HP CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

May 2, 2003

Davis Love III

Q. Do you want to comment on your day today?

DAVIS LOVE: An awful lot like yesterday. I hit the ball real well, and today I didn't make as many putts and bogeyed the last 12. Yesterday I bogeyed 9 and today 18, so not a good way to finish both days, but I'm hitting the ball pretty well and I'm pretty confident with the way I'm playing.

I actually misread a couple putts and didn't hit a couple very good on that second nine, but all in all I'm playing pretty good.

Q. If you could touch a little bit about your season. So far you've got three wins, you're leading the tour in money earned, and it seems like every week you're on the leader board. It must be a good feeling.

DAVIS LOVE: It's nice, I'm in a good position again, I've gotten off to -- except for the Pebble Beach win, I've gotten off to a good start in all the tournaments that I won, and I finished high, and I'm doing a better job of that, getting ready to play on Thursdays, and I'm excited to get out there on Thursday and get going. I'm not waiting to see what happens, so I think I'm a little more prepared and, obviously, it's working, I'm swinging good and putting good every week.

Q. Were the conditions better for scoring?

DAVIS LOVE: I think it's the same as yesterday, it's better in the morning, and it's going to get tougher as the day goes on. It got windy for us starting about 9 or 10 and it picked up not -- quite blowing as hard as it was at 2 or 3:00 yesterday, but I suspect it will be. It's just so dry and the ball is running and playing short, so even into the wind, you can shoot a pretty good score if you're playing well.

Q. Are you surprised by the great scores right now?

DAVIS LOVE: Well, that's obviously a great score no matter what, but I'm not surprised. I mean, it's playing -- the golf course is playing incredibly short. It's just unbelievable, really, how short it's playing. I've never seen it so dry, and it's hitting the fairway and it looks like in the British Open, a bunch of dust pops up and it takes off running, and you see a guy on another fairway shoots and the dust flies up. I don't know why it's so dry, but there is places where it's literally burnt out. (Inaudible) it probably looks like a British Open.

It's very, very surprising, some of the clubs we're hitting into some of these greens, and you have to be very careful off the tee. I hit 1-iron off 16 today, I don't think I've ever done that before.

It's playing short, not surprising there is a bunch of birdies.

Q. You misread a couple of putts. Which ones did you misread or hit poorly?

DAVIS LOVE: Yeah, I missed -- i missed quite a few. I hit a good putt at 10 for par and felt like I putted really good for ten holes, and 12, I started it off-line a little bit, and 14 started it off-line, 15 started it off-line, I made a wood eagle putt, and then at 17 I just misread it a little bit and it just didn't break, I hit a good par. Then at 18, kind of a combination of I misread it and didn't hit it hard enough and it never had a chance. It was one of those days when you greedy and think you should hit them all and I really didn't make them all on the second nine.

Q. Could you go over your scorecard please?

DAVIS LOVE: I hit the front of the green and maybe a couple yards off the green and chipped up about 5 or 6 feet. I'm cautious now what I say because somebody is going to correct me. Maybe I ought to exaggerate -- make it shorter. Anyway, it looked like about 5 or 6 feet, and I made that, and then made about -- hit a 7-iron and made about a 40-footer at 3.

And then 4, a 1-iron off the tee and a sand wedge too about 10 feet. And 8 I hit a 7-iron to about 10 or 12 feet. 11, a driver and a 6-iron onto the green, about 45 feet, 2 putted. 15, a driver and a 5-iron about 20 feet, 2 putt. And then 18, a drive -- bad drive, and 3-iron just through the green in the bunker and blasted out about 8 or 10 feet and missed it.

Q. After yesterday and you saw how low guys were going, did you go out today with a number in mind?

DAVIS LOVE: No, not a number, but I think I'd have to shoot 10-under today to keep up, but, you know, you have to try to birdie every hole, and some of these holes have tricky pins that are hard to get to, but you have try to birdie every hole. I didn't really have a number, but I know this course, you just have to stay after it. That's why it was disappointing to finish both days with a bogey, especially -- i didn't even get a chance for a birdie and make a bogey on 18, you feel like you're going backwards, you're losing two shots if you make a bogey.

Q. You didn't have a chance to go at 18 today?

DAVIS LOVE: I did, I was just trying to hit it on the green. I hit such a short drive, kind of a toe hook, and I had a 3-iron -- with that club I was just trying to get it on the green, and I hit it a little right and got through the green and the bunker.

Q. What did you hit on 18 to green yesterday?

DAVIS LOVE: 6-iron, I had a good drive.

Q. How far did you have to the green today?

DAVIS LOVE: I had 211.

Q. Thank you.

DAVIS LOVE: All right. Thank you.

End of FastScripts....