ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 1996

Frank Conner

FRANK CONNER: Well, I started off on the first hole hitting my tee shot to the right in the bunker. I was kind of on the right-hand side of it, behind the lip, and I hit a 7-iron just short of the green. Very tough pin position today. And, then just pitched it down. Actually made a pretty good pitch shot, about eight feet and missed the putt. After that, actually, all day I played very solid. I can't remember -- what holes did I birdie?

FRANK CONNER: 7, I hit close to get it in there about six feet and on par 5, I hit two real good shots. Seemed like, for some reason, it seemed like every hole I was playing was into the wind. I even asked Brian Barnes; I said, "is it my imagination, or are we playing every hole in the wind?" He said, " it is your imagination," so, I guess I was wrong. But I hit two really good shots, 2-woods, to set up a wedge shot that I hit close and made about a 5-footer there.

FRANK CONNER: I hit driver. Driver, and then I am carrying a 2-wood. I hit that and I hit a wedge. On the backside, actually, I hit it pretty close on 9, too. For the shot it was, I hit it in there about 18 feet and 2-putted there. But what really got my round started was on 10. 10 played very, very difficult. The pin was right-hand side over the bunker and Brian hit his shot really good shot in there. Hit just short and stopped and Jimmy Powell and I both hit on the green went over the green and I pitched the ball in. So that was kind of a nice kick-in to the front side. On 11 I hit a 2-wood off the tee, had a wedge and I hit the wedge about four, five feet, made that. After that, just kind of made pars and luckily on -- I have not played 13 very well, so made par there. I had to get up-and-down to make par there. Up-and-down again the next hole and then --

FRANK CONNER: 15 we had kind of a strange hole. Not a strange hole, but nobody tied us on 15, because Brian Barnes he and I hit irons off the tee and Jimmy Powell hit a driver. I hit 2-wood for my second shot -- I am sorry, hit 3-iron again for my second shot, laying up, Brian Barnes laid up. He was -- he hit first. He made a 3, knocked it in the hole for a 3. I hit it in there for about a foot Jimmy Powell had about six feet. We played that hole 3, 4, 4, which I don't think any threesome is going to tie us there.

FRANK CONNER: A wedge. I hit a wedge for my third shot.

FRANK CONNER: Well, birdie on 18, really hit -- I thought hit a really great drive on 18; ended up being -- I thought the wind was going to push it a little bit to the right and it ended up going a little bit left in the rough. Had 150 yards. Hit 6-iron, and actually on 15 and 16, I -- 16 and 17 I had very makeable birdie putts, so I hit my irons really, really well and there I hit it in about two feet and I was kind of hoping that -- Brian ended up hitting the ball in the water and it took him a little longer. I was kind of hoping that he would be quick because that storm was coming in. I figured they might even call play so I was just trying to get my putt in before the siren went off.

FRANK CONNER: Well, the conditions you know, it was windy and it was -- it wasn't as difficult to figure out the wind as a lot of places, where it swirls a lot. You know, so here, I mean, the wind was pretty consistent in the direction it was going, so it was hard. You had to play the wind, but it wasn't as much of a guessing game as some places and the one nice thing we did, we had -- the weather was warm. I mean, if it would have been cold it would have been brutal out there.

FRANK CONNER: Well, no question, this is a big bonus, this tournament is a big bonus for everybody, you know, the Grand Masters, the top 16 got in the Grand Masters and top 31 that got in the regular Tour Championship. It is a nice bonus. You got a chance to make some money, but I think the pressure for me, it is the same. You are still trying to win. Still trying to win the golf tournament, so I don't think that that pressure particularly changes any in an event like this.

FRANK CONNER: Well, that is the nice part about it. We got two more days to go and then everybody gets a little bit of time off, so from that standpoint, you know, you look at it like, well, we can tough out two more days, it is not another month or whatever, so from that standpoint it is kind going to be nice to go home and put the clubs away for a few weeks and then, you know, get ready to start again.

FRANK CONNER: Yes.

FRANK CONNER: Well, I actually -- I mean, I felt like that I should probably be one of the top 31 players. I continued to play. I played with most of these guys my whole career. I started in 1975 playing the regular Tour, so you know, I mean, I was fortunate to make the top 31, no question about that, but I felt like if I played to my potential that I probably should be in the top 31.

