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BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

April 2, 2005

Bo Van Pelt

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Bo Van Pelt into the interview room, 2-under par 70. Bo, how good was that round in these conditions?

BO VAN PELT: I was real pleased. You know, I had one 3-putt early, but it's not like I got -- I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and gave myself some chances.

JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. Do you have a back-up pair of shoes?

BO VAN PELT: I do. I think I'm going to ride these out till Sunday and throw them in the trash. I'm not going to try to ruin two pairs this week.

Q. Played anything that tough in a while?

BO VAN PELT: Probably not in a while. We get days back in Oklahoma where it gets cold and windy like that. It brought back some memories of college. We played some pretty tough weather then, a lot of rain, a lot of wind. You just kind of draw on that, remember some of those times, kind of laugh about it and go with it.

Q. You and Bob, Midwestern guys, Oklahoma guys, is there something about the wind that does feel like home and is comfortable?

BO VAN PELT: Well, I think we're just used to it, just something that we deal with. If you want to practice where Bob lives or where I live or J.L. lives, it's going to be windy, there's not much getting around it, so with you do get a windy day, you know, you know how to factor it in a little bit because we're used to doing it when we're at home.

Q. After two days of doing nothing and then facing a day like this, that's a tough assignment.

BO VAN PELT: You know, it was actually kind of nice because you had two days where you were not worried about your golf swing or the ball. So when you get a tough day, you kind of worry about -- you've just got to go with what you've got. There's no pictures out there. You're hitting 5-iron from 150 and 6-iron from 215, kind of weird yardages, so kind of nice having a blank mind going into a day like today.

Q. Inaudible?

BO VAN PELT: I probably backed off and more times thinking about what I want to do, just everybody was. It's just a long day. You knew you wanted to be committed and be sure what you were trying to do out there, because if you had any kind of wishy-washy thoughts in your head, it was probably not going to be a very good shot.

Q. Do you think they will still try to play 72 holes?

BO VAN PELT: I think that it's pretty much going to be 54. I'm not saying that officially, but I think since they are not going to be able to finish today. We're not going to be able to make a cut until Monday morning, that's just a fact of life.

So that being said, I think they will probably play 54 holes, which we're all fine with. I think -- I know for myself, I just feel sorry for the tournament, for BellSouth, they have worked so hard all year to put on a great event, and this is their one week. So I just applaud the volunteers and BellSouth and tell them thanks for sticking in there with us, I feel bad for them.

Q. Did you think about getting out of here?

BO VAN PELT: I did not. It was funny, you know, I'm in the field next week at Augusta, and so I wasn't real fired up about the 36-hole on Monday if I happen to make the cut, but I had a feeling that we might -- I thought if we got one little delay like we had today that it would be 18 on Monday, and I thought, "I'll be okay with that."

But I was excited about playing, this is one of my favorite weeks all year. This is one of the weeks, the first three years on TOUR, I made the cut. I was laughing, they were showing the highlights of '99 when Duval won and that was like my first big check out here, and I actually bought my wife her wedding ring with that check. So I kind of have fond memories of Atlanta. Went to the Final Four here a couple of years ago when they had it. So I was excited about playing. They do put on such a great event here, BellSouth, Sugarloaf, just a shame with the weather.

I was going to stick it out. My wife told me I just needed to stick it out.

Q. Were you surprised that some guys did pull out?

BO VAN PELT: No. You know, a guy that's won out here a bunch and their normal routine, they want to get in a couple of days at Augusta. I went this there a couple of weeks ago and got in a couple of round and felt okay if I missed Monday if I wasn't too tired.

Q. Would it be better if it was further into May to get a little break?

BO VAN PELT: You know, it's funny, I grew up pretty close to Memorial Tournament, and I think they have moved that tournament in the span of four or five different weeks, and it rains every year. You can move it wherever you want, but you still can't control the weather. It's nice being that it's so close to Augusta the week before the Masters and with THE PLAYERS being right there. You know, if that's what the sponsor wants to do, if BellSouth wants to do it, they feel like they get a better field or better weather, I don't think it much matters to us.

