JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

September 9, 2003

J.P. Hayes

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome defending champion J.P. Hayes back to the John Deere Classic. J.P., you had a record-setting performance last year, one bogey the whole week. If you could just talk about coming back to a place where obviously you had some great success last year.

J.P. HAYES: Well, it feels pretty good. I love the golf course and I love the area. It's a fun week for me. I love the Midwest in general, so this place has all of it and I'm looking forward to having a good week this year.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If you could talk a little bit about the golf course. There's some low scores out there. You shot a 61, but at the same time it's got definitely some difficulties if you can't drive the ball in the fairway. Especially this week it seems like it's going to be a little harder and faster than typically.

J.P. HAYES: I haven't played yet this week, but I expect to see a different golf course. It was pretty wet last year. We had a lot of rain. I expect it to be pretty firm this year, and if they've been able to grow the rough, it's going to be a totally different golf course. I don't think the scores are going to be as low this year and it's going to be harder to hit fairways. They're going to run out. There's a lot of undulations in the fairways so the ball is going to run out. Last year all the drives were plugging. It was pretty easy to hit the fairways last year.

Q. With the change in the schedule obviously moving from the middle of the summer to the fall, how much different does the course play, and also with the addition of quite a few top players in the field, do you think some of these players will want to come back year in and year out?

J.P. HAYES: I hope so. As far as how the course plays, I don't know because I haven't played it yet, but I think it has helped the field. It's a good field this year, and I think the players are going to like the golf course and hopefully it's going to help them next year, as well, where it's going to get around to some of the top players, and for the next year we're going to see even more players come.

Q. Talk about that field. There's obviously some big names, but do you think you have a little bit of an advantage having played the course last year? And then you also noted the differences in the course between this year and last year so you really do have some experience?

J.P. HAYES: I wouldn't say I have an advantage. I have some good memories from the tournament last year. I feel like I'm pretty comfortable on this course. I've only played it -- last year was my first year here, but it really fit my eye very well, and that's important for me.

It's important for most of us really. If a course fits your eye, you're comfortable from tee to green, and that's pretty much the way it is around here for me. That's an advantage, I guess.

Mostly the good memories, confidence that I can shoot low here, it's going to help.

Q. J. P., with the bigger names here I think people are expecting a different brand of golf, but 22 under is still 22 under. Is that still going to be -- would you take 22?

J.P. HAYES: You know, it's going to be a different course this year. I don't know what that's going to do to the scores, but 22 under par is pretty good every week. Yeah, I'd take that again. I don't think the scores are going to be that low this year. Last year it was so soft, and I think -- I don't know if we played it up or not, but that makes a difference. I don't recall, but it seems that we had so much rain that we probably did play it up, at least one round, and that makes a difference, but mostly the softness of the greens is going to make a huge difference.

Q. Talking to some of the guys out there today, when you look at the Tour from guys in their 20s all the way up to their upper 40s right now, a couple guys are saying they've never seen the Tour as even as it's been week in and week out and obviously we've seen that play out in the Majors. Can you talk about the Tour as it stands right now and how strong the field is across?

J.P. HAYES: I think this year has been an incredible year. We've had a handful of guys win multiple times. Some guys won three or four times, and I don't know how many players in their 40s have won, but I would guess it's at least five, maybe more than that.

Q. 11.

J.P. HAYES: 11, wow.

Q. Eight guys in their 40s have won 11 times I should say.

J.P. HAYES: That's a pretty neat statistic really. I think it goes to show you how seriously guys are starting to take their games and their fitness and prolong their careers. It's not really surprising anymore, where 10, 15 years ago it would have been surprising to see that. I think it opens up the week to so many more guys that feel like they have a chance to win, and I think it's great since I'm going to be 40 in a couple of years.

Q. You're not in your upper 40s, but have you found yourself driving -- as far as your fitness goes, have you changed anything over the last couple of years?

J.P. HAYES: You know, I really haven't and I probably need to, but I feel great. I don't have any aches or pains or anything, but I know as time goes on if I want to be competitive in my mid-40s, I'm going to probably have to take that a little bit more seriously. I don't abuse myself, but I don't -- I probably don't do what I should. I think that's going to change, though. These kids coming out of college have been in fitness programs all through college, and it's changing the game really. I mean, equipment has changed a lot of it, but the players are so much stronger now that I think that has as much to do with it as anything.

