AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2002

Neil Lomax

MODERATOR: We've got two of the co-leaders in the house here with Neil Lomax, Dan Quinn at 1-under and Stan Humphries at even par. Gentleman and ladies, ask away.

Q. Did you guys think this score would be leading today?

DAN QUINN: I was sort of motivated by it when I saw it because I was 3-over at one time. I felt uncomfortable on the pace of the greens and whatnot early on, so obviously, everybody else did.

But this golf course, if you get some momentum and don't make mistakes, you can go low, but I couldn't believe it when I saw that nobody got better than 2-under, I think all day. Ahmad Rashad got to 3-under.

Ut one hole, the hardest hole out there, I bet you, was 5. They used a new tee about ten yards back this year; I found that two clubs longer. I bogeyed it. Jack Wagner doubled it, MJ hit it in the water. I guess it was hard hole; I felt it was.

STAN HUMPHRIES: I think what made it a little tough was all of the rain we had yesterday. The softness of these greens, you can throw it right at the hole, but it's going to spin 20 feet; so you are going to have to make 15- or 20-footers to go low. You might think you hit a great shot and hit it four feet and it's going to spin back to 20 feet way. That's what made it hard, I think.

Q. Do you think because of the rain it made the course play a little bit longer didn't roll as much?

STAN HUMPHRIES: I think it played a little longer, yeah. But I think the greens played a little tougher because it spun so much. The ball spun; so it spun away from the hole.

In other ways, though, when you missed a shot, it didn't miss as bad because the ball was stopped, it didn't roll.

What do you think?

NEIL LOMAX: To me, you've still got to putt. Dan's right. I've been coming here almost every year, and every year, every hole it seems like they are (back) five yards, ten yards. You've got to hit driver now, where a couple years ago, Stan, myself and Chris Chandler and some guys, we don't want to touch our driver out here. You have to kind of move the ball left-to-right.

I got a new putter right before Stan's tournament. I got my Vijay Singh belly0putter and I tell you what, I'm not here without that putter. I must have made five or six, 8- or 10-footers for pars. Pars.

And right, you hit a good shot, a sand wedge in there you spin it down the front of the green and I've got a 30-footer for birdie and I'm knocking it eight feet short or eight feet by. I didn't hit a bad shot yet, and I'm hoping to make par. I made them, fortunately, today and I just birdied 16 and tapped in on 18. And here I am.

But Dan is right, there are 65s and 66s out here all the time. Why it wasn't today, I don't know. Maybe it was playing longer.

DAN QUINN: It's tough. Just the pin placements on 1, 2, 5, those can be birdie holes, but 1 is an easy hole to 3-putt. With the pin where it was, any kind of an aggressive putt on those first few holes was going to get away from you, and I think that probably got everybody back on their heels, at least it did me in our group. Whereas, not that they were bad pin placements or unfair, you just really had to be careful.

Q. How many times have you been here?

STAN HUMPHRIES: I guess this is probably my fifth year but I have not been here in about four years. The course has changed a lot since I haven't been here in four years.

There's a couple of things that have changed. It's like Niel was saying; I draw the ball, so this course plays tough for me.

He was talking about how long it's playing. I think I hit four drivers all day. I hit 3-wood almost ever hole, because I'm trying to keep it way from having to fade it or something.

And just take like 9, I have to hit like 3-iron or 2-iron off of 9 because I can't hit it around the corner.

It was fun. They have moved a lot of the tees back over the years and changed a couple of holes, so it's a little different. M

Q. Is 54 holes going to make a difference? You've won the tournament, the difference in that as opposed to 36?

DAN QUINN: The only thing you can do today is lose it, shoot yourself out of it.

I thought I was on my way to doing that, like I say, and just turned out nobody got to 3- or 4-under, and I had sort of the mentality if I could get back to even and play well on the weekend.

When you have a 36-hole tournament that doesn't enter your mind. You feel like you're cooked. It's nice to have two rounds this weekend. There's probably a ton of guys still in the event.

Q. Was this a personal best for you, 1-under out here?

NEIL LOMAX: It could be. I don't shoot a lot under pars in any of these tournaments I play in. I'm just happy to be around 74, 75, which is kind of my handicap deal.

You ask anybody here, if you can make some putts -- you'll you hear on the guys on the range: "I just 3-putt"; "I had eight 3-putts"; "I had six." I'm just kind of smiling going -- I'm eliminating some of those now.

No. 1, I hit it eight feet, lipped out and I have six feet coming back, and it wasn't a bad putt I hit. It's just such a severe angle there and you're like, "I missed this? " I didn't make a mistake and I get a bogey; I made it.

But it's just a blessing to be here. It really is. It's a beautiful tournament, great golf course, and I enjoy it every year because I've been coming here every year and it's great.

Q. Dan, in the two years you've won this tournament, do you remember what you shot in the first round?

DAN QUINN: The first time was the third year of tournament and that was the first time under par won. I shot 3-under for the tournament and I think I shot 73-70 -70. Last year I shot 69-67-71.

Q. What were the odds on you, 9 to 2?

DAN QUINN: I don't care about that. Me and John are partners. That's all I care about, a one-team event. (Laughter).

NEIL LOMAX: I'm 45 to 1. I've got some casinos really worried right now. (Laughter).

Q. What about Rick not being on the leaderboard?

STAN HUMPHRIES: It's only the first day.

NEIL LOMAX: Day one. Day one.

STAN HUMPHRIES: There's 36 more out there.

DAN QUINN: I thought the winning score would be a lot lower. It might still get to really low, but the greens are the best they have ever been Tuesday and Wednesday. And the rain obviously hurt Thursday -- not hurt, but made them spongier and bumpier and made you tentative. I think as the day went on, at least me, I got more comfortable. Seemed like they were firming up.

First couple of greens following MJ and John, John was dancing around the hole to make sure all of the footprints were there.

No, they weren't his, they were Michael's, I know they were Michael's.

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