Q. Rich Beem said this course is a good preparation for next week because of the length and difficulty of the way it looks off the tees; do you agree with that assessment, as well?

BO VAN PELT: Well, this week is kind of weird because of the greens -- really they stayed pretty fast even with the weather, but they have a slot of slope, a lot of run-off areas. I have not seen Augusta play the way it does during the Masters. It was in great shape when I went there a couple of weeks ago, but you know it's going to be firmer and faster. The guys who have experience going there, they say it's similar, so I'm going to go with what they say.

Q. Your first time playing there was last week?

BO VAN PELT: I went the week of Honda.

Q. What was that like for you?

BO VAN PELT: It was great. I had never been. My dad came down from Indiana. So we had a fun time for a couple of days, walking around there. It was more than I could have dreamed that it was. It was pretty awesome. So I'm looking forward to getting over there next week after this week.

Q. Nervous at all?

BO VAN PELT: I'm excited more than anything. I got to play the other three majors last year, so I got to experience what they are like. When I was a kid growing up, this was the one you always watched on TV that you wanted to get to play in. So many great shots, so many great memories, so I'm excited for my first one.

Q. Did you go into the Champions Locker Room by accident or anything?

BO VAN PELT: The guys let me take a peak around. They were really nice, they knew it was my first time. There weren't too many guys there. It was pretty special. It was a pretty neat experience.

Q. A certain shot out there today, did the wind really affect it?

BO VAN PELT: I went for it in two on 18. I hit a 3-wood, started it well right of the green. I was playing it and I was trying to -- because I knew it was blowing hard right-to-left, and it wasn't -- I thought I hit it pretty straight. The wind took it all the way to the very left side of the green. It probably blue, I don't know, 35, 40 yards from right-to-left. So I hit 15 -- I hit a 5-iron that only went about 150 yards. I hit that club over -- it was affecting it quite a bit out there.

Q. A couple of years ago Davis Love and some guys played here on Sunday where they had to play a lot of holes and they haven't been back since for whatever reason. But for you, when you look at your schedule in the future, do you think about, okay, we had a Monday finish here, or we had to play a lot of holes on Sunday and that's not good going into next week, will you take that into account?

BO VAN PELT: No, I don't think so. I think every year the weather changes so much. You know, obviously I don't think anybody wants to play 36 holes on this golf course. It's not an easy course to walk. It's one of my favorites I play all year. But as far as the walk, I mean, it's a bear. It's long and lots of undulations, stuff like that. So I don't think anybody wants to walk 36.

I mean, for me, I'll always come back to this golf course. I love the people and I just think that BellSouth and Sugarloaf, they put on a great event. It's one I'll always come back to.

JOHN BUSH: Take us through your round. You started with a bogey on 11.

BO VAN PELT: Hit a pretty good shot. Hit a little 9-iron about 30 feet right at the flag and didn't hit a very good first putt, kind of back into the wind and I left myself about six or seven feet short and just missed that one.

13, drove it up about 15 yards of the green and hit a pitch shot there about six or seven feet and made it.

16, came up just short of the bunker, the left bunker and hit not a very good bunker shot about 10 or 12 feet past the hole. That's when it started haling, so I stopped and we waited. And then that was the first shot, we came back out and I missed the putt, left it short.

18, I 2-putted from the back center of the green.

1, hit a driver and hit a 7-iron probably 18 -- 15 feet left of the hole.

2, hit a pretty good shot, I hit it right at the flag and went over the green, I was kind of surprised and chipped it about five feet past and missed it.

5, I hit I really good drive there and hit a 6-iron to about a foot and a half.

7, I hit a driver and a pitching wedge just short of the green about three feet off the green and chipped it in with a sand wedge. The probably a 20-foot chip.

Q. Did your dad play with you at Augusta?

BO VAN PELT: No, he just walked around.

JOHN BUSH: Bo, thanks for coming by.

End of FastScripts.

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