UBS WARBURG CUP

November 16, 2002

Arnold Palmer

Gary Player

MODERATOR: Welcome and good afternoon to a rather damp St. Simons Island golf course in southern Georgia, more like Wentworth in October than Georgia in the sunshine. But nevertheless the golf today was very thrilling and we're here this afternoon to make the draw for tomorrow's 12 single matches.

On my right are the two captains and we have to toss to decide which captain makes the first choice for the second match, because obviously the first match is Arnold Palmer playing Gary Player, so we're tossing the coin now.

(COIN TOSSED.)

MODERATOR: Would one of you gentlemen like to call.

GARY PLAYER: Heads.

MODERATOR: It is tails. So Arnold you can either go first or let Gary go first. It's your choice.

ARNOLD PALMER: I'll let Gary go first.

GARY PLAYER: All right. I'll go with Sam Torrance.

ARNOLD PALMER: What about you and me?

GARY PLAYER: That's automatic.

MODERATOR: The first match is you're playing Gary in the first match, so we're drawing for the second match.

ARNOLD PALMER: Okay. I'll do Curtis Strange.

GARY PLAYER: Then I'll go with Bernard Langer.

ARNOLD PALMER: Paul Azinger.

GARY PLAYER: No, I picked Sam Torrance, so it's Arnold's turn to pick now.

ARNOLD PALMER: You just picked Bernard Langer.

MODERATOR: We went out of turn. It's your pick, Arnold.

GARY PLAYER: I don't mind leaving it.

MODERATOR: Paul Azinger and Bernard Langer.

Gary's pick now.

GARY PLAYER: I'll go with Eduardo Romero.

ARNOLD PALMER: Tom Lehman.

MODERATOR: Tom Lehman will play Eduardo Romero in Match No. 4.

Match 5 is your pick, Arnold.

ARNOLD PALMER: My next one is Scott Hoch.

GARY PLAYER: I'll go with Barry Lane.

MODERATOR: Barry Lane to play Scott Hoch in Match No. 5.

And Gary it's your draw.

GARY PLAYER: I'll go with Nick Faldo.

ARNOLD PALMER: I will go with Mark O'Meara.

MODERATOR: Mark O'Meara to play Nick Faldo in Match No. 6.

And Arnold, it's your pick again for Match No. 7.

ARNOLD PALMER: Tom Kite.

GARY PLAYER: Ian Woosnam.

MODERATOR: Tom Kite to play Ian Woosnam in Match No. 7.

Gary, your pick for Match No. 8.

GARY PLAYER: Rodger Davis.

ARNOLD PALMER: Hale Irwin.

MODERATOR: Hale Irwin to play Rodger Davis in Match No. 8.

Arnold, your pick for Match No. 9.

ARNOLD PALMER: Fred Funk.

GARY PLAYER: Isao Aoki.

MODERATOR: Fred Funk to play Isao Aoki in Match No. 9.

Gary, your pick for Match No. 10.

GARY PLAYER: Stewart Ginn.

ARNOLD PALMER: Bob Gilder.

MODERATOR: Bob Gilder to play Stewart Ginn in Match No. 10.

Arnold, your pick for Match No. 11.

ARNOLD PALMER: Raymond Floyd.

GARY PLAYER: Ebihara.

MODERATOR: So Raymond Floyd plays Seiji Ebihara in Match No. 11.

And Tom Watson plays Denis Durnian in the final match of the day. Thank you very much to the two captains.

Now, before we open the questions to the floor, could I first off ask you two how you think the matches are poised and how you think tomorrow's draw is going? What is your thinking behind the strategy of putting your players out in the way you have?

GARY PLAYER: Well, I think tomorrow is poised for a very exciting day. Last year we lost by one point and we are one point behind going into the final day and I think we're in for a very exciting UBS match. I think the series has been excellent up to now. The coverage, thanks to all you people, has been outstanding. And the matches have always been the standard of golf -- I mean Tom Watson today was like watching a young Tom Watson. He had six birdies in his round. He was just dynamite.

Some of the other matches, the standard of play, if you consider the weather today, was brilliant.

ARNOLD PALMER: I agree with that. I think the tournament has gone very well. I just have one suggestion. I really want Isao Aoki to speak English to Fred Funk tomorrow. Is that a good request?

GARY PLAYER: There's a fairly good request, yes. I'll pass that on to Mr. Aoki.

That's fair enough, as long as Raymond Floyd speaks Japanese to my man. (Laughter.)

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I think the matches have gone very well. The guys, the camaraderie of the matches, everything has gone very well.

Q. What is the weather forecast for tomorrow? A?

MODERATOR: There is about a 20 percent of chance in the morning and the sun is apparently due to come out by the afternoon. It's going to be 57 degrees high tomorrow, they say.

ARNOLD PALMER: High?

MODERATOR: Yes. So it's going to be cool, but chances are it's going to be dry. Only a 20 percent chance of precipitation.

Can we throw out to the floor, please, ladies and gentlemen, if anyone has any question for these two captains?

Q. Arnold, what hole were you on when the rain started? It seemed like that's when Tom Watson started playing better, when the rain hit?

ARNOLD PALMER: Well, it started raining hard on the 10th tee. It didn't let up -- I guess the heavy stuff started about the 12th tee, but it started raining at 10.

Q. (Does Tom Watson play well in bad weather?)

ARNOLD PALMER: He played exceptionally well today. We had another rough start where neither of us were very good, kind of hanging on for dear life in the early holes, and then we thought maybe things were going to get a little better at 8, when we had a situation at -- what was the par 5? The 6th hole?

GARY PLAYER: The 7th hole.

ARNOLD PALMER: It was the 6th hole.

GARY PLAYER: The 7th is the par 5.

ARNOLD PALMER: That's right. Where I hit it up to -- I call it about 18 inches. Gary would probably call it two and a half feet. His partner, Bernhard Langer, hit it up to about four feet. I'm waiting for a reaction. And Gary was very generous and said, "Do you want to concede those two putts?" And I said, "Hell, no."

We were 3-down at the time. So we putted. And I made birdie and he made birdie, and we got rolling. From there, Tom birdied the next hole. And we had to jump the track again at 9. But then things -- he really picked up at 10 and it went on from there.

Q. That's what got the match going, your putt on No. 12? How long was that one?

GARY PLAYER: This is going to be very interesting to tell how long this putt was, because if it traveled any further, it would have needed a passport.

ARNOLD PALMER: It was at least 20, 25 feet. (Laughter.)

GARY PLAYER: Mine was 30 feet.

ARNOLD PALMER: I like the way Gary laughs. That's why I said that. I guess it was 40 feet, maybe 50.

Q. What club did you hit in there, Arnold, on 12th?

ARNOLD PALMER: I hit a 5-wood, and then my 10-foot putt for birdie.

MODERATOR: That concludes the draw. Thank you very much for attending and we look forward to great play tomorrow. The first match is off at 9:00 tomorrow.

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