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WESTERN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

July 16, 2018

Northfield, Illinois

DAN ROAN: It's not very often I get all these guys to applaud for me. In fact, I don't think it's ever happened before. That's a pretty good deal. Great to be here as Sunset Ridge rekindles its tournament relationship with the WGA, and echoing Vince and David, thanks to everybody to everybody for coming out today.

Without further ado, let's introduce our two main speakers for the day. We're going to start with age before beauty here, and if we went through this guy's career accomplishments from start to finish, it would take way too long, so we'll hit a couple of the highlights. But suffice it to say that Scott Verplank has a terrific and long-term relationship with the WGA. The medalist in the Western Amateur in '84 and '85, he won the 1985 Western Am, which at that time got you an invitation into the Western Open, which he won as an amateur in 1985. I was there to see it and document it. Terrific accomplishment, something that hadn't happened, I think, in at least 30 years, and has only happened one time since, and that was when Mickelson won out in Phoenix, I think it was 1990 or '91. So this doesn't happen very often. That's one for the career resume right there. Scott won five times on the PGA TOUR, is now playing on the Champions Tour, had a pretty good run of it at Exmoor this week, and it's a pleasure for us to have Scott Verplank with us today.

Also joining us is a guy who in the State of Illinois has done something that has only been done one other time, and that was 37 years ago, 38 years ago. Patrick Flavin last summer won the Illinois Open and the Illinois Amateur, the first man to do that in the same year since David Ogrin did it back in 1980, another huge accomplishment and a nice line item on your resume. Patrick has just graduated from Miami of Ohio, was all-Midwest district region honors this past season, was the on the all-MAC team four years in a row, terrific player who is out to defend his amateur title starting tomorrow at Bloomington Country Club downstate. He's already played a practice round down there yesterday, heading straight back down to Bloomington when we get finished here today. So our pleasure to have Patrick Flavin with us today.

I should mention that the Flavin family is very friendly with the Sherman family. Where is Ed? Ed is back there. Ed told me that at a young age, he took Patrick under his wing and kind of taught him the fundamentals of the game. Ed is left-handed, so it was like the mirror image. He goes, just swing like this. Well, not exactly like this. And don't watch where it goes. Great to have all you guys with us today.

Scott, let's start with you this week. How was your week at Exmoor, and were you satisfied with the way you played?

SCOTT VERPLANK: To answer your second question, no. When are you ever satisfied unless you win? But it actually was a great week. It was nice that the WGA ran the tournament. It's always great to come back to Chicago. Obviously I have great memories of here and have great friends here. Exmoor did a great job. The golf course was in great shape, and I knew you were going to have to shoot 20-under, and I just didn't make enough birdies.

DAN ROAN: Well, that's pretty much the case for everybody every week, right, except the one that wins. But it's always great, I think, for us in Chicago to have these kinds of events. Unfortunately for us this week, we had three of them in the same weekend. You had the John Deere going on across the state, and then the first-ever U.S. Senior Women's Open out at Chicago Golf Club and the Constellation up at Exmoor. Way too much golf for one weekend, but we're glad that you got a chance to get out there and play.

In terms of the Western Golf Association, talk about a group that jump-started somebody's career, you had all the success in the Amateur, won it in '85, and through that, got the invitation to the Western Open at a really easy golf course, Butler National, and you beat everybody in the field.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, there's no question, looking back I was talking to a couple guys from pointed Woods where we used to play all the time and was kind of thinking back, the Western Amateur, first off, was always the best -- winning the U.S. Amateur is winning the U.S. Amateur, winning the national championship, but the Western Amateur was the tournament, because Vince like said, not only was it a marathon, it was a great test of golf, and it was -- and the best player -- the guy who was playing the best generally won. '84 I think I won the medalist either by eight or ten shots, and I'd set the all-time scoring record, so I knew I was playing well.

