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BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP

August 29, 2004

Tom Pernice, Jr.

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

Q. Well, overall you've got to consider this is a pretty good week for you. How are you feeling?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Yeah, it is. I tried to make a run at them on the back nine, and the short 15th ended up getting me. I knew my 3 wood was too much and I eased up on it and hooked it in the water. That's going to end up costing me, but overall I played very nicely, kept myself in it. I just think it's wonderful the community gets around this tournament so much, and to have Buick come along, I think it's going to be one of the top premier tournaments on the Tour, and hats off to the people here in the community and to Buick. They're doing a great job, and it's going to get a lot better.

Q. You got really hot; birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle. You're right in the mix.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Well, it's about time (laughter). I didn't do anything with it. I made a bunch of good shots and made one bogey with a three putt and the rest of them didn't make any birdies, so I was just trying to be patient. There was a lot of birdie opportunities around here and I've been hitting the ball good and hitting a lot of good putts. I hit a few close and I got it rolling.

Q. Did you realize four guys were tied for the lead at one point?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: When I walked to the 16th green, I saw that there was three guys at 10. I just kind of had a feel nobody had really taken off, so I was always playing I knew I was getting relatively close. I knew I needed to get to double digits before the day was over.

Q. 18, was it a gap wedge?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I had 134 yards. I tried to hit a little pitching wedge because the ball was below my feet. If I would have had a flat lie I could have hit my sand wedge, I thought, but it caught a little bit of a gust and it carried past the pin.

I've been struggling if anything all week my wedges have been going so far and so hot and the wind is blowing. I've hit a lot of good looking wedge shots and they've gone too far this week. That cost me some opportunities.

Q. Did you chip or putt it?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I chipped it. It looked good coming down there. At the time, it looked like 10 under had a chance, but since that time I think two of them had gotten to 11.

Q. How many under were you at 16 when you looked at the board and saw?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I was 9. I just bogeyed 15 to get to 9.

Q. What happened on that, your drive kicked left a little bit?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I pulled it. I was actually in between clubs. 3 wood was too much I felt like. I didn't know if my 2 iron was enough. I tried to hit a nice high 3 wood and I pulled it right off the bat. Right is no good there, either, so I tried to stay committed and hit the shot and tried to fly it in the middle of the green and hopefully just go to the valley and two putt, but I made a bad swing. Looking back, maybe I could have taken a 2 iron and tried to run it up there, but it's easy to look back.

Q. How was Woody striking it the first couple of days?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: He played very good the first day. The second day he drove it all over the lot, struggled but got it around. He was only 1 under going to the last hole and made a birdie to get to 2 under.

I saw him this morning, and he said, "what a difference a day makes." He didn't miss the fairway yesterday and hit most of the greens. What a crazy game.

Q. He played mostly by himself yesterday. Oberholser withdrew.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Oberholser had a bad back or something. That won't hurt Woody any.

Q. It looks like you're going to finish like 3rd or 2nd or whatever. It's got to make you feel good about your performance this week.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I played well. I played solid every day. I just hung in there today, and I got off to not the start that I was looking for. I think three of the four days, one of my nine holes was one over par with no birdies and one bogey, but, you know, you've got to make some putts.

Q. You're playing well here, you played well in Bell Canada last year. Is there something about late summer?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I don't know. You hardly ever know in this game. I grew up in Kansas City as a kid and played a lot in hot weather, but how do you know? It's hard to tell. I've been playing most of the year ball striking wise, and I started putting well at The International three or four weeks ago, finished 3rd there and looks like I finished 23rd here again.

To be up here you've got to putt at least reasonable.

End of FastScripts.

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