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BELLSOUTH CLASSIC


April 4, 2005


Rich Beem


DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Rich, for joining us for a few minutes in the media center. It's been a long week, a long playoff. You had to be really proud of how well you played this week. Also you were talking about down on the green a few minutes ago how great a shape you're in, and that had a lot to do with your play this week.

RICH BEEM: Yeah, it really did, Joan. I've been working my tail off since last probably November. You know, I made a lot of changes tried to make some changes physically, you know, kind of beef up a little bit so I can have the stamina to come out here and, you know, play 36 holes a day or play however many holes it takes to play, not get fatigued physically. And I think that's helped with my mental preparations as well.

I'm in working out, you know, doing a lot of things off the golf course as well as on. I think that's really paid off. Seems to make a difference.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Questions.

Q. (No Microphone.)

RICH BEEM: Well, yeah, you kind of got that feeling, you knew on 18 it's a risk versus reward type of hole, so you know some guys are going to go for it, may not get the shots they need to. Unfortunately, Arj and Brandt hit into it wall the first playoff hole, knocked themselves out. Jose and I had a fantastic opportunities to kind of separate ourselves from the field after Phil missed his putt. It's been a long time since we've been in that position to win. Letting Phil back into the equation certainly hurt us. Jose had that unfortunate series of events happen to him.

But, you know, that's kind of how playoffs I think pretty much run. You just try to outlast the other guys as best you can. You don't have to do something fantastic; you just have to do something a little bit better than the next guy.

Q. What positives will you take from this tournament?

RICH BEEM: My ball striking. I drove the ball fairly well, but my approach shots, my iron play, I missed five greens I think all week. I don't care what golf course you play on, that's going to equal some pretty good numbers.

That's certainly something to build on for next week. Next week, you know, you got to put yourself not only on the green, but in good positions on the green. Certainly a positive to take into next week, and every other tournament down the road.

I mean, it was a good week. I'm up here, I'm a little sore. I'm bummed out the way that everything finished. But I got to be happy with how I handled myself. It's been a long time since I've been in this position and I had an absolute gas doing it. It was a lot of fun. The only thing I would change obviously is the outcome, but I can't do that.

Phil is a true champion. He's playing great right now. Like I said, we just gave him one too many opportunities. But it's nice to see him have to make a putt to win it, and not me giving it away.

Q. Guys faltering on the first playoff hole, you didn't see a couple of guys coming in like Lucas, Frank Lickliter?

RICH BEEM: You know, it might be a little bit of fatigue. It's certainly been a long week. Even though we didn't play for two days, you still got to sit around. That's the one thing that people don't understand. Even though we don't play physically, we have to get ourselves up mentally to go play. You've got to be prepared at all times to get out there and play. As soon as the rules officials say, "We're ready to go," you got to go.

It does take a little bit out of you. On 18, I can't speak for those gentlemen, because I didn't see them in a shot. I know for me personally, it's a tough shot. I mean, you got to commit to it. Even though there's distance wise it's not that hard. You got all the huge grandstands in the background, you know what's riding on it. There's a lot of factors that go into it.

You know, it doesn't surprise me a couple of guys might have faltered coming down the stretch. You can also make eagle to zoom past somebody. Phil had an opportunity to make eagle on the last hole to win it outright. It's a great finishing hole. It will produce great finishes and it will produce train wrecks (laughter).

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Rich. Appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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