VALERO TEXAS OPEN

September 28, 2003

Loren Roberts

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Loren Roberts, thanks for joining us.

LOREN ROBERTS: Thank you.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You played a great tournament. Again 19 under par. I believe it's the same score you shot last year. It looks like you're going to be bested by Tommy Armour who is having a career week.

LOREN ROBERTS: He's laughing at the field this week. I was happy to play well today. Tommy kind of put the tournament out of reach for everybody. I wanted to come out and shoot as low as I could. It looks pretty good at this point.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You shot a 62 today. You said he probably put the tournament out of reach. Does that help you relax, or one of those things where putts were falling.

LOREN ROBERTS: I started hitting the ball really well, but I made some putts early. I had about a five-footer for birdie on the first hole that I missed, and then I made it from probably about 20 feet on 2, and 30 feet or 40 feet on 3, and another 30-footer. I made a bunch of putts today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: As far as the rest of the season, this probably helps getting your game back on track and finishing out the season strong, I'm sure.

LOREN ROBERTS: I wasn't playing bad. I was making the cuts, but I wasn't playing well most of the year. I took a month off after Milwaukee. I wasn't eligible for the British this year, so I just took a month off and I've never ever done that in my career. I came back fresh. I've been playing good ever since. I've got four Top 10s, or three Top 10s ever since. I've been playing good.

Q. What did you do during your time off?

LOREN ROBERTS: I did absolutely nothing, which is unlike me, too. This is my 22nd or 23rd year on Tour. I have never taken a month off. Even when I'm home in the off season I hit balls and practice. I took a month off and started all over again and it's been going good ever since.

Q. Is this event starting to gain a reputation around the Tour as one where you have to shoot low to win? How does it rank?

LOREN ROBERTS: Last year I shot 19-under and won by 3. I think if we don't have the rain that we had before we got here and during the week, I think the scoring wouldn't have been quite as good. But it's still about the same as it was last year, with the exception of Tommy's run away from the field.

Q. I know you've answered this, talking about those 40 and over winning four straight weeks. This is one of those things their trends come and go. And Duffy Waldorf talked yesterday how you had to be in your 30s, seasoned, then Tiger comes in and you have to be in your 20s, and now --

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, I think -- what's the word I'm looking for -- I think experience plays for a good part of what happens out here. Just because a guy is in his 40s, he's got pride, too. He wants to come out and play as good as he can play. If a few start playing well, a few guys see it who are over 40 and it fuels the fire that we can compete. Technology has a part in it, too. If you look at the group of guys in their 40s now, a lot of us are probably in a lot better shape physically than guys 15, 20 years ago when they were in their 40s.

Q. You played out here a long time, two decades. How do you explain a guy who hasn't won in 13 years coming out and setting an all time PGA Tour scoring record? Every week it's somebody's week. Is it really his week? How do you explain something like that?

LOREN ROBERTS: Everybody can get a hot week every now and then. You look at Bob Tway a couple of weeks ago at Canada. He hasn't won since '95 at Harbourtown, so you keep working at it, you keep working at it, you don't give up and you know that it's going to fall into place. This is the golf course that is going to allow that. There are a lot of wedge holes where you can make birdies here. This is not a driver, 3-iron, golf course. It has some tough holes like that, but this is a driver and a short iron golf course, if you're driving the ball well. So I think really anybody can contend here. You have a hot week with the putter and the wedge and you're going to do well.

Q. A lot of players have told me they thought the rough is very down this year. Do you notice that or do you know why that would be?

LOREN ROBERTS: I don't know. I didn't hit it in the rough very often.

Q. Mere mortals.

LOREN ROBERTS: It wasn't quite as deep on the fairways. There was deep rough around the greens that made chipping difficult. I fluffed a couple of chips this week. I think down the fairway, you had -- you could hit the ball out of the rough and I think you could probably get some spin out of the rough.

Q. Was it different from last year? I know you didn't hit it in the rough last year. Did it seem different in the rough or could you tell?

LOREN ROBERTS: I don't think it was quite as thick.

Q. Although you didn't win, overall are you pleased with the defense you put up?

LOREN ROBERTS: I'm very pleased. Yesterday, I had a chance to play decent and just really didn't do it on the back nine. I think if I could have put up 4-under on the board or something and come out with a 62 today, I think that might have put a little more pressure on, but Duffy birdied the first three holes out of the gate today and he didn't crack. It was his tournament to win.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Loren Roberts, great week.

End of FastScripts.