FRANK CONNER: No question. No question. I think the hardest week was Qualifying School. I know the guys are going through it right now, and Jimmy Wilkinson, couple other guys got to be good friends and stuff, and that -- for me, that was the hardest week. Now Rick Acton said last week when he was counting on making the top 31 and it was a hell of a week with him. For me it was the Qualifying School because I just knew how important it was to get through it. Once I got there I realized how important it was to finish in the top 8 and not the top 16, so from that, that was the hardest week for me.

FRANK CONNER: I am playing better, but as far as doing -- I played a lot of the Nike tournaments. I am playing a lot of tournaments here, so basically my routine hasn't changed any. It is just the fact that my golf game got a little bit better. And last year was a very difficult year for me on the Nike Tour because I think in the back of my mind the SENIOR TOUR was always there. Not wanting it to be there really, but I just at the beginning of the year - and it is funny, I kind of -- my game kind of kicked in about six weeks before the Qualifying School. I had second place finish and top-tens, but I think that also helped me in the -- in playing out here, you know, competing against those young kids and you know, playing with Tommy Tolles's, David Duval's, Woody Austin's guys like that, so I think that helped me a lot.

FRANK CONNER: No, not really. They called me dad and stuff like that, but, no, everybody knew. Everybody knew who I was and I guess followed my career somewhat and in a way I was pretty fortunate because I got to know a lot of them that were, you know, maybe a John Glenn (ph) or couple of -- some of the other SENIOR TOUR players don't get to know these guys. Well, I got a chance to compete with them and, you know, I know how good players they are and, you know, I also know a lot of guys that haven't made it yet that somewhere are going to make it because they are too good a player to be held out, but you know, Tommy Tolles, Woody Austin and David Duval made it real quick, but there are quite a few quality players on the Nike Tour.

FRANK CONNER: Oh, yeah, we had some games on Tuesday days. They kept beating me too. That is what I didn't like. But yeah, no, I played with a lot of them and it was great. I mean there was a kid name Vic Wilk (phonetic), he played just terrible. I absolutely don't understand why. Because he has got a great golf swing; not a great putter, but just a wonderful great golf swing. Somewhere along the line I think that he is going to do some great things.

FRANK CONNER: You know, I don't think anybody is a good wind player. I mean I got -- today I played well and my shots were on line. I hit a lot of good iron shots; kept the ball in play. The wind doesn't bother me maybe as much as some of the other guys because I can keep the ball down a little bit and, you know, growing up playing in Texas, you know, it is kind of an everyday deal where you are going to have certain times of the year in San Antonio you are going to have wind and you learn to play with it.

FRANK CONNER: Yes. Actually I wasn't a tennis professional. I played the circuit -- tennis circuit. At that time it was an amateur -- there wasn't any money in it. All the guys were amateurs. I went to school, Trinity University on a tennis scholarship and played with -- Stan Smith and Bob Lutz were two of my teammates on the Junior Davis Cup team, so we travelled together playing the circuit.

FRANK CONNER: No, I didn't. Actually I started playing when I was like 10. Once I started playing tennis, I quit; didn't really quit, just didn't play, but I liked tennis and I really enjoyed it and once I graduated in 1969 and there really wasn't any money in tennis and my game really didn't progress to the point where I could, you know, make a living, a good living at it, so I kind of looked at golf and decided that that is the direction I wanted to go. Right now that looks like a pretty good decision. (Laughter.)

FRANK CONNER: Yeah, basically. I have got two kids in college or had two kids in college and, you know, so, it was hard to make money on the Nike Tour. It was just -- unfortunately the money isn't where it should be on that Tour. I think that Tour needs to be playing for another hundred to $200,000 and I think it will -- I just think it will be a wonderful way to have guys move into the regular Tour through the Nike Tour because I think -- I mean, the quality of play is excellent. It is not -- it is getting deeper every year. The first year I played, you know, they had a lot of 10, 12 real good players; then it fell off, but you know, every year after that, then you get -- next year you get 25 guys that are real good; next year it is 35 guys. So they are getting very, very quality, you know, they are getting stronger just like the SENIOR TOUR every year, the field is getting stronger, the regular Tour the field is getting stronger - same thinking on the Nike Tour, so, you know, that is going in the right direction.

FRANK CONNER: No, I didn't. I think I had like 750,000 -- I also -- I had 250,000 in Nike money and unfortunately right now that doesn't count towards my lifetime money which that would have helped. But my kids still spent that 250,000, so they didn't mind that. They didn't care if it was official or not official.