Well, then I win my first match like 8 & 7, and then I played Rocco Mediate in the next match, and I think I'm 2- or 3-up at the turn, end up missing short putts on 18 to lose the hole to tie, and then I missed a short putt on the 19th hole to actually lose. So I went home and I was all mad, and I got with my coach, and I said, how in the hell did I lose. I was clearly playing way better than anybody else there, blah blah blah.

DAN ROAN: So this guy, Rocco Mediate.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, this guy, Rocco. Rocco would that that was funny, too. It kind of spurred me on, and I went on later that month and won the U.S. Amateur. So it was just a way to -- so the Western Amateur in '84 kind of gave me the push to win the U.S. Amateur. And then obviously coming back the next year, I won medalist again, didn't play quite as good, but I was more focused on being ready for the match play deal, and I actually went ahead and won the match play, got me in the Western Open, a month later won that. So obviously I owe most of my career to the WGA.

DAN ROAN: It was a heck of a way to start it, there's no doubt about that. I want to talk more about that, but Patrick, let's get you in here. Last summer, one of those dream summers for a guy in your position, right?

PATRICK FLAVIN: Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it could have gone any better for sure.

DAN ROAN: Some great playing, a winner of the Illinois Open and also won the Illinois Amateur. Had a great career at Miami of Ohio, played in the NCAA tournament a couple of times. Tell us, most guys in your position now, you're out of school, are looking to turn pro and make a career out of this from the jump as soon as the amateur portion of the college deal is over with. You're hanging around a little bit to try and defend your championship in Bloomington this week. Tell us about the thought process that has gone into all this.

PATRICK FLAVIN: Yeah, so I mean, that was definitely a difficult decision. What really came down to it was there's just so much more to play as an amateur, and like Scott just said, he owes his career to the WGA, winning the Western Am and winning the Western Open really allowed him to take off and to win five PGA TOUR events, and for me, I'm kind of trying to think about it in the long run. It would be awesome to get off to a good start and go play in a bunch of Monday qualifiers, maybe make an event, but I know if I put myself in position to make the sweet 16 of the Western Am or to try to defend my title as the Illinois State Am or the Illinois Open are really going to be great experiences for me, and in the long run I think would really pay off. Yeah, I'm going to give it a shot for sure.

DAN ROAN: I get it. The more tournament experience you have, the better off you're going to be down the line.

In terms of the Western Am, you probably feel like you've got some paying back to do, don't you?

PATRICK FLAVIN: That's for sure. I played in two Western Juniors and this is going to be my fourth Western Am. I've been around here quite a bit. But yeah, hopefully give myself a chance to make the sweet 16 and get one of those wins. That would be awesome.

DAN ROAN: It really would, and we look forward to seeing you give it a try here.

The competition, tell us from your viewpoint about the field. Vince talked about the players that are here. It's kind of a who's-who of amateur golf in America, and really in the whole world. What do you see when you look at the guys that are going to be playing here at Sunset?

PATRICK FLAVIN: Yeah, I mean, it's the best of the best. It's the best college players. It's pretty much the best players from all around the world. I think that the Western Am is the strongest field in amateur golf for sure. It's invitations to the best players in the world, and most of them come right here to the north shore of Chicago, which was really cool. We were talking about the format of the event, which is so cool. I think the four rounds of stroke play really identifies who's playing the best that week, and then going to match play, anything can really happen. Like Scott won the medalist by eight or ten shots and then you go to match play and Rocco Mediate takes him down. I think that's the beauty of match play is that --

DAN ROAN: He's still ticked off about it.

PATRICK FLAVIN: But that's the beauty of it. As long as you give yourself a position, as long as you're in that sweet 16, anything can happen. You've seen the NCAA championships go to match play, and it just brings so much excitement to the sport. I know that I can get to the sweet 16 that anything can happen, so I just love this format. The field is the strongest field in golf, and being right here on the north shore is great for me because I can have so many friends and family come out. I feel like a hometown favorite, so yeah, this is by far my favorite event of the year.

DAN ROAN: You grew up right down the road. I'm sure you've been around this place a couple of times, right?

