|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY KITCHENAIDMay 20, 2015Colin MontgomerieFRENCH LICK, INDIANA JULIUS MASON: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We would like to welcome Colin Montgomerie, the 2014 Senior PGA Champion, to the media center. Colin, welcome. Let's not talk about winning Ryder Cup captain, let's not talk about World Golf Hall of Fame. Let's not do that. Let's talk about what was on the menu last night at the Champions Dinner. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes. That's a very good thing to talk about. Food. Yes. My favorite subject. I had to limit the food intake last night because it was my menu. So I only had one course, which is strange for me. So the starter was a tomato mozzarella salad, followed by a lovely steak and sticky toffee pudding, which is a favorite of mine. You can see that. (Laughter.) You can see that. So, yeah, but a good dinner. I hope you felt the same. The PGA of America put on a great dinner for the champions of the Senior PGA Championship and it was a good dinner we had. It was great to see Pete Dye there with his wife Alice and that was super to see him there at 89 years old. What a job he's made of this venue that we have here. Incredible. Something that, you never know, could go down as one of the iconic courses in America again. Like many of his course designs that I've played. I played a few of them, from Kiawah Island onwards, in 1991 when we played the Ryder Cup there through the TPC Sawgrasses to Oak Tree, of course, the U.S. Senior Open, to many of them. So it's been a delight to play the courses. And this is no different. This is a real challenge for us all. JULIUS MASON: So you saw the golf course at media day, you have seen the golf course a couple of days here. The golf course hasn't seen your arms or elbows because I think you've had to wear outerwear every time you played it. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, the media day especially. That was a rotten day. I mean, with all respect, not because it was media day, but because the weather was awful. Yeah, it was cold again this morning and it's due to be cold again over the week for the first part of the day. So off early tomorrow, the ball doesn't fly as far obviously in the cold and with a little breeze blowing it makes the course ever more difficult. And it's a super challenge that it is. So we look forward to trying to get around here and trying to establish a position on Saturday night so one can be in contention. JULIUS MASON: Do you like the golf course? Can you win here? COLIN MONTGOMERIE: One of my -- well one of, that's nice to say -- one of my strengths. My strength is driving the ball. And I've put the ball in the fairway during practice. That's a must around here. A must. You will not find people missing fairways winning here. It's a complete and utter must to hit the fairways. So I've been doing that in practice so, touch wood, that continues for the next four days. JULIUS MASON: Good deal. Questions? Q. I noticed you were playing the ninth hole today. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, indeed. Q. You were talking about your chipping better than your putting. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, I did. Q. Can you talk about that? COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, I happened to chip in. (Laughter.) So it was an eagle. So that's quite good. So I can't really beat that. Even if I'm on the green, you know. But, no, you got to have all aspect of the game. It's a classic Pete Dye course where, first of all, you have to drive the ball well and then it's a very demanding for the second shot to get the right distance control with your irons. If you don't get that right distance, you're going to kick off the greens and then you've got a chipping or putting or whatever you do around the greens. You have options in certain ways, you can chip it, putt it, a lot of people are hybriding up the slopes, whatever. Then once you're on the green you've got the challenge of getting the ball in the hole in two shots. So it's a hundred percent challenge, this course. It challenges every aspect of your game. That's why I was saying that the chipping is an aspect that will have to be used this week, because you will not, whether you hit the fairways or not, you will not be hitting all the greens in regulation. So you've got to have all aspect of the game, they have to be tight. Q. You've been the defending champion of many tournaments in your career. What does it mean to return to a tournament where you're the defending champion of your first Major? COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, you know, this was my first occasion I played in the 75th Senior PGA Championship and this is the 76th. So it is my first time to play. So it's great to come back as defending champion and in fact it's almost, because we're back to Benton Harbor next year and, having won there, I've almost got, I feel I've got two defenses somehow because I'm defending there as well as here for the first time. So that's a thrill. It is a thrill to come back as defending champion. The PGA treat their defending champions royally as I have been treated here this week and I look forward to trying to defend, of course. Very tough to do so. It was very tough to win it. Never mind try and defend it. Every year the competition out here gets tougher because there's new guys turning 50 all the time. And it is getting tougher to win. But I like the challenge of these Major courses. They are more difficult than the average TOUR course, setup-wise. And it tends to suit me more. And also the four rounds. I do -- my whole life I've been playing four rounds until I get to the Champions Tour and it's mostly three. I do prefer the four round events. It gives me more of an opportunity. So, all in all, we look forward to it. Q. You said when you won the Senior PGA Championship last year that every part of your game was on fire and you weren't hitting it as long as you used to, but it was like you were playing in your prime. Do you feel that your game is the same right now? COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, it's very similar, thank you. Very similar. I felt that I was playing as well as I did in the '90s when I won last year. I feel my game is -- I'm actually driving the ball probably a little better than I did then. The game is quite tight. There's nothing much wrong with it. It's just a matter of putting it all together. Missing the greens on the right side, so one can get up-and-down and being tidy around the greens. It's amazing over four rounds how that adds up. So, yeah, I'm very confident as we sit here, very confident, probably when I make 7 at the first tomorrow I won't be as confident, but right now things are okay. Yeah. I look forward to it. I look forward to playing with Jay Haas and Tom Lehman. Great group. Past Senior PGA Championship winners and I look forward to partnering with them tomorrow. JULIUS MASON: Have you been to the casino yet? COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I haven't, no. I can't afford to lose, actually. I've never seen a casino that's gone bust, really. There's a reason for that. Because we're a bit silly and we give them money, you know. So I've never been able to afford to lose. When I get to that position, I'll go. JULIUS MASON: Your manager's in the back, I'm going to ask him when you're going to get your on TV show in a second. But for anybody locally here, is there a sports book in the casino? Can we go bet on Colin to win this championship? No sports book. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Sports book? Is that what you call it? There's no, there's no odds? There's no odds on... JULIUS MASON: We have to go to Las Vegas. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Las Vegas, really? JULIUS MASON: I'll let you know what happens there. Ladies and gentlemen we look forward to seeing Colin Montgomerie at about 8:40 tomorrow morning teeing off. Thanks, Colin. COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Thanks very much. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|