DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

September 2, 2006

Robert Allenby

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Robert, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Nice little stretch there on the back side, which was your first nine today. Why don't you just talk about that stretch and then we'll go into questions.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah. I mean, in all fairness, I mean, the whole golf course is pretty tough out there today, obviously you can see with all the scores that we shot. I hit a lot of good shots, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good shots and made some good putts.

I made a good birdie at 15, I think, and that was after a pretty decent shot. Luckily I'm trying to think if it was 15. Luckily they had brought the tee up forward there, so that was good, otherwise we wouldn't have made the fairway.

But yeah, I mean, obviously the hole in one was a good shot, the 4 iron in there, the wind howling into us off the left, and just ripped a 4 iron, a little draw, held it up, tried to get it to land soft, it pitched exactly where I wanted it to land, about seven or eight feet short of the hole and then released up to the hole, which was perfect, and went in.

It says on the plaque that I get a car hopefully.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, it's only for Americans (laughter). I guess the other guy that got one, he'll get one and I won't (laughter).

Q. What was the yardage on that hole in one?

ROBERT ALLENBY: It was I don't know, 215.

Q. Would you run through those four holes, what you hit and everything?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, 15 was driver, 8 iron out of the right rough to about 15, 20 feet, made it.

Then the 4 iron into 16.

5 wood, 9 iron into 17 to about 18 feet.

And then driver, 4 iron, pitching wedge to about 15 feet and made that on 18.

Q. Have you ever had a stretch of 5 under for four holes?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I've actually had better than that. At this tournament, too.

Q. Really?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah.

Q. When was that?

ROBERT ALLENBY: I shot I think it was three years ago when I was playing with Tiger, the first two days, on the Friday I shot 9 under the last 11 holes, so yeah, I've had a better stretch than 5 under, whatever it was.

Q. What did you shoot that day?

ROBERT ALLENBY: 63, maybe 64. I was 2 over prior to it, I think. It was on the back nine.

Q. How did it feel when you dropped it in at 16? Was that the moment when you said, hey, I could really do something today?

ROBERT ALLENBY: No, not really, just relieved I didn't have to putt. You know, the greens were a bit bumpy this afternoon, so it makes it tough to putt. They're so firm, it's actually pretty hard with the way the wind is swirling around, 20, 30 knots, it's hard to get the ball close, so that's like a bonus. To not have to putt on one hole is pretty good.

You know, it's just one of those days. You really had to be patient and you had to pick your spots where you were going to hit it to and commit to it and trust that you had the right club because so often you can get the wrong gust or have it gust and mid flight it disappears and the ball just goes an extra 30 yards, which it did for me on the 2nd hole today.

Q. A couple questions about yardage

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Let's just go through the rest of your round. No. 2.

Q. The yardage you had on the wedge and what the wind did.

ROBERT ALLENBY: On 2 with the 6 iron I hit 35 yards over the green. That one?

Q. Yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: The par 5. We had 138 yards to the hole, and we contemplated between several clubs, and the decision was a 6 iron straight into the wind because I just hit a 6 iron to lay up 138, and I figured well, we both sort of figured, okay, same club. Well, we didn't take into account that we were going a little bit different direction and the wind was protected by the trees and I was on the downslope, and Paul Azinger was behind me and hit 9 iron. So that was pretty good, wasn't it (laughter)? Yeah, two idiots there, that's for sure. I knew you'd bring that up.

Q. I didn't think we were going to get that good of a story.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Good for you.

Q. You had a round at THE PLAYERS Championship in similar conditions to this where you and Davis had that terrific round, also. Compare those two; were the conditions worse then or today, and which was the better round?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Probably pretty similar. I shot 64 that day, which is a helluva score in any type of wind around TPC. But today was pretty solid. Today probably even. It was tough because it was tough to putt because the ball was wobbling on the ground, and then you just hope that the ball in mid flight that you've got the right club in your hand because you don't know if it's going to get a gust or if it's not or if it's going to die.

And around this course there's so much trouble over the greens and there's so much trouble short of the greens, a lot of water you've got to hit over, and you can really put yourself in some nasty places.

I was lucky, on 3 I hit 6 iron to about eight feet, made that.

Bogey on 4, three putted, just misjudged the speed down the hill, wind got me and all that sort of stuff.

6, I made par but I was lucky there only because that's where I got one of those gusts. I hit it in the left rough, had a perfect lie, took a 7 iron and just ripped it straight at it, and I could see it mid flight it was going up, and I was like, oh, my God. Anyway, it landed in I would say the middle of the lake, but it landed on a rock and went forward out of the hazard and back into the hazard, and then I chipped it to an inch from the hazard, so that was a pretty good 4. It landed ten yards in the hazard and bounced out and then came back in. It stayed on the grass. It stayed on the grass but in the hazard and then chipped it to a couple inches.

5 iron at 8 to about eight feet, made it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROBERT ALLENBY: Oh, definitely 6. It could have been a double. Yeah, because if 16 doesn't go in I make birdie because it's going to be pretty close. But if it goes in the water, I'm looking at double straight in the face. There's two shots, so it would have ended up being one shot different. I'd have been 5 under instead of 6.

But who knows what I might have done the next few holes. I might have thrown my head in the water.

Q. What about the second round brings out the best in you here? I think you shot 64 or 65 and now 66 in the second round here.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Just I like the golf course. You've got to be a ball striker to win around here. You've obviously got to putt well. On a day like today and the way this golf course is playing, you have to hit the ball solid. There's no chances to mis hit anything because if you mis hit it, you're down a gorge or you're in a pond. You know, I like playing here just purely because you've got to be a good ball striker to win.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I mean, I actually thought there would be some rain, I really did. With the way the wind was blowing, I was kind of hoping that there wasn't going to be because it would have been coming in sideways. It would have been like playing in Scotland.

No, I really thought we would have got some bad patches today. Hopefully it will dump down in the night and be nice tomorrow so we can get it all done tomorrow.

Q. What's your schedule like the rest of the year?

ROBERT ALLENBY: China next week, The Skins Game, and then with Ogilvy and a couple of Chinamen (laughter) sorry. And then 84 Lumber, week off, and then I'll go to London, Amex, a couple weeks off, Disneyland and then Tampa, hopefully TOUR Championship.

Q. How much back home?

ROBERT ALLENBY: All three, defending all three.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.