WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 9, 2003

J.P. Hayes

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, J.P., for joining us. Excellent round today of 66, 6-under for the tournament. Why don't you talk about today's afternoon, you're the first player in this afternoon, so maybe you could tell us about the conditions and how you played.

J.P. HAYES: Well, conditions were pretty tough. The wind blew pretty consistently through about the first 15 holes and the last few holes maybe died down just a little bit. It was pretty good the first 15 holes and the course began to dry out, which was nice, and it was one of those days where I putted well and played with good the irons.

Q. When you saw this earlier in the week what were your thoughts?

J.P. HAYES: My initial thoughts were very difficult and I still think that it's very difficult. It's long and the greens are difficult. It's fun to play and fun to have a golf course that we don't have to shoot 66 on to just keep pace with everybody.

Q. The group playing well, does that help breed on itself at all?

J.P. HAYES: It was nice, we had a great group and everybody was making birdies and we all made the occasional bogey, but it was nice to plod along with each other. David played great and Matt hung in there and played really well at times. So it definitely helped.

Q. Do you tend to play better on tougher courses where the scores are lower?

J.P. HAYES: You know, I used to think I played better on tougher courses, but I don't think that's true anymore. I've had good tournaments on tough courses, but I've also had some of my best tournaments on the easier courses. So I don't think there's really a trend anymore for me.

Q. Inaudible?

J.P. HAYES: I kept pretty hydrated and had a bottle of water on every tee. When it gets this hot, that seems to work pretty well for me.

Q. What are your impressions of the tournament overall?

J.P. HAYES: Well, I think it's great. They have done -- everything is first class. I told that to the transportation people to the people responsible for player dining. Everything has been perfect. Johnny (ph) knows how to run a golf tournament, he's been doing it for a long time and he has started this tournament off first class. He's done a fabulous job, everything is perfect.

Q. Is there one or two things that you can pick out maybe better here than other tournaments do?

J.P. HAYES: Well, I was telling the transportation people last night, how well that was run. I needed a car for a short time when I didn't have one. Even though we already had our courtesy car and that was arranged for me, I needed a ride back to the hotel and it was instantly given to me.

Then there's a lot of things that this tournament has that some tournaments can't have, like the practice facility, the clubhouse, the locker room and the golf course, all of that is first class so they have a great facility here. Word is going to get around and this tournament is going to have a good field for a long time.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: J.P., can we go through your birdies and bogeys?

J.P. HAYES: Started off with a birdie on No. 10. Hit a sand wedge to about two feet and made it.

Then I birdied 12. I hit a 9-iron about two inches.

And then I birdied 13, a 5-iron from about eight feet.

Then I birdied 15, I hit just a short little pitch there to 15 feet and made that putt.

My only bogey was 16. I 3-putted from about 35 feet.

No. 4, I hit a 5-iron to about 25 feet.

No. 7, I got up-and-down out of the green-side bunker and made about a 15-footer.

No. 9, I hit the 5-iron to 15 feet and made that one.

Q. Do you feel like you got the tough end of the draw?

J.P. HAYES: I don't feel that way because I played well. I'm sure a lot of guys feel that way. I heard some people talk about it. But, you know, when you're playing well, it just seems like you're getting the good end of the draw. So, I wouldn't say that. I'm not upset, obviously, about it. It happens.

Q. Inaudible?

J.P. HAYES: I've been playing well all year and the results I've been getting out of it have not been consistent with how I've been playing. So I stayed positive all year and not getting down on myself. I knew eventually I would start playing like knew I was closer to doing.

Q. Inaudible?

J.P. HAYES: Good to see him (Rich Beem) playing well again. I know he put a lot of pressure on himself after last year, so I'm happy to see him playing well and hopefully we can make it an El Paso duo on Sunday afternoon. It could be a lot of fun.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.

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