THE INTERNATIONAL

August 6, 2003

Rich Beem

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Your life changed last year, and a few weeks ago your family life changed. Why don't you talk about your year since you were last sitting in that seat?

RICH BEEM: Same dead cow, isn't it?

Yeah, everything has been good. I've had obviously two weeks after this tournament last year, I was fortunate enough to win the PGA and I get to go back next week. It's just been fun. I played well sporadically, I guess, but I've been working hard on my game. Game-wise, there's nothing wrong. Family life is fantastic. I'm a little disappointed at being here, I'd rather be at home right now, but I guess I've got to come out and make some money so that I can take the rest of the year off. Since I had some success, last year I might as well come back and see if I can do it again. Life is good. I'm having a lot of fun and just enjoying the hell out of it.

Q. You look way too perky and energy to have a 12-day-old.

RICH BEEM: I actually got some sleep last night. I had a couple beer, popped an Ambien and I was done. First time that I got more than four hours sleep. I'm probably a little perkier than I should be, but that's okay.

Q. Can you talk about the comparison, there probably is none, but winning three tournaments, and then when your son was delivered?

RICH BEEM: Never. You can't even describe it. It's not even remotely close. Everybody was saying your life is going to change and this and that. And they are right, this changed for the better. You can never be prepared to have a child, and I tell you, for everybody here who is a parent, it's way better than winning any golf tournament. Although winning golf tournaments isn't bad, either, but having a newborn and just taking care of them is a huge thrill.

Q. I know the baby is due August 16. Did you guys induce to get that?

RICH BEEM: No. Sarah went into labor on her own. We had to do an emergency C-section because she was bleeding. They thought that her -- anyways, her placenta broke and that's why she was bleeding so bad. They had to go and do an emergency C-section. Everybody was great. She turned oust just fine. Baby was 6 pounds, 11 ounces. If we had three more weeks to go, he would have been eight pounds; he would be a moose. Lucky they took him early.

Q. No one has defended this tournament even though it's the came course, usually same setup, same system. Why do you think that is?

RICH BEEM: I don't know. Probably because it's tough to make that many birdies. You can't sit there like in most tournaments or some tournaments where you can kind of just plod along and maybe have a fast finish or something like that. Here you've got to be kind of hot four days in a row. It's tough. It's tough to come up here and make a ton of birdies two years in a row. It's going to be a little difficult. Obviously I don't have history in my favor, but who knows. But it's tough to come back two years in a row after you say -- if you don't make all of the birdies that you did the year before, you're thinking, wow, gosh, last year I birdied this hole all four days; I may have parred it the first two days, what's wrong, and you might press a little bit. It's tough to come back in a format where you need to make all those birdies and win again. So I can certainly see why nobody has repeated in this tournament.

Q. Have you been to Oak Hill, and having won two tournaments in a row, is it difficult for you to take one at a time, are you thinking of Oak Hill?

RICH BEEM: No. It's not too difficult. I played Oak Hill. I went up there for the Media Day. Nice golf course. I'm sure it's changed quite a bit since I played there because the rough wasn't that bad as of yet, but it was certainly getting that way. You know, it's a nice golf course up there. I'll enjoying getting up there, but I'm really not thinking about that tournament right now. I get asked about it quite a bit but that's about it.

I'm not thinking about that golf course. I'm trying to take care of myself this week and keep my mind on this course and this tournament and not have too many distractions mentally, but for me that's a huge undertaking.

Q. Have you looked at the footage from last year's tournament here? Talk about the excitement of the finish, and what are you going to do for an encore?

RICH BEEM: Gosh, I don't know. Hope I have something boring if I win again. Actually I have not seen the tapes. I don't know why, I just haven't seen any videotape of it. I think I've got it at the house. But I played the backside yesterday, just nine holes, and it was interesting to sit there and kind of go, wow, I kind of played pretty damned good back here, didn't I? But like the shot on 16, I poured it last year, but I'm sitting there, I'm shaking so bad on that tee box and the pin is front left, and if you miss it anywhere left, you're dead. And it's just a hard shot and I ended up hitting it great.

