ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 1996

Mike Hill

MIKE HILL: I started off, had first hole; made birdie from 10 foot. And I made pars all the way to 6, and I 3-putted from about 30 foot. I made pars the rest of the way until I made birdie at 12. And I made about a 25-footer at 12. 13, I made a putt from a foot. 15, I made a 5-footer. And I bogeyed 16, missed the green to the right and pitched it 5 foot and missed it. And made pars at 17, 18.

MIKE HILL: I played basically the same. I feel like I hit a lot of greens. I made some putts. I missed some putts. I think that you are going to have those kind of days when the wind blows hard. I am very happy where I am. I think I am in a great position. I wish the weather actually was going to stay warm like it is today and it was yesterday. I am a better warm weather player than I am cold, but listening to the forecast doesn't sound like we are going to have a great Saturday and Sunday, but we will have to make the best of that.

MIKE HILL: That is right.

MIKE HILL: Yeah, but I think when I play in cold weather, I was 16 and 17 years old. Now only time when I am in cold weather is when I am hunting. I don't go out and play in cold weather just for the sport of it. You are right; I think most pros would rather play in warm weather. But I think we all realize that there is a chance you are going to get some cold weather when you come to Myrtle Beach, and I am sure that, like myself, everybody has their hat, gloves and all, so I think we will be prepared.

MIKE HILL: Yeah, I keep my ball pretty low. I don't hit it high up in the air and, actually, I kind of enjoy playing in the wind. I think that you really got to hit some solid golf shots to be able to control your golf ball, and over the years I think that I have been able to play wind shots as good as anybody and, you know, it is going to keep the scores from being real low because the greens are holding real good, and I think that if the wind hadn't had blown, I think we would have probably have seen 5 or 6-under today like we did yesterday.

MIKE HILL: Yeah, that is kind of what I do. I play it back towards my right foot and I hood the clubface a little bit, kind of keep the ball -- I try to knock it down so the ball never gets up in the air very high. And I've had a lot of success doing that. And I really -- I have got to where I got it to work really well. That is why I like playing in Florida too because you are going to have to hit some wind shots, and enjoy it really.

MIKE HILL: I think it is harder naturally to get the right club, but I think also with the way the greens are holding, you know, last week in Pensacola with the wind blowing hard, the greens were very hard and it was really much more difficult to get your ball close to the hole than it is this week because the greens are holding here, and you can hit a knockdown shot, and it may hit and run 10 or 12 foot where last week it hit and ran 30, 40 foot. I thought that last week was a lot more difficult to get the right club because you were always trying to hit the front edge of the green and let the ball roll up or even short of the green and let it roll up, but here at least you carried the ball on the green and it is holding well.

MIKE HILL: Oh yeah, I think there is no question that -- I think that you come to a point that you think there are things more important than just playing golf, and I think I probably lost some of the intensity. It was a great win with Lee at the Legends and then being able to go home and spend eight weeks at home, but I think you also -- I lost a lot of desire to come back and compete, and I have only played 18 tournaments this year, and actually I have probably enjoyed the last 10 tournaments as much as any that I have played because, you know, after you have been off for a month, I didn't play for a month before last week. I came back. I was relaxed. I don't expect that much of myself then, and I played great. I finished second, and I think that being happy about coming back and playing and the game being fun is probably, to me, more important than playing every week. I will not ever play every week again. I used to play 35. I don't know if you guys ever looked in the book, but when I first started I played 30 -- anywhere from 33 to 37 tournaments a year and it kind of wore you out, and I think it probably took a toll on the longevity of your career when you play so much when you first start.

MIKE HILL: No. I don't really put a number on it anymore. I am going to play when I feel like playing. I am not going to come out anymore and just play when the purse is a million dollars because I think I should. I am going to go play when Mike really feels like he wants to go and play again, and I probably will play more tournaments next year than I did this year. I want to see what affect it has on me. I say -- I come back after not playing for a month; I was relaxed and I enjoyed it. I want to see if I can do that with 25 tournaments instead of 15 or 18. If I find out that I can't do that, I am going to back up and play 15 or 18 again because I don't want to come out here at 60 years old and not enjoy what I am doing. I think you need to be able to have fun doing it; be able to laugh about your bad shots or at least smile about them and be able to carry on and realize it is not a life and death thing.

MIKE HILL: I don't. I don't practice when I go home either. I hadn't played for four weeks. I just don't play. I went out with my wife and played nine holes. I am very fortunate God gave me the kind of a swing where I can come back and find it - I can find my golf ball and I don't have to go hit balls. Davey goes and practices everyday. There is a lot of guys here that when they go home they go practice. When I go home, I go home. I don't practice, and I guess maybe that is part of the coming back and feeling refreshed and being able to feel like you have been away because you know, I spend my time at my golf course and I don't practice and I think you get a refreshing look at life, the whole picture, instead of just narrowness of this game, you know.

MIKE HILL: We were still opened last weekend, but I am sure with the cold front that has come through there, we are probably done for the year, yeah, I would believe that.

MIKE HILL: We open in the middle of March.

MIKE HILL: Oh, I think that I had fun last week. I played with Leon Sunday who is a good friend of mine and you know, again, he ends up winning. I guess you ought to be upset about that, but he ended up winning. I felt like I played great. I hadn't played in a month and he made a 50 footer and I lipped out from 30 foot, so all and all I was very happy with what happened and this week coming down here and playing, I feel good. I am hitting it good. You know, I feel like I got a real chance to win and you know, I am still competitive and you know, you go out there to shoot the best number you can and sometimes it is easier to shoot those good numbers when you are not really putting the pressure on yourself to shoot them. I think that if you go out there and hit every shot, try as hard as you can every shot, whatever comes up, comes up, I believe that that is the easiest way for me to play.

MIKE HILL: No question, level of competition is getting harder and harder on the SENIOR TOUR. I am not going to take anything away from what I did down there in Puerto Rico because I really played good, and I beat Jim Colbert down there who was 50 at that time. So I would guess that Raymond came on after that. And now you have got Hale and - but the competition on the SENIOR TOUR every week is getting more difficult, and you are going - you are going to have to really hit your ball and putt your ball to be able to win. I am surprised there are still guys winning 4 and 5 tournaments, and eventually I believe maybe that will stop, I don't know. There is -- I think there are surprises from guys that come off the other Tour and come over here. I think they are surprised at how good some of the senior players play and the dominating factor - I mean, no question that Lee did it, Raymond did it, Hale has won twice, and, you know, when I won, I won 6 in 1991 and 5, four or five, I have won 18. And yet if you were to ask that question outside this press tent there wouldn't be anybody to be able to answer that. They have no idea. They think that the only guys that really have been successful on the SENIOR TOUR are the marquis players, and there has been a lot of guys out here that have been successful and won a lot of tournaments and won many tournaments than they ever did on the other Tour.

MIKE HILL: Thank you.