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WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 3, 2005

Frank Lickliter

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Frank, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center. We appreciate your time. Why don't you start with talking about the golf course, the tournament here and maybe a little bit of what you've been up to the last couple weeks.

FRANK LICKLITER II: Well, I was actually on vacation a couple weeks ago, played extremely well last week for the first three days, and I feel really good about my game, and I played a practice round this morning here. The greens are as fast as I've ever seen and as good as I've ever seen, and right now the course is firm, which is kind of nice. I'm afraid that the weather might be coming in, again, which will soften things up.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Might get a little rain on Thursday and Friday.

FRANK LICKLITER II: But right now the course is playing fast, the way it was designed to play.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Is this your first time here? You've been here the last couple years.

FRANK LICKLITER II: It's my third year here.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: I know you're here also to start a new program, something that you've put together. Why don't you just give us a little background on that.

FRANK LICKLITER II: The Wounded Warriors Program was brought to my attention through Cricket, my agent. I've been looking for something to do with the golf bag, something to donate to. It's got all the patches from Iraq, Afghanistan, division patches. I couldn't go bigger than that or else we never would have gotten them on the bag. I was looking for something to do with the bag. I wanted to auction it off and donate it to a worthwhile cause, and out of everything that was brought to my attention, the WWP was by far the most touching to me because it directly impacts the guys that have made serious sacrifices for us. If there's anything that I can do to make people aware of what the guys go through when they come back after they've been wounded, just get more people aware of it.

The last thing we want to do is forget about these guys, considering what they've sacrificed for us, the time, the energy, and their bodies. We want them to be recognized and thanked and taken care of the way they should be.

Q. How will this work? You contribute from your winnings?

FRANK LICKLITER II: Yeah, I'll actually make a minimum cash donation at certain tournaments, the ones that match where the hospitals are, and then I'll donate a percentage over that; 5 percent of whatever I win will go to the charity.

Q. How will this money be used in the project?

FRANK LICKLITER II: Well, it's going to be used for anything that the soldiers need. I think transportation between where they're staying and the hospitals is a big part of the cost of what the guys have to deal with. Actually phone cards so that they can call their families when they get home. Sometimes their families aren't necessarily able to come to them, so just being able to talk to their families, just simple things like guys were telling me shaving kits because when they come from Iraq directly, they basically have only what they're wearing, that's it. One of the captains back there said it took him six months to get his equipment from Iraq, so he went for six months without any of his gear. Like he said, he got tired of walking around in his gown, the hospital gown. That gets old if you can imagine that.

So just basic necessities.

Q. Do you have a connection somewhere or this is just something that hit?

FRANK LICKLITER II: My grandfather fought in the Spanish-American war. I actually have his rifle that he used. My dad was in the Navy and actually during the Cuban Missile Crisis was taking pictures of Russian transport ships. You know, I've got several good friends that are in the service, and to me, as an American, as a patriot, I love being an American. It does not get any better than this, right here.

Q. Should we mention which of the five tournaments that we're designating as the -- should we name which golf tournaments those are?

FRANK LICKLITER II: Yeah, we can do that.

Q. So this is the first one?

FRANK LICKLITER II: This one, Booz Allen, Cialis, Tampa and Valero.

Q. What did you take from those trips you made to Korea and Cuba? Obviously there was a lasting impression.

FRANK LICKLITER II: What amazed me was how spartan the troops live. You know, their facilities -- these are our bases. I'm not talking about what they have in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our bases are spartan. They're definitely not what I was expecting.

You know, in Cuba it was extremely hot, and I don't think there was but maybe three rooms in the whole island that had air-conditioning, you know, that type of spartan. Yeah, they had showers and beds, but it's not first class, if you know what I mean. It's not flying in the G2 and having a stewardess serve you a cocktail between tournaments if you know what I mean. It's rough.

Q. Did that stuff have more of an impact on you than you thought it would before you went there?

FRANK LICKLITER II: Yeah, and on top of that, I'm not saying that it's dreary. I mean, every guy that I met, the morale was unbelievable, their attitudes were unbelievable, just super -- everyone I've met has just been an outstanding human being.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Frank, for joining us. We appreciate your time.

FRANK LICKLITER II: Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts.

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