May 16, 2003

WESTERVILLE, OH — Chad Long hasn't won anything in 27 years, but it's only a matter of time before he's wearing his first Carl Spackler Outfit.  The brash young man who took the field by storm this winter by signing his letter of intent adding to already an impressive field.  "I know I'm bad enough to lose," he said after shooting a 63 on Thursday evening on the front nine of Darby Creek.

Word on the street is that Chad isn't practicing hard enough to compete at the highest level, something he all but admits.  Still, he hopes he is talented enough to stay out of 32nd place after 54 holes at Thunder Hill.

"I am not playing enough and can't hit the shots I was used to, and I just got scared," he said. "I thought I could play my way back into shape, but I was hitting 7-iron 130 yards when I used to hit it 170, and it's hard to play that way."

"My confidence is not really high," he said.  "I'm striking the ball worse than I have all year and worse than I did last year.  It's been a while since I won.  I just want it so badly."