If you make eagle -- I don't think you think that way. I think you just try to play all of the holes aggressively, and all of them can be birdied, obviously, but I just think you've got to play aggressively.

And 17 is obviously there, but it depends where they have the tees on 14 if that becomes an eagle hole. If they go on the back tee tomorrow, it's a little bit tougher. Some of the pin placements are a little tougher eagles on the par 5s.

Q. Is there a hole here that you would take four pars on?

STEVE LOWERY: I'd say the hardest hole on the golf course is probably the 10th hole. You've got to drive it in the fairway to have any chance to knock it on the green, and again, it depends on the pin placements. The pin was on the front today which is really tough. If they put the pin in the back, it makes it a little bit easier.

Is there any hole I would take a par on? Well, with a two-point lead, I'd take a par on 18.

Q. Is Sergio somebody that you kind of watch tomorrow, to see how he starts out? Do you think some of the guys that have not been there might be a little intimidated?

STEVE LOWERY: You guys promote certain players, but every player out here is capable of doing it. Craig Barlow is leading the golf tournament here and I'm sure you all probably would not have predicted him to win.

I don't think whether Sergio -- I'm just saying all of the players out here are capable of putting up 19 or 20 points in a day. So I don't think any one player. Heck, Greg Norman played good and a couple of those guys, too. Like I say, you've got to play the golf course. I would feel like I'd have to go out and shoot 67, 66, something like that in a stroke-play event to win the tournament and that's pretty much the way I would feel tomorrow.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your round.

STEVE LOWERY: No. 3, I was short of the green and putted it up about three feet and missed the putt par for par.

6, I misjudged the wind. I had a wedge in the middle of the fairway and bounced it in the back over the green and had a really tough shot. Missed about an 8-footer for par there.

12, I hit a wedge in there about two feet.

14, I really took a chance there. I drove it in the right rough a long way from the green and had a decent lie. Went ahead and tried to hit 3-wood out of there and rolled it onto the green. It kind of was my round right there. It was a really tough shot, and I probably had about 60 feet for eagle and 2-putted. I think it was about -- I think it was 265, something like that.

17, I hit a 5-iron over there about 35 feet and 2-putted.

18, I hit 9-iron to about 12 feet and made that putt.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thanks for joining us.

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