BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

April 4, 2002

Frank Nobilo

TODD BUDNICK: Frank Nobilo, co- leaders, 6 under 66 today. Frank, looks like you had an eventful round today, a lot of birdies, couple of bogeys. Can we go through the card. Looks like had you a bogey on No. 2.

FRANK NOBILO: Yeah, it was early in the morning, I just tried to hit a little 8-iron probably just got a little cute, hit it in the bunker, blew it out to about eight feet, missed that.

Birdies on next two. Two woods just off the fringe on 3, chipped it up to about three feet, made that.

TODD BUDNICK: 4.

FRANK NOBILO: Did I birdie 4? Sorry, I hit driver off the tee, 70 yards to the flag on 3.

I hit that to about twelve feet behind the hole, made that.

The next hole I hit two woods, just short of the green, chipped it up. And to about three feet.

TODD BUDNICK: 8, bogey.

FRANK NOBILO: 3-iron green-side bunker on the right, blew it out to about four, five feet. I thought I hit a good putt.

Then 9 I hit a really good drive, 8-iron to about six feet behind the flag, made that.

10, two woods just over the back right, chipped it up to about 15 feet, made a good putt there.

Gave it straight away back on 12, hit probably the worst short of the day, 8-iron to the right, chipped it up to probably about six feet, and just caught the edge and missed.

TODD BUDNICK: 13.

FRANK NOBILO: I hit driver off the tee, pitched it to about three feet.

14, I hit 6-iron in about two feet.

16, 17, 18 - 7-iron off the tee on 16 to about 25 feet, made that.

17, I hit 6-iron in to about three feet.

Then 18 I blocked it right, hit a wedge down then hit another wedge to about 15 feet. Then capped it off with a good par.

TODD BUDNICK: Go ahead and give us a little capsule of the whole round there.

FRANK NOBILO: Nice to be back in this place for a change. Been a few years. It's good. I played a lot more this season than I normally would, but my health is better. I have been working very hard on that. And I think swinging a little bit better and just need to play to get confidence going again obviously. I played pretty solid last week; played all right at Bay Hill and Honda. I do feel that my game is coming around. And I don't know what it is. Atlanta always seems to be a favorite place for me. I won the Sarazen up the road two years in a row, in '95, '96. So sometimes I think you come back to a place where you have had good memories and it just brings you a lot of positive vibes.

TODD BUDNICK: When you have a good scoring round, 66 today, but you bogeyed 3 of the par 3s.

FRANK NOBILO: Which was unusual.

TODD BUDNICK: Does that bother you?

FRANK NOBILO: No, I suppose the upside is I played the rest of the holes so good. Normally I like the par 3s. They set up very well. But I think -- we were put on the clock today. Our group was out of position so a lot of the times, the round had a funny sort of rhythm to it where we were struggling to maintain pace. And a couple of those, I had the honor and jumped on the tee and hit a little too quickly and consequently paid the price. I thought I played really solid today. So I was very happy.

TODD BUDNICK: Questions.

Q. Did you say you all were on the clock today?

FRANK NOBILO: Yeah, we were.

Q. What juncture of the round?

FRANK NOBILO: It came on about -- we lost the group in front of us on about the 8th hole, I don't know what happened. Then basically one of the rules officials told us when we were going down 10, you know, what you have got to do, I mean everybody complains about the pace of play, I mean they are doing their job; can't complain about that.

Q. Did the two Sarazens sort of help you get your American career jump-started?

FRANK NOBILO: Kicked it backwards, I think. (Laughs).

No, it brought me over -- I wish I'd obviously come over here in the early '90s or even late '80s. What they did more than anything is told me that I should have been here and then unfortunately when I did come across in 1997, I was diagnosed with the problems that I had and it meant that the time over here rather than being really enjoyable were sort of some very tough years. It has been -- the last three, four years haven't exactly been the best of my career. But I am glad that I did come across irrespective of what happens in the next few years. It is a great Tour. It is a great place to play golf, best players in the world are here, there's no doubt about it. That's something that I had always wanted to do ever since I was a kid, I just wished I had done it a little bit earlier.

Q. Problem with your wrist?

FRANK NOBILO: Yeah, diagnosed in '97 with inflammatory polyarthritis, both wrist, shoulders and elbows.

Q. Both wrists?

FRANK NOBILO: Correct.

Q. Then there was the doctor that hit you between the eyes off the practice range?

FRANK NOBILO: Yeah, that was about a year and a half later, two weeks before the U.S. pGA. I mean, sometimes things happen like that, but you think you are the unluckiest person out but with recent events especially over the last six, eight months, what's happened, you realize that you are on the right side of it no matter what things are seeming to be happening to you at that particular stage.

Q. How has it been since you have been in the leading chamber?

FRANK NOBILO: Good question. I think it was Westchester probably about, I am going to guess and say '98, '99. I don't know which year. I'd like to think it was '99. Might have even been 2000. I am going to go for 2000. I think I shot 65 the first day, yeah, 2000, but you miss it. The one thing that you really miss in this game is playing well. I mean it is a great sport. It's a great humbler, a great leveler, but there are so many great players out there now (inaudible) so many great players, I have been lucky to play with so many and meet so many, and that's just what you miss. You really miss playing well. It such a different feeling between being on one side of the fence and the other.

Q. Welcome back.

FRANK NOBILO: Thanks.

Q. Make it a habit.

FRANK NOBILO: I'd love to.

End of FastScripts....