BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

May 10, 2004

Peter Jacobsen

PETER JACOBSEN: Chris was on a cane during the ProAm this year and this year I'm on crutches. Let me return the favor.

PETER JACOBSEN: Well, I had a condition, degenerative condition in my left hip. I had an arthroscopic procedure done on my labrum, same surgery that Steve Elkington, Greg Norman, Jesper Parnevik, a lot of players have had.

PETER JACOBSEN: No. And I certainly can't fit into the tight clothes. I love pink pants, but not on men (laughter).

PETER JACOBSEN: Are you sure that's a football?

PETER JACOBSEN: There's Eli Manning, No. 10.

PETER JACOBSEN: I graduated from them. Obviously, not being able to come back and defend my title this year is going to be very, very difficult for me. I feel like Hartford is a second home, having won the tournament in '84, last year in 2003. There were a couple of presentations I want to make. Larry, I just want to thank you for your continued support. What Buick does for the PGA TOUR is amazing. The new Rainier, one of the things that Buick does is they provide automobiles for the players to drive as part of the tournament. Courtesy cars. The new Rainier, I've seen Tiger do the ads for them, it's a fantastic automobile, I love that car. More than anything, what Buick does for the tournament and the PGA TOUR doesn't get communicated well enough, certainly not often enough. But thank you on behalf of all the PGA TOUR players and thank you on behalf of the Greater Hartford Jaycees, and on all of the media for what you're doing for community. They went through a lot to keep the tournament alive last year. Now Buick is taking it under their umbrella, I know it's going to be more successful than ever. So thank you very much.

PETER JACOBSEN: I do. We couldn't have done this without Roger, what he did to keep this tournament alive was not communicated enough to the community through the media. But what he did with the help of my buddy Doug Elliott, Ted May and everybody, Roger, what you did to keep this tournament on the map, I don't think thanks is ever going to be enough. From everybody in the Greater Hartford area, the charities, the golf fans, this is here because of you and what you did to keep this tournament going. So thank you. We both have a home in Bonita Springs, he said he's going to kick my ass (laughter). The chairman this year, John, I know we were going to have a chance to play in the ProAm this year. I'm sorry. I'm not ducking you. I think I can beat you. I know I can beat you (laughter). It's been great knowing you. I know it's going to be a great championship with Buick being involved, with what the Jaycees do. This is just one of the top tournaments on the tour. I'm sorry I won't be here. I will be here obviously in spirit. Huey Lewis was going to play in the ProAm. I wanted Huey to play in my spot. I understand he has a commitment. He can't play now either.

PETER JACOBSEN: Who are you going to play with? Are you going to go into the draw? John, thank you on behalf of all of us. As I wrote in this inscription, I said, "Ted, thanks for everything. You own Hartford." I remember 28 years ago I met Ted. He's really been the driving force of this event. I remember actually staying at his house. He and Debbie let me spend a couple of nights at his house -- one night -- back what -- my oldest daughter Amy is standing there with the red hair, she's almost 24. This is you, the tournament. The Greater Hartford Open, which obviously is no longer. It will go down in the annals of history as the Ted May Invitational. So, Ted, congratulations. And Chris, this is for you. It was our ProAm team that inspired me in 2003, and you were the C player. We tied for second. You had new money for the week, and that opened things up for you to play free and easy golf.

PETER JACOBSEN: Fancy seeing you here.

PETER JACOBSEN: Yes.

PETER JACOBSEN: He couldn't get a word in edge-wise.

PETER JACOBSEN: I remember 1984 when I had the great fortune of winning the tournament, I won by two or three strokes over Mark O'Meara. Sammy Davis, Jr. was the host. This was before the days of corporate involvement. I actually have a leg in both of those areas.

PETER JACOBSEN: Semi, yeah. I remember the next year in '85, defending champion, playing in the ProAm with Sammy Davis, Jr. Sammy Davis, Jr. was not a golfer. He could drive a cart. He had his posse. He had his six or eight people in six or eight carts. They would drive across the edge of green, up through the walking area where the pros would go, up across the tee. He would stop and sign autographs as I was teeing off, then the cart would just drive up as I was hitting my tee shot. That was a lot of fun, a lot of fun.

PETER JACOBSEN: Yes.

PETER JACOBSEN: Absolutely. One of the things that happens when you're a young player, when you think of Chris Riley or Aaron Oberholser or Tiger Woods, you think you're going to win every week, you think you should win every week. In 1984, I was a much younger person. I was cocky, thought I should win every week. Last year when I was winning the tournament or in the position to win the tournament, you never know till it's over, memories of '84 came flooding back. I was playing in the last group with Mark O'Meara. I was competing with my good friend. One thing I remember most about Hartford when I won and when I have not won here is the incredible support of the fans. That's the great aspect of the Buick Championship, for Buick, is you're going to see people come out and support this event probably like no other tournament on the PGA TOUR. Everybody comes to THE PLAYERS Championship because there's drama, it's the island green, 17, you see tremendous shots, you see incredible disasters. But people come support this event because it's their community as you just so eloquently laid out. Whether the companies were big or small last year, they kept this event alive. It's because of the people, the heart and soul of the people in this community. When I was coming up 18, and back in '84, there was no corporate row back then, but still there were hundreds, thousands of people on the hill. It was the same situation last year. I remember I just had to get done, I had to finish up, so I could put this thing to bed, I could have Cindy come out there, and we could hug each other on the 18th green.