PATRICK FLAVIN: I actually have not. This is going to be my first time today.

DAN ROAN: You're actually going to play before you go to Bloomington today?

PATRICK FLAVIN: I'm going to play.

DAN ROAN: Nice to be a kid. You can play all day every day. I wanted to ask you about that, the format. This is the only tournament in the world where you play a thousand holes of golf in one week. How would you like to try and do this at the age of 54?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Next question, please.

DAN ROAN: That's what I thought.

SCOTT VERPLANK: There's no way. Even thinking back to when I was Patrick's age, I mean, that's a lot of golf. But these guys are prepared, and now more so than ever in my opinion. I actually went out and watched the NCAA. It was at Oklahoma State this year, and I know Patrick is right in there, but the quality of the young kids, I call them kids, but the young people that are going to come and play in this tournament is off the charts. I watched a bunch of kids play. I know there's two or three -- at least two or three or four Oklahoma State kids, but I sent a message to Rickie Fowler that he'd better hurry up and start winning more because there's getting ready to be another wave of kids that's coming, and they're to be better yet than what we've seen. If you want to see the future of golf, you need to be here in a couple of weeks.

DAN ROAN: You know, it's funny the way people approach their jobs when they're professional athletes or top-level amateurs. I think it's gone this way in college, but it's kind of like the Web.com TOUR. Those guys aren't even thinking about making bogeys. They're not thinking about anything but making birdies. Now, I think when you get on the big Tour, you get three or 4-under par on most of these courses, not all but most, you're trying to kind of protect your score, and then you get on the Champions Tour again, it's like a birdie-fest all over again.

SCOTT VERPLANK: It sure is. I mean, which is good. I mean, that's kind of -- we've been playing this long, why get your brains beat in all the time? We've already had that for 30 years. So it's good, but yeah, so like in Patrick's case and the kids and the young men that are his age, you know, that's kind of what golf has turned into. You have to learn how to manage your game, and playing, I think, the reps, playing amateur golf this summer is probably a smart decision in my opinion because it's just more tournament golf, and the more you win, it doesn't matter what level you win at, just keep winning, and that just kind of grows. So it doesn't matter the level. As long as you're winning, then you're getting better, and in your head and in your heart you're getting better.

These guys, they play so much more, and they play so much better. So like I said, I think that the kids that are going to be here in a couple weeks are worth watching.

DAN ROAN: They're definitely worth watching. I want to ask you along those same lines, the go-low mentality, a lot of people are afraid to do it. They make a couple of birdies and back off. Did you have to kind of overcome that mental road block, or have you always been kind of an attacker?

PATRICK FLAVIN: I think that's definitely something that I'm going to need to get better at. Like college golf is kind of the opposite. Even par at a lot of places is going to leave you in the top 5 and give you a lot of chances to win. Definitely last summer was a really good experience of playing in some different tournaments, some really high-level amateur stuff where you have to make a lot of birdies to win. I've heard already that this course is gettable. It's going to be a challenge. I know the Western Golf Association is going to have thick rough and extremely fast greens, but I think you're going to have to make a lot of birdies out here to win.

I think it really comes down to your mentality. If you're really confident in yourself and you know your game, then you can go hit the optimal shots to try to make a lot of birdies, hit it close to the pin. For me, I think it's really important to just keep the pedal to the metal, never be satisfied, because with a field this strong, there's probably 150 guys that could win this tournament, so I think going out there and -- yeah, being really confident in yourself and never being satisfied, so going out there and trying to make four or five birdies in a row and just try to keep on going.

DAN ROAN: You've been playing great golf for a long time, but the state am last year was kind of next level, not only for you but for some of the other guys. I went to Illinois State, and one of our guys, Trent Wallace, I think shot 62 or 63, and what were your scores down there at Calumet?

PATRICK FLAVIN: I shot 63, 70, 67, and I remember I shot the 63, and was thrilled, and then Trent Wallace was two groups behind me and also shot 63, and I was like, oh, dang, the scores are good.

