WGC NEC INVITATIONAL MEDIA DAY

July 6, 2004

Darren Clarke

Tom Knoll

Ken Vedder

KEN VEDDER: Thank you very much, Tom. On behalf of NEC Corporation, I'm pleased to be able to take part in this press conference for the 2004 NEC Invitational. Since its inception, the NEC Invitational has continued to grow as an outstanding event showcasing top golfers and the challenging course of Firestone. The excitement of the fans both on the course and watching on TV seems to increase each year and NEC is proud to be the title sponsor. We would like to thank Darren Clarke for taking the time to participate in the conference today, and I'm sure we are all interested in hearing his thoughts about returning to Firestone for this year's event. Speaking of Firestone, I would be remiss if I did not recognize the great work that the volunteers contribute to making the event the success that it is. Their sacrifice and love for the game is extremely gratifying and we thank them. Finally NEC also appreciates that the NEC Invitational continues to give back to the local community by providing benefits like the First Tee Program and local charities like the Children's Hospital. Last year we had a great tournament and for the first time, I believe in 16 years, we had no rain. We are looking forward to a repeat this year. Thanks again, Tom.

TOM KNOLL: Thank you, Tom. It is a pleasure for me to be here this morning representing Northern Ohio Golf Charities and the PGA TOUR to announce that the winner of the 2004 Ambassador of Golf Award will be Lee Trevino. Many of you know, this award was instituted back in 1981, so we are in our 24th year of presentation. The award is presented annually to a person who has fostered the ideals of the game of golf at the international level and whose concern for others extends beyond the golf course. Clearly, Lee fits into this category and by being named as the Ambassador will join many, many other great players of the game, some of whom were his contemporaries. Among them Chi Chi Rodriguez, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Robert De Vincenzo, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen, certainly elite company. As you may be aware, Lee was legendary both on and off the golf course. On the golf course in the course of his career Lee was the winner of the U.S. Open twice, the British Open twice, the Canadian Open three times, the PGA Championship twice, and THE PLAYERS Championship one time. Lee won 29 times on the PGA TOUR and recorded 29 -- has already recorded 29 Champions Tour victories as well as 21 victories throughout the world. Truly an international player and an international representative of the game. Trevino was also a member of seven Ryder Cup teams and was a team captain in 1985. In 1981, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida. His accomplishments off the course are probably as legendary as they are on the golf course. The Merry Max certainly was one of the great favorites of the game of all-time. He has an engaging personality which you just can't avoid, and certainly his humor both on and off the golf course is legendary. I still can visualize in my minds's eye the time he dragged the snake out of the bag on the playoff. But certainly, we at the Northern Ohio Golf Charities as well as the PGA TOUR and Ambassador of Golf committee are very, very pleased to welcome Lee into this elite company, and we're looking forward to the tournament on Wednesday night when he will receive that honor and we hope you will all be with us. Thank you.

KEN VEDDER: Sure, I'm happy to do that. Akron kind of has a unique position with NEC. As you probably are aware, we've been a participant in golf for a long, long time, and the NEC Invitational is the most recent iteration of that. So we feel a relationship with not only the tournament people, but the volunteers and members of the community, as well. So, it has a special place in our scheme of operations that is hard to duplicate anywhere. So we are really pleased that we are at Akron in terms of having an event and support that we get, not to mention the great facility that's there and the efforts that the PGA TOUR has put to improving the course each year and the facility. So it just makes an outstanding event for us, an event that we are proud to offer to our customers that we bring to the event to share the excitement and the other activities that surround the whole tournament.

TOM KNOLL: One of the things, we've got a couple of minutes, I don't want to discourage questions, but I'm sure you'd like to ask questions of Darren when he gets on the line. As many of you are probably aware, at Firestone we are celebrating the 50th year of tournament golf at the club. I'm sure there are other clubs that probably have as long a history of tournament golf, but I can assure you there are not very many. We are also celebrating this year our 75th anniversary as a club, and there are some events planned around that celebration in late July. But, I do want to acknowledge the Akron Beacon Journal for what I think will be, which has started off to be very interesting coverage and I think will continue to be. The Beacon Journal is going to be running 50 stories on tournament golf and related matters as it pertains to tournament golf over the course of the next several weeks. I think all of you will find it interesting reading because there's a lot of history in there and there's a lot of interesting stories about culture at Firestone. And obviously if any of you are interested in learning more about that, we would certainly make people available to talk to you about that but I do thank Marla and the staff for what's started off to be a very interesting series of articles.

