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AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2004

Ivan Lendl

STATELINE, NEVADA

Q. Talk about your round, if you would.

IVAN LENDL: Very up and down today, just didn't hit it as good as yesterday. I made more birdies, but also made two doubles.

Q. How does this game compare to tennis for you?

IVAN LENDL: I never really think about it. It's obviously an individual sport, so you get the gravy and you take the bad ones by yourself. You have nobody to blame.

Q. Looking back on your tennis career, is there one thing you'd like to change about it?

IVAN LENDL: Yeah, I would have liked to be better. There are people who won more than that, so obviously it's possible. I mean, you can always do better, there's no doubt about it. Everything you do, you're never perfect.

I'm not complaining or anything, don't get me wrong, but as I get older, or I got older even during my tennis years, I knew there were things which would have helped me if I knew about them earlier. By experience or had the knowledge how to improve, I could have done some things a little differently and better, but I did the best I could at the time.

Q. Of the four Grand Slams, is there one that stands out that you can go back?

IVAN LENDL: Well, I think each time you win a major, it's very special. I'm lucky enough to win some majors more times than once. For me always the first one was more special than the others, but not much of a difference, they are all great.

Q. Did you win Wimbledon?

IVAN LENDL: No, I didn't.

Q. You've got like two or three of the other three; correct?

IVAN LENDL: I have what do I have; three French, three US Opens and two Australian.

Q. Not being able to get the Grand Slam, you didn't answer as that being your answer as one thing you wanted to change?

IVAN LENDL: No, it's not. The way I had to play there was not suited more my game at all. I basically had to play the weakest part of my game against some of the guys, and when I look back at it, actually I'm very proud of how well I performed there.

Q. For tomorrow, I guess you're going to be in the second to last group; do you like that position?

IVAN LENDL: Well, I don't think it really matter what is it would be. You have to go out there and make a bunch of birdies and try not to make any mistakes.

Q. What number are you shooting for tomorrow?

IVAN LENDL: I'm not even worried about it. Hey, it's tomorrow, and today, but secondly, I will go out there and just try to play every shot the best I can and see what happens.

Q. How much of a factor in the game, especially the way you're playing, having your kids, they are all playing golf

IVAN LENDL: I would like to play a little more golf. I don't get to play enough rounds, so partially at times it's why I'm a little rusty on the golf course. I get to hit balls here and there, but it's not the same. It's just like tennis, you can play all the practice sets you want, but if you're not out there playing matches with the umpire on the chair, you're going to look rusty and I feel like that at times with my golf.

I'm actually feeling better this week. Last week, I definitely felt like that.

Q. Are any of your kids beating you on the golf course yet?

IVAN LENDL: They can't beat me from the back tees yet. I won't play them they can play each other.

Q. How long have you lived in the States now?

IVAN LENDL: Since 1980.

Q. Forgive me, a little bit of the tennis thing again, as far as the Wimbledon thing, what part of your game didn't match up there that other guys, Sampras won eight times

IVAN LENDL: Seven times.

Q. What was the thing that kept you there?

IVAN LENDL: Well, I was not a natural mover. I learned how to move. I was pretty tall for my time, and I was not moving as well as some of the other guys, so movement on grass was even more difficult. I had to learn how to move . I would get to one side, and then turning around would be harder, split second here, split second there.

So to avoid that, I had to serve my ball, which wasn't my game, but I was fairly successful at that. I just didn't break the other players enough times. As I said, my game was suited for other surfaces and it showed.

Q. Go back to when you're 10, 11 years old, if you pick up golf clubs instead of a tennis racquet at that point, where would you be now?

IVAN LENDL: Good question. We can only speculate because we didn't have many golf courses at that time in Czechoslovakia. So the instruction was probably not very good, I don't really know. But if you want to be hypothetical and say would I have the same opportunities as in tennis, I probably would be at Troon right now, at least I would like to think that. I still could be there watching, but it's more fun playing.

End of FastScripts.

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