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BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

April 2, 2004

Craig Bowden

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Craig, for joining us. A tough day out there but a good, solid round with the conditions. You held your position on the leaderboard. Why don't you just talk about the day a little bit and we'll go into questions.

CRAIG BOWDEN: Cold. Very cold. Yesterday when I teed off, I was just I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was going to

be a 72 yesterday, I would have been very happy. And same thing today, just battle and try to get through it. It was one of those days and I putted the ball exceptionally well both days. It's a tough week so far.

It was harder today. The wind was more gusty. It's not firming up at all. It's still pretty soft out there. The conditions are just, you know the wind is swirling big time. Sometimes it feels like it's at your back. Sometimes it feels like it's in your face. It's tough to pick a club and then commit to it because there's a few holes out here that you can have a train wreck on.

Q. Inaudible?

CRAIG BOWDEN: I have no idea. I just stayed patient all day long and just played one hole at a time. Stay patient, played my game with two guys that just bomb it. I'm out there hitting about 240 off the tee, but I stayed within myself and hit good shots, and I putted good yesterday, too.

Q. If the greens maintain their speed inaudible?

CRAIG BOWDEN: The greens are really fast. They are as fast as we've seen all year long. I can't think back to anywhere where you had to really be cautious about being above the hole and kind of putt defensively. We haven't had that at all so far this year. Next week, they will be.

Q. If the wind picks up and the greens dry out, how hard will the course be this weekend?

CRAIG BOWDEN: I don't know the forecast. I don't know what it's supposed to do. I think it's supposed to get a little warm and the wind is supposed to die down a little bit. That's what I've been told, but you never know, day to day.

I think if it stays the way it is now, even par is a great score.

Q. Brian Gay was talking about the pin positions being more difficult today than yesterday; did you notice that?

CRAIG BOWDEN: Yeah, they were. They were a little more difficult. There's just so many holes that you can't go at the hole. You have to just play defensive.

Yesterday I just put it in position. I hit a lot of quality shots and got the ball below the hole where I could actually make some putts. It was a little tougher. They had them tucked and you had to think twice about going after a flag.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your birdies and bogeys. You started out with a birdie on 10.

CRAIG BOWDEN: I hit a pitching wedge back there about 25 feet behind it and made a putt there.

14, I 3 putted. I hit on the front right of the green and I thought it was going to be a little faster. The greens on the back side are actually a little bit slower than they are on the front. I don't know why. Maybe it's the elevation or something, but they are a little bit slower. I 3 putted there; I hit it on the front right.

17, I almost made it from the fairway. I hit 5 iron back in there about two feet, two and a half feet.

4, 3 putt again, right below the hole. I just juiced it, just knocked it about three feet by and missed it coming back.

5, I hit a 4 iron in there on like 187. I hit 4 iron about six feet, seven feet just short of the hole and made it.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Just talk about the changes in the wind and the conditions.

CRAIG BOWDEN: Actually it started warming up. This morning, it was raw. When we teed off, it was raw. I feel sorry for those guy that is teed off at 7:00 A.M. I can't even imagine.

It's been a tough two days so far. I'm obviously very pleased with the way I'm sitting, but, you know, it's just it's a good golf course and it's a hard golf course when the conditions I've hit 3 wood into No. 1 the last two days. I made two pars; feel like birdies. I had 210 today and I hit 3 wood and hit it as hard as I could hit it and I came up ten yards short of the green. To the hole I had about 170.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Has the wind been pretty consistent all day?

CRAIG BOWDEN: It has. And it will gust, I think if you were standing up there by the green, that ball actually was coming backwards when it came down. It's tough. It's been tough. I saw Olazabal shot 5 over and I saw where Tambellini started out double bogey, double bogey; according to the board he was 4 over after two. It's out there. You can go big.

Q. With all of the attention that we give mostly to all of the guys going to Augusta, do you feel like, hey, this is our chance, the guys that are not involved in that, to maybe jump in here to do something while maybe somebody is preoccupied with that?

CRAIG BOWDEN: It's still a golf tournament to me. I don't care who is playing in the field. They are paying $800,000 this week. If I'm the only guy that shows up, that's my fortune.