I was standing there this year going: I hope I'm not shaking that bad again this year on this hole. It was fun playing all of the finishing holes, probably starting with 15 on. That was a treat.

Q. You won this tournament in this altitude, you've played in altitude, how do you make an adjustment to go from altitude to play in a major like at the PGA?

RICH BEEM: You just do, I guess. It's kind of disappointing leaving here because I like hitting those 400-yard drives straight downhill. But that's why we are best players in the world because we can make those adjustments without too many hassles. It will probably be a little more difficult because last -- last time I had a week off in between The INTERNATIONAL and PGA, but I don't think it will be overly difficult to make the adjustments from this week to next week. But I'm sure there will be -- Monday when I play a practice round up there, it will be a little bit of short-siding myself or hitting the ball a little on the short-side.

Q. Jack Vicars was in here talking about putting limitations on the golf ball, what is your thought on that?

RICH BEEM: I think it's too bad. I don't think there should be any limitations on golf balls. I think there should be the limitations that we are at right now, but everybody is overly concerned about the equipment and things like that. It's not just the equipment why we are hitting the ball further and scoring better. We are better athletes. We are better prepared. Courses are in much better shape than they were back in the day. There are so many variables. Look at basketball, basketball pro teams, 75,80 points a game. Now they are scoring 130, 140. People want the excitement.

If golf goes back to where we are limiting ourselves to doing great things, I think it's going to regress. Fans want to see birdies. They want to see exciting stuff. We do have the majors where par is a good score and fans want to see that and appreciate it. But for the most part, do fans want to see the INTERNATIONAL won with 12 points or do they want to see it won by 50 points? I think more towards 50. They want to see the eagles and the double-eagles and the birdies and they also want to see the train wrecks. They want to see the guys making double and things like that.

If we start limiting ourselves and the equipment that we play with regressing back when we don't hit the ball as far and this and that because of equipment, not because we are better athletes, I think that's wrong. I think fans want to excitement on the golf course, and that's what brings fans from other sports. Now you have fans from football coming over and basketball and things like that. So I think limiting equipment, I think it's a terrible idea.

Q. Are you surprised to see Kenny Perry suddenly bust loose in his 40s?

RICH BEEM: I wouldn't say I'm surprised. He's always been known as a great ball-striker. I've been watching him the last couple weeks on TV. He's just making everything he looks at. I tell you, when you get on a streak like that, it's awesome. But he's been on TOUR for so long. He's had the game obviously to be around for a while. It's amazing to see him being on such a great stretch, what, six tournaments in a row and his lowest finish as eighth? That's amazing to seep that sort of consistency and that level for that long. That's very impressive.

I think that he is definitely in the running for Player of the Year, even if he doesn't win a major, just because of his streak if he continues like he is at the moment.

Q. Last year you had a busy November/December schedule. What are you planning to play this year?

RICH BEEM: Hopefully I'll be invited back. That free money stuff, that's a pretty good deal.

I'll probably play quite a bit. I'd like to be able to get into the Target World Challenge. I'd like to play in that again. That would probably limit some of the things I do maybe down in Australia and whatnot. Kind of depends what I get invited to, as well.

So I will entertain every offer but I will kind of pick and choose to see what best suits my schedule. I would like to take most of December off but, hey, if the money is there, I'm sorry, I'm going to get it. I am not going to be bashful about that one.

Q. You said you have not watched the video from last year's tournament, but how many times have you replayed in your mind standing up on the practice green watching Lowery put on No. 18?

RICH BEEM: Oh, man, that was painful. Holy Canolli. That was unbelievable, sitting there and I had no idea -- I finally saw his second shot land and I'm looking around the corner going, Holy Cow, could that be an easier putt? I don't think so. It was amazing he missed it.

It was a funny story. Some friends of mine were back home watching it and one was sitting there with his 8-year-old boy. And dad is going crazy going, "No, this is not happening" and whatnot. And the little boy, a golfer, is sitting there goes: "Dad, he's not going to make that putt."

