BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 21, 2000

Matt Gogel

MATT GOGEL: I started on the back nine, Indian Wells, the 10th hole and probably the hardest hole on the golf course. Hit a good drive and 5-iron about 20 feet made the putt for birdie. So, I was obviously off to a good start. Thinking I birdied the -- the 13th hole, which is my 4th hole of the day, and hit a good drive and flew on the bunker and blasted out to about, oh, six feet, made the putt. From then on, I just kind of was just trying to get myself on the green and have a chance for birdies, and I was making -- obviously, I was making the putts. I think I ran off like four in a row. Parred the 17th hole. In fact, it lipped out and I came up to 18 and birdied that to turn at 30. Obviously, things were rolling pretty well, and I was hitting most of the greens and just trying to make as many putts as I could. Had to make the turn, and as the case has been just about every day, you've got about a 30- or 40-minute wait on the next hole, the 10th hole. I warmed up. Hit a shot out in the fairway; hit it out to about 10 feet and made the putt for birdie. Played pretty well from then on. Didn't really hit all that many good shots close enough -- close to the hole, with the exception of the par 5, No. 5. I hit it in the green-side bunker. Hit a bunker shot up to about two feet and made that for my final birdie of the day. I hit some loose shots coming in, kind of steering it a little bit. But very proud of the round. You know you're going to have to shoot a good round over at Indian Wells. That's where most people are going to shoot their lowest round. So I'm very pleased with 8-under. And now there's 36 holes of golf left, which is a lot of golf, and I'm at Bermuda Dunes for both courses for the last two round. So I think that will probably benefit me a little bit in the fact that I get to go around that two on consecutive days.

MATT GOGEL: Not the same level of competition, but in the same regard you're going to go through the same emotions of trying to win a golf tournament, knowing what it means to win a golf tournament. I'm going to be able to reflect back on what I expect of myself and what I know I do well in the situation and kind of the heat of battle, so to speak. So, you know, tomorrow is a good day. Kind of an important day. You know, you've got to kind of think it much like a regular TOUR event now where it's just two rounds left, Saturday and Sunday. It's a round that you've got to keep playing well and keep getting more under par. But also, you've just kind of got to be a little bit conservative and just stay in the hunt for Sunday. Not to be long-winded with your question, but I know at least I can draw back on what I generally do with two rounds left to put myself in position to win a golf tournament.

MATT GOGEL: There are so many guys that deserve a lot more credit and notoriety than myself. I'm just starting, and Gary for different reasons, and Casey for reasons that are pretty obvious; that they are going to draw a lot of attention. You know, I am kind of very -- I'm very obscure right now walking around the clubhouse, and I don't get bothered, and that's pretty nice. A lot of people out here, and I've been in the celebrity draw every day. I don't think people are too concerned with myself every day. They are more concerned with Hercules in my group. Gave me a chance to worry about my game and keep focused and deal with the distractions.

MATT GOGEL: Not really. The first tournament I had played competitively, really since the Nike Tour championship in October. I took a couple months off and I was just getting my feet wet in Hawaii. You know, I played okay. I didn't play great. I missed the cut by three shots, and what it did is it enable me to get over here sooner than, obviously, the guys making the cut. I was here on Saturday. It give me three or four days to practice. And obviously, this is, you know, a Wednesday start; so, it's an early week for everybody. You know, the desert climate is just so perfect that you can go out and hit golf balls and not have to worry about wind and just really work on your game, and that's what I did. I spent a lot of time on the range Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

MATT GOGEL: You know, the three years or four years I was out on the Nike/BUY.COM Tour, I saw the golf courses generally get more difficult. They would go to a new venue, and the PGA TOUR was doing their best trying to strengthen the golf courses and make them for difficult and make them more like the PGA TOUR. So I've kind of watched the tournaments and the schedule get more difficult over the years. Now, I won six times out there, and the lowest I ever won at a golf tournament was 15-under par. My game is not suited for going low and I never really played really well in the tournaments that was a shootout. But this week has been different. I've come here with the thought in mind that, you know, you're going to have to make a lot of birdies if you're going to have a chance. And so, every day you're switching around to a new golf course, and I think it helps because one of the hardest things to do for my professional is back up a great round with another great round. Generally, obviously you're on the same golf course; so you're remembering yesterday's shots and not worrying about today's shots. So being able to move to a new course every day let's you start fresh and say, "Okay, here is what I want to do, and I'm going to put the ball on the green and see how many birdies I can make."

MATT GOGEL: Yes, it was.

MATT GOGEL: Well, I finished college in '94 and I went to the Q-school in the fall that year and didn't get to the finals. And then every year after that, '95, '96, '97, '98, I was at the final, but never got through the Q-stool to obtain a PGA TOUR card. So I played the Nike '96, '97, '98 and '99. So as far as playing a PGA TOUR event, I tried to qualify twice. One was the San Diego Open. The other one was the AT&T. You know, it's not all that different than what we do out on the Nike Tour, other than that the crowds are bigger and there's a lot more action going on.

MATT GOGEL: Is it doesn't bother me. I guess we're all going to have to get used to dot-coms kind of ruling the world, so to speak, the marketing world in the years to come. You know, the Tour, Nike kind of wanted to focus their attention on golf in a little different way, and the PGA TOUR was looking for someone that would stand up and commit the dollars that they were feeling necessary or feeling that the Tour should command. And I think it's -- ultimately, it's the opportunity that everybody is after. I don't think I think they can call it Anything They Want Tour, and still, guys are out there for the promotion and to get better and have a place to play.

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