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UBS CUP

November 18, 2004

Hal Sutton

KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Hal, this is your second UBS Cup competition. Last year you were unbeaten, and just a couple of thoughts on coming back to play in this event and the Cassique Golf Course.

HAL SUTTON: I'm glad to be back. It's a great championship. It's fun to be in this elite group of guys that are playing this great championship and being a part of worldwide golf.

As far as the Cassique Golf Course, I think it's an excellent test of golf. We are playing under perfect conditions right now, so occasionally take advantage of it if we keep these kind of conditions. But it's a nice test.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Any thoughts on how it sets up for match-play, any good risk/reward situations out there?

HAL SUTTON: Well, I think you're going to see a lot of birdies. The par 5s you can get to in two. I can't think of -- I'm not long enough to test the eighth hole. That's the one hole that you might be able to test if you were really long.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay. We'll just go to questions.

Q. Can you talk about the differences in playing in a team event like this and the Ryder Cup just a few weeks ago?

HAL SUTTON: Well, there's a two-year buildup to the Ryder Cup. You know, with having it at the end of the year, it's built up a lot of momentum. The European Team really pretty much has been dominating the American team in the last 20 years pretty much. They have won seven out of the last ten now. The bigness of the Ryder Cup, it always amazes me, why people are excited about the Ryder Cup. They use it as a business tool. They are watching more of the matches to see who can prevail in the end.

Q. How much fun is it for the players?

HAL SUTTON: I think the players are relaxed here. I mean, there's a difference. The biggest difference that I see between the Ryder Cup and here, guys' careers are made and broken in the Ryder Cup. In this particular event, everybody that's here, their career has been made already. It's relaxed. The guys are having a good time. It's not, you know, obviously guys still want to go out and win. That's not -- I mean, if you play any golf, competitively as long as all of us have, you will win. But it's a lot more relaxed atmosphere.

And I think the reason why it is, is if you miss something that cost somebody something out there, I don't think you'll think that your career is lost because of it.

But, you know, the Ryder Cup, there's been a few instances where guys miss things and they felt like it was just, you know, a real mark in their career that that happened that way.

Q. Is this an opportunity to restore pride lost from the Ryder Cup?

HAL SUTTON: I really haven't been looking at it this way, no. You know, all we do is we go out and play golf. We play to the best of our ability, and if you play well -- the game of golf is still the same golf it's been for 300 years. If you play well, you win. If you play poorly, you lose. That's just pretty much it. You know, from the first game we played, you have to get used to losing and then you have a chance to win. It's just the nature of the game we play.

Q. Have you ever played with Arnold?

HAL SUTTON: Last year. If he's been the one guy I've not had a close relationship with, it's just because our paths haven't crossed that much in the past. I've only played like 18 holes of golf with him in my life. So it's fun to be here and be around him.

Q. Have you read or heard the statements that Paul Casey made in the paper towards the United States and the Ryder Cup Team -- that he hates Americans, have you heard about that?

HAL SUTTON: You know, no, I've heard people say something about that. I mean, I can't really figure out why he hates us. We were pretty -- I thought we were pretty good sports at Detroit. You know, hate is a very strong word. If he actually used that word, that might be something he should have rethought before he used those quotes.

I wish that for his sake that he had put more thought into it before he used things like that. I thought we were all good sports. I thought the Ryder Cup was played with a lot of good sportsmanship, you know, and they beat us fairly handily. Most of those things -- you don't have anything like that to say about the other team when something like that happens. I don't know where he's coming from with that. Maybe he's got problems within himself that causes him to say that, I don't know.

Q. What are your thoughts on Tom Lehman as the next Ryder Cup Captain?

HAL SUTTON: I think Tom will be a great captain. He's a good human being and fierce competitor, loves to win. He'll be great.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thanks a lot, appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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