DAN ROAN: But that's an example of what you have to try and do, right?

PATRICK FLAVIN: Yeah, 100 percent. I think that's exactly what it's going to take. At the John Deere Classic Michael Kim shot 27 under par. State amateur a couple years ago, Nick Hardy shot 28-under par, I shot 14-under par and finished like sixth place. I think that's a good example of what it's going to take at the next level.

I'm looking forward to that challenge. I think the grueling college golf, 36 holes playing in crappy weather is -- I think that's kind of a thing of the past now, but I definitely enjoyed that. I think there's definitely tournaments where it's going to be like that where you have to make really tough pars. But making a lot of birdies is a lot of fun, so looking forward to it.

DAN ROAN: It makes you mentally tough playing in that bad weather all those holes. Scott is coming off the tournament at Exmoor this week and headed for the Senior British Open at a pretty good track over there, right?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, it's at St. Andrews, which I think it's the first time they've done that or had the senior event there. I love playing over there. It is a long trip. I didn't go last year because it was in Wales. No offense to Wales. Just didn't fit my schedule.

But this year when I saw it was at St. Andrews, then you've got to go. I don't know if you've ever been over there or played over there, but it's worth the trip, and if you love golf like I do and everybody in this room, and if you have a long career, getting to go to a place like St. Andrews is top-notch, just to kind of see where it's all from.

That kind of feeds back to like this golf tournament here. I mean, it's been going on for so long, the WGA has been a trendsetter and a market setter in golf, and particularly amateur golf, and the ability to get to play in tournaments like the Western Amateur or the Western Open or like being able to go over and play at St. Andrews is kind of why you play. When you get here in a couple weeks, get out here and enjoy it and relish and cherish that you're playing in the Western Am and then go win.

DAN ROAN: Yeah, it's back to the future for the Western Am next year, back to the Pointe for the first time in a while, so that'll be good, too. How many times have you played in events at St. Andrews?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I played three Opens, so that's 12 rounds, and then I played a bunch -- I've probably played it 25 times. You know, it's different every time. It's still the best strategic golf course I've ever played. I mean, it's funny, but it's the first golf course -- and golf is different there, a little different there than it is here, but it is still the best strategy golf course you'll ever play. Every single hole there, you can be a hero or you can be a weenie, and you can play the golf course. You can be as aggressive as you want to be on every shot. If you play it down the right on pretty much every hole, if you play it down the right off the tee closer to the trouble, you have a much better angle to get to flags. If you play it left, which is the safe side, and a lot of the wind has a lot to do with that, but if you play it left, you never have a good angle to get to a flag, at least that's my experience in the British Open. They always put the flags over these bunkers that if you're on the right side you can get at them. If you're on the left side, everything slopes away from you.

Every single hole there is the best strategy. If you're feeling good, then you try to blow it up the right side and bring the trouble into play but then give yourself a real birdie chance. If the conditions aren't right -- you can't go far enough left a lot of times, but that's why it's so cool. It's funny to me that that is how golf started and evolved, and it's still the best strategic golf course you'll ever play.

DAN ROAN: Well, I'm hearing the same things about Carnoustie, which I've never seen. Have you played there?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I played all the Opens at Carnoustie.

DAN ROAN: It looks hard as a rock right now, and I saw where Tiger was hitting 3-irons off tees and hitting them 400 yards or something.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, the Carnoustie, the strategy there is you'd better hit the fairway, and it doesn't matter which side you're in, you'd just better be in it. Yeah, the first year we were back there in 40 or 50 years, in '99, and I shot 80-74 and made the cut. And then I shot even par on the weekend and finished tenth. That's how hard the golf course is. That was the deal when Van de Velde fell in the creek or whatever, but it was off the charts hard. So I don't know, if the rough is as thick this year and the fairways are small, then the scores are going to be high.

