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BUICK OPEN

August 5, 2006

Scott Verplank

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

DAVE SENKO: Scott, 66 the last two days and 16 under. Maybe just get us started, talk about your day, one birdie on the front and then 5 under on the back.

SCOTT VERPLANK: That's right. Yeah, I was out here last night until about 9:30 and went and ate some Mexican food with some of the young guys out here and they kept me out until about 10:00 and that's pretty late for a guy my age. Thought I would go right back and fall asleep but that burrito didn't settle that great, so we were up until about midnight actually, I think all of us were. But you know what, obviously we went to bed late, couldn't help but get back to the hotel until after 10:00 and then back out here early.

So having said that, I was a little tired when we started our second round. I think on No. 9, I hit a nice drive. I just was okay on the first eight holes. I don't think I missed any greens or anything, but I just wasn't all that sharp. No. 9 I hit a nice drive and a hit a sand wedge about four feet and made it. And I think I must have got a little juice flowing because I kind of got my second wind about that time and I hit it about a foot on the next hole, then I just kind of kept going from there.

DAVE SENKO: How about No. 12, shot sequence?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I hit an L wedge about four feet.

13, I didn't birdie. I hit an L wedge there about five feet there and missed it.

Then I hit a second L wedge on 14 about four or five feet and made that one.

Parred 15, 16. Then 17, I was really trying to hit it hard off the tee and I just kind of missed it and it just came up, I don't even know it was at least 60 feet. It was straight up that hill and all of those guys that are lathered up right there behind the pin, you know, with the pin way on the back. They are all yelling at you before you putt. I was like, well, I don't want to leave it short. I sloped it went right in the middle of the hole, I don't even know how far it was. That was pretty exciting to have all those guys were all oiled up pretty good, so they liked that.

Then 18, you know, I hit a nice drive and an 8 iron in there about, I don't know, 12, 15 feet and hit a solid putt right in the middle of the hole, because it was moving. Obviously it wouldn't have gone that far by, but it was nice to have finished with a couple birdies, I promise you that.

Q. When you look at that leaderboard, is that what you expect, a lot of low scores on Saturday making it wide open on Sunday where you're going to have to go low again?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yes. You guys would have to fill me in, but I don't know that there's been that many times in recent history where somebody has had a large lead. From what I remember, I played here, gosh, 20 years I've played here probably 15 or 16 years out of the last 20, and it's always kind of top heavy going into the last day.

Q. You've been out here for a while under different scenarios for a Ryder Cup Team. What's it like this year, just with the volatility of the standings, it seems like it's really a mad scramble week to week, a lot of the guys obviously you're one of the guys in the hunt as well.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I guess it is more volatile. I haven't been able to play kind of up to my levels for three or four months. I've had little injury stuff going that really slowed me down. I haven't really had much I haven't done anything in about three or four months. So I haven't really been all that worried about it. I've been more concerned with getting healthy where I can swing it like I'm used to I think swinging the golf club and kind of play my game.

This week, obviously, I'm doing better. I've been getting a little bit better the last two or three weeks. I played pretty well at the British Open. I just really didn't get anything out of it. I putted horrible over there. You know, I'm going the right direction. If I end up on the team, I'll be ready to go in September. That won't be a problem.

Q. It looks like the lead is going to be 17 or 18. How do you approach a Sunday here, knowing you're going to have to go out and maybe shoot 65, 64 to win, as opposed to somewhere where the scores are going to be a little higher?

SCOTT VERPLANK: You know what, you've got to do the same stuff. You just would like to have a lot of short birdie putts tomorrow.

It is what it is. The golf course, it's in great shape. It's very scorable. Obviously the scores are always low. It's fun to play here. I think the crowd enjoys it, but you've got to make a lot of birdies to get in the hunt. It won't be any different tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about the crowd on 17, is it that much more of a distraction or is it exciting and something you just feed off of?

SCOTT VERPLANK: You know what, at my age, it's exciting. Having anything where they have that much electricity no, I think it's great to be quite honest with you. Now, I don't think it would be great if it was every hole. Although I'm sure the beer distributors would like that on every hole. I think it's great. You know it's coming. It's been that way for 20 years, at least, I know. I remember hearing the roars all over the golf course from that 17th hole. So I think it's cool.

Q. You've talked in the past about this being like a home course for you. Do you look forward to coming here every year, and especially this year with all those Ryder Cup points?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I always look forward to coming here. I'm fairly comfortable on this golf course. I've had a lot of good rounds and good memories from winning and finishing up there pretty close several times.

Like you said, I'm very familiar with the golf course. I could come here and play without playing any practice rounds and feel like I was playing on a golf course that I knew like the back of my hand. When you have that kind of comfort, I think it helps.

Q. You've been kind of poking fun at yourself a little bit about your advancing age, but you've had some periods out here where you could not play, you've come back from a lot of different things, you just said the last three months you've been dealing with injury, what would it mean to you just to win again out here with everything you've gone through to get healthy and keep playing?

SCOTT VERPLANK: It would mean that I've fulfilled another one of my goals to be honest with you. It would be great. I'd be delighted, and my wife and kids would be pumped; we'd get to go to Hawaii again. It's the same thing that winning any tournament would be. That's the goal and that's what you come out here and play for.

Obviously I'm just happy to be back where I feel like I have a fighting chance. I haven't felt like I've had all my stuff for a while, so I'm getting a heck of a lot closer to that now than I have been for most of the year.

Q. Just a little bit more about the Ryder Cup, I know you were disappointed not making the team in 2004 and being right there on the bubble. There is a lot of talk about Davis Love and Fred Couples sort of being almost the anointed captain's picks if they don't make it. But how much would the team benefit from having you, fiery guys you like you and Jerry Kelly? Chris DiMarco proved it in 2004. Is it more important to have that veteran leadership, or do you need fiery guys out there who have not necessarily played a ton?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, you have to ask the captains all that stuff. I think that what you've got to do is you've got to have 12 guys that want to be there and want to play their guts out for the other 11 guys on the team and the captain. And you've got to want to win the thing. Obviously some tournaments are bigger than others for a lot of players out here.

But, I don't know, for like DiMarco and myself, yeah, we talk about it. It's the greatest tournament I've ever played in. There's not a lot of nerves in that for me; that's as fun as it gets. When I played at The Belfry, it was the greatest experience I've had in golf. I know I've love to have the chance to win a major or do something like that, but I don't know if that's better than teeing it up with 11 other guys representing the United States. That's right there at the top of the list.

DAVE SENKO: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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