PETER JACOBSEN: That was awesome.

PETER JACOBSEN: Forever.

PETER JACOBSEN: I hadn't won in eight years.

PETER JACOBSEN: It was interesting. The last win I had was in '95, in San Diego. It had been eight years. But I'd had some good tournaments, obviously. You get into contention. If you finish in the Top 10 in a tour event, you come very close, you've had your chances. If you miss putts, errant shots the last nine or 10 holes can keep you from winning. I'd been in the hunt. I could smell the blood. I could really see that I could finish the deal. But it felt like it was just yesterday. '95 felt like it was just yesterday. '84 felt like it was just yesterday when I was coming down the stretch. You never really feel like you're out of the spotlight when you're playing on the PGA TOUR. The Tour does such a great job, and fans support all the players. Once you get into contention, when you have that chance to win, it all comes back to you. Mike Sullivan, my good friend, long-time PGA TOUR pro, someone asked him one time, "Why do you beat yourself in the head so many years, practice shots, chips?" You do that for so long because when you have the chance to win the tournament like I did last year, it makes it all worthwhile. That's what being an athlete is all about. How about a Lance Armstrong, if he isn't the athlete of the year for the last four or five years, testicular cancer, won four Tour de Frances, going for his fifth. Two weeks, an amazing thing. Think of all the time he puts in without the cameras. That's commitment, that's dedication.

PETER JACOBSEN: Absolutely. I felt the good vibes the whole day. Having my new London Mafia, Peter Humphrey and Dicky Bruno, walking with me the whole time. Peter is the stoic fellow. The one thing I remember on 15, McCord of all people on television, Gary McCord, the most animated, funny broadcaster, other than yourself.

PETER JACOBSEN: You don't get too animated on there. The good news, we can see you. I don't want to see McCord, that mustache. Not an attractive look for him. 15, I drove it to the right of the green, I was in the swale. Little did I know that everybody had been putting the ball off the green on 15. That was a very sadistic pin placement, front left, on Sunday. I remember hitting my drive to the right of the green. I hit a 3-wood, was very aggressive, I wanted to stay aggressive. I hit it to the right of the green. I was talking with my caddie. I said, "Should I putt this ball up the hill or chip it?" My caddie, Graham, said, "Wow, it looks like you should probably chip it. If you putt it, you can putt it off the green." I was right next to the gallery. Some guy said, "Don't putt it. Everybody is putting it off the green." The guy next to him said, "No, no, no, putt it. Don't chip it. Everybody is going off into the rough." I had this little conferring going with the fans. But I knew they were pulling for me. I said, "What do you think? Putt it?" The camera, CBS camera, was on me. I'm carrying on this conversation with this crowd. McCord said, "Jacobsen better focus here, he's two strokes head, it's crunch time." McCord of all people should understand, that really gave me a comfort level that I felt like I was playing with you.

PETER JACOBSEN: Again, from the strategy standpoint, if you're going to hit the ball into the water on 17, not that you want to, but the place you want to miss the ball on 17 is to the right. If you miss the ball to the left off the tee, you're in the bunker or you're on that hill. Now it's intoxicating to try to reach the green in two. If you come short, you're now in the water in two, you drop three, you hit on the green in four, and if you 2-putt for a six, you give two strokes back. If you happen to hit it in the water on your tee shot, you drop, you hit on the green, three, you make a five. So in essence, if you miss the ball into the water on the right, off the tee, versus missing it into the stuff on the left, you save yourself a stroke. I knew I had two strokes to play with. I thought, "All right, I'm going to be aggressive here. I'm going to play a slice. If the ball goes anywhere, it's going to go either in the fairway or to the right." I played a very aggressive 3-wood. I played a slice. It turned out it was absolutely perfect, and it was way out there. My adrenaline was growing. There still is some natural chemicals in this body. I hit a 3-wood out there. I had 111 yards to the hole. Downwind, hit a sand wedge. Chris hit a great shot in there, about 10 feet. My caddie said, "Let's go knock it inside him." Hit a sand wedge past the hole, came down to about three feet. My heart was racing there.

PETER JACOBSEN: I knew if Chris made his, I knew I was going to make my putt, I had two strokes going into the last hole. I knew I could handle it.

PETER JACOBSEN: No.

