ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 1998

Gil Morgan

GIL MORGAN: Well, it was pretty depressing. (Laughter.) Other than that, it was all right. I hit it on the fairways, in the rough a couple times and on the greens and didn't make any putts. End of story. I mean, what can you say? What would you like me to say? Well, I had a beautiful day out there; it was excellent. I really enjoyed the weather and the crowd was great, they cheered a lot and I got in.

GIL MORGAN: I guess the only thing I can say is I guess Hale gets to go to the award ceremony and I don't. I guess that's the good part. (Laughter.).

GIL MORGAN: Sammy Sosa. It's been that kind of year, hasn't it?

GIL MORGAN: Maybe a continuation of the same.

GIL MORGAN: Well, you try to make birdies, but sometimes it just doesn't work. I hit enough greens today and I had some opportunities. I just, you know, last few weeks I just haven't putted up to the level that I need to putt to be real competitive, as far as winning championships. And so that's basically the name of the game. I played well enough today, and last week, you know, to do well. I just didn't get much out of it. So that's all I know. I'm glad it's over.

GIL MORGAN: Yeah. He'll probably be real friendly tomorrow.

GIL MORGAN: Yeah, we're going to play in the Wendy's 3 Tour challenge at Las Vegas tomorrow. Maybe I can make a putt somewhere out there. I thought maybe I'd drive a few in the hole. That would be the only opportunity I had.

GIL MORGAN: Not so much fatigue. I think with three weeks off, mentally, I guess, I was back into shape. My golf game suffered a little bit because I didn't -- I didn't play and practice enough. You know, it was a little bit anticlimatical here at the end from the standpoint of, you know, having a chance to win some of those awards, especially after last week. I don't know, I wasn't really fired up this week. But at the same time, I played all right. I just didn't get much out of it. Maybe that was the culprit. I don't know. I just didn't read the greens very well. I didn't make too many mistakes. I didn't make any bogeys the last two days. That was good. I just didn't make enough birdies.

GIL MORGAN: Well, I don't know. You know, what did he shoot, 7-under today? That's a pretty good score. Most of the time if you're a shot out of the lead and you shot 6-under the last day, I guess I'd say the probability is that you're going to win, no matter what the other players do. Probably 90 percent of the time, not all the time. He made a birdie maybe at 15 or 14 maybe, and that was probably when I felt like I had to really hurry at that point in time to even get close, you know, and he had to make a mistake and then I saw that he birdied the next hole the par 5, I think. So just one of those deals. Sometimes you get the bear.

GIL MORGAN: Well, did I the best I could, Mike. That's about it. I'm sure, obviously it's somewhat of a disappointment to play at that level and still finish second most of the time. But, you know, I'd obviously like to do better and to be in that position but just didn't happen. Maybe another time. This one's about over. He had another great year. So sometimes maybe you're not as good as the other player from that standpoint. You just don't have -- you reach -- your potential and maybe that's all I can be is, you know, just a six-win-a-year-guy. Mediocre run-of-the-mill player out here.

GIL MORGAN: Something other than golf, right now. I think I'm going to work on my backhand. It's not too good so I'm getting ready to start practicing when I go home. That will give me some time away.

GIL MORGAN: It just looked like he shot himself in the foot early. I don't know, he just couldn't maybe it happen. It seemed like everything he did was wrong early on, the first three or four holes, anyway. He salvaged that 1st hole. I thought he was going to make a bogey at the 1st hole and he made about a 10 or 12-footer or par. And he made a double the next hole and made a bogey the next hole and just hit it in the water at the par 5. Everything was just -- he got out of contention really quick, and that's one thing I try to do but sometimes you just can't help it. I remember on the regular tour I did that a couple tournaments. You're in contention and you get out of the box: Bogey, bogey or something, double bogey, bogey or something just get totally out of sync. That's what he did today. He don't seem real down all the time. But at the same time he just couldn't make the things happen. He finally made a birdie at 17 coming down the stretch. He just didn't hit very many good shots as I would anticipate him hitting.

GIL MORGAN: I think it was a plus for him today to not be in the final group. I think he had the best spot, really. But, I don't know. That's just the way it works. The pairings worked out that way so I didn't have much to say about that. I think it had been better, you know, if I'd have been paired with him today from that respect but it just didn't happen.

GIL MORGAN: Have a good time off.