I mean, obviously, I don't agree with what the Masters I think that if anybody wins on the PGA TOUR you should get an exemption into the Masters. I think it's ridiculous. I mean, they are playing 90 guys or something, 94 guys.

I look at it as a great week me to take advantage every week is a great opportunity for me to take advantage of. This is no different for me.

Q. How many years have you been on the Tour, either Tour?

CRAIG BOWDEN: I've been playing since 1989, the fall of '89 is when I started. I was a Nationwide Tour member in '93, '96, PGA TOUR in '97, Nationwide in '98 '99. PGA TOUR 2000. I had a medical for 2001, so I played most of the time out on the Nationwide. 2002 I was Nationwide, 2003 Nationwide and back out here in 2004.

Q. You had a pretty tough fight holding your position/?

CRAIG BOWDEN: You could say that. It's been pretty tough, getting down to your last 900 bucks.

Q. How many years are you going to give yourself to stay?

CRAIG BOWDEN: To stay? I think I'm getting into the throng (ph) of my career right now. I'm finally being able to come out here and play comfortable. Playing out here right now this year like I have, in years past on the Nationwide Tour, I've never came out here on the regular tour and been out here and been able to get comfortable. I'm finally feeling that now.

It's hard. You're playing with your idols, the guys you've watched on TV and things like that. It's hard to get adjusted to that and I'm finally getting over that. It's becoming a lot of fun.

Q. Did you ever think about quitting?

CRAIG BOWDEN: About every week. You know, yeah I seriously considered quitting after 2002. I played so poorly in 2000 2001 it was miserable. And then the fall of 2002, I missed I made it to the finals of Q School and played awful. I came home and taught a little bit at home and thought, you know, I'm ready to give it up, it's time to quit ; wife, time to stay home and become a regular person. Sit behind a desk and sell insurance or do something.

But I was tired of it. I had had enough of it. A friend of mine, who is actually here this week who is a banker at home, he said: You need to really consider that, because it's a big decision that you're making. I've seen you play and I know you can play. I just hate to see you give up on such a down note.

In 2003, I came out and I didn't get into any tournaments until the U.S. Open and I played good the last second day of the U.S. Open last year and it was a huge springboard for me. I made nine cuts in a row on the Nationwide. I only missed two cuts last year and then I won the last tournament of the year down in Miami. Got my card and it was a dream season for me. Last year was incredible. I played golf like I've never played before in my life. Probably because I was broke. That probably had a lot to do with it.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: You were down to $900 or something like that?

CRAIG BOWDEN: Actually, I did. I was going to keep my card on the Nationwide Tour and my wife and I went home I shouldn't even tell this story.

But went home and we had driven from mid land Texas to Indiana and I had to go to Miami from Indiana and I was supposed to leave Tuesday morning. I got home and said, the heck with it, I'm not going, I'm staying home. I'm going to go down Wednesday morning.

So my wife and I ordered sushi and I went up to pick it up and I went to the ATM, and I always spend more money than what I think I have, everybody does that. I went up there and it says, 'do you want a balance.' I said, "Do I really want to know how much money is in there?" I said, okay, pushed it came out and it said $900. I went, oh, $900. I've had a good year. I had made like 85,000 up that point. That's decent on the Nationwide Tour. And I had no money. I was broke. I thought, "This is not a good feeling." And I won.

Never crossed my mind the whole week, though. I never thought, "You've got to play good, your broke." I never thought that. (Laughter.) I just went down there, I didn't even play a practice round, did not play a practice round. I had Jim Duncan, our rules official, our tournament director on the Nationwide Tour, drove me around, showed me the golf course on Wednesday afternoon and I started out and I played two great rounds on Friday and Saturday, back to back 65s in wind that was every bit as tough as this. Played just incredible golf and ended up winning the golf tournament.

It's a sick feeling when you push that button and it says $900 and you've already spent you have to go and spend $1,000 on a hotel. You're thinking, "I'm upside down 100 now."

I had really considered quitting, but I don't know what the hell else I'd do. I enjoy the game, and I like I said, I could go and sell insurance with my dad or something. I'm finally starting to reap the benefits and I'm starting to play better and the money is starting to get better. So it's becoming a lot more fun.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us.

End of FastScripts.

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