ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 1997

Charles Coody

CHARLES COODY: $85,000?

CHARLES COODY: Yeah, I was trying to think back in my professional career - I don't think I have had that kind of a lead going into the last round. I have often wondered what it would be like. And, I found out it is not as easy as you may think it is. All morning long I was telling myself on the practice tee be aggressive with your swing; try to make birdies and everything. , and I got out there the first two or three holes, I found myself taking lesser club, trying to hit it easy an; trying to put it on the green where I can 2-putt for par. And, consequently, I bogeyed 2 and 3 which was a bad start. It was really bad in that Miller Barber got off to a real fast start. He birdied 2 and 3. So, my son who was caddying for me, he kind of got after me a little bit. He said: "Dad, you just lost your aggressiveness. Get out there and take the club that you know for the shot and swing it, hit it and hit it hard." So, that is what I started doing. I played better. But, I still had kind of set the stage a little bit. My tempo of the whole day wasn't really good. But, fortunately I did make some birdies. Hit a few good shots; made some birdies to offset the birdies that I made and got in with 72.

CHARLES COODY: Yes, it is. I had to wait until I got to 60 (laughs).

CHARLES COODY: (laughs) No.

CHARLES COODY: It is. In this particular sport, it is tough for a 60-year-old to compete with a 50-year-old, it really is. The 60-year-old can definitely compete with each other. But, you know, for us to compete with players that have the ability to play like Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan and just go right on down the list John Bland, Graham Marsh, Aoki and stuff, it is difficult. We can compete on a given week, but week-in, week-out, we are not going to be as consistent. But, they, themselves, one day will be 60 - if they live long enough - and they will know exactly what I am talking about. But, the SENIOR TOUR is a pleasure. The MasterCard Champions is a real fun thing for us that are in that category, 60 and over. We are very, very thankful that it is there and that MasterCard is the sponsor. So we are very pleased and we hope they are too.

CHARLES COODY: Dick, probably if I had quit the game every time I said I was going to, there is no telling how many times I would have quit. But, no, I know the time that you are talking about, and my game at that particular point was at a very low ebb. I had not been playing well. Finally I got on some swing thoughts late -- maybe early summer and I played real well at Canada where I won. And, I don't say that just because I won, but I mean, I really played well. And, thing that is, as I have gotten older, the thing I found that has been more difficult, it is hard to except, is to go out and put rounds together in a tournament. I can go out and I watch other guys, my friends that I have played with out here for years and they are in the same age category that I am. We go out and we will play a good round and then we will play a not-so-good round. Then we will play a good round or something. If you are going to be competitive out here, you have almost -- you can't afford any bad rounds now - a bad round is 73 or 4.

CHARLES COODY: A lot of it. You find your mind wandering around out there. Why? I don't know. Things have a tendency of disturbing you a little bit more. Like a bug that lands on your golf ball, that is totally insignificant, but for some reason, it breaks your concentration. But, anyway, you are right, I was very discouraged at that point. And, then I played better the last half of the year and this year was kind of up-and-down. I went into some new equipment and just in the last -- and I am very happy with it. But just in the last, oh, six or eight weeks, I feel like I have got the equipment with the specs and everything that I want. So, I am starting to play much better. So in a sense, I kind of hate to see the season end in that respect.

CHARLES COODY: Well, you know, I had a lot of highs and lows, Phil. I started off with those two bogeys. Then I hit a wedge about, oh, I guess twelve feet at the 4th hole, made that for birdie. Then I hit a 5-iron about four feet at the next hole. So, now I am kind of back up and I am feeling good and I hit a good drive on the next -- the 6th hole, but it caught just a little part of the rough there and hung up in some grass with a downhill lie. I put it on the green, but then I 3-putted. So, now I am kind of back down in the dumps a little bit again. Then I played par, I hit the greens and 2-putted for about five or six holes and then I -- I hit a good shot in on the par 5, 13th, to about, oh, about eight, ten feet, I guess, and made that for birdie. And, then I birdied -- well, I bogeyed 14. Hit a pretty good shot, just under club a little bit; hit it in the bunker; didn't hit a good sand shot, but then I made birdie at 16, and then hit -- well, I didn't hit 17, but I 2-putted off the fringe, so -- but it was kind of an up-and-down round. Like I said, the way I started out, I never did really get myself back where I felt just totally 100% in control, but, fortunately I played well enough.

CHARLES COODY: Thank you. My wife will appreciate that. She will be very happy.