BUICK CLASSIC

June 6, 2002

Jerry Kelly

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome Jerry Kelly, our leader at 6-under, a 65. He picked up his first victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Let's go over your card.

JERRY KELLY: Yeah, the 12th hole, I hit a good drive and a cut 6-iron to about 30 feet. Broke about five feet. That was a good putt.

13 was a 3-putt from about the same distance.

18, an eagle. I hit a driver, 4-wood up in the air. Just landed to the right of the pin and fell off on to the fringe, right up against the collar. I went through about two drops and four different club choices before I picked the right one. It was a 15-foot chip.

TODD BUDNICK: The three birdies, 5, 6 and 7.

JERRY KELLY: Fifth hole, driver, 3-wood right in front. Chipped it up to about four feet.

8-iron to about three feet.

Then a 4-wood, wedge to about six feet.

Then driver, 5-iron, 7-iron, 30-foot putt for birde.

TODD BUDNICK: Looks like you had an interesting day out there from what it seems.

JERRY KELLY: Wasn't like I was striking it perfect.

TODD BUDNICK: Well, you took advantage of all three par 5s and that's probably one of the keys out here, I would think.

JERRY KELLY: Yeah, got up-and-down a few times. 17th hole was a good up-and-down from behind the green. Short-side of the pin off the front on 15. There was some good up-and-downs in there.

TODD BUDNICK: Why don't you give us an idea of the whole day.

JERRY KELLY: For the most part, I got the ball in the fairway, so I was able to attack when I wanted to and stay back, which kept me in a pretty good comfort zone. I didn't go after too many pins. I decided to play it safe and let the birdies come. They did towards the end of the round, which was nice.

Q. On a day like this, the course is soft, no wind, are you looking for something in the middle 60s?

JERRY KELLY: Well, that's to set the pace, yeah. It's a tough golf course, and it's not that soft. The first bounces will still go as high as the pin. They are very uncontrollable with this type of poa annua, it's still very firm underneath.

When you say everybody is looking for something in the middle 60s, absolutely not. The person who is playing very well and setting the pace for the day is going to shoot in the middle 60s, but this is not a course where you go out there and say, "Oh, I think I'll shoot 65, 66 today."

Q. It's not that soft yet?

JERRY KELLY: Definitely not. Sometimes this course plays tougher when it's soft because you're spinning it off of some of the false fronts.

It's thick poa annua. You have to understand how that reacts. It bounces on the first bounce, but it grabs on the second bounce. I mean, if you're playing just over the false front expecting it to bounce up once by the pin, if you don't get that bounce, it's going to spin off the green. So if you land it past the pin, one bounce could be over the green. We're getting 7-yard bounces at times. Those are hard to control.

Q. As a winner now, do you approach the major championships differently, like are you trying to get your game to peak during these periods of time?

JERRY KELLY: I think I got to win at least ten events, have best player who has never won a major before my name before I can really say I'm only going to focus on the majors. (Laughter.)

Every single tournament is still a major to me. I get the same feeling on the first tee every single week. I've got so many events that I think of as majors, the Hartford, the GMO. There's a lot of tournaments that I really, really want to win, not just the majors. (Laughs).

I've said it before, I don't care where I win, as long as I can win, and that's still true. But, knowing that the majors are kind of where great players are measured by these days, it's not even wins, apparently, so they are still absolutely the most special things in golf. But I'll take anything I can get.

Q. So no looking ahead this week?

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely not. A lot of people say did you go out and play Bethpage this week, I said, "No, I've never played well here." I need to focus on this tournament. Usually I stay in private housing about 50 miles away. Last night I decided to come in and stay at the hotel here and prepare correctly for my morning tee time, and that paid off. So doing things a little bit differently and really focusing on this week, only.

Q. Can you just talk about 6-under par on this course, you've got to feel really good, as tough as this course is.

JERRY KELLY: There's no question, it didn't soften up as much as it might have looked like. It was still a tough test of golf.

