U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 23, 2002

Ricky Barnes

BETH MURRISON: We are joined by Ricky Barnes. He's heading into the semifinals tomorrow. Tell us a little bit about your round today.

RICKY BARNES: I played really well today. I got off and he gave me a bogey on the first hole to go one up, and from there I didn't make any bogeys. I had a stretch on four, five and six that I went birdie, birdie, eagle. And I -- that kind of got me going to get to, I think, four up. And from then on I just played really solid. I hit a lot of fairways today. A lot of greens. And never put myself -- on these greens you can hit a lot of greens and be 70 feet away. But today it was all within 25 feet, 20 feet. Legitimate chances. And I made him earn it to try to get back in the match. And I was really proud of myself for hanging in there and not making any mistakes.

BETH MURRISON: Tell us a little bit about your eagle on six.

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, I took a driver on there. The aggressive play. I hit it really well down the fairway. And he's in the right rough. I'm looking pretty good and he hits this great shot to about 12 feet. I'm sitting there and I tell my brother, "You know, I think we got 630 yards exactly." Pin's right over the knoll. One hop, into the ridge, trickles just over and by the sound of the roar, I knew that it was in. I didn't see it go in, but I could totally tell.

BETH MURRISON: Questions?

Q. Clubs and distances on your birdies at four and five, Ricky.

RICKY BARNES: Four, was a pitching wedge from about 125.

Q. To how far?

RICKY BARNES: 12 feet behind it.

Q. Okay.

RICKY BARNES: Five, I hit a 7-iron from about 180 to about six feet. And he actually conceded that one. So I was in there pretty close. And he missed a putt for par. They we went on from there. Then, you know, about six.

Q. One more birdie at 11?

RICKY BARNES: Oh, 11. Sand wedge from about 95 yards, to about 10 feet up the hill.

Q. I heard you talk about being friends with Haas on TV and he said the same. Being from different parts of the country, is that just been from amateur tournaments around the country?

RICKY BARNES: Definitely. We get invited to a lot of the same invitationals in the summer and we went to the same three in a row with Players Amateur, Porter Cup and then Western. And we have developed a pretty good relationship, through college golf too. And definitely it carried over through amateur golf. And we are kind of the same personality, laid back, whatever. And we hang out a lot off the golf course. We talk to each other. Even when he's at college and I'm at college we just call and see how things are going, and just touch bases a little bit.

Q. He said that he likes to talk when's on. Tomorrow he plans on walking down the fairways shooting the breeze with you, probably not about your match but just --

RICKY BARNES: I'm sure we will get into that. When we call each other, when we talk on the phone or whatever, a lot doesn't have to do with golf. We're around golf enough and we know how things are going that we don't need to talk about golf that much. It will be good tomorrow. We will both be, I'm sure, laid back. It will be -- I'm looking forward to it. Bill's a great player. He's playing well this summer. I've been doing the same. And I think we will kind of hopefully put on a little show for the crowd or something.

Q. What are some of the other things you two have in common?

RICKY BARNES: Laid back. We just like, we like to have fun. We're not, we don't get caught up in a whole bunch, I think, the aspect. And neither of us go out and, when we're playing bad, worry about our swing. I don't think we go out there looking for a swing as are some guys maybe more mechanically. And, but, off the golf course we're very much alike. We are just look like any other college kids. We like to have fun and stuff. So I think that's why we get along so well and we talk to each other.

Q. Did you graduate already?

RICKY BARNES: No, I have one more year at the University of Arizona.

Q. And how about eligibility-wise?

RICKY BARNES: Same.

Q. One more year?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah.

Q. What's been clicking for you this summer? You've been playing pretty well and how do you explain the recent success?

RICKY BARNES: Nothing's really gone bad. I struggled with putting way back in college. I fixed that. And that was definitely a confidence booster. And from then on out it wasn't, it wasn't one particular thing. Like, if I was -- it seemed like if I was driving it bad, then I would be hitting my irons good and then everything seemed to just start clicking. I started to drive the ball well. Then one thing leads to another. When I'm driving the ball well and my driver especially because when I start driving the ball well, I can hit it pretty far. So it leaves me with a lot of short irons. And that's definitely a confidence booster when I get the ball in the fairway. And then I am able to attack like every pin, when I get in the zone.

Q. How often have you and Bill played together?

RICKY BARNES: We have only played once together. We played in a 36-hole day. But we we're around each other a lot.

Q. 36-hole what?

RICKY BARNES: There was a 36-hole day. It was an All American tournament. It was just a really fun tournament kind of thing, and we played 36 holes.

Q. Are you both about the same length off the tee?

RICKY BARNES: Would I say so.

Q. So what area? Give us a range.

RICKY BARNES: I would say out here we're probably, if we hit one good we're probably around in the 3OO range.

Q. You played in the U.S. Open, right?

RICKY BARNES: Right.

Q. So did you obviously do the sectional, right?

RICKY BARNES: Right.

Q. And where did you finish in that sectional? Do you remember? Did you win a sectional tournament or what did you do?

RICKY BARNES: No. In the regionals, or the local, I was second and I was also second in the regionals.

Q. And in the sectional?

RICKY BARNES: In the sectional, yeah.

Q. Can you talk about just playing at Bethpage and the experience.

RICKY BARNES: Yeah, a great experience. Tough course. I didn't drive the ball that well that week. I think that was the reason why I was not able to make the cut. And I worked on that. I switched drivers. I think definitely for the better. Straightened out my ball flight. And from then on I think since the Open I've been driving the ball a lot better. And Bethpage, if you're not long and straight there, I mean, you're going to be packing your suitcase early. And unfortunately that's what I had to do. But it was a great time. Didn't hit my irons that bad. I just -- you can't get out of the rough any time at Bethpage. And that's pretty much what did me in.

Q. Who did you play with there?

RICKY BARNES: I played with John Maginnes and Lucas Glover.

Q. How much of a help has it been this week having Andy on your bag?

RICKY BARNES: He's really good for me. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve a little bit too much and he kind of kicks me in the butt every once in a while and tells me to calm down. That's the main thing. He keeps me real calm and within the moment and I try to -- sometimes I get ahead of myself. And he steps me back a little bit. Calms me down, gives me some water. And that kind of stuff.

Q. That's your brother?

RICKY BARNES: Yeah.

Q. What's his name again?

RICKY BARNES: Andy.

Q. How do you balance being Bill's friend but wanting to beat him tomorrow?

RICKY BARNES: We're going to be talking and that kind of stuff. But when we get out there we're going to be competing. I think there's no doubt about that. And you know, hopefully we're both playing well. And hopefully -- I doubt that there will be any hard feelings between the two of us since we're good friends. But one of us has to win. So it's going to be tough. But may the best guy win.

Q. This is the second time that you qualified for this championship. How far did you get last time?

RICKY BARNES: I lost in the second round in Baltusrol in 2000.

BETH MURRISON: All set? Okay. Thanks very much.

RICKY BARNES: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts....