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UBS CUPNovember 18, 2004Arnold PalmerGary PlayerKIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA ARNOLD PALMER: I haven't decided. GARY PLAYER: I'll be teaming these guys with my guys. JIM KELLY: The gamesmanship has begun. Sally from UBS, can you come up and toss the coin for us, please? We'll make it official that way I'm not involved. We'll let Gary call heads or tails. Whoever wins the toss has the choice of picks first or second. Gary, you call it. GARY PLAYER: I said heads. ARNOLD PALMER: It's tails. GARY PLAYER: Now is that two tails or one head? (Laughter.) JIM KELLY: Arnold, you have the option of picking first or picking second. ARNOLD PALMER: Now, who do I pick? JIM KELLY: We were hoping you'd like two golfers. ARNOLD PALMER: I'd like myself first. Do Gary and I and play first, is that the order? So all you're really looking for is who I'm playing with tomorrow. I am playing with Jay Haas. JIM KELLY: Arnold and Jay Haas at 10:00 in Match 1. GARY PLAYER: And I'm playing with Mark McNulty. JIM KELLY: Gary Player and Mark McNulty. Arnold and Jay Haas in the first match. GARY PLAYER: I think we should put those two. Langer and -- ARNOLD PALMER: Wait a minute, which -- GARY PLAYER: You ever heard of that thing called Alzheimer's? I need a young man here to -- (Mark McNulty looking on). ARNOLD PALMER: You need him? You have an assistant now? GARY PLAYER: I need an assistant. I need to pay for meetings. You're just too tight. ARNOLD PALMER: We put down Montgomerie and Langer. JIM KELLY: Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer in Match 2 at 10:15. ARNOLD PALMER: Oh, my. Well, my guys are going to be Kite and Floyd. JIM KELLY: Tom Kite and Raymond Floyd in Match 2 against Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer. ARNOLD PALMER: Match 3, I will give you Irwin and Funk. JIM KELLY: Hale Irwin and Fred Funk in the 10:30 match. ARNOLD PALMER: I don't like this collaboration. I've always had the advantage and now you've brought help had in. GARY PLAYER: Since we've never won the damn thing, we need two assistants. (Laughter.) JIM KELLY: Barry Lane, Sam Torrance against Hale Irwin and Fred Funk in Match 3. GARY PLAYER: I'll take Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle. JIM KELLY: Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, 10:45. Match 4. Arnold? ARNOLD PALMER: Who is it, Sandy Lyle? GARY PLAYER: Yeah, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam. ARNOLD PALMER: Boy, getting double-teamed already, geez. GARY PLAYER: Why don't you put you and me against him. ARNOLD PALMER: Now you want to pick my team, too? Geez. (Laughter.) Okay. Watson and Scott Hoch. JIM KELLY: Tom Watson, Scott Hoch, Match 4 against Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle. Arnold, you pick first for the 11:00 Match 5. ARNOLD PALMER: Strange and Stadler. GARY PLAYER: And then we have John Chillas and Carl Mason. JIM KELLY: John and Carl Mason against Curtis Strange and Craig Stadler. GARY PLAYER: WHO IS Stadler playing with? ARNOLD PALMER: What? GARY PLAYER: Who is Stadler playing with? JIM KELLY: Strange and Stadler; Chillas and Mason. GARY PLAYER: So we've got one more to go. JIM KELLY: So that leaves Peter Senior and Roger Davis for you, Gary. GARY PLAYER: So my pick now right. Well I only have one to go. Who picked the last team? How did this last match, who picked the last match we have just done, who picked first? ARNOLD PALMER: Who is going with Chillas? GARY PLAYER: Carl Mason. JIM KELLY: So then it's Hal Sutton and Freddie Couples in Match 6 at 1:15 against Peter Senior and Rodger Davis. GARY PLAYER: Who is playing Senior; Couples, who else? And Sutton. ARNOLD PALMER: Couples and Sutton against Senior and -- GARY PLAYER: Rodger Davis. JIM KELLY: Gary, some comments overall on your team and the match-ups maybe for day one before we get to some questions. GARY PLAYER: There's no question, I think in my opinion that Arnold has got the strongest team that I've seen him have since we've played these matches, I really do. If you look at these names, they are pretty impressive and I think we have got some good names. I think they are two good teams. I think we can have some terrific games. The weather is great. The course is fine, beautiful golf course. So I think everything is looking really good for a nice series, you know. We want to see good golf, good matches, exciting matches, and I think that looks good. JIM KELLY: Do you have any thoughts on the lies that Gary just expounded upon? ARNOLD PALMER: It's so bad to be such an