DAN ROAN: I think the fairways are small, but I think the rough is all burned up, so it might be a little bit easier for them. Although you know how far it's going to bounce, so that's another thing to take into consideration.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, if it's dry like that, it plays -- it'll play plenty hard. Carnoustie is a heck of a golf course, and it'll be a great tournament.

DAN ROAN: Patrick, you've got the Open, the Illinois Open, you've got the Illinois Am, you've got the Western Am, so what happens for you after that?

PATRICK FLAVIN: Then I have qualifying for the U.S. Am after the state Am next week, so after the U.S. Am I'm going to turn pro and play Web.com Q-school starting the end of September.

DAN ROAN: For those of us who don't know what that entails, do you try to qualify for the events themselves or are you playing in a qualifier just to get on?

PATRICK FLAVIN: Right, so it's four stages, so you go pre-qualifying, first, second and third stage. If you get to third stage you get Web.com status, so you're trying to earn your full status by finishing top 25 in the third stage qualifying. It's definitely a haul. It's four events and you've got to be playing well. They're about a month apart. So they're really just trying to see who the best players are. In the past it was PGA TOUR Q-school where they play one six-round tournament, and the best players that week get their cards, so now they're making you work through the feeder system. If you can get status on the Web.com TOUR and you finish top 25 on their Money List, you get your PGA TOUR card. That is the goal. That's the first step. And then, yeah, so I'm looking forward to it.

DAN ROAN: How do you feel about it? Are you really anxious to get going?

PATRICK FLAVIN: For sure. I'm definitely enjoying the summer. I feel like I'm going to play some of the best amateur events. They treat you like royalty, and it's been incredible to come here and to be talking about the amateur career. So I'm looking to hopefully finish strong my amateur career starting tomorrow at the state Am. But yeah, it's really cool. Like some of my best buddies like Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer are already out playing on the PGA TOUR and playing well, and that kind of gives me some ants in my pants to get out there, too. But I'm really happy, really enjoying it.

DAN ROAN: This guy didn't have to worry about Q-school; he won the Western Open. You got a two-year exemption off that, didn't you?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I did. Ultimately I actually got hurt and actually ended up going back to TOUR school, which was fine. If you're playing well and you're confident in yourself, just go play normal, you'll make it. Everybody thinks you have to do something extraordinary. Just go play good and you'll get through it.

I've got to tell the story about the Western Open because this is the WGA, and some of these people here would remember when I won the Western Open. I'm this little kid, pretty quiet, very reserved, been diabetic since I was a little kid, didn't want to talk about it. Now I'm an open book. But just how it is.

So I'm very reserved, but I'm playing great golf. So then I get -- I play good, get into the last group, the last day, and here I am with this mountain of a man Jim Thorpe, and his hands are like the size of a catcher's mitt, and he had never won. He's a great guy. So we're playing, and I just shake his hand on the first tee, and his hand comes up to my elbow, and I'm like, okay, whatever. Okay, let's just go play.

So the weather is bad, so we're playing along, and he kept saying all along in the media, well, you know, the kid can have the trophy, I just want the money. He kept saying that, kind of as a joke.

DAN ROAN: That's what he said, but he didn't mean it.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, the kid can have the trophy, just give me the money. So go along, he makes a 15-foot putt on the last hole. We hadn't said two words all day. It's raining, the whole deal. But I had my Evans Scholar caddie with me, Jim -- I can't remember his last name now. So we're just two little kids over here hanging out trying to beat this big mountain of a man. So he makes a 15-footer on the last hole to tie. So we go to 16 for a playoff, and we both hit it down the fairway, and we're walking off the tee, and he's basically walking right there, and literally I haven't said anything, he hasn't said anything, and I go, well, you got your money. He goes, "Yeah, but there's something else I want, too." And I go, "Me, too." And I just put my head down and walked off before he whacked me.

DAN ROAN: So he was a gracious loser, wasn't he?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, we've been friends ever since. Anyway, kind of little-known stories like that. I just think back about that all the time. I was like scared to death. I was like, I want the trophy, too, and I just walked off as fast as I could.

