BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 22, 2004

Dean Wilson

TODD BUDNICK: 7-under 65, after a 67 yesterday has you at 12-under, great way to finish with the birdie, eagle. Talk a little bit about your day today.

DEAN WILSON: Today I gave myself a bunch of chances and made a few putts from about ten feet. So that was good. And then obviously finishing with a birdie and an eagle.

TODD BUDNICK: It's your first visit here to the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and it looks like you're fairing well for the first two rounds, but it's one of those tournaments where you have to keep those rounds going for five rounds. Talk a little bit about that.

DEAN WILSON: Yeah, exactly. I love coming to the desert. I've always liked desert golf. It seems to suit my game, and the courses here are in such perfect shape. The weather is always good. The wind didn't blow too much.

Q. How do you feel, you open a tournament 67, 65 and you're still two, maybe even three, shots out of the lead by the time the day ends, what does that do to your mindset?

DEAN WILSON: Obviously you need to go low and I'm still in a good position with four rounds to go. I'm very happy with where I'm at.

Q. As a follow-up to that, this being a five-day tournament, how do you pace yourself? Obviously you have to make the cut line, but still, you know with the low scores and the birdies, how do you approach it psychologically?

DEAN WILSON: For me, I'm used to that six round at Tour School. So I'm liking it.

Q. Playing La Quinta yesterday and Indian Wells today, would you kind of talk a little about the differences in the two courses. And obviously, Indian Wells is considered the easiest one. But what are the different challenges or the different rewards of each round?

DEAN WILSON: I think Indian Wells is a little shorter than LaQuinta so there's a lot of positioning off the tee that may be a long iron, a long iron, a 2-iron, and if you're hitting the driver well, you can get it up there close to the greens and maybe have 40, 50 yards in and go really low. Keep your driver straight and your wedges short you can go really low. Some of the holes if you get it going a little crooked you can pop it out-of-bounds. LaQuinta, yeah, it's a little longer and you've got to hit that driver a lot more often than over here at Indian Wells.

Q. Unlike a lot of tournaments, obviously you have to play four different golf courses with this tournament. Can you talk a little bit about that in terms of how you approach each one? As the first time around at the Hope, how have you gone about getting ready to play different course every day and mindset of not coming back to the same course and knowing the lay of the land?

DEAN WILSON: Yeah, I try to conserve some energy and just get in a cart and drive around the courses and look at the holes and if it's just kind of a straightforward hole I'll pass on by and go to the next hole and try to figure out a game plan for the holes that left me a decision off the tee, let's say, and there's no way you can come and walk four different courses and then play five rounds, you would be exhausted playing nine rounds in a row. So you've got to zoom around. And it's my first time, I have not seen a couple of these courses so just getting out and looking at the tee shots and trying to take advantage.

TODD BUDNICK: If we can just go through your holes, starting with that birdie on No. 2.

DEAN WILSON: No. 2, I think I hit a 1-iron and a wedge to about 12 feet. Made that.

3, I hit a 3-wood off the tee, 9-iron up to about 18 feet and made that.

5, I had 210 to the pin and made a bogey there. Missed the green, wedged it on there, short-sided myself and 3-putted.

Two holes later I hit a driver on the par 4. I hit it to a foot.

The par 5, I drove it in the rough and laid up with a 9-iron to about 15 feet and made that.

12, the par 4, I hit a 1-iron down the fairway and hit a wedge to about ten feet and made that.

17, I hit a driver about 135 yards left and a 9-iron to four feet and made that.

The last hole, I hit a drive down there and hit 6-iron in to about eight feet and made that for eagle.

TODD BUDNICK: Thanks, Dean, and good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.