KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2023

Ken Green

Quick Quotes

PGA Frisco

Q. I heard there were some really good shots in there.

KEN GREEN: Yeah, 76, that was my par. So it was good. I can't complain.

Q. You get some putts to go, right?

KEN GREEN: I can honestly say this is the first time probably a decade I literally didn't pull or push a putt all day. I can't go three holes now without doing that anymore. So that was a fun part. A little more focused. It was fun.

Q. Have you not played this in a few years?

KEN GREEN: No, it's been like five years. I've been dealing with so much pain with this stupid disease. It was impossible to focus. So it's fun. It's been a tough month. My girlfriend died. But, yeah, I thought it was right to come out and play because this is, you know, when you compete for as long as I was this is (No Microphone.) At home. So it was good to do that. I'm very happy. I wanted to see the place too. See what they did. The facility is phenomenal. They did a great job. They will tweak a couple holes, but they will have to fix, a couple greens. I think they need to get some of these fairways a little narrower, they're way too wide. But they got four years. One thing I can say about the PGA is they are the best of the four organizations in terms of being fair, but hard. The USGA is always borderline dumb. The Masters back in the older days was pretty brutal too. I think they got a little better. But this is quite a facility.

Q. Describe your love for the game that keeps you going and playing.

KEN GREEN: Oh, this is all right. I don't understand what the other 90 percent of people do with their life. It just blows my mind. Golf to me is, it's my haven. Maybe because of all the crap I went through and this is where I found peace. I'm going to play until I die. I love it. I'm in the Palmer group. If I didn't have this stupid disease I would play golf every day. I love it that much. There's no better game. It's just, it's heaven on earth. That's the way I look at it.

Q. For clarity, the disease you're talking about?

KEN GREEN: It's called CRPS. It's a nerve disorder. There's no cure. I spent four months in a place called the Schroer Clinic in Arkansas, the only place in the world that deals with this disease. And after four months they cut my pain in half. I was on the verge of calling it a day. It was just getting unbearable. You can imagine nerve pain, everyone knows the tooth and the sciatic and all that. Think about that 24/7.

Q. Was it a byproduct of the accident or something unrelated?

KEN GREEN: No, they feel that -- the only two things that they know based on a consistent run of patients is some sort of trauma accident or, believe it or not, a lot of girls have vaccine shots. Not COVID, but other vaccine shots. And what I witnessed in there were girls who were unable to move, you know, and just, it locks up your body. And some were there for a year. They got 'em walking. It's a rare one.

Q. What do you feel? What would you feel with the nerve?

KEN GREEN: I get the shooting pains. Like the nerve with the tooth or the sciatic. That's what I was getting just all the time. Just different levels. It's a tough one to handle. I'm amazed that I handled it. Now that it's better I only get it 40 or 60 times a day instead of just constant. There's different triggers about this disease. That's the weird thing about it. For me every time I try to go take a pee my leg will scream. It's the weirdest thing. Movie theatres, sound in a restaurant, I don't really go any more because of the vibration, it just hits the nerve. And other people, there was one patient that couldn't put water on his foot. Another person was wind. So this poor kid was stuck inside all the time until they gave him some help. It's a painful disease for so many people (wind noise.) It's so rare, no one knows -- I'd nerve heard of it. Because I've been fighting the pain for 14 years. And every doctor is -- I can't tell you how many different surgeries I had trying to figure out what's causing all this pain. It's one of those. It's wild. But like I said, I'm half the pain, I'm ecstatic. I love golf. Obviously I know this was -- I would love to play one more, maybe like a Dicks or something and just call it a day. It's good seeing people you haven't seen in forever and give it that last hurrah. It's fun. It's a good thing. The people, the players should be very happy (No Microphone.) Because some of them get a little frustrated and expect more. But, I mean, think about it, golfers are the only guys that can keep going until they're 60 years old. Football players, everybody is out at 37 and they lose that competition. Whereas, we get to do it pretty much all our whole life. So they should be pretty happy with it what they're doing.

Q. Who knows they might get Tiger, right?

KEN GREEN: Yeah.

Q. Driving a buggy.

KEN GREEN: Well, I mean, talk about -- I personally never saw him even thinking about playing here. I just didn't think he would. He's made a couple of comments that he might. And, my God, talking about a boost for the Senior Tour. As good as Harrington is, he's going to find out he's not that good (laughing.) But you put Tiger out here, you know, he's Tiger. No other way around that.