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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2006

Doug Tewell

EDMOND, OKLAHOMA

KELLY ELBIN: Ladies and gentlemen, Doug Tewell, the two thousand senior PGA Championship I don't know. Making his sixth appearance this week in the 67th Senior PGA Championship. Member of the Oak Tree Gang.

Doug, you played here in 1998 or 1988 in the PGA championship, it must be fun to have a Major championship back in your backyard.

DOUG TEWELL: It really is. There's some similarities and the golf course itself I think is playing a little bit longer actually than it did in '88 because of the overseeding. But overall I think that it's been about the same. I've gained about 25 more friends for this event than I did in '88, so other than that, it's very similar.

KELLY ELBIN: Questions.

Q. Doug, I talked to a couple of guys today who said while maybe it is playing a little bit longer it seems to be a lot more playable than it was in 1988. They mentioned the front nine and the greens. Can you just talk a little bit about that.

DOUG TEWELL: We re did the greens here a couple years ago. I think that they took out some of the severity that were in the greens originally.

So I would agree with that statement, that, one, I think it's easier to hit a good shot from these fairways, because they are overseeded. The ball is just sitting up like it's on a tee. And then these greens have, we have removed quite a few of the undulations or mounds that were in some of these greens and they have been softened up. So I think that along with just a lot of maturity here and some good turf management the golf course I think is if you if you're really playing well you have a chance to go out and really shoot a low number.

Q. How much more of an advantage do you feel you have because it is in your backyard, and it's such a great field, it's always going to be tough, but you are at home.

DOUG TEWELL: I am at home. I think that it's hard to gauge any more the greatness of the players. They adjust to things so quickly. If there's an advantage for me, it's just that I understand some places that you just absolutely don't want to hit it. That you might find if you haven't been looking around a lot. There's just certain holes where I know to maybe be coming up on the short side or stay away from the long side, so if there's an advantage, that would be it.

And understanding the wind here. As you can tell, it gusts and it lays down and gusts and you just sort of have to, in some ways, not get to fighting it so much. Which I think a lot of players tend to do when they don't play in a lot of wind.

Q. You mentioned the wind. In '88 Mother Nature kind of tamed this course a little bit. The wind laid down and there was some rain at the beginning. It doesn't look like that's going to happen this time. How different does this course play when the wind is gusting and it's dry like it looks like it's going to be for the championship?

DOUG TEWELL: We were just discussing that at lunch today. And the guys, we were talking to we're always asked to give a target score and I said 8 under par would be a good number to shoot. But if the conditions stay like they are right now I think even par would be a great number. But it looks like, which we never like to predict the weather around here but they have called for light to variable winds Thursday and Friday, so that can help somewhat. And I don't think they can get the greens too hard, because it's so hot. They're going to have to keep them damp or we would have no grass.

Mother Nature can make anything play difficult. I hope the winds lay down a little bit. I personally don't want to have to fight them for four days. Maybe a day or two would be fine, but I know they were worried earlier in the week about the rough wasn't up and I said, listen, guys, I play here all the time and this golf course is not about the rough. It's about the wind. And what the wind's going to do to this golf course will really dictate the scores.

KELLY ELBIN: The winning score in 1988 was 12 under par by Jeff Sluman. Questions?

Q. You said 4 under about three weeks ago. Are you going to stick with that?

DOUG TEWELL: I would say four to eight under. I'm in this condition right now, no. 4 under, I would take 4 under right now and stay in the club house. But, this wind, it can eat you up at times. Especially on the front nine, because we tend to kind of get the crossing it a lot coming down the stretch there at 6, 7, 8, and the wind gets to blowing across and you got to really hold the ball. In some cases you got to start it over a hazard to keep the ball in play. So right now I think anything in the red under par I would be extremely happy with.

Q. David said, as far as being a host in '88 he might have got psyched out a little bit about it. And I know you had a couple hundred of your close friends over at your house, were you at all psyched out in '88, is that the right term to use?

DOUG TEWELL: I definitely was psyched up in '88 probably too much. Because I actually, I played very solid the first two rounds and then I just crashed. I think I just let everything cave in on me. I felt the pressure of all of a sudden I had to play well. And it really, what I didn't understand in '88 was I didn't have to, I just had to continue to play solid. I think maturity has taught me that and hopefully I learned my lesson from that go round. I let it get to me. I got upset and now days I don't get nearly as upset and I just kind of smile and enjoy it. But this week I've tried to temper it with the friends and everybody's that kind of knows to stay away a little bit, let us do our business, and have fun. But I'm having a blast. I had a blast out there today with all the crowd and seeing everybody coming out to support you, you know, I just don't want to disappoint them. That's my biggest worry right now is I don't want to disappoint them, I want to be there Sunday and have a chance for, to get that momentum to come down the stretch at least to have a chance to contend. Whether or not that will happen, I don't know. I told them I was a 50 to 1 shot but you never know.

