ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 10, 1996

Jim Colbert

JIM COLBERT: Glad to be here. Glad you wanted to talk to me.

JIM COLBERT: Well, my stomach is starting to settle down a little bit right now. I was pretty excited playing the back 9. I really felt excited and the more excited I got, the better I hit it. I kind of felt like I was really playing pretty good. And then after I finished, I was with ESPN, they are telling me, all this can happen, and all that. Now, my stomach is in knots because the club is out of my hands and I don't know what is going to happen. And, then my friend John Bland, what does he do? He dunks another one on 18, runs that thing in. I saw him in the locker room. I said, "you got to go, John, you got to go. You can't do that." I think he was pulling my leg, but he might not have. He said -- but he is a great kidder. Because I walked into the locker room right before I came here, he was there. He had a real funny look on his face. I said, "John, you are just relentless." He says, "Helen, my wife, she was crying, she says, you just cost Colbert the money title, you just cost Colbert the money title." He said, "oh, no." I don't know whether he was joking or not. But that is what he said. It was really satisfying, actually to come from where I came from, six weeks ago.

JIM COLBERT: I had to do it. See, I asked Frank Beard. After I hit my second shot at 18, I said to Frank, I said: "Am I in or am I out?" He says, "you have to make the putt." And then, you know, it is just funny how you react to those kinds of things and I just -- it just hit me like, that is the way it should be. I mean, you should control your own destiny; shouldn't be sitting there waiting for somebody else to do something. The club should be in your hand; you should have the opportunity. And, at the time, I convinced myself that was a good idea. (Laughter) It was really satisfying, actually.

JIM COLBERT: Thank you.

JIM COLBERT: Afterwards, I got, you know, I tried so hard and I have put an awful lot into the year, but especially the last six weeks, and then at 17, really made me mad because I hit, God, I thought I hit a golf shot to end all golf shots and I end up in the bunker and don't get up-and-down, and I made bogey. I said, "I can't come this far --" I just got really mad. You know, you got to birdie the last hole if you have any chance - you talk to yourself, you know, it was -- it was -- I mean, it was the best I played all week was on the back 9. I just got excited. And, then you get out of your body and you are not paying any attention to your body and start hitting some really good shots. I didn't make the putt at 16. I thought realistically that if I shot 68 today - because I knew the winds would be tough, even more difficult than they had been, and I thought 68 would be a good score and would get me maybe up where I needed to get to. I thought 65, I would have to shoot, to even have a shot at Jay, and then he would have to make a mistake or, two, but you might make him nervous if you shot 65. But as I got going, I really wasn't playing 65, but 68 was a realistic number. And, had I shot it, it would have been a little bit more comfortable. But, when I bogeyed 17, I really thought I jackpotted myself, and --

JIM COLBERT: Again, I didn't see the board too much. 13, again, you come around, you can get a look at it a long time. And, I knew Hale wasn't in the top 10 and then they flashed his score and he was 12th. I don't remember whether he was even or one over at the time. He flashed up at 12th. And I remember somebody saying if he finished 12th, I had to finish somewhere. I said, "hey, if you get to where you are supposed to get, to, like, if you get to second, then it doesn't matter." And I kept thinking, boy, 6, which it didn't out to finish second, but I kept thinking 6 would finish second the way the day was going. And, then Kermit obviously played better than that. Only got to 5 and backed off it and then got back up to 5, and --

JIM COLBERT: I haven't seen him.

JIM COLBERT: Why not?

JIM COLBERT: Well, he had -- I mean, his earnings per outing is unbelievable what he did. I mean, consistency and I am sure he is frustrated because how many tournaments could he have won? I mean, he was right there and history is he is a great, great competitor, and he still is. Things just didn't happen for him. I mean, Bob Charles 3-putts; let me win in

Las Vegas to play to the playoff to win; then he makes a 60-footer and all that against Hale two weeks ago. So a lot of things happen when you play the whole league, but....

JIM COLBERT: Well, that is an arbitrary - a subjective decision for Player-of-the-year. That is out of our hands. That is the players voting. There is no formula. You have got -- well, what do you have? You have wins. You have got the Cadillac Series. You have got money list. Number -- money earned per event. Top-tens. I mean, there is a lot of ways to look at it, I think. And it is very subjective. All I -- I played two less events than I played last year, so I cut my schedule back and still won. (Laughter) But, we are friends. We will be friends next year and he will just come back more motivated, I am sure. He will probably play a few more events. I will probably play right around 30 again or 32, I think I played this year. I don't know. Be interesting to see how long I can keep on doing it. That is one of my -- I mean, it is almost like I am watching me like to see how long I can keep going.

JIM COLBERT: Well, at this stage, I have enjoyed this more right now. I mean, last year I was sick for four days when I left here. I mean, I just didn't -- I used every - whatever it is I have - I just used it up and I was just totally drained. As I speak, I feel better about it right now. I mean, I am kind of enjoying it a little bit more right now. Because I didn't have -- the last year, I was first or second or third or whatever, I mean all year, from the get-go. And this year, I wasn't. As a matter of fact, the title was already conceded. That has got a lot of people motivated to try to do it. I still -- you know, I believe it happened, but it is still -- I am still a little amazed, actually.

JIM COLBERT: Not at the moment. (Laughter) I won the most tournaments of the year, you know. Last year Murphy and I each won four. This year I won five. John Bland won four. I don't think anyone else won three. I think it was down to two, I believe.

JIM COLBERT: Who knows. I mean, in athletics you are only as good as your last out, and your last season, and you -- will all of that kind of stuff. But, I know I have the respect of my peers more than I had before. I mean, they always respected me as a player, but I think they respect me a little more than they used to. You earn that respect. And those are the people that I have been playing for 30 years. The rest of it, again, is subjective. We have pretty set ideas about each other, about who plays and how they play and this, that and the other thing. And, it takes a lot of playing to change somebody's mind. I can tell you that.

JIM COLBERT: 312,000.

JIM COLBERT: Yeah, because it wasn't personal, but it was "that is the guy." He was the mark. And so when we talked about it, yeah, I am trying to beat Hale; not because he is Hale, but because he is there. And, you know, it was the same with Stockton and he won it twice and last year Stockton, Raymond, Murph and I, so it was towards the last month, it kind of flip-flopped all over the place. Actually came in here fourth and last year everybody admitted they were trying to win the money title and this year some of us didn't. But, some of us left home and came out and played a few extra, I mean, that is a joke. I mean, that -- I mean, it was -- I think it is a worthy goal. It is not something that means anything over time, I mean, financially, about how much money you win because you play for more money and all that kind of stuff. But, I can remember Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus playing in Cajun Classic, which used to be the last tournament of the year, in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the total purse was $25,000 and they were playing for the money title. They both came down and played. I mean, they thought it was important and it is just a goal. I mean, it is just -- it is worse trying to do, in my opinion. Those Arnold Palmer trophies, my grandkids, they know who Arnold is and to have those things sitting around and to live long enough and have somebody say: "What is that?" "Oh, didn't you know?" So.... It was -- I feel real good right now. I feel better than I felt last year. I was totally exhausted. I will probably be a little bit tired, but I feel real good. I mean, I am a little surprised actually.

JIM COLBERT: Yeah, that I actually got it done, I mean, a lot of things had to happen for all that to happen if you think about that you don't sleep at night.