KEMPER INSURANCE OPEN

June 1, 2000

Steve Lowery

STEVE LOWERY: You know, I was a little bit concerned about coming out flat after last week, and playing on Monday, a little tired. And I didn't really play a practice round. I played nine holes. I didn't play the front here. And really, had no expectations, and kind of came out on 10, birdied 10, 11, 13 and 14 right out of the box, and that just kind of got me back into the mode I've been playing the last couple weeks. Just kind of used that momentum to kind of make it all the way.

STEVE LOWERY: Let's see, drove it perfect and make -- I was getting a little bit too greedy trying to carve a 3-iron around the trees there and blocked it. Didn't hit a very good shot at all. Didn't hit the trees. Almost lost it, but I was lucky somebody over there found it. It was embedded and ended up getting to drop it and knocked it out of the trees up there on the green, and actually had a chance to make birdie. But at the time it was looking like bogeying.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, I was getting pretty ragged out there at the end. I was hitting some loose shots. Wasn't real pretty. Wasn't hitting a lot of greens here, but my putting just kept me in there.

STEVE LOWERY: I played really solid on the first nine holes. Shot 31 and there at the end. 6, I hit a bad shot and then. Let's see, 7, I did all right. 8, hit a bad drive, struggled with it; and 9, missed the green. Other than those three holes, those three shots I played pretty solid.

STEVE LOWERY: I had trouble in what?

STEVE LOWERY: At this tournament? I haven't played here since '95.

STEVE LOWERY: I don't really think about it. I just don't even think about it. To me it is no factor. You can't win a golf tournament until Sunday. I'm going out there, try to birdie every hole and see what happens.

STEVE LOWERY: Today? What is the course record? 63? No, I didn't. I was trying to play aggressive. 6, I could have easily laid it up. I was just trying to knock on the green and get an eagle. In the first round, you can't win a golf tournament. Just get as far ahead as you can, if possible. I was just trying to make eagle or birdie.

STEVE LOWERY: I don't know. I don't think I've played here since they went to the zoysiagrass to the fairways they have here now. It's just been a while. I really like the golf course. It suits my game well. A good long-hitter's golf course. Just hasn't worked out around the schedule with the U.S. open qualifying. Just hasn't worked out in a while.

STEVE LOWERY: I think it's a better course. I really do. The golf course is better. I think they have done some good things with the water on 6 and a few things. I think it's a lot better.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah.

STEVE LOWERY: A lot of distractions. You know, it was a big day for me. Obviously, it was a big day for him, but I was in second place by myself; it was a big day for me. So I was trying to stay really focused on my game. You know, number one player in the world with a six-shot lead, to be realistic, I didn't think I was going to win the golf tournament. But I wanted to come away with a positive feeling that I had played well, and I did that. I felt good about the way I played. I actually played right there with him and I missed a couple short putts on 17, 18, but other than that I was right with him all day and I felt really good about it.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, we had -- I was in Tucson last year, and actually I had a chance to win that golf tournament. I think I was tied for the lead at the turn. When I got off the green, Mark Russell, the TOUR official, told me there had been a house fire, my family got out and was okay, but the fire was bad. When I got home, basically everything that I owned was gone. We lost everything. It was a total loss.

STEVE LOWERY: This was in Orlando. We lived there on the 4th hole at Bay Hill. And we just selected not to rebuild. We moved back to Birmingham where my wife and I grew up. We just sold the lot and moved back home.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, spending a long time building a house. I have three young kids. We didn't want to go through the building process again. Once in a lifetime is enough.

STEVE LOWERY: I think it was electrical in the attic. I don't think they really know, but that's basically what it was.

STEVE LOWERY: It's a lot different. I mean, you know there was a lot of distractions there Monday, but today I felt, you know, a lot freer. It was a lot easier to play today. There wasn't near as much -- I didn't put near as much pressure on myself today as I did Monday.

STEVE LOWERY: Actually like I say, I took some positive things away from that. I felt like my game is right there. I've been shooting some slow scores, 66s twice at Memorial; 64-65, I think at Hilton Head and played well in Houston. So, just trying to player carry over momentum and do the things that I need to do, play well. I'm driving the ball better and I'm putting the ball better and seems to be the key. When I drive the ball in play, I seem to be pretty competitive out here.

STEVE LOWERY: A lot of things that I lost in the fire that mattered to me. But what I learned was that material things are not that important. It's getting your family out. Those are the things that really matter. We lost a lot of things I could never replace, but, you know, looking back on it, we're very lucky.

STEVE LOWERY: Like I said I didn't play a practice round. I played nine holes. Didn't want to wear myself out. Yesterday I wasn't in the Pro-Am, so I had the day off. So basically just trying to rest, make sure I've got enough energy and enthusiasm to play for the four days here that I need to play. It didn't really, you know, throw me off to bad. I actually got on the plane with Ernie when I got done with Memorial and we were here in 45 minutes. So I was kind of resting actually on Monday.

STEVE LOWERY: The wind wasn't blowing you know. Funny I was thinking this -- I thought it was an 18-under type golf course. I haven't been here in a while, with the wind. I don't know, I think the wind is going to have to blow to keep the scores down that low. The greens are really good. The fairways are pretty wide; so I think the score will be lower than that this year.

STEVE LOWERY: A little bit of fatigue. I think my mind was wandering a little bit. I needed to be focussed and I just wasn't doing it. I think I hit that one shot on 6, and, I don't know, just kind of got side-tracked and just kind of scrambled. Fortunately, short game kept me in there I made some good putts. 8, I was not only in the rough, I was in the right trees, in the wood, out of the right trees, into the right rough; and I hit a flop-shot about 12, 15 feet and made that for par. I was pretty fortunate to get out of a couple holes with pars.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah, one of those days like you don't even have to line it up. You've got a 12-footer for par on 8, 12-, 15-footer for par on 9, right in the middle, I don't know. 10, I hit 3-wood, 9-iron about 12 feet. 11, I hit 7-iron about ten feet. 13, I went for it in two and chipped it down there about two feet. 14, I hit 3-wood up there by the green and chipped it up there about six feet. 16, I 3-putted. 18, I hit 7-iron to about ten feet. Number 1, I hit an 8-iron kind of backed up down there about eight feet. 3, the par three, I hit a good shot there. I hit 4-iron in there probably about, I don't know, 15 feet. 5 was a short hole. I hit driver and a sand wedge about eight feet.

STEVE LOWERY: You know, I don't know. All I can say, conditions were perfect. I don't think it would have mattered. There wasn't any wind. I thought there was some tough pin placements. 11 was tough, 12 was back-right, 13. I was making birdies on some of these holes and there was some hard spin on the green. I was getting -- I was pretty fortunate.

STEVE LOWERY: Yeah there's a lot of poa annua in them, but I think they keep them down. Maybe, like I said, an early tee time, they have just been mowed and they were smooth. Maybe later in the day it might get a bumpier. I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow afternoon.