CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 22, 2002

Jonathan Kaye

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to thank Jonathan Kaye for coming by the interview room. Jonathan, 5 under today, 13 under for the tournament. Congratulations so far, and how do you feel about your play going into tomorrow?

JONATHAN KAYE: Good, good. I've been playing pretty solid. I look forward to tomorrow.

JOHN BUSH: Could you take us through your round?

JONATHAN KAYE: I made a 10-footer on 2, followed that up with a bogey on 3, chipped up from pin-high left on 7 for birdie to go to 1 under, and then birdied 9 to go to 2 under, about a 20-footer there. And probably the best save of the day was on 10. I made a great par there that kept my round going, birdied 13, 15 and 17.

JOHN BUSH: What did you have on 13?

JONATHAN KAYE: 13, I had -- I hit a 4-iron pin-high and chipped it up there to about four feet, made that. And on 15, I made about a 6-footer for birdie and about a 2-footer on 17.

Q. What did you hit on 17 and could you run through No. 10?

JONATHAN KAYE: 10, I -- the wind just started swirling so, didn't really know what it was doing, and as soon as I took it back, something happened behind me and I lost my concentration and sprayed one out to the right and it hit a tree hit the snack bar there in the trees about a yard from out of bounds. Then I hacked out a 6-iron from 150 to about 4 feet for par.

Q. 8-iron or something?

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah, hit an 8-iron.

Q. Was the wind tricky all day or just on the back?

JONATHAN KAYE: More so on the back. All of a sudden, it looked like a storm was coming in right when I made the turn, and then it blew for 3 hole and settled down again, but it definitely was windier on my back 9 than the front.

Q. Have you had the lead after 54 holes? (someone else answers, "No.")

JONATHAN KAYE: I guess not. My sources say no. (Laughter.)

Q. Is this the closest you've been?

JONATHAN KAYE: To leading? Yeah. What do you mean?

Q. No. Have you been like within a shot or so?

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah.

Q. That's the closest you've been?

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah.

Q. Jonathan, you were leaning on your tee shot on 17? Is that where you were trying to --

JONATHAN KAYE: Just the green grass is good there, preferably short green grass. I hit a pretty good shot. The wind up on the tee was blowing right-to-left and out in the fairway it was going left-to-right. I just tried to hit a straight, low ball.

Q. How much did you have in on that second shot?

JONATHAN KAYE: I had 155 to the pin.

Q. Was that an 8-iron too?

JONATHAN KAYE: That was a 7-iron.

Q. Would it have changed the dynamic tomorrow if you had made that putt on 18?

JONATHAN KAYE: Oh, I hit a good putt there. You know, it just snapped right at the end, maybe a little speed and it would have held its line, but no, I'm not going to dwell on that.

Q. What has this club change particularly done for you this week?

JONATHAN KAYE: It's just given me something that I feel comfortable with, you know, something that looks good and feels good and I'm able to maneuver the ball both ways and I just fell comfortable with them.

Q. How do you -- you were in the last group today, you're going to be in the last group tomorrow. How do you try to handle that situation and not having won, how are you going to try to handle it especially tomorrow?

JONATHAN KAYE: Just another round of golf. You know, I'll go out and just keep doing what I've been doing. I guess it's hard for me to answer that because I don't know. I'd probably do better answering that tomorrow.

Q. Is there anything in particular you've been particularly happy with this week?

JONATHAN KAYE: Definitely my iron play, you know. I've been struggling with the short irons this year, and for some reason these irons I've been right on, so it's nice to know you can hit a 9-iron on the green. I was kind of playing to the 4-irons before, but it's hard to score with a 4-iron when everyone else is hitting wedges and 9s while I was playing to a 4-iron.

Q. What will winning tomorrow mean to you?

JONATHAN KAYE: It would give me a little job security. That's for sure. It would be a dream come true, you know, to win on the Tour. That's what everybody wants to do, establish themselves and gain the respect of their peers.

Q. The money or the two-and-a-half year exception?

JONATHAN KAYE: Both.

Q. Jonathan, could you talk about your relationship with the Tour? (Inaudible) some of the situation that --

JONATHAN KAYE: They're all stories, that's all. I mean, you could probably get a better answer from the Tour on that one.

JOHN BUSH: Jonathan, thanks for coming by and good luck tomorrow.

JONATHAN KAYE: Thank you.

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