Q. You haven't played yet this week?

J.P. HAYES: No.

Q. There's some talk about rain maybe early in the week. How much will that affect what --

J.P. HAYES: Well, the rain is going to bring the scores down, I think. Last year -- there's some tough greens out there, and last year they really couldn't put a pin in a place where you couldn't get to it. If the greens are firm, they can put pins in places where it's tough to get it close. If it rains and it gets soft, then you're back to places where they can't hide the pins. That's going to make a big difference.

Q. As this tournament continues to try and grow, for those that are coming here for the first time, what do you think they're going to see and what do you think will be the biggest thing that they'll enjoy about coming to Silvis?

J.P. HAYES: Well, I can't speak for everybody, but I like the laid-back atmosphere. With the exception of the construction on the bridges, there's no traffic. We go to so many places where you're battling traffic to and from the golf course, and it just adds up to the the end of the week where you're tired. This is kind of like a -- it's a relaxing week and it's a great golf course.

I think the guys -- I think that's the number one thing that guys want, and the guys that haven't been here before I think are here this week because they've heard that the golf course is so good, and like I said, I think word of mouth will get around, and when you hear it from a top player I think that's going to bring more top players in.

Q. Do you think guys will like this small-town atmosphere at a tournament more, the laid-back as you phrased it, than they would maybe some of the bigger metropolitan areas?

J.P. HAYES: I think so. As far as I'm concerned, it's much more fun to play in an area -- we used to have a tournament at Callaway Gardens, and we didn't get any spectators, but we all stayed in cottages near the golf course. You could walk to the golf course if you wanted. It was just a fun, relaxing week, especially this time of the year. Everybody is getting a little bit tired and fed up with traveling. This is such an easy place to come and it's a good time of year to have it. It's going to come back next year, but regardless of where it is on the schedule, I think it's a relaxing week.

Q. Are you staying in Iowa?

J.P. HAYES: No, I'm in Moline.

Q. So you don't have to deal with the bridges?

J.P. HAYES: Well, I've kind of got to go over part of it, don't I? I don't have to go over the Mississippi, but I have to go over --

Q. The Rock River?

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, that's not too bad.

Q. Who do you think this golf course -- you say it fits your eye. What kind of player does this golf course suit?

J.P. HAYES: It's not overly long. Last year it probably played as long as it could with the rain. It will play a little bit shorter this year. I think a guy who's hitting a lot of fairways is going to do very well this week. The greens are tough to get to from the rough. It seems like every week fairways are important, but it's not a course that's going to favor a guy who hits it a long way. I proved that last year. I think the same is going to be true this week, probably even more so. It's going to be harder to hit the fairways and the ball is going to be running a little bit further.

You don't have to bomb here. The par 5s are pretty reachable with the exception of 10. 10 might even be reachable this year. The premium is going to be on driving this week.

Q. Is your mindset different at all when players like Davis Love and Vijay Singh are in the field?

J.P. HAYES: No, not really. You know, I think -- no, I don't think so. You take every week the same. You just -- you expect a great field and a good golf course. The fields nowadays, they're good every week. It's nice to have more of those players in the field. I know the tournament appreciates that from them. It's more satisfying when you beat the top players, but you don't approach the week any different. My mindset isn't any different.

Q. Being the defending champion, that's going to give you a little extra confidence as you tee it off Thursday I'm sure?

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, just knowing that I played well here before, and I think most players are the same, they've had success at tournaments they generally play well there, feel more comfortable on certain courses and year after year play well there. I kind of expect that this place is going to be like that for me. There are some other golf courses on Tour that it seems like I play well there every year and it's because it's a course I really feel comfortable on and confident in the way I go about my game plan.

Q. How did you do at Westchester in 99?

J.P. HAYES: I'm going to say I finished in the top 20, but I'm not -- yeah, I think I did. I finished like 18th or something. I played pretty well.

Q. Is it too early to tell, but do you sense a little bit more of a buzz with this -- maybe talk about the field having so many prominent names. Do you sense that? I know you haven't played a round yet.

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, I've talked to Clair Peterson over the past couple of weeks a little bit, and I know he's very excited about it, and he should be. It's a tough thing to get a tournament together and then try to get the top players, so I know he's excited about that. I'm hoping that -- I'm sure he's hoping the same thing, that it continues to build here year after year, so I'm happy for the tournament.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: J.P. Hayes, good luck this week.

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