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AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

July 15, 2005

Chris Webber

STATELINE, NEVADA

Q. It seems like you're playing better out there compared to, you've been here before.

CHRIS WEBBER: I've been here once before. The first time I came, I thought it was just a charity event where you walk around and you shake hands. I didn't know it was serious athletes. So the first time to play that way in front of a gallery and I haven't played in about a month, I felt proud to play.

But, now, yeah I think I'm much better but truthfully it's so much funny about nerves, because nerves don't affect me on the basketball court at all, and when you have a gallery or you have a big shot or a big putt here, you know, just as it is when you're with your friends on the golf course, it's a little bit tougher.

So I'm a little bit disappointed with not playing the way that I played when I'm not around a lot of people. But I'm sure that's the way it happens for mostly everybody.

Q. Did you hear about the minus 21 line that Charles was giving you, and is that incentive to stay within him?

CHRIS WEBBER: See, I'm going to leave before Barkley comes into the interview. He's out there talking.

I'll make it real short. This is what happened. My father is an avid golfer. My father is golf man, every single thing in his life is golf. I finally beat my father a couple months ago, so my father has been very upset so he was very happy to call me last week, and said Charles Barkley said my father has a picture of us in our house of me and Charles Barkley when I met him in high school, which he knows how much I admire Charles. So he called and said, "Charles Barkley said he's going to quit playing if he can't beat you. I saw his swing. He's terrible." And I heard my mother laughing in my background, and I'm a mama's boy.

So when I heard that I asked some people to find his number and I tracked him down for about four days and I tracked him down at dinner. And I said, you such and such, he started laughing. "I want to bet you $50,000 to your charity and vice versa." And the best thing about it is that I'm going to try to shut him up, talk junk, have fun with him, but it does go to charity at the end of the day. So I thought it would be a great idea to do that and he's a great sport with it. He's up, I think about four or three points right now, and we're going to go down to the wire. I think they should put the lights on in Tahoe for me and Barkley, like at the end, you know what I'm saying, to bring some excitement. But it's all in fun. Two bad golfers trying to help charity.

Q. What are the charities?

CHRIS WEBBER: We haven't decided. We both have our own charities, so our money is probably going to be filtered to other charities. We haven't decided as long as the money figures there, we know that someone will be helped he was talking about a couple today that he had thought about. And I'm pretty sure that the money will be divvied up amongst a lot of charities. For us, helping the kids is No. 1, helping charities, and No. 2 is being able to say, I made you do that, you know, that type of thing, to be able to take the new tie toys, new computers whatever to the schools and say Barkley did this. That's the fun part about it.

Q. Harold Presley wanted me to ask you: Is he the most important thing that you miss about Sacramento?

CHRIS WEBBER: Well, as you know, I thought Harold Presley discovered Sacramento. Didn't he discover it?

Q. He's been there so long; probably.

CHRIS WEBBER: Yeah, I heard they were going to start making money in Sacramento and putting Harold's face on it and everything. Everybody knows Harold is the best thing that happened to Sacramento. I'm just glad that he let me stay in his town a couple of years and he protected me, that's all.

Q. Your wager with Charles, is it straight up or on the line?

CHRIS WEBBER: Ours, I believe, I heard he's first of all, who has the advantage?

Q. Oh, you do. You get 21 points.

CHRIS WEBBER: Oh, we're going the way the board has it. (Laughter).

I mean, his best friend he has Tiger Woods cover on his bag, you know what I'm saying. So people should feel some sympathy for me. My caddie is my best friend from high school, and he stinks no, I'm joking, I'm joking.

Q. Tiger's cover hasn't helped Charles' swing.

CHRIS WEBBER: But Charles is on the phone making long distance calls. And I know the British was over and I saw Tiger pick up his phone, and Charles his that ball pretty good. So he might be calling giving Charles advice, I don't know. But we'll see how it goes.

Q. What's your friend's name?

CHRIS WEBBER: Vincent Archer. Like the blind leading the blind, basically.

Q. A lot of fans you still have in this area, are they giving you their best out there?

CHRIS WEBBER: Oh, it's great. One of the main reasons why I wanted to come back here was to be closer to the Sacramento community again and see some people and see some friends. I have some friends coming down from Sacramento, so that's the icing on the cake to be back here and to be in front of these people. But the fans are great, from the ones that I know can't play and want to give me advice, because I've seen them play before, to, you know, to an older lady today that told me to quit hitting like a girl.

So it's definitely, like Charles said, it's just so much fun. I can't even explain it, being an athlete and to compete in an arena on a different level. It's like my brothers when they play on the church Sunday league or when they are imagining whoever they are imagining. I'm the same way on the course, and it's a lot of fun.

Q. How much time do you put into the game? Last time you were here, you said you had been playing for a month, so do you take lessons or do you play regularly?

CHRIS WEBBER: I have a friend that's never taken lessons and is great and I never should have met him because I think I can do the same thing. I play probably twice a week as much as I can. I'm just like you guys, I go on golfing vacations and excursions. I love golf and I love the competitiveness of it, and mentally I love how you have to forget what you did the hole before or what you did the stroke before. I really work on that in basketball. I really work on that out here to keep an even keel the whole time whether you play great or not.

So I think you can take a lot of tools and a lot of things out of another sport and that's what I try to do, too.

Q. Do you find it relaxing for you at all or does your competitiveness kick in and you get frustrated?

CHRIS WEBBER: Yeah, it's not fun. To me, it's not to me the fun part about it is being challenged and frustrated. That's what brings me back is me trying to conquer the game. I think I can honestly be in the Seniors Tour when I get older. Those type of little kid dreams or little things, your goals, whether they are realistic or not, that's what keeps me coming back. So I play a couple of times a week and, you know, I'm Golf Digest, golf books just like everybody else. See how that goes.

Q. How long have you been playing?

CHRIS WEBBER: I've been playing since the first year I was here, I think that was four years ago, five year ago. I want to say four, I'm not sure.

Q. When you look back on 2000 when you played here the first time, I noticed that your clubs were a little shorter, did you get a new set that was custom made for you?

CHRIS WEBBER: You know, it's funny, those were custom made by some people, but I found out later that, yeah, I needed them a little bit longer. I saw David Robinson's drivers and it was longer than me almost and mine was, you know, so definitely, that was the year where, you know, (indicating short) you just want the clubs, you just want this now. I think I've learned a little bit more about the game and my swing and things like that, what I need to straighten out, so yeah, now they are definitely fitted for me.

End of FastScripts.

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