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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 10, 2004

Greg Chalmers

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Greg, for joining us for a few minutes.

Nice finish to your round today with two birdies there at the end to get to 13-under, and then Jose made bogey, so you closed that gap to two strokes. Maybe just talk about your round and then talk about your position going into tomorrow.

GREG CHALMERS: Sure. I started off fairly scratching and I pretty much stayed that way the whole day up until the last two holes. I birdied the 10th hole, which was nice. I pitched it from 50 yards to a foot and a half and then hit it in the bunker on the next hole and the next hole and the next hole, and then I -- the furthest I hit it from the hole out of those three shots was a foot and a half.

Then I made a nice birdie down 14 and really felt like I had some momentum because I dumped a 9-iron on 15 to about ten feet, and with a par 5 coming up I was really, really confident.

But on 16 I hit a poor tee shot and lost a lot of confidence. Then hit another poor shot on No. 3, the 12th hole to make bogey there. I really was struggling. I was a little tired and a little worn out. I guess the laziness was coming through in my swing, and I hit a great shot on 8 and 9, a 7-iron to about 15 feet on 8, and a 5-iron to about two feet on 9, which is hopefully going to make my meal taste a lot better tonight and leave me in a good position going into tomorrow. There's a lot of guys that are 11-under, so it was nice to get off that mound.

Q. Where did 8 and 9 come from? Those are two holes that are playing pretty tough.

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, sure. I'm just hanging in there. I holed a nice -- I guess it was about a 15 or 18-footer on 8, which is not something you expect to make. I rolled a nice putt, and any chances I had, albeit there weren't many during the day, they sheared the edge or I hadn't read the putt right, and 9 we just had the perfect club. Every now and then as a golfer you just hit one that feels great, and for once it did.

I'm hoping that today was my bad ball-striking day and I can get back on track and get out there tomorrow.

Q. What was the club and how close did you hit it?

GREG CHALMERS: 5-iron on 9 to 205 yards, so about two feet.

Q. Could you talk about your mind set I believe at 13 when he opens up the lead to you by five shots and then how it changed and what you're suddenly telling yourself when you walk off your last hole and realize it's back to two?

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, it's a little strange. You never know what's going to happen, do you, so I was just trying to hang in there because to be honest I was really wrapped up in what I was trying to do. Jose was playing great, and I've seen his game and I know how he manages his game so well because I've played in Europe with him and I've pretty much had a similar path from Europe to America, not that -- I haven't won over here and he has.

I was really hitting the ball the way I wanted, and being five shots behind there was nothing I could do about him making birdies. I was just trying to hang in there and be a little tough, and then all of a sudden I went birdie birdie on two of the tougher holes of the day, and he goes par, bogey. Shots can disappear quickly out here. I'm comfortable with the position I'm in going into tomorrow.

Q. Did you pay any attention to the board at all today?

GREG CHALMERS: I did a little bit, yeah.

Q. Did you worry about what was going on behind you at all?

GREG CHALMERS: I really wasn't enjoying the fact that I was even par for the day and it looked like there was about eight or nine guys who had moved to 11-under on the same score as me. I wanted to be in the last group tomorrow to see what it was like. I hadn't done it before, and it's important that you take these kind of steps when you're playing this game. I was keen to do that, and so I certainly looked at the board and I tried not to get frustrated at the concept, but that doesn't help me. I just wanted to see if something would go right for me.

Q. It seems like when some players are in second place, they like the guy that they're chasing and they want to be in the group with them where they can look them in the eye and sort of have a match play situation. Do you look forward to that opportunity tomorrow? Are you comfortable with that?

GREG CHALMERS: If it comes down to that, if Jose and I both made a bunch of birdies, that would be great, but there are so many guys at 11-under that are quite capable of shooting 6, 7, 8, 9 under themselves if the weather is nice, and tomorrow it probably will be, it's not in any case a match play situation to me. Who knows, I could birdie the first five or bogey them, I don't know. I'm certainly planning on birdieing the first five, but it's just the nature of the game.

I don't look a lot into it until it comes down to that. If there's five or six holes to go and we're all clear, I'm sure we'll look at it, but you're just trying to get it in there as quick as you can.

Q. When was the last time you had a look at playing on Sunday?

GREG CHALMERS: Never. On PGA TOUR I'm guessing never. I just got told never. I said I've never been in the last group.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Earlier in the conversation you said that this was the first time you were in the last group, right?

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, tomorrow, Sunday. Last group on Sunday, first time.

Q. Is this what you've been working for all your career, to get to this position? Here you are the night before last, you have a chance to play in the last group and to compete for a title on the PGA TOUR. Is this kind of like I wouldn't say the climax, but the pinnacle you've been working toward?

GREG CHALMERS: There's five hours of golf tomorrow. It's hard to sit here and say this is what I'm working for. I'm working to win a tournament, and anything short of that, I've got to keep working. You know, I don't know what's going to happen on the front nine or the back nine or whatever the case may be.

