ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 7, 1997

Bob Murphy

BOB MURPHY: Yeah, I didn't -- I just didn't strike the ball very crisply today and so I had a lot of, you know, 20-, 30-, 40-footers. You don't make many of those and I didn't. I bogeyed No. 7, drove it down the left side and bounced it in the bunker; got it too close to the lip and went from bunker to bunker. And, made a bogey. And, just, you know, just a nothing 9. Then I hit it really close at 10 and missed it. Had a real good shot at 11 about eight feet and missed that. 12, I made par. 13, I hit it about 7 feet, at 13, I missed that. My speed was off today. I thought the greens were slower and I didn't adapt. I didn't have the ball rolling when it got to the hole. It was sort of dying and so I missed three very good birdie opportunities right there. 14, yeah, put it 25 feet at 14. Missed that. 15, the par 5, I put it about six feet behind the hole; I made it.

BOB MURPHY: Hit a wedge there, yeah. And, then, 16, I hit a 9-iron up there about six feet, seven feet to the right, made that. 17, my caddy fell asleep and I -- he thought it was a smooth 5 and I thought it was a hard 5. I hit the most solid shot I hit all day. Unfortunately, it went right in the back bunker and plugged up in the back mound back there. So, I had to play out sideways, way over to the left and then I immediately chipped that by the hole and missed it coming back. So, made double-bogey. And, then I hit a 9-iron about 4 and a half feet at 18 and made birdie. So, yeah, it was an up-and-down day. I played about like I normally do, you know, when it gets coolish and I get a little stiffer, and, I hit a lot of pull-shots. But, I was disappointed that my speed was off on the greens. I just did not factor in that they were going to be that much slower. And, so it wasn't as good a round. But, certainly not out of it. And, you know, I had to give myself a pat on the back after we fell asleep because I came back and birdied the last hole. So, that gives you a better feeling going into tomorrow anyway on your own personal side. But, I was very happy. I think that we dodged the worst of the weather today. We had very little rain to speak of and it wasn't terribly cold. I mean, had the wind blown, it would have been a bitter day, but I think maybe we have dodged the worst.

BOB MURPHY: No, I putted it through the fringe there and I hit it too hard. I know it is down -- it is sort of uphill and then downhill and yet it was down hill past the hole, so, I just hit it too hard. And, just it was just a bad place. Terrible place to be. Terrible place to be.

BOB MURPHY: Yeah, and I always start out that way. I mean, I had already done -- you know, had been moving for about three hours. I was up at 6 o'clock, which is four hours before I tee off essentially, and started exercising and moving and then my wife uses her elbows on my back. It is like shiatsu that she does on my back to help me get going. And, then I go into the trailer and I exercise for about an hour. And, he worked on my neck as well. And, so I have done everything I can do, but I didn't putt well. If I putted reasonably today, then I shoot 2- or 3-under even though I didn't hit it well. I don't expect to make the 30-footers, no. But, I did hit enough close enough to shoot a reasonable round. Because I didn't hit any you know, really bad shots. I did hit a bad drive on 7, pulled it down that left side. I had this idea that I was really going to murder it right down the left side and I did, but I murdered it under the lip of the bunker, so -- but, you know, if I, again, get lucky, hopefully won't be too cold and we should be fine. We will be teeing off late tomorrow, so, that will be good. And, go out and putt the greens a little bit and see if we can find it.

BOB MURPHY: Well, in the middle of the year, no. I really played poorly. I got out of position and I played poorly for about three months in that cold weather and I have a little thing that I do, I twist my hip back to the right, my right hip back to the right to sort of preset the turn. When I get in cold weather, what I want to do - because I am not flexible - I want to slide rather than turn. And, so, I always do this little preset and the only problem was in presetting, I was also presetting my shoulders with the hip, which had my feet going one direction and my hips and shoulders goes the other. I really fought it and it got me and, unfortunately, as we all know in golf, when you work in something like that, it takes a long time to work it out. So, played through the middle of the summer then, very poorly. When I was really having a tough time aiming it after I got back and adjusted now, I am having trouble committing myself to that shot. But, I didn't putt all that well. It has just been sort of an up-and-down year. I can change that with two good rounds now. All right guys, thanks.