Q. What was the key, your putting, driver?

JERRY KELLY: Getting the ball on the fairway off the tee, there's no question that sets up a round like this. Can you not shoot that kind of score from the rough. The rough is up. The greens are firm enough that if you hit it from the rough, you're not going to stop the ball. It's going to bounce over the green.

So, I got the ball in the fairway enough to really take advantage of some of those pins that were accessible.

Q. You said you changed your pregame routine a little bit. Did you change anything in midstream here to shoot 6-under the last ten holes?

JERRY KELLY: No. I think I was kind of going back and forth on whether this was going to be a good day or a mediocre day. Once you get to eagle on the ninth hole, that kind of spurred me into a little bit more confidence.

I hit the ball probably stronger after that, but I still didn't go after the pins on those first 1, 2, 3, 4. I tend to be a little, not defensive, but cautious, hitting to the middle of the greens. Some of those pins can get you.

I went ahead and took my pars and I came close to making birdies. Then the holes that you should really get on top of, starting with the par 5, it was nice to get those.

Q. Haven't you been driving it well enough to do anything here?

JERRY KELLY: I have never driven it well enough to do anything here. This is the first time my swing, that I can actually miss the ball in the fairway. The swing path Rick Smith has instilled in me so much better than it used to be. I missed two drivers and both of them were on par 5s and I capitalized on both par 5s, so that was great.

Q. Talk about Bethpage and the length of it. With all of the dispute about length, it's going to take 260 on some of the holes just to get to the fairway. Do you think the USGA might be making a statement?

JERRY KELLY: They always do, don't they? (Laughter.)

You look at the par 5s that they have turned into par 4s over the past, the (par) 72s that they have taken to 70. They always make a statement. It's the toughest test in golf.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm expecting an extremely long hilly, fairly flat greens, which means they are going to get them absolutely as fast as humanly possible, which is not going to it easy even on a flat. You take a somewhat flat green and put 14 on the Stimpmeter and you're still going to be playing 6-foot breaks. It's just going so much slower that it's going to take a lot longer to break. It's not like flat greens, straight putts. Sometimes it's tougher when it's somewhat flat greens and you've got to hit the ball straight, keep it inside the holes. Those are tough putts when it's fast.

Q. Tuesday night, where did you watch the game and where do you plan to watch tonight's game?

JERRY KELLY: My buddy's house that I stay in off-site. We will be right in front of that TV tonight, absolutely.

Q. Is that where you were Tuesday, as well?

JERRY KELLY: Yeah.

Q. What's your buddy's name?

JERRY KELLY: Bob Holmi. I played with him in the AT&T every year. He's got a little shack up by Cross River. (Laughter.) I stay with him every year. And that has nothing to do with me not playing well, by the way.

Q. What was the club you chipped with on 18?

JERRY KELLY: 54-degree sand wedge.

Q. And did I hear you, 9, did you said driver, 5-iron, 7-iron?

JERRY KELLY: Yeah.

Q. What happened there?

JERRY KELLY: I was knee deep in the right rough on my tee shot, trying to hit a cut shot. Just didn't fly out of there as much as I would have liked.

The wind started picking up a little bit kind of into our face, and I knew I had a lot of room left and I just hit one extra club there, tried to baby it too much, and almost left it coming back down, but I made a good putt.

Q. Winning your first event, what has that done for you this year and what's it been like being a winner finally?

JERRY KELLY: Well, it's one of those things that it is definitely an 800-pound gorilla. When you start getting close and it keeps on not happening, it definitely hangs on your every tournament, that you come close.

So to get rid of that and just kind of go play my game and know that if I play my game, it's good enough to win out here, that's kind of a mental hurdle that you have to get over. If I play my golf, my best golf, will I win; you know, the answer for me now is yes.

Now I can just go play my game and not -- I'm still going to be frustrated, putting a lot of pressure on myself. That's just the Irish in me coming out, I guess. It's not like I've become Mr. Happy since I've won. I'm the same person I've always been. That's going to win me some tournaments and that's going to lose me some.

TODD BUDNICK: Thanks, Jerry.

End of FastScripts....