underdog. GARY PLAYER: I said we both had good teams. ARNOLD PALMER: I'm just pulling your leg. I think the whole thing is shaping up to be a wonderful competition. We really have 24 very fine players. There's not a man on here, except for me, I'm probably the only weak one on the whole 24 guys. And other than that, the venue is perfect. The weather has been just wonderful. The golf course will make a good golf course for this kind of a competition. It all looks good. It looks great to me, everything. All I want to do is win. GARY PLAYER: You need the money. ARNOLD PALMER: I need the money. JIM KELLY: Ladies and gentlemen, any questions from the floor for Arnold or for Gary, please. Q. Does the golf course remind you of anything that you have ever played anywhere else? GARY PLAYER: He's asking you. ARNOLD PALMER: Oh, do you want to answer that question? (Laughter.) JIM KELLY: It doesn't resemble Park Meadows and Park City at all. ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I've seen golf courses I would say with some similarities to it, Rich. You know, it remind me a bit of a links combination golf course. There's a lot of holes that are kind of links-situated versus inland course. But since we are on really in the dunes or in the marsh, the golf course is. I guess I'd best describe it as a combination of links and inland golf course. Q. Did any of your players, either one of you guys, request playing with anybody else or did you guys decide on your own? GARY PLAYER: Yes, some of my players did request. GARY PLAYER: Well, Sandy Lyle has grown up playing with Ian Woosnam, so he felt very comfortable playing with him. And Mark and I have grown up pretty much together, and we wanted to play together. And then Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer have played together in the past, if I'm not mistaken, in Ryder Cups, so they wanted to play together. And Sam Torrance said to me this morning, he'd like to play with Barry Lane. And so that's basically it. And the two Australians, Senior and Davis, have grown up together playing, and so has Chillas and Mason. So just seemed to be a natural to have the teams that we have. Q. You had a banner year on the Champions Tour, what are your thoughts heading into your first UBS Cup? MARK McNULTY: Yeah, I'm obviously looking forward to it. It's always a great honor and pleasure to play with Gary. I was fortunate enough to play with him in our junior day in Zimbabwe when I was about 17 years old. Obviously I think these two gentlemen to my left can tell you a little bit more. They were responsible for me being here today. When I was nine years old, I think 1962, 1963, if you remember, they came and played a exhibition at Royal Salisbury and it is now Royal Harare. I was pulled out of school and had no idea what I was going for and there they were. It was a very exciting time for me. So it's great to be here, apart from the year, it's a great year for me and I've -- the last two years I've been asked to play in this and unfortunately it has not come at the right time; last year with a Champion Tour qualifying, and I think the year before I had something else in Japan. But I've heard so much about this event. UBS has been great over the years, and it's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it and I think we're going to win. MARK McNULTY: I can't remember, I was so in awe. Maybe Gary might remember. I don't know whose memory is best over here. Let's call it a tie. (Laughter.) Q. We caught up to you this afternoon and you were through six holes and you told me you were even par. How did you do from there? ARNOLD PALMER: It was a nice day. (Laughter.)
JIM KELLY: I've got a question for Gary, and for a lesser degree maybe to Mark. Last night at the UBS dinner, I remarked Arnold has an amazing of 6-0 and going for 7-0 here in the UBS competition. In team competition when he has been a captain, he has never ever lost when he has been a captain in international competition.
Gary, Mark, do you get a sense that his guys dig down a little deeper? You heard his quote, "all he wants to do is win." Do they put all a lit bit of magic or do they try just a little bit harder? GARY PLAYER: Obviously Arnold's players have tremendous respect for him as everybody does, and Arnold has earned respect around the world. So, yes, I think they do try and he's got a lot of talent. You've got to have talent to start with, and I think it's a combination of respect for Arnold and a lot of talent.
JIM KELLY: Gary, Arnold, thank you, good luck.
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