VALERO TEXAS OPEN

September 29, 2002

Loren Roberts

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: I'd like to welcome the 2002 Valero Texas Open Champion, Loren Roberts. Loren, congratulations on your eighth career title.

LOREN ROBERTS: Thank you very much. This might be the sweetest. Obviously it's great to get your first one. This could be the sweetest, because I'm 47 this year and starting to maybe think -- you know, I had a couple of chances to win a couple of tournaments earlier this year and just didn't get it done on Sunday and missing some putts coming into the house. I was doubting myself a little bit.

Today I just went out there and just hit nothing but solid golf shots and made some putts when I had to coming down the stretch. For me, I feel like I really turned the calendar back a little bit. This one is really, really sweet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: There's been a lot of talk about the young guns on Tour. Yourself, Fred Couples and Fred Funk, really put on a show out there this week.

LOREN ROBERTS: You know, a lot of the golf courses we play -- well, this golf course in particular here, it's not the kind of golf course you can overpower. It's a thinking man's golf course and you have to think your way around and you have to play some smart shots. You can't overpower it. Obviously, my game is more based on accuracy and I can make some putts.

I think the older guys have a little bit to show the young guys, too. We've been out here a while, and technology has helped us a little bit, I think. I think as long as you still want to compete when you get older, I think you're able to do it.

Guys that have been in the Winner's Circle before, when it gets down to crunch time, are guys that are going to have a chance to do it. That's why I was so thrilled to pull it off today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Those players put some pressure on you down the stretch. You responded with four birdies in the last six holes. That's about as good of golf as you could play coming down the stretch, I'd imagine.

LOREN ROBERTS: I hit the ball really good today. I hit it solid. I think I hit every green. I might have hit one green six inches off in the fringe, but I putted well all day long. I hit the ball super, drove it in the fairway every hole. Hit the greens and had a lot of putts for birdies. Today I didn't beat myself.

When I saw them at the turn, they got to 16 under. Funk was at 17 when I was standing on the 9th green. I knew I had to make some putts coming in. I think the one thing that really got me going was that 25-footer for birdie on 13, because after that the flood gates kind of opened up.

Q. Back in 2000, you were leading after three rounds.

LOREN ROBERTS: Yes.

Q. So how does it feel to come back and you may have let one slip away and get it back again?

LOREN ROBERTS: It feels really good. I mean I was right there. I played with Justin in the last group and didn't hit the ball that well and didn't putt that well, and Justin played good and went on to take the tournament. I did feel I let one slip away.

And today, to come back, and I really played good tee-to-green all week long. I putted well the back nine today, and I putted well on Friday, and to do it when I had to do it with the putter was huge for me.

Q. Were you aware at all that you and the two Freds, 40-something guys, were up there duking it out at the end? Were you aware of that out there at all?

LOREN ROBERTS: I saw the leaderboard making the turn at 9 and then I didn't look at it again. I just wanted to concentrate on making some birdies. And then I actually asked my caddie when I made the birdie at 16, I asked my caddie where we stood and he said we have a two-shot lead. And so then I went to 16 and my only thought was hit the ball somewhere left of the pin on the front part of the green. I hit probably the best shot of the golf tournament from there.

Q. You mean on 17?

LOREN ROBERTS: 17, excuse me. Yes. It was probably the best shot I hit all week. That is a hole that's a dangerous hole. The pin was a little easier today there than it was yesterday, but still, it's a hole that you can make a five very easily with a poor swing. I probably hit the best golf shot of the tournament right there for me to hit in there 10, 12 feet left of the hole. I wanted to focus in and make that putt. And I hit it right in the middle of the hole. For all intents and purposes it was over going into the 18th tee by then.

Q. A lot of these guys are tinkering with their swings and putters and they change grips and everything. I think you pretty much stayed with the same thing for --

LOREN ROBERTS: I've putted the same way all my life. In fact, I've had a new putter in my bag the last three weeks that I've played, but it's only the sixth putter I've ever had in my career. Some guys have six putters in one week out here.

Q. You've been known as the "boss of the moss." The guy who supposedly nicknamed you that was David Ogrin?

LOREN ROBERTS: That's correct.

Q. How did that come about?

LOREN ROBERTS: In the '94 U.S. Open, I went out on Saturday and shot a 64, and really kind of came from nowhere to get right up in the thick of things. And I'm sitting in the locker room and talking with some reporters about the round, and Ogrin walked by and yelled out, called me the "boss of the moss" and somebody put it in an article and it kind of caught on.

I holed every putt I had that day. I don't know how many 30 -, 40-footers I made. They put it in the article and it caught on.

Q. '94 Open?

LOREN ROBERTS: '94 U.S. Open, yes.

Q. Guys have a reputation of sticking the dagger in, when they've got somebody down. Is making birdies, the last three of the last four holes, because it was still anybody's ball game going into 16, 17, was that kind of the dagger you threw in there to close it up?

LOREN ROBERTS: I was just trying to think about hitting one good shot at a time. I told my caddie walking down the 16th fairway, I said, "Let's see if we can get three 10-footers coming into the house here." I had two 10-footers and probably about a 20-footer on the last hole. I made two of them. I was just trying to play one shot at a time. I've always felt like if I get in position, you know, I may not win, but I never back off. I usually don't hurt myself making dumb shots and making a lot of bogeys. Usually if I'm there, I usually stick there. If I can get some good looks coming in at the hole, you know, a lot of times I can make them.

Q. I think you've got three Top 10s here. I mean four Top-10s in 12 years, but never a victory. Is this an event you feel like, "I'm going to keep coming back until I get it right. Until they either tell me I can't come here any longer or I win, I'm going to keep showing up because I've come so close so many times."

LOREN ROBERTS: I come here because I like San Antonio. I like the weather. I like San Antonio. Like I said, I think the only times I've ever missed here, I think it was a Ryder Cup year in '95 I didn't come. But other than that I've always loved coming here. I love playing Oak Hills. I like playing here. I have had some good success on this golf course. I suspect I'll be coming here until I'm on the Senior Tour.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Nice to walk up 18th with a three-shot lead?

LOREN ROBERTS: That's always nice. A three-shot lead, you always want a four-shot lead or five-shot lead. They're never big enough.

Q. You talked about turning back the calendar. What was it like for you to see Freddie Couples up there on the leaderboard?

LOREN ROBERTS: Freddie has been crying a little bit lately about not wanting to practice and not wanting to play and he showed up and he played pretty doggone good. Maybe we'll see a little more of him.

Q. Was that fun to see him go after it, to have a guy like Couples who you've played with a bunch? LOREN ROBERTS: He's a majors winner and he's been a dominant player for a long time. I saw his name coming up the leaderboard. I played with him in the first two rounds and he played good yesterday to kind of get up there. He got off to a fast start today and that's a motivating factor when you have a world-class player up there that you know you want to beat.

Q. Were the greens pretty fast today?

LOREN ROBERTS: They were the fastest today of any of the days. There were some pretty slippery putts out there.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you, Loren, congratulations.

End of FastScripts....