Q. At this stage of your career how do you assess your game?

DOUG TEWELL: In the last 10 months it's just been awful. But awful with a question mark behind it. I've just been hurt. I've been trying to play hurt with my left elbow. I had arthroscopic surgery last year at this time and missed the PGA championship. I thought we had it solved. I played very well for about a month after the surgery, after we rehabbed it. And I thought, man, this is, I'm back. And then it started hurting again. Now it's become arthritic, which surgery can't do anything with the arthritis, so right now it's, I like the hot weather, that makes me feel better. It's the cold that bothers it more than anything. So I take that official vitamin of the Champions Tour, Advil, and tee off and go.

Q. Outside of the Oklahoma golfers here who do you see as the Major contenders this week?

DOUG TEWELL: I was thinking about that today as I was out there. I saw Eduardo Romero and Tommy Nakajima. You know, we got some international players in the field that probably are used to playing in the wind more than some of our own guys that might be contenders. And certainly I don't think you can rule out a guy like Loren Roberts and, who is playing quite well this year, and loves these type of greens, so, but it's still a, you know, who knows.

KELLY ELBIN: We have 33 international players representing 12 countries this week for your information. Questions?

Q. I understand your nephew Jordan Cook is caddying for you this year. Would you talk about that?

DOUG TEWELL: Well, actually Jordan got fired last week.

(Laughter.) No, Jordan is not going to caddy for me. He was scheduled to caddy for me, but he wanted to take a senior trip, he's graduating from high school and I told him there would be more golf tournaments and I thought he ought to go have some fun and get ready to knuckle down for college. So I'm using one of my, a friend of mine, Tom Miller, who used to caddy for me on the Regular TOUR. So I had a caddy that I used for the last three years and he's working for Morris Hatalsky this week. We just decided to take a break from each other. And I had not been playing well and I told him it was a business and that he had to go take care of his business and so, but he is going to come back and caddy for me a couple tournaments next month. So we're, a lot of guys thought this was some big breakup, but we're just taking a breather. But I told Jordan that somewhere I'll, he's going to work for me. But it would have been fun. I think he can read the greens better than I do.

Q. Can you talk about what some of your fellow golfers out there have said about the course and what they think of it so far?

DOUG TEWELL: Tom Kite, he just thought the golf course was in absolutely immaculate condition. Of course he had to say that, he's staying with me this week.

(Laughter.) But honestly, I've never seen the golf course in better shape, even in '88. I mean the fairways are just so perfect and with the fact that we don't have a lot of rough, I like I said, I don't think that's a big factor. But I think that they have done a magnificent job of preparing the golf course. I think the PGA feels the same way. I think they're very pleased with what they see and I've heard nothing but good comments from the players and as you know, they usually don't hold back. If they don't like it, they will let you know.

Q. Is there really much of a home field advantage though on a course that's set up for a Major championship? I imagine it's a lot different than what you typically see?

DOUG TEWELL: Yeah, I don't think, I don't really feel like I have an advantage. I'm trying to figure out if I do. But I can't find one. But like I said, it's come Thursday morning at 8:30 I'm going to really put the blinders on and the ear plugs in and try to ground out I want to hear the folks, but I just want to really be focused on my game and like I say, make them proud.

Q. With Southern Hills getting ready to have their 7th Major next summer, Oak Tree's made it clear they want to have more Majors, do you think Southern Hills and all the things they have done, does that help, hurt, or doesn't have any impact do you think on Oak Tree?

DOUG TEWELL: No, I think it helps. I think it's, it just shows that this state likes to put on those type of events. We all know that it's a big, big preparation. I've been an amazed being right here underneath their feet looking at everything that goes on. But I think certainly Southern Hills compliments Oak Tree and Oak Tree compliments Southern Hills. And as far as two great golf courses. They have a little more history, we're trying to build that history right now. And I think that Don Mathis' commitment to want to do that, I heard him talking about another PGA here or another U. S. Open or something of that magnitude. And certainly that would be great. I think the golf course and the city embraces it.

KELLY ELBIN: Questions? Questions twice? Ladies and gentlemen, Doug tool. Thank you, Doug.

DOUG TEWELL: I hope to see a lot of you all week.

End of FastScripts.

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