DAN ROAN: That's so amazing you were able to get that done. I remember what he said afterward. He said, the guy may have an A in front of his name on the leaderboard, but he's playing like he's got a P after his name on the leaderboard. He was very impressed with the way you played.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, it was fun stuff, obviously. At the time I'm just playing, and you don't realize the magnitude and stuff when you're in the middle of it, you just go play. I have obviously fond memories of Chicago and the Western Open. The same as I have for the Western Am. Like I said, I've got to give -- I hadn't thought about it in these terms, but I've got to give the WGA -- I might have to do some more special stuff for you guys. You really set me up. Thank you.

DAN ROAN: Well, you've given back in a lot of different ways. As you mentioned, Scott is diabetic, he's been battling that his whole life, got some foot issues and has been riding in a cart a little bit in some of these events. We were talking before we started about the pros and cons of that. It's not always the greatest thing in the world, is it, to ride in a cart in a tournament?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No, actually I think I'm going to -- I've got to figure out a better plan because -- playing golf, a practice round or in a pro-am, you've got to ride in the cart, you know. You just want to play and get going and this, that and the other --

DAN ROAN: Hey, you're on the Champions Tour.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I know, but I've got to figure out a better plan because I can't play -- I don't play as good because you don't have your rhythm of -- we were talking about tournament golf. When you get to going good in tournament golf, you're just in your own little zone, and whatever, you talk to your buddies, you talk to your caddie. But it's all part of the whole program. So I've been trying to do this deal riding in the cart thinking it'll help my overall health, and I think it has a little bit, but I'm not sure it's worth not playing as good as I think I can. So I'm going to have to -- maybe I'll just have to -- I'm going to have to go with the tried and true method: Play better when you play less. I've always tried to do that, so that's what the best players do, and I've been lucky enough to do that some, so I think that's probably what I am going to try to go do.

DAN ROAN: We know about all the great work the WGA has done with the Evans Scholars. Scott Verplank and his wife have their own foundation that has sent -- I don't know the number for sure, I think it's close to 25 kids to college, kids who are diabetic, so you should be applauded for that, as well.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, thanks. Actually we do, I think I have 39 kids right now on scholarship. And to be honest with you, I've known about Evans Scholars and all this forever, but I really had no idea that you have 11,000 scholars, and it's full tuition, full housing. That's amazing. When somebody -- I know I've heard that before, but that kind of sank in after I've been trying to do scholarships and all that. That is an unbelievable feat, so you guys should all pat yourself on the back, everybody that's involved with that. That's very impressive.

DAN ROAN: Well, we'll be looking forward to a large donation from you here in the near future.

SCOTT VERPLANK: That would be great. If I win the British Open senior thing, you've got it. It's coming. What's your address?

DAN ROAN: All right, I know you guys have some questions for our two guests up here, so let's turn it over to the audience here for a little bit.

Q. Patrick, when did you start playing, and when did you realize you were pretty good at it, and how did you avoid having Ed Sherman mess you up?
PATRICK FLAVIN: So I started playing when I was 11. I played soccer and baseball growing up. I played baseball throughout high school. Me and my dad and my older brother would go out to Lake Bluff Golf Club, and we would just go play pretty much every day, and that's kind of when I fell in love with it. My freshman year of high school I shot 93, 90, 47, and I made the fresh-soph team, which I was fired up about, but I did not actually play in the lineup. I was the sixth man. But that really fired me up. My high school coach, Paul Harris, he's been like such a great mentor to me, and he kind of really put it in perspective of, hey, like this is going to be fire for you to really practice harder. So then sophomore year I made the varsity team, and my junior year of high school I won my first event at Bittersweet, and I remember that was really the moment when I felt like I could really be good at this.

And then I ended up getting a scholarship to Miami University, and my first event I finished 13th, and that's really a point when I felt like I could belong and I could play well in college. Yeah, and then Ed Sherman, he definitely has showed me the ropes, but he's been great. It's been a great run.