TOM KNOLL: I don't have those numbers at my fingertips but I know it's in excess of $15 million that's been raised over the course of 50 years. For a number of years we started off with 40,000, $50,000 and we reached the apex of over a million dollars for severely years. We are now close to $1 million every year. Certainly is at that level. It has benefitted not only charities in the Akron area, but we have now extended our focus to the northern Ohio area and we are benefitting some Cleveland charities, as well. But we look forward to getting close to that million dollar number again this year and turning that over to the charities of northern Ohio.

DARREN CLARKE: Okay. Well, I think Firestone has been or is one of my favorites golf courses in the world. It's one of the best. You know, I remember the first time I was there playing I walked into the dining room and all of the pictures of the great players that have won there before and certainly for me to have picture joining those elite players is a great honor. The couple of weeks previous to Firestone last year I felt as if my game was coming into shape, but unfortunately I missed the cut a couple of weeks before. And to get there and play as well as I did and win another World Golf Championship was certainly very special to me, probably more enjoyable than the first one at La Costa.

DARREN CLARKE: You want me to reveal all of my secrets just in case I need to go back to the same place again? It actually took me to Providence, because the week after was Boston. I found a very, very nice, accommodating Irish bar swiftly after I landed, and they didn't close for many hours afterwards.

DARREN CLARKE: It is and it always will be. No. 2 I've heard the tee gone back, have they lengthened it much?

DARREN CLARKE: What was it beforehand, 500?

DARREN CLARKE: Well, that's going to make a big difference going into there because the greens being so elevated it's going to make a huge difference. Birdies and Eagles won't be quite so easy to come by. No. 11, if there's a new tee there, that was one where people more try to get it on and hit the fairway than go at the green, but again that's going to make it a little bit tougher. Hopefully, they won't make it any tougher because I thought it was tough enough last year even though I managed to win. I hope that 16th green is a little bit softer this year.

DARREN CLARKE: Well, last year I drove the ball particularly well. Because I missed the cut the previous week in the PGA, I got to Firestone early and I was able to practice a lot around the greens and practice for four days. Because of knowing where the pins were going to be and having played there many times before, I was able to really work on my short game around the greens. And you're right, with the rough as severe as it has been, it's very difficult to get anywhere near the green, let alone close to the flag out of that rough. You know, I was more wary last year of, as you said, short-siding myself and I managed to do a pretty good job of avoiding that and I think that was a key element and how I managed to win. But again, last year, the course was playing firm and fast, which I haven't played under those circumstances before. So if anything, I probably made it a little bit easier for us, as well.

DARREN CLARKE: 44.

DARREN CLARKE: Basically started because I was too fat to tell you the truth. (Laughter.) It wasn't doing my golf game any good. Certainly the celebrations afterward Sunday night didn't do me any good either. But it was an area of my game which I took a look at during the season last year, and the only area I had not worked on was my physical fitness. I took a look at the guys in the Top-10 in the World Rankings, even though I was just outside of, and I wasn't as fit as all of those guys in the Top-10. I was strong when I was playing, but I put down some of the mistakes I was making coming down to the stretch due to not being physically fit enough, which was then going on to making mental mistakes, and that's what I was doing. So I started in September, just after Firestone, when I got back home . I've got a trainer called Steve Hanson that travels around the world with me. He goes everywhere I go and has me religiously in the gym even when I'm not feeling like it. You know, certainly I'm twice as strong as I've ever been. Hopefully you'll see a difference whenever I get back there between again. But my waist has gone to six inches smaller and I'm an awful lot lighter. Unfortunately my timing has been a little bit affected thus far this year because of losing so much but I'm starting to figure it out and get it sorted again.

DARREN CLARKE: I'd like my game to be as good every week whenever I won last year but unfortunately it's not. This year, I've had some good weeks and some bad weeks. I haven't managed to win so far this year. But it's particularly frustrating because I've had one good round and then I figure the next day, I'm so-so. I'm working very hard on my swing and my game. And I'm trying to get that little bit of consistency to come back into it again which I feel I'm getting closer to.

