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CHRYSLER CLASSIC OF GREENSBORO

October 16, 2004

Michael Allen

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

CHRIS REIMER: Michael Allen at 11-under. Given where you are on the Money List, it's got to be a good feeling where you are on a Saturday.

MICHAEL ALLEN: It certainly is a surprise. No one here knows me because I haven't been here all year. So it's nice to play well. More than anything it's just nice to go out and play well finally. That's what we're out here for and have a chance to win some golf tournaments.

CHRIS REIMER: Take some questions for Michael.

Q. How does it feel to be where you are going into Sunday? You haven't been here a lot?

MICHAEL ALLEN: No, I haven't, never in my career. I haven't been here a lot. But I've been here a few times and I always look forward to the opportunity. That's why I work as hard as anybody out there to do it. Maybe the odds are in my favor now. I've played out here so long that maybe the odds are in my favor. Eventually I'll have a few good weeks.

Q. What's worked well for you this week? Is there anything one particular that you've done better?

MICHAEL ALLEN: I've certainly putted better. There's no question about that. I've kind of holed five, six footers to keep me in it and made some 10, 15 footers in this week. I haven't made a 20 footer in like six, eight weeks. So it's nice to do that.

I'm not making mistakes right now more than anything. I'm kind of being able to hang in there and I guess with the wind it's kind of helped me because it's kind of like make pars and throw in a few birdies and it's worked out pretty good.

Q. Any hole in particular get you?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, eight birdies tomorrow would be nice.

Q. Do you have any hole today that got you?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Any hole get me?

Q. Yeah.

MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, 2 was nice. I hit two great shots there. What hole was that birdie?

CHRIS REIMER: Got 6.

MICHAEL ALLEN: 6 is where I finally made, actually, a putt, from off the green. First time I holed it off the green in ages. So yeah, I was just off green pin high. So I made about a 20 footer there, 25 footer. And that was kind of nice. It's kind of like I got a freebie. I haven't gotten one of those in quite awhile. So I felt pretty good about that. I made a nice par on number 3. I left it and hit it in the bunker and I made a nice six-footer with a little break on it. So it was kind of nice to keep some momentum going.

Q. What's been the difference this week? You haven't made a cut in a while here, what's --

MICHAEL ALLEN: Must be drinking a better red wine. I'm not sure. I'm just trying to do the same thing I normally do. I just really haven't made any mistakes. Going about things the same way. The greens have just been nice to me here.

Q. Somebody was in here earlier this week in a similar situation like you, outside the top 125, he said he thinks about it all the time off the golf course, but when he's on the course he focuses on the task at hand. Is that how you kind of look at it too?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, that was Brenden Pappas and I read that. And without question right now I mean it's something that's a great job to have, I would like to keep it. That's the biggest thing. But by the same token I know that things aren't going to get any worse for me, I've been to the bottom, I've been all over. I don't know, it's like TOUR school. Last Sunday at TOUR school was no fun either. This will be a lot more fun than that. Hopefully I'll have a chance to win a golf tournament. That's what I want to do. And certainly the issues are there of keeping my card and that's a very important thing.

But that's what you got to do on the golf course is you got to put it out of your mind and that's what always gets me, those little demons come up and if I can stay calm and put it out of my mind I'll think I'll have a chance.

Q. Do you think about winning and what it would mean?

MICHAEL ALLEN: I always thought about winning I've been out here for a long time and all the different tours. Hell, I love winning a mini-tour event. To win out here all these tournaments I played, it would be nice to one day be the, you know, the king dog for a day, you know. I know I'm not Vijay or anything but it would be nice to have the opportunity to stand on top once in a while.

Q. You've been to Q-School I think 11 times. What keeps you going?

MICHAEL ALLEN: A job. I'm good at that tournament. I don't know.

(Laughter.)

Q. Do you have like an eye in the distance toward the SENIOR Tour?

MICHAEL ALLEN: You know, I never did until now, I'm like 45 and I, certainly, I mean, for me, I'm always just trying to keep a job, really. Last year at TOUR school I went and interviewed with Donald Trump for that job at Bedminster and it turned out I finished third at TOUR school so I took this job. I'm looking for other things, it doesn't hurt me to do that either, I'm not above it. But life is good out here, I would like to stay for awhile, my kids enjoy coming out. We're going to have a great time at Disney.

Q. What was that job?

MICHAEL ALLEN: His Bedminster course, the Trump National.