Sure, if I have a chance to win with four or five holes to go, that's what I'm working for, the opportunity to win, but, you know, standing on the first tee tomorrow, I'm two shots behind and I've got a bunch of guys behind me and we're all capable of playing the game very well. I don't know that I can sort of say, hey, this is my opportunity to win, until it really is.

Q. Were you in the last group in Europe or Australia?

GREG CHALMERS: In Europe I have been. In Australia I definitely have been, but on the PGA TOUR, no.

Q. Do you remember how far back that might have been?

GREG CHALMERS: It's at least -- well, I've been on this Tour, this is my sixth year, so it's at least six years ago.

Q. So pretty hard to draw on that?

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah.

Q. What do you draw from it?

GREG CHALMERS: Playing at 9:30, I'm hoping that's going to help me a little bit because I don't have six to eight hours to think about it in the morning. I've basically just got to get up early and get out there. Hopefully that will help a little bit. The less dead time there is for me, the better off I'll be, and once again, I'm behind. I'm not in front.

I've watched it on Sundays on TV to understand the nature of how these guys play and how good they are, and there's going to be some birdies out there. I've got to do the same.

Q. With a guy like Vijay and other top players, the way they get themselves a lot of wins is because they're constantly in position working around the lead, putting themselves in position to go for the win. Now you've done that. You say you can't do that until the last five or six holes, but after 54 holes this is a good position for Greg Chalmers to be in in this tournament?

GREG CHALMERS: Right. If you look at Vijay or Mickelson or Tiger, they would do this probably seven or eight weeks out of ten, be in this position. Here I am, what is it, one week out of 120 tournaments that I've played. It's a new experience for me, but I'm 30 years old and I've played three years in Europe and a year in Asia and five years here, and I'm hoping that I can figure out a way to draw the club back on the first tee.

Q. Are you going to remember to have fun tomorrow or do you have fun when you're playing?

GREG CHALMERS: I think under that -- I enjoy the pressure. I think that's what guys associate with this is a lot of fun, being in contention. Fun for me is riding a wave down the beach or playing with my son. That's the definition of fun.

Golf under pressure, I think I'm learning how to understand now that's what guys enjoy. You hear guys like Nicklaus saying I enjoy being in the heat of battle. I haven't been in it that much. It's hard for me to say if I enjoy it. I have won a couple of tournaments in Australia and I've loved every minute of it. I would like the opportunity to stand on the 8th fairway and have a chance to hit it in there close and win the tournament.

Q. Could I ask to you do a favor for the English speakers? We like to get someone who played with Jose tell us about how his game is working, how he's playing because we can't on radio put him on because he speaks Spanish. So your impressions of Jose's game and how he's playing and the type of competitor he is?

GREG CHALMERS: My definition of, I guess, Jose's game would be someone who is brilliant at managing his way around the golf course. He hits a lot of shots. In a typical Spanish fashion, he uses his hands very well and he shapes just about every shot he hits, low, high, draw, fade, it's a Corey Pavin kind of game that he plays. He really shapes the ball well.

I think the weeks that he's won out here, Harbor Town and Walt Disney were very windy, and if you want someone that can hit the ball, you're looking at the right man. He can hit the ball low and he can also get it up in the air should he need to. He's got very good hands and a great short game.

Q. More of an artist than a power hitter?

GREG CHALMERS: Definitely. He's not going to blow you away with power, not that he's short. He's not going to be one of the longest hitters on Tour, but certainly one of the guys who is managing his game, and if the hole requires a fade, he'll hit a fade, and if he needs to draw it, he'll draw it. He just sort of manages his ball around the golf course.

Q. Did the course play hard for you?

GREG CHALMERS: Today? No, I don't think so. I think with the situation it was a little tougher, being in the last group, and sure, for guys who were 6, 7, 8-under it's a lot easier to go out there and attack it and make birdies because there's not a whole lot to lose there and otherwise maintain it. It's easy to shoot 5 or 6-under when you're in 2nd or 3rd. I think the golf course was still quite doable, you just had to hit good shots.

Q. I think it's going to be the same pairing tomorrow in the final group, is it not?

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: First in, last out, and I think Stricker is going to play in place of Vaughn Taylor.

Q. Do you like the thought of playing with Jose again then?

GREG CHALMERS: Oh, sure, Jose is fine. He says good shot when you hit a good shot. It's not a problem.

Q. Will there be a comfort factor, though, having played with him today?

GREG CHALMERS: Oh, look, I mean, he's --

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: It's more of a chance to play with the leader.

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, I guess so. If I was playing with Tiger Woods, that might be uncomfortable today and then easier the next day I guess is a way I can put it. I was feeling comfortable playing with Jose. I've played with him a ton of times, so there's not an issue there. I've got too many other demons to get through without worrying about that.

Q. You should take an interpreter with you out there. He's hilarious.

GREG CHALMERS: I know his manager.

Q. Not the interpreter, Jose is hilarious.

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, Jose has got a sense of humor. I just don't get it because I don't speak Spanish.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thanks, Greg, for joining us.

End of FastScripts.

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