He goes: "How do you know?"

He says: "Well, he hasn't had to putt in four or five holes. How can he make it?" I thought that was hysterical.

Yeah, that was excruciating watching Steve do that. It was a great finish and I was on the receiving end. If I had lost, I'd probably be sitting there going, you know, it was still a great finish and unfortunately I didn't win.

I tell you, that was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. I'm glad I was part of it. I think that will go down in infamy as one of the greatest finishes ever seen on the PGA TOUR, especially in this tournament, Holy Cow.

Q. Have you ever spoken with Steve about the tournament last year?

RICH BEEM: We actually visited just for a few minutes. When he walked by me afterwards last year, he said congratulations and it was just kind of in passing.

Then I saw him at the PGA a couple weeks later, he was just having dinner, same restaurant I was at. We talked about it for a few minutes, but other than that, not really, no. Even we played against each other in the Match-play Tournament in La Costa, it never came up. And that was a battle of the uglies right there. We were both playing so bad at La Costa. Holy Cow, that was terrible. It was certainly worlds apart from how our finish was here. We haven't really talked about it that much and I don't suspect we will.

Q. Do you follow his career for or anything like that?

RICH BEEM: Oh, yeah. Every time his name comes, absolutely. Every time Steve is in the hunt, oh, yeah, absolutely. It's just human nature, I guess. I certainly pay attention: "There's Steve again. What's he going to do now?"

Q. (Inaudible.)

RICH BEEM: I played here every year since my rookie year in '99. The first year was probably difficult. Between this tournament and the tournament in Reno and maybe a little bit up in Albuquerque, I have not played in altitude much, maybe a dozen times or so. First couple times you play, there's a huge difference, a huge change and you've got to get used to it, but now it's pretty easy.

You are comfortable hitting a pitching wedge from 150 or 160 or whatever it is. You've just got to feel it in there more than anything else. You can't just get up there when you're playing and go, okay, this 8-iron is going to go 155 whether I like it or not. Here you can hit it 220 if you get the right circumstances. You have to feel around the golf course more I think, and I enjoy that. I enjoy when you've got to actually feel your way around a golf course instead of just hit long and straight, long and straight. Of course I'm playing with Charles Howell tomorrow, so I'll see that all day tomorrow.

Q. If Lowery makes that putt last year, great tournament, you just happen to lose, do you win the PGA two weeks later?

RICH BEEM: If I miss the par putt on 18 on Saturday, I've got to play with Tiger Woods on that Sunday, do I win the PGA playing head-to-head against him?

I don't know. I have no idea. Things happen for a reason. It was fate. Stars were in alignment, I don't know. It just happened. I don't know, I can't answer that. Maybe, maybe not. I was already in the tournament, the PGA which some people didn't realize.

I don't know. I would say possibly. It's just one of those things. You never know. I'd like to say, yes, I would, but I don't know. I'd like to think making that putt on 18 on Saturday for par was probably just as important as anything else because I didn't have to play with Tiger.

You know guys who play with Tiger on Sundays normally in majors don't fair so well. So I get to see everything ahead of me, but, you know, I don't know. I'd like to say yes.

Q. How far was it?

RICH BEEM: About a 12-, 15-footer.

Q. Did you have any idea what it was for?

RICH BEEM: I did. I looked at the scoreboard and figure if I missed it I would not be in the final group. So it was nice to make it.

Q. What's been the biggest perk about winning the PGA?

RICH BEEM: Cash. (Laughter.) Oh, I don't know. Pretty good parking spots. Biggest perk -- I don't know. Playing overseas quite a bit, that was a lot of fun. Just some of the playing, things that I've gotten the biggest perk that is way. Back home I get a lot of free meals from people that know me. That's kind of a nice deal.

It's amazing, the more money you make and more success you have, the more you can afford things, the less people will let you buy anything. It's pretty funny. I didn't have a pot to piss in and can't afford anything, and nobody will buy you anything. Now, it's, let me get this, let me get this. I don't know, a lot of perks, but small stuff here and there.

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