CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 25, 2001

Bob Murphy

BOB MURPHY: Let me start by saying it's great to be back and be part of the celebration here, and it is that. That room is full of -- well, they are old golfers, is what they are. A lot of excitement to see the guys, Arnold Palmer giving Tommy Bolt a fit this morning because Tommy did an interview at Southern Hills and he said that Arnold Palmer threw more clubs than he ever threw. Arnold was on his case this morning right away.

BOB MURPHY: I don't know. Those guys are older even than I am. So I'm going to stay out of that one.

BOB MURPHY: Yes. I have not played the golf course. A number of guys went up last week, and they said it was absolutely terrific. So I'm looking forward to that. I hope that somewhere in the next three days I'll find something that will shine a light on my golf game. It is pretty pitiful at the moment. The putter is working, so perhaps that will keep me in good stead standing while I'm there.

BOB MURPHY: I remember about the course that, No. 1, you had to drive your ball pretty straight, and that was my strength. The other was that the greens there year-in and year-out, the greens were just as good as we played on the old tour. I also remember 66, 66, 66, and thought I could do it again on Sunday, but I brought it up a little short. The association and the way the donation to the charity got started was that my wife and I had met so many couples who were Jaycee guys and associated with the tournament. As a result of knowing them -- we had just had a baby and the baby was fine and healthy and happy, and the Jaycees at that time were trying to work with kids who had been abused or something of that nature, and that's how the donation happens. It was just a spur of the moment thing. Golf was being very good to us at the time, and it all seemed very, very easy. It seemed right to help them with their foundation, which was formed, as a matter of fact, when we made the donation because they didn't have a vehicle at the time to actually put the charitable money in. So, we are happy we did that. We also went public with us because our hope was that if Gail and I did something of that nature, wouldn't other people do the same if they knew what the Jaycees were doing, and that, of course, is what happened. We're very happy about that.

BOB MURPHY: The best tournaments on TOUR, the tournaments that are run best on TOUR, I should say, are those that are run by local organizations. We have quite a few events which are corporate in nature and they hire a management team to come in and run the affair. And what happens is you get away from the local touch with the people, and as a result, they are usually poorly attended and just not well run. So, an organization like this, I mean in this clubhouse this morning, their past chairmans that I've known from, well -- I've been on TOUR 33 or 34 years, so I've known these guys that long and they still care and they still work.

BOB MURPHY: Well, we had that special tie with the Hartford Jaysees and those couples Clyman (ph) and Saunders (ph) Davies (ph) and Frommers (ph) and all those guys who were the chairmen and the -- they used to have a chairman and I think they called him a vice-chairman. He was in training for being the chairman the next two years. We got to know those couples. And then, quite frankly old Murph did okay with the corporate world in Hartford because I did a lot of corporate outings and speeches and things of that nature. In truth, I more than got the 20,000 back. I shouldn't reveal that, should I? (Laughs).

BOB MURPHY: As a matter of fact I came here last in '86, I believe. I won the Canadian Open the week before and I came to play here, as well. The thing I remember most is that I finished dead last. I did make the cut, but I finished dead last. So, I said: This is how fleeting fame is right here; is win one week and dead last the next. It's a fantastic scene, watching it on television and whatnot, to see what we've done. I'm quite proud of the PGA TOUR, because we have a lot of golf club venues that are set up for tournaments, and certainly, this one is with the ability to feed seat all those people at 18 here, and throughout the golf course. That's why people come out. People love to see golf and they also love to be able to walk, and we have to be very careful about playing golf courses that are built today that have, oh, 1,000 to 1,500 yards from the green to the next tee. We play a number of those on the Senior Tour and people come out the first year, make the next year and after that they say, shoot, stay home and watch it on television; they can't walk that thing. This is a terrific golf course for people to be able to walk, or just sit and watch.

BOB MURPHY: I don't know why not. With the enthusiasm that is shown for the PGA TOUR, I don't know why old boys golf wouldn't work here, I really don't. As long as they understand they need to sit a little farther back. Kind of like me playing in Pro-Ams. I always tell guys, I will never, ever get in front of you, not even a foot, because we will hit the ball so crooked. I usually get onto them at the Pro-Am, I didn't do it last night but I should have. With all the stuff that we have on golf -- well, we just got through with a book, Steve. I don't know what -- people will probably put it on their coffee table. But with all the videos, all the teaching, all the famous pros that teach guys how to play, how we get in these Pro-Ams and people say so bad, "it's unbelievable how bad they play." Chi Chi says -- he's the best and I have the right to mimic -- he calls everyone "Pars," short for partner. "These people they play with in the Pro-Am are so unbelievable, I get on the first tee, Pars, and they look right down the middle and they aim to the left, they hit it to the right, they holler for it, they make a 7 and they put down a 5." It's just incredible, I always say to them: "A guy winds up, hit a shot and it will go from me to you sideways." He's aiming over here, by the way and he'll turn around and say "What did I do on that swing?" I said, "Why in the hell would you want to know what you did on that swing to hit it over there? Let's talk about what you're supposed to do correctly." (Laughter.) Golf is very healthy. It's pretty fantastic having done the U.S. Open broadcast last week, to see how a golf course of that stature can bring guys to their knees, I'll tell you. Unfortunately, it rained and that changed the scope of the golf course that we had on Thursday. Softened it up greatly, and so better scores were available. But that would have been a U.S. Open which would have been won with even par. It was that well. It was hard and fast. You talk about the way we mow fairways today, some of the things that have changed in the game from back at Wethersfield; they mow the fairways today at a 7 or 8 on the Stimpmeter. They are that fast. We saw, last week -- I promise you, I saw 12 drives of 350 yards. 12 drives. It was just incredible to watch. Guys are standing out there 292 yards to a par 3 and they are whistling. They are right at the greens, 292. These young guys can really play. They can really play. My drives are approximately the same, but that tells you that the equipment is doing a better job. I think we've maybe put some excitement in the game but having the ball go farther and whatnot, but I worry that we've let it go too far because of what I saw last week. I saw guys play in a 490-yard -- 490-yard par 4 and they are hitting drivers, 6-, 7- and 8-irons. That takes away from the game as it is.

BOB MURPHY: I started in 1968, actually, on the Tour, and I played with Charlie Sifford. We played in Greensboro and the crowd was not nice at all to Charlie Sifford. Lee Elder and his first wife, Rose, were good friends of ours, and we did a lot of things together and we had circumstances where they were not treated nicely, either. So to forge on like Charlie did and like Lee did is pretty fantastic. Now a guy like Jim Thorpe, he gets very, very upset when he hears some of the stories about what guys do and what guys say and so that -- that's wonderful that they had that perserverance, to say out and finally and hopefully, you know, the United States will continue to grow because that's pretty dumb not to. You look at the stature of Tiger and he's just -- he's just a terrific kid. I will tell you that three years ago I would have said if someone asked me how many majors will Tiger win, will he threaten Jack's record, I would have said I don't think so because he doesn't quite have the total game, but we've seen a different Tiger now. We're also seeing a different behavior, the infectious smile that he has. I think he's doing a terrific job. And the pressure on that young man is second to none. I mean, Jack and Arnie signed many, many thousands and thousands of autographs, but Tiger has pressure on him, constant hounding. He has no -- really, private public life at all anymore.