Q. Head pro?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah. In New Jersey. Director of golf.

Q. So you were ready to do something else.

MICHAEL ALLEN: Sure. Yeah. I'm just trying to support my family. It's a job for me. It's a great one. I love it. I love hitting balls every day instead of hitting a computer.

CHRIS REIMER: Not worried Trump's going to tell you you're fired, huh?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, at least I know him better now, so. I'm worried about him saying I'm hired.

CHRIS REIMER: There you go.

Q. Have you ever come close to just saying, enough of this and --

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yes, I after like '96 where I quit and I worked at Winged Foot for a year. I tried to build homes for awhile. Been in medical sales. I've quit for a couple of years in the past and I was kind of better at this than doing those other things. I've taught golf. I've been around a little bit.

Q. This is better than all the other jobs?

MICHAEL ALLEN: This is a lot better, it really is, yeah. The food's better, you know.

Q. If something were to happen where things didn't go well the rest of the year, would you consider again doing something else or are you --

MICHAEL ALLEN: Oh, without question. I got to take care of my family one way or the other. They're not going to, you know, go out and take care of themselves. I got two children 10 and 7. So my little, my oldest one just is getting asked out for the first time, I got to keep working.

(Laughter.)

CHRIS REIMER: What's it going to take tomorrow? What do you look to do tomorrow to come out here and win?

MICHAEL ALLEN: For me I realize I can't control what anybody else does and there's a lot of great players out there.

For me I just got to go out and I know I got to make some birdies and I would like to make five or six birdies tomorrow and keep the bogeys out of there and I think I have a good chance. If I can take care that have and someone beats me, then more power to them. I would just love to have the opportunity to go out and do it. To play for something.

CHRIS REIMER: More questions guys?

Q. Do people ask you a lot?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Who I am, no.

Q. No, do people ask you a lot what's TOUR school like since you been there so many times?

MICHAEL ALLEN: It was kind of funny actually this year I came back from TOUR school and all my friends at Mesa where I play, Mesa Country Club, they kind of put up on my locker, they put up All Time Money Q-School Money Winner.

(Laughter.) So I don't know how endearing that is or not. I get asked about it a lot. To me it's a great opportunity. For me, heck, if I'm not on TOUR what else do I do? Go play for a year on the Nike Tour? You got two weeks and you got to play well. It's a great opportunity for anybody out there. It's a tough week for sure. But it's also a great opportunity. For me, I prepare so well for it, that I feel that that's why I do well.

Q. You mention a lot of guys ask who you are. Any one that's stick out?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Oh, gosh, I might have teed off -- one time I was leading L.A. a few years back, and teeing off with Kite and it's like, you're playing with the man. You know, it's like well, I'm leading, but, you know everybody is worried about them. I get it all the time. That's all right.

(Laughter.)

Q. How about walking into a locker room, they wonder if you're a player?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Oh, yeah, I get that all the time. Rocco walks right by the marshal, he sees me and it's, hey, where's your badge? It's all right. They give me a car, I feel good about it. I'm happy, you know.

(Laughter.)

Q. Do you take any motivation out of last week, Andre or whatever winning, you know, coming from 216th on the Money List?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Without question. And Rich Lerner told me at TOUR school, how incredible it is with like guys winning the British Open and Todd and then the year before, who was that? Ben Curtis and then you know Shawn Micheel, I mean, there's great things that can happen out here. We're not going to be Vijay or Tiger, but we can have our week. We're all out here for that. That's what it's for. We all want a little bit of that. Yeah, a little security for a couple years would be kind of different. But that's a long ways off. You guys are getting me too far ahead of myself.

Q. You said, you mentioned earlier about practicing a lot. Do you practice as much as Vijay or try to?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Oh, God, no. He's a freak. Let me tell you. No one at age 40 can practice like that except him. Hell, no one at 25 can practice like that except him. So I just put a lot more time in around the green now. I go out -- I like to hit balls, but I'm 45, I just can't hit balls look I used to. If I hit a bag or two, that's plenty. I'm smarter now.

(Laughter.)

Q. Playing the rest of the way out, playing Disney and Tampa?

MICHAEL ALLEN: I'm playing it Disney, right now. I actually saw in the computer last night I was like third or fourth alternate into Tampa, so we'll see. I would like to go out there and sweat for a little while.

(Laughter.)

CHRIS REIMER: Anything else? All right. Best of luck on Sunday.

MICHAEL ALLEN: All right. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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