Lake Bluff, that's where it all started.

Q. Patrick, I wanted to ask you and maybe also follow up with Scott, you see this course that's going to be laid out at 6,800 yards. Back in the day for you, that was probably normal to a long golf course here. You see a course where you're playing mostly courses that are over 7,000 yards. How does that kind of change your mindset, and what kind of -- do you think there's going to be more birdies? Obviously the greens play a big factor, but when you see 6,800 yards, what kind of mindset does that do for you?
PATRICK FLAVIN: Yeah, I think definitely it's going to be -- we were talking about having to go out there and make a ton of birdies. I'm really excited to see the course and kind of find a strategy. I know for me my short game and putting has always been my strength, so on a shorter course, I think that's going to play to my favor. Figuring out what you've got to do to hit it into the fairway, and then you're probably going to have a lot of scoring clubs in. That being said, I'm sure the rough is going to be really penalizing.

Yeah, I really get excited about a shorter course like that. I think it's really fun to kind of figure out what you need to do to hit it in the fairway, and I'm sure the pins are going to be tough. I think it's definitely going to advantage somebody who is a really good putter, who can hit lots of balls in the fairway, and I'm excited to see it. Maybe there's going to be some drivable holes that are going to advantage somebody hitting it far.

Generally a shorter course really plays in my favor because I like to plot my way around and try to make a lot of putts.

Q. Scott, I just want you to know that I talked to Rocco Mediate at the Senior PGA a few years ago about his experience at the Western Amateur, and he said that that really let him know -- he was just a rough-hewn kid from Pittsburgh, that let him know that he could do this, so in a way you already have given back.
SCOTT VERPLANK: He launched his career, too. We've actually talked about that, and we joke about it. Good, I feel good about that.

Q. Scott, you were talking earlier about the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, and there's a great documentary right now about Van de Velde. What do you remember about that, getting wind of it and what happened and the players, what were they talking about? It's still something we'll probably never forget.
SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I remember that the fairways were about 26 to 28 yards wide on every hole, and there was like one strip of rough, and then it went right to the -- literally the stuff that was almost unplayable. I think they kind of blamed it on the superintendent. He did not want the golf course to get run over, and they had a lot of rain. He never cut.

I remember a couple things. I shot 80 the first round, and my mom and dad were there, and I walked off the golf course, and I told my dad, I said, you know what, I didn't play that bad. I said, it's just -- I said, this is too much golf course for me, I guess.

And like I said, I ended up playing okay. I think I parred the last nine holes the second day to make the cut on the number, which was 12-over par. But it was just -- the fairways were hard to hit. The greens were small there, lots of slope, but if you hit it in the rough -- I remember one hole I went back and forth just trying to chip out. I hit it into the high crap on 12, and I said, all right, I'm just going to chip it back to the fairway, and then the grass grabs the club and it shoots over to the left side into the stuff. All right, now I'm going to chip it back, and then it would come out too hot and go in the other side. That's kind of how it was. That's why scores were so high.

Q. Do you remember what it was about Van de Velde and the collapse on 18?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. Yeah, like I said, I played -- I was playing okay, so I was out there, and Justin Leonard, who's been a close friend of mine for a long, long time, he actually was in the playoff. So when the whole thing happened, I was actually right there behind the 18th green. It was bizarre, obviously. He made a couple bad decisions. He got a couple bad breaks, and whatever. But it's a very difficult finish there. It was a bizarre day, and it was a bizarre finish. It's been that way -- Carnoustie does that because Sergio had it won there, too, and he bogeyed the last hole by playing it too safe. It was funny because earlier that day I played about -- oh, we were a couple hours ahead of the last group, and I played with Rory McIlroy when he was an amateur. He was 17 years old, and he and I played together in the final round, and he hit driver off the 18th hole and just smoked it up there right there past the bunkers and hit like 9-iron to the green. So I'm watching the end here going, Sergio just hit driver. He drives it just like this kid. And he went with this strategy, whatever. But that one day

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