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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP


August 15, 2008


Carl Pettersson


GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Alright. We'd like to thank Carl Pettersson for joining us for a few minutes in the Media Center.
Just a couple things on the record. You tied the record for the PGA Tour for opening 36 holes at 125. There's four other players that you tied it. And then today you shot 61 and yesterday was the record at 63 and so you broke the record here for the tournament.
So, congratulations. And just kind of talk about your round and you played awesome out there today.
CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah. I got off to such a good start. I birdied the first three. As soon as I did that my mind kind of set in and played nice all day, made a lot of putts, hit it close.
I think I had three shots that were pretty tee much kick-ins and hit it to about ten feet by the hole. Couple of hiccups.
I bogeyed No. 8 and bogeyed No. 15 which was pretty poor. But overall, it was good, finished the round off good with birdies on 16 and 17 and made a nice 4 on the last.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Questions, please.

Q. Carl, living in Raleigh and being so familiar with Donald Ross courses, how much do you think that this is an advantage for you?
CARL PETTERSSON: Well, not being familiar with Donald -- we don't play that many Donald Ross courses that much, but playing on this type of grass, I've lived here since I was 15 so that kind of helps.
The greens are real familiar to what all the courses around here are and the bermuda rough is pretty much what I've played since I was 15 so that sort of helps, too, and might have had a factor this week.

Q. When did you start thinking about a 59?
CARL PETTERSSON: On -- I just had a brief moment thinking about it but then I was kind of laughing at myself.

Q. Where was that at?
CARL PETTERSSON: On the 15th tee and decided to bogey the hole (laughter).
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Where did you hit your second shot?
CARL PETTERSSON: I hit it long right and I could have played a pitch kind of safe out to the right and got it to about 15 feet but I felt I had momentum going with me and it wasn't that hard of a shot, really, kind of chunked it back into the bunker and then didn't get it up and down.
So I felt I had to go for the shot. I had momentum with me and it wasn't that tricky of a shot, really, but it was nice to come back with birdie on 16 and 17 to end the round on a good note.

Q. Some guys say a bogey, especially one on a hole like 15 can fire them up. Did that wake you up or snap you out of whatever?
CARL PETTERSSON: Fired me up.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: You ended up making a 30-footer?
CARL PETTERSSON: I made a long putt on 16 which I was just really trying to stick it close and, you know, it happened to fall in which was nice, but yeah, I was frustrated making birdie on 15.
I made a par there yesterday and should have made -- it's a reachable par 5. I haven't played that hole -- I played it great all week but I've hit two bad second shots. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a birdie or eagle on that hole.

Q. Did you say you had shot 59 and just a fun round?
CARL PETTERSSON: I shot 59 in Treyburn at Durham down the road in '06, I think it was. It wasn't a competition, just --
Q. I assume obviously that course is not as long as this one even. This is short by PGA standards, right?
CARL PETTERSSON: Treyburn is probably longer than that course, yeah.

Q. Is this course playing easier than you thought or is it just a combination of you playing so well and the course, you know, not that difficult?
CARL PETTERSSON: Well, obviously I played great for two days so it can't reflect on how the course is playing but this course, you can make a lot of birdies but it's quite easy to have a few bogies in there, too, and I kind of knew at the beginning of week, I thought it was going to be a low scoring week just because you have a lot of wedges, 8-irons, 9-irons into par-4s.
Two par-5s are very reachable. You still got to hit the fairways and hit the second shots and make the putts so -- but, you know, if you play well, I can definitely see a good score out here.

Q. Out on the practice range with this kind of course, how does that change, do you find yourself using a lot more wedges, 9-irons, 8-irons out there warming up than elsewhere?
CARL PETTERSSON: No. I haven't. Some other guys might. I just did my normal warm-up this morning and that's about it. I try to do the same thing everyday, really.

Q. Carl, with Junior Golf or in college, did you ever play Sedgefield, did you guys at NC State?
CARL PETTERSSON: No. I came up here last November, I'm on the Board of this tournament and came up and played with Mark Brazil and Bobby Long just to see what the course was going to be like and that's kind of when we decided to move the tournament.

Q. You think you'll get a lot of NC State/Raleigh support this weekend?
CARL PETTERSSON: I hope so. It will be fun. I heard a few guys out there today and hopefully over the weekend we should have some good crowds.

Q. Until this week, you had only played it that one time back in the fall?
CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, that's right.

Q. Being on the Board, what does that entail?
Are you in conversations with some of the people with the Wyndham often or is it just something once every few months?
CARL PETTERSSON: You know, I don't have -- I'm not that deeply involved in it. We have two, three meetings a year and we kind of discuss what they want my perspective as a player, what they can do better for the players and I can give them suggestions from other tournaments, what I thought was well, somebody did well and what we can do and just little stuff like that.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Carl, can we go through your birdies and your bogies and No. 1?
CARL PETTERSSON: No. 1, I hit 3-wood 7-iron to about 15 feet.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 2.
CARL PETTERSSON: 3-wood, gap wedge to about three feet.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 3.
CARL PETTERSSON: 6-iron to about ten feet.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 5.
CARL PETTERSSON: Par 5. Driver, 7-iron to about 25 feet and two-putted.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Bogey on 7.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit a 5-iron left of the green and didn't get up and down hit it to about 20 feet and missed the putt.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 8.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit 3-wood, lob wedge to a foot.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: 9.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit rescue off the tee, 8-iron to about 25 feet, made it.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 11.
CARL PETTERSSON: I hit driver, 8-iron to about ten feet and made it.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 13.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit 3-wood, 9-iron to a foot.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 14.
CARL PETTERSSON: Driver, 8-iron to ten feet.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: And we talked a little bit about 15 but let's go through that bogey on 15.
CARL PETTERSSON: Driver down the middle, rescue long right. Had a pretty easy pitch. Had to go over the corner of the trap and kind of chunked it into the trap and didn't get it up and down.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 16.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit a 9-iron to the middle of the green and made about a 30-foot putt.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Birdie on 17.
CARL PETTERSSON: Hit driver, sand wedge to half foot.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Any of those pars you made on the five holes, any other opportunities there that you missed, maybe?
CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah. I had some good opportunities on a few of those holes but, you know, every round of golf could have been or should have been better. That's the way it goes.
Conditional page break: 2
Q. What does a course like this do for a player's confidence, they know that almost every other hole out there you can --
CARL PETTERSSON: It's kind of nice this year on Tour we've had such -- I think the been conditions have been tough. The courses have been set-up hard. So it's a nice change to be really aggressive and kind of suits my style. I try to play really aggressive all the time and so far it's paid off great.

Q. You answered Taylor's question about State fans coming in, very receptively. Do you welcome that or is it sometimes a distraction for you?
CARL PETTERSSON: Well, no, no, it's fine. Sometimes if it gets a little loud, it can be distraction but playing in Phoenix and places like that, you can get used to it.

Q. Carl, you hear people talking about using every club in the bag. Is this one of those courses? Do you come close to using every club?
CARL PETTERSSON: I haven't really thought about it but not far off. Yeah, I think I used every club in the bag today. I think that's a fair assumption.

Q. I mean do you hear that but is that unusual?
CARL PETTERSSON: To be honest with you, I haven't really thought about until you brought it up (laughter). Pros look at one thing, the score.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Everybody all set.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports Thank you, and congratulations.
CARL PETTERSSON: Thank you.

End of FastScripts




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