ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 10, 1996

Kermit Zarley

KERMIT ZARLEY: Yeah.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Okay, let us see. I birdied number 3. Hit an iron in there -- about -- it was pretty good. It was about seven feet from the hole.

KERMIT ZARLEY: I hit 6-iron.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Oh, man, I was only about twelve feet from the hole and 3-putted. I have been having some trouble this week knocking the putt too hard, as you would have noticed if you saw me on the 17th hole, or the -- what hole -- yeah, 17th hole today. Fortunately, it was zeroed in radar in the back of the cup, but I ran the putt way past the hole from twelve feet. I must have had a 7-footer left and 3-putted. Let us see, I had birdie opportunities on the next holes and didn't make one until number 8; is that right?

KERMIT ZARLEY: From, about, I don't know how long that putt was. It wasn't -- maybe -- maybe about 6, seven feet, as I recall. I hit a bad shot on the 9th hole and missed the green short right and played a very good pitch shot up there to about four feet and made it. I had an opportunity for a birdie there at 10. Didn't make it. Not real close, but maybe about twelve feet. Then I hit it over the green on the next hole and came back and missed my putt for a bogey. So that puts me back to even par, I think. Yeah. Now I go and birdie the next three holes which I am way behind Jay at the time and I am just tied for second place way back there. I knocked a good putt in, from about 30 feet on 12. Then at the next hole, the 14th, that is the-- excuse me-- 13th. That is the par 5 around the lake, I hit it in there pretty good. That might have been about a 6-footer and made it. And, then the next hole, played a great 4-iron into the wind. That was a tough pin position, particularly in there behind the bunker and I only had about a 3-footer. So now, you know, I have birdied three holes in a row. Jay bogeyed that hole, so I start thinking, "Hey, maybe I got a chance here." In fact, I think that put me at 3, back of him. Almost made the putt at 15, but then so did Jay and Bob. We all went over the lip.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Mine was the longest. That putt was over 15 feet. Close to 20. 18 feet. The next hole. The wind was gusting and swirling and I played a real good wedge shot and came down short of the bunker. Now that was only a 110-yard shot and I had hit the ball absolutely the way I wanted to hit it. All of a sudden, a gust of wind came up right when I hit. Now I have got a very difficult shot to play over the edge of the bunker. Pin is on the front of the green and I played a pretty good shot to get to about almost ten feet behind the hole, coming downhill. And just barely dribbled one in there. The next hole, the wind was a factor there too. Did not hit a bad shot, but it got up in the wind. There was more wind there than I thought, and the ball came down short and rolled up against the rake. I don't know if it would have gone in the bunker or not. Now, I had kind of a -- one of those thick lies and I chilly dipped it. I mean, I hit it just a little fat and did not get on the green. I was only about -- I was 15-18 feet from the hole on my chip shot. Didn't get on the green. Now I have got about - I don't know what it was - 12-foot putt or something, and hit the putt way too hard and it is going right at the middle, right in. And at this point now, I am, you know, if the only chance I have got is if Jay-- you know-- is going to bogey the hole or worse, and I hit a real good drive on that. That was my best drive of the tournament. Jay laid back with a 3-wood and had a shot of about probably 35 yards farther than I did and he played a wonderful shot, right at the hole about four feet behind the hole. And I just played mine over there in the fringe and 2-putted and that was the tournament.

KERMIT ZARLEY: My game plan today was I picked the score. I was just trying to concentrate on shooting that score, which was a 68. I decided when we started today, "Hey, we have got a cold breeze here. This is kind of a tough day to play. Not real tough, but you know, this is a good tough golf course here." So a 68 is a good round out there. And I was just trying to concentrate on shooting a 68. Trying not to think that much about what the other players were doing. The only time I start thinking about where I stood in the field was on the back 9 when I got three birdies in a row and had moved away from that second spot. It was, you know -- Charles and I were kind of right in there on second spot and then I pulled away from him and that is when I was thinking of my position in the field.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Let us see. What did he shoot?

KERMIT ZARLEY: 72.... Jay is a fine player. I have known Jay ever since college. We went to college together. His first year in college. And, we played a lot of golf that year. He has got a good swing. He is strong. He hits the ball long. Got a great temperament, you know, easy going, never gets mad. I have never seen Jay get mad. So I had a lot of respect for his golf game. His round today, I would say that he didn't hit the ball as well as he usually does. He chipped in over on that 12th hole. That was, you know, that was a big one for him. He took -- at that point he took a, I believe, that was a 7-shot lead. Looks like he is out of reach. But, he played all right. And he played the last hole super and, you know, as it came down to it, that is just what he needed to do. And he did what he needed to do.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Well, I was thinking to myself when we were playing together out there today that if all the golf courses on the SENIOR TOUR were like this one, I would have to say that Jay Sigel definitely is a consistent top 10 player, but I would say that he could be a top 5 player.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Because he is the kind of a player that he plays good tough golf courses well. He hits the ball very well from tee-to-green. He is long and hits the ball very well. The strength of Jay's game is not on the greens. He does fine, but I would say the strength of his game is playing on a long course from tee-to-green and this course is like that.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Yes, I have. Very happy about my year this year. I didn't win, but I finished second four times. My -- it was looking pretty doubtful for me on whether I was going to even be playing this year. I was really hurting, went four months without playing golf. When I finished the year last year, I did not play golf for four months. Did not swing a club. My neck was bothering me terribly. And went down and saw a physical therapist in Georgia. He put me on some exercises and that helped a lot. So, you know, maybe I would have just got better anyway to some degree, but it did take me a few more months before I got to where I was pretty much pain-free, so starting out the year when I did play, you know, I was way off my game. I played poorly. After I played for about three months, I think I was about 80th on the money list. So from that point on, for the rest of the year, I have really had a good year even though I haven't won.

KERMIT ZARLEY: Thank you.