Campbell and Mediate talk about a rainy Masters day

(April 9, 2006) - The third round of the Masters turned into a waiting game for the majority of players on Saturday, as rain delayed most the action, forcing Sunday's round to be a marathon, with the leaders to play nearly 30 holes or more.

Early leader Chad Campbell played just four holes on Saturday, but stayed on top of the pack at 6 under. Rocco Mediate was 2 under in his four holes to sit at five under, while Tim Clark got off to a 3-under start after just five holes on Saturday, to hold second along with Mediate.

Tiger Woods played nine holes on Saturday, going two under to sit in a tie for third place at 3 under in his attempt to defend his title at Augusta National.

Here is what Campbell and Mediate had to say following Saturday's brief action:

Chad Campbell

Question: How did you possibly keep busy all day?

CHAD CAMPBELL: You know what, I got out here about 10 o'clock and ate a little lunch out here, just kind of sat out here around the rest of the day, just in the locker room.

Q. Never went back?

CHAD CAMPBELL: No, I never went back. I spent enough time at the house.

Q. Do you walk out of here tonight happy about the start or upset about the finish?

CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, honestly, even the two bogeys, I hit two good putts. So you know, on 4, that's the place you've got to miss it. You have to miss it in that left bunker. I didn't hit that bad of a shot, a couple foot or two right and that shot is pretty good. I feel like I hit a lot of good shots. Only bad shot I hit was the second shot on 3. Pretty bad mistake there.

Q. How daunting of a task is it to play 32 holes tomorrow and get your first major?

CHAD CAMPBELL: It's going to be tough but I don't think winning any major is easy. It's going to be a little bit tougher, walking this course, 18 holes is quite a chore, so 32, we've got our work cut out for us.

Q. A lot of people are mentioning that you got the so called Big Five all right in the hunt there. How much does it matter that they have the kind of major experience they have, and do you just what's the nerve situation for you in terms of trying to get that first one?

CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, today was fine. It was fine all day. I came out and was hitting really well, birdied the first two holes and didn't really feel like I played 3 or 4 that bad. Just a little error on 3 and 4, unlucky on the putt. Obviously those guys do have a lot more major experience, with the wins, but, you know, I'd like to start somewhere.

Q. You touched on it a little bit before, is tomorrow more physical than mental or is it equally both?

CHAD CAMPBELL: I would say more mental than physical, actually. You know, like I said, it's going to be tough walking around that many times, but when you're in contention, you don't really think about that. It's not like we have to run. (Laughter) That might be a different story. But mentally, it's tough. This is a very demanding golf course and on the greens you have to stay very patient and take your chances when you get them.

Rocco Mediate

Question: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Rocco Mediate. You're sitting second.

ROCCO MEDIATE: Not a bad place to be right now.

Q. How important was it to get that birdie at the end and go into the night with the long day tomorrow?

ROCCO MEDIATE: A par would have been just fine. Bonus, yeah. It's just, you know, it's 232 or 231, it's hard to see, just wanted to keep it on that right bunker because you can't play from that right bunker to that pin. So happened to hit one about four or five feet left of the hole which is way more than I could ask. I made it, which is cool, because it wasn't an easy putt. It was getting dark but I didn't want to sit on it all night and think about a putt. I could see just enough, I knew what it did and I happened to make it.

Q. I guess people are going to wonder whether your back can hold up for 32 holes.

ROCCO MEDIATE: I think it will be fine. It's a little tender right now. But that's the weather change. I knew that would happen. So it should be better by tomorrow I hope.

Q. You can tell when it's going to rain?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I knew it was coming. (Laughter).

I'll crawl around here if I have to. I'm not going to stop, unless you have to pull me out of here. Being this close, lots of golf left but still I'm close. It's better to be here than five or six back right now. It's going to be a long day. It's going to be a tough day. I'm looking forward to it. Very challenging for me right now, as it is for everybody else, too. I have to do something real special the next 33 holes to win this golf tournament; whereas, some of the bigger guns, have to play pretty much a nice, solid round of golf. I have to go above that, myself. They have been there many more times. Phil is right there, he's close. Tiger is always close. As long as he's upright, he's close. (Laughter) So if those guys go out and play a good round of golf, it's going to be tough to beat them, even though I'm a few ahead of them. But I know what I have to do, so see if I can do it.

Q. Can you tell anything about Chad's demeanor?

ROCCO MEDIATE: An absolutely marvelous golf swing, one of our best by far, and tremendous strike on the golf ball. I like seeing that because it gets me trying to do the same thing. But he's very calm, very calm. He just tapped it, made a beautiful birdie on 1 and 2-putt birdie on 2. Hit a couple shots that were slightly off and got killed for them.

But he's definitely going to be around. He's not going any where, that guy. He's really, really, really good.

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