ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 1996

Bob Charles

BOB CHARLES: As long as you show me. Okay. First hole, hit 7-iron into twelve feet. Made that for 3. Missed short putts on 2, 3, 5th hole. Oh, 4th hole. That is the par 5; isn't it? Hit one of the luckiest shots I ever hit in my life, in my 30 blah-blah-blah -- how many years -- 36 years; hit the luckiest shot I have ever seen. Playing into the wind, I had 110 yards and just tried to knock down 9-iron, and it jumped on me. It carried over the green. Hit a sprinkler head, went about 30 feet in the air, and it lipped out of the hole. How about that?

BOB CHARLES: (Laughter.) So it finished about six inches from the hole so I made a birdie. Misjudged. thought I hit a good 6-iron shot right on the flag stick at the next, but I kind - it was easing off. It was a good solid 6-iron. Came up in the bunker. Came out about ten feet and 2-putted. Parred all the way around to 14, where I hit my first -- missed my first fairway of the tournament; actually drove it in the bunker left, hit a wicked shot out, and pitched it on about 20 feet short and 2-putted for 5. 16, I hit a good drive and did a little 6-iron. Had about 17 feet and made that for a birdie.

BOB CHARLES: Not easy. Obviously, very tricky. I don't mind the wind, but when it is disguised behind the trees, it does make the conditions very tricky. Club selection was not easy, but I felt like I handled it pretty well. As I say, I only missed one fairway today and hit a lot of good iron shots; had a lot of 12, 15-foot putts for birdie chances. And only made the two putts, which were 1 and 16. The rest of the time I was kind of tapping in all day. So a cold putter, cold putter today. But all and all, a good day's work, I suppose, to be in contention. Just one shot behind in the conditions.

BOB CHARLES: No. Well, I think it is a bit -- yeah, probably will if it keeps blowing all night, but I won't say that it is firm exactly. There are a lot of soft -- you hit couple of shots there with a lot of mud on the ball, but no, the fairways -- well, they are just still pretty damp, holding; for example, 13 is -- well, it is just terribly wet and heavy and there is no roll at all on it.

BOB CHARLES: Oh, I think so. Why not? What else is there to do?

BOB CHARLES: No, no. Three or four times a week: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Friday. Try not to on Saturday. Yeah, I will hit the fitness trailer and burn up some calories and get the old huff and puff and get the heart pumping blood, circulating.

BOB CHARLES: I don't know about that. That, I don't know. I just do aerobic exercise regularly for the general -- my overall health and fitness. And I consider myself in pretty good shape. Strength-wise I am not into the -- next year I will -- time is the thing. How do you find time to do all these things? But I really should take another half an hour a day and work with the weights and get a little stronger.

BOB CHARLES: I am on the Exer-Cycle for 30 minutes and the threadmill for 10, so that is 40 minutes.

BOB CHARLES: Well, I monitor my heart rate on the Exer-Cycle because I am not -- I keep it at 140 beats a minute, which is, I find, about optimum for my age. So the threadmill is kind of a bit of a cool down although, I have been doing a little bit of hill work on the threadmill and -- but basically, it is a cool down and, you know, you are not using your arms. On the threadmill you are using your arms, you are swinging your arms; whereas on the bike, you are only using your legs, so I think the one helps the other.

BOB CHARLES: I am not exactly with you on that question.

BOB CHARLES: Yeah, I am on the bottom 10%, 254 is my average length of my drives on the SENIOR TOUR, right, so I am in the bottom 10% for distance. In fact, I am 70th. 70th out of, I don't know, 100 or so.

BOB CHARLES: With the heavy wet conditions, yeah, the soggy fairways.

BOB CHARLES: With good iron-play. The greens are not beyond reach. I am hitting a lot of 3-irons, 4-irons, 5-irons. Other guys are hitting wedges and 9-irons, but I feel like if I am playing -- swinging well, I can get my medium irons in to birdie range. Of course I am at a disadvantage on the par fives. I mean, Jay Sigel today on the 15th hole he hit a 2-iron, what, 15 feet from the hole and made it for an eagle 3. I am hitting a 3-iron, a 3-iron and a 9-iron and 2-putting for my 5, whereas, but that is well -- that is the way I play golf. That is the way he plays golf. We are in kind of a different -- (Laughter.)

BOB CHARLES: When you need to. Sometimes you like to get it up there and use the wind. See you don't fight the wind all the way. You put it up in the air and let the wind take the ball, curve it, yeah, if you are into the wind, sometimes you hit it high into the wind; you want to bring it down soft. If you want a boring shot, you know, you have got to have all this repertoire. You learn that after 35 years or so. You know, you will get there. (Laughter.)