DARREN CLARKE: Yes. (Laughing) You're very interested in my personal life, I'm starting to worry here. (Laughter.)

DARREN CLARKE: There's a lot to be said for Tanqueray and tonic, I have to say, Marla, it's very nice. But definitely, the beers have all gone. It's just something that my trainer wanted me to do, too much carbs in them, so I managed to cut those out. And thankfully I'm sticking to, lighter refreshments, shall we say.

DARREN CLARKE: I'm currently sitting in the media center here in the Barclay's Scottish Open in Loch Lomond. Next week we have the Open at Troon and then I have 10, 12 days off and I'm flying over to the States and doing a little work on a course in Palm Beach. So I have to go down there for a couple of days and go to Whistling Straits straight after that and then straight to Firestone. As regard to next week at Troon, I played reasonably well there whenever we were there the last time in '97, so I'm looking forward getting back to it again. I hoping to do one bit better.

DARREN CLARKE: Yeah, I'm still working with Butch. Obviously spending my time, currently my time in Europe, it's very difficult to work closely with him with him being in Vegas and me being over here. He keeps an eye on things on my swing, to take a look at over the Internet and he watches me on the Golf Channel. So, we're still working together and, you know, I'm very happy with what I'm doing at the moment. I just need to shoot some good scores to get myself back where I want to be, just get the confidence level up a little bit.

DARREN CLARKE: The thought did cross my mind this past month or so whenever I've been walking 20 yards right of fairways to go and find my ball. I have considered having a few pints of Guinness to get me back on the right line again. (Laughter.) I'm committed to what I'm trying to do. So, you know, I'll take a look at the end of the year, reassess at the end of the year. You know it would be a shame if I decided I needed to put my weight back on and have to spend most of the off-season in the bar.

TOM KNOLL: We met last year. I'm the chairman of Firestone Country Club. I just want you to know how much we are looking forward to seeing you back here last year you made and always have made a great impression with all of the people who are associates of Firestone Country Club. I know they are all eagerly awaiting your return here, if you would do me a favor, personal favor if you won into Mr. Patty O'Looney (ph), would you please give him my regards.

DARREN CLARKE: I will indeed. I can't wait to get back to Firestone because that $1,050,000 didn't last for too long.

DARREN CLARKE: Absolutely not.

DARREN CLARKE: Most definitely Firestone, because that's one of the best courses in the world against the best players in the world and 72 hole stroke-play. While La Costa was still fantastic and a World Golf Championship event, more or less head-to-head against one guy in that particular round. But over 72 holes, you get the best player that week, usually wins, and it sounds very obvious, but competing against the guys I was competing against and to win in the manner in which I did was certainly more enjoyable to me than La Costa.

DARREN CLARKE: Well, I'm not sure what sets it apart. Some links courses I get to and I can see shots on. Some I get to and I find it quite difficult albeit I've grown up playing on links. But Troon, I don't know what sets it apart. But compared to -- if you want doing to go down the pressure route, that was like a tea party compared to Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is the ultimate so far. You just asked me about the front nine, I was coming down the stretch on the back nine with four or five holes to go need to go make a birdie, that would be different, but certainly the Ryder Cup is the most pressure I've felt in any arena so far.

DARREN CLARKE: Well, if you're playing well, it doesn't make any difference if the wind is behind you or the wind is against you. Sometimes it's much better to have the wind against you than it is with you. So, if I'm playing well it doesn't particularly bother me where it's coming from or how strong it is.

DARREN CLARKE: I was comfortable sitting in my sofa at home because I only live two and a half hours away and I was watching the last few holes unfold. I watched them from about 14. And to be perfectly honest, no, I didn't know Ben at all, I didn't know who he was. But, you know, did he what he had to do down the stretch. He made a fantastic putt on 18 under that sort of pressure to give himself the opportunity to win, and, you know, it looked very difficult. I've played with him a lot of times since and he's a great guy, he's a gentleman and I really enjoy being in his company.

DARREN CLARKE: That I don't know, to comment about how much respect gets over there for being a U.S. Open -- not a U.S. Open, but being British Open Champion. You know, the Open Champion is somebody who has won the oldest major in the world, and, you know, no matter where they are playing, they should be seen for that.

DARREN CLARKE: Thank you. Please make sure there's loads of gin and tonic and loads of ice and lemon in my locker. Thank you very much.