BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

April 5, 2003

Tom Pernice, Jr.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Tom Pernice, Jr., For joining us today after 6-under, 66. Just one bogey today. All in all, a pretty good round, I would say.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Yeah, I did, I played really nice. I had a lot of opportunities. I played the par fives pretty well, I think, in general.

I got a little carried away there on 17, I hit my putt about 6 feet by and had to 3-putt there for bogey.

But, yeah, I made a couple nice saves for par on a couple holes on the back nine. I left myself a little four-and-a-half downhiller left-to-right on 14. I made that for par.

Then made a nice one on 18 for a birdie to finish it up.

But, yeah, I'm very pleased.

THE MODERATOR: Nice to be in contention on Sunday. You're looking for your first Top 10 this year, so...

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Yeah, I played relatively solid, I think, in a lot of tournaments, 20ths and some 10ths. But I really haven't put anything together.

I've just been trying to stay patient and just keep working hard. I had a good feeling coming into this week. I started hitting the ball a little bit better, felt I had a pattern to my shots, and felt pretty relaxed about it.

It's nice to have something kind of come about. I haven't made a lot of putts this week, I've hit a lot of shots close and a lot of par fives. I'm just trying to be patient (inaudible).

THE MODERATOR: With the rain, that obviously changed the course conditions a little bit today, it looked like.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Yes, it did. Actually, the first two days you had to be extremely aware of where the pin was and how far the ball was going to release, had to play away from a lot of pins at times.

Today, you could actually hit some shots at the flag. So it was definitely more, you know, acceptable to go at the shots and get it closer to the hole today.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll take some questions.

Q. Being in the last group tomorrow, is that important to you, to see what's going on?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: You know, you always try to shoot as low as you can. If you're in the last group, that's the place you want to be. If you're in the first group, last group or second to last group, you still have to go out and try for a low score to win the golf tournament tomorrow.

It's nice to be in the last group. I don't think that it makes any huge difference one way or the other. If you're a 10-under, you're still a 10-under whether you're in the second to last group or the last group.

Q. On 18 you weren't worried about making birdie there, or just trying to get in the last group?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: No, I was just trying to make birdie to get to 10-under. You can't get enough under out here, I can tell you that right now.

No, I really kind of wanted to try to make amends and get that shot back that I lost on 17, because I'd played such a nice round and really hated to do that on 17. But I was right in the go zone on 18 back there, but I was on that downhill side hill lie.

I said, "You know, I've already made a mistake on the last one," I said, "Leave yourself a good wedge." I knew with the green softer, the third shot, if you just hit it past the pin and to the right, it's going to feed back down. (Inaudible) water enough here over the years when the greens were soft. So I made sure I gave myself plenty of room and got it down there 10 feet or so.

Q. Did you make a change or do anything different this week to make that last piece fall into place that got you feeling better?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: No, I've been working with Jim Hardy (ph) a couple years now, we worked together at Bay Hill on some stuff. It's just working week-in, week-out, it's just starting to come together a bit more. Some very minor things, but it just felt it's starting to get better as this weekend came along.

I felt pretty comfortable about it, and hit the ball pretty well when I played nine holes on Tuesday. Hit the ball well in the Pro-Am. I just had a good feeling that things were coming around.

Q. Did you dominate the par fives like your buddy Hank did?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Nobody dominates them with a length like Hank, but I hit it out there all right for a little 160-pound guy. That's not a problem with my length. So I think I'm up there.

Q. Is this a golf course you like?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Yeah.

Q. When you come in here, do you think this course suits your game?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I do. I like the closely mowed areas around the greens. I like it when it plays firm and fast. I just kind of like, like Augusta used to be set up before they had rough, really. I kind of like that hard feel. I feel like I can pitch the ball around the greens really well when the green's really hard and mowed tight, when some people maybe struggle a little bit. I like firmer greens and faster greens. I liked it ever since I came here, to be honest with you.

Q. Did it take you a couple of holes to get used to the difference in the course today?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I pretty much had a pretty good idea. Joe hit first and hit it right over there on that top shelf and it stopped. I just was pretty sure I could go ahead and fire at it over on that back left shelf, hit a good shot, then run the putt in for birdie, so that was a good start.

Q. With softer conditions probably tomorrow, does that make for a more wide open final round where more people can shoot a low number and get back in it?

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Probably. But I'm not sure the forecast says it's going to rain tonight or not. I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, it won't rain anymore and we'll get tomorrow morning in and out of here before the rain comes.

Yeah, but if we're out there playing and it's raining pretty hard, then it's not so easy. If we get a lot of rain overnight and it turns nice in the morning, it's going to make it a little more receptive.

The greens held good shots today, really nice. They'll be good again tomorrow if we can get out here and tee off in the morning before we get more rain.

THE MODERATOR: If we could just go with your birdies, please. Start with 1.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Hit an 8-iron about -- shot length, how far it was, about 12 feet, made it.

And then the second hole I hit it about 4 feet for birdie and missed.

3, I hit an L wedge about a foot, made birdie.

4, I hit just pin-high and two off the green about just 10 yards, 8 yards off the green, and chipped it up there about a foot and made that for birdie.

6, I hit it just past the pin in two and just off the green about 5 yards and pitched it down there about a foot, foot and a half.

7, 8, 9 - 10, I hit a 3-wood on the green and 2-putted from about -- it was on the top level, so it was 90 feet or so. Putted down there about 6 inches, actually, had a beautiful putt.

11, I had a good chance for birdie. I hit about 11 feet in there for birdie on 11 and missed it, mis-read it.

12, I hit two good shots, but I mis-read the putt about 30 feet.

13, I drove it just over the green. Pitched it back past the pin about 8 feet. Made a nice downhill putt there, a very tough putt, I pitched it a little too far. Left myself a tough downhill and made that.

Parred 14.

Parred 15.

16, I got up-and-down on the front bunker, (inaudible), hit an 8-iron, came up short. Hit a bunker shot out about 6 inches, made par.

17, I 3-putted from about, oh, 25, 30 feet. Ran it by 6 feet and missed the putt.

Then 18, I hit a pitching wedge in there probably 9 feet and made the putt.

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