PETER JACOBSEN: My daughter Amy, over there, my daughter Kristen was here, actually she's graduating from NYU this week, we're up here for her graduation, she came across on the 17th green after I birdied. She jumped in my arms. As you go between the corporate row to the 18th tee. She jumped in my arms, "Oh, my God, Dad, you're three strokes ahead, you're going to win." I said, "Honey, have you ever heard of a guy named Jean Van de Velde. He's a French story. But wait a minute, let me go make a par here, I'll tell you about it later." I did think that. Is there water? Is Curtis Strange? No. I thought, "Just finish this thing off." The worst thought in the world went into my head. There's a tree on the left of 18 that if you're careless, you can drive your ball into that tree. I thought, "Don't do that." I actually hit one of the worst tee shots I hit all week, a block to the right. It went up in the hill. I was fortunate not to be in the bunker. I hit a 9-iron on the front of the green, just wanted to get in with a five. I knew if Chris made three, I'd still win. He ended up making three, got second place. Jean Van de Velde. I don't need you going, "Peter Jacobsen, last hole, three strokes, in the pocket, what happened?" I did not want to see that.

PETER JACOBSEN: Extra zero.

PETER JACOBSEN: That's been the most amazing transformation of PGA golf and the growth, under Deane Beaman and Tim Finchem, the growth that has occurred on the PGA TOUR, all sports, is an amazing thing. I remember when I used to play in tour events when the purse was $100,000, first prize was 20, that was a lot of money. Back when Nicklaus and Palmer were dominating the tour. I started back when those guys were dominating the tour. I got my card in '76. So to see how the tour has grown, the largest purse I think I had won was $72,000. When I received the check, $720,000, I was like, "Wow, this is amazing." I can't imagine what Tiger or Vijay goes through when they win these million dollar checks just like that. That's amazing.

PETER JACOBSEN: This has been unfortunate for me. I was expecting to have a break coming off of last year. '05, I'm exempt on the PGA TOUR. I'm going to play a lot of golf on the PGA TOUR. Hopefully I'll be able to come back next year, hopefully we can get the scheduling changed. I would love to come back to Hartford as many years as the Jaycees will have me and Buick will have me. Even if I need a sponsor's exemption, I'll write to Dan and look for a spot. As I said, this tournament means so much to the PGA TOUR. It's very difficult, one of the things that's tough about scheduling is, whether it's a Nick Price or Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods, there are so many tournaments on the PGA TOUR that pull you. You get pulled in so many directions with other corporate sponsorships or scheduling. Obviously having my children grow up, high school graduations, dance recitals, baseball games, college graduations, players play and they try to juggle their schedule as much as possible. So this tournament is so important to me, and I know it's important to players like Nick Price and Phil Mickelson. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Tiger Woods will come play, because this tournament deserves Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods should play here. This is the kind of community that would throw its arms around Tiger. But I will be back. Whether it's '05, '06, '07, I will come back and play as long as I can play.

PETER JACOBSEN: Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, I started a tournament back in 1986 called the Fred Meyer Challenge. It was not a PGA TOUR event. It was a two-day event that we had for 18 years. We had a chance to turn it into a PGA TOUR event on The Champions Tour. It's called the Jeld-Wen Tradition. It's a major on The Champions Tour. That happened last year. This year is my first year to play in that event. You have to be 50 years old. So I had a choice. The Buick Championship and the Jeld-Wen Tradition fall on the same week. I had a choice to make, either come back and defend my title here at the Buick Championship or play in the Jeld-Wen Tradition. With all due respect to the Buick Championship and Hartford, I feel that I have to play in Portland because we've done pretty much the same work as Roger and John and Ted and Larry and everybody has done to keep this tournament alive. We've done that in Portland. So all things being equal, I have to go and do what I need to do for my hometown. So I know I'm probably going to make a lot of people mad.

PETER JACOBSEN: Thank you.

PETER JACOBSEN: That's cool. I'm going to have to come back at some point and make it three. Before we get to questions, I want to say congratulations to the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball team. I'm a huge fan. Through Peter Humphrey and Dick Bruno, they've turned me on to Geno Auriemma. What he's done there is an amaze are thing, then Jim Calhoun, I've actually played in the ProAm here with many times, I was mesmerized. So great to watch the Final Four of men's and women's. That's awesome, isn't it?

PETER JACOBSEN: Very cool. A shout out to my boys, Geno and Jimmy.

PETER JACOBSEN: They are.

PETER JACOBSEN: The injury I have is a torn labrum. You have four labrums, your two hip joints and your two shoulder joints, that allows the rotation of your joint. I'm going to be out a total of eight weeks, eight to nine weeks. I've been two so far. Had the surgery a couple weeks ago down in Fort Lauderdale. I can't put any weight on it yet. I can't really turn my leg one way or another. The same injury that Norman, Parnevik, Steve Elkington have had. It's not a golf-related injury. It's simply I think stress. He sees a lot of tennis players. He's actually done both hips on Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh Penguins, John Fiedler (ph), his front leg. When you plant your leg, rotate, whether you're hitting a golf ball or throwing a football or hitting a puck, there's some torque going on in there. I'm one of the weak-hipped guys.

PETER JACOBSEN: Three good ones.

PETER JACOBSEN: Thank you.