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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2006

Mike Reid

EDMOND, OKLAHOMA

KELLY ELBIN: Mike Reid, ladies and gentlemen, the defending Senior PGA Championship champion. Mike, some thoughts from you on defending your title here this week here at Oak Tree, please.

MIKE REID: Well, it's an honor to be here and to play a golf course that's of this caliber and this championship. I think that there's a special kind of electricity that goes through all of us on the golf course that you can feel it and the whole presentation of this tournament this week. I think that it gets your blood pumping a little bit faster. And I think that on behalf of all of the players it's a thrill to be here and I have heard a lot of positive comments about the golf course. And nothing negative at all. It's a very demanding course and I think it's going to lend itself to a great championship.

KELLY ELBIN: Questions? In the back.

Q. When you were here for Media Day about three weeks ago I know you played the course, conditions were a little more benign then, it was cooler, the wind wasn't howling, what are some of the differences, I assume you have been out there so far you've been here this week, what are some of the differences the way this course is playing now with these conditions versus when you were here three weeks ago?

MIKE REID: I think it changes complexion every day, depending upon the wind. And I noticed that today on a couple of holes.

I think it just changed a few degrees from yesterday, basically out of the south, but whether it's a little southeast or a little southwest, it can I noticed the cross wind holes especially, 6 and 7 this morning were two or three clubs different than yesterday for me.

So I think that the subtlety of this golf course is where the, I think, the genius lies. And to be able to figure that out every day is going to be a challenge.

Q. What was it like to win a tournament of this caliber, especially after not having won in such a long time? Were you able to appreciate it a lot more in the fashion that you got it done?

MIKE REID: Yeah, I think that any time you win it's pretty special, but to tee up on the 18th hole with such a slim hope and 30 minutes later be holding a trophy, it's just an extraordinary experience and something that when I look back on it, it's like watching a movie you have seen 10 times and yet you watch it again just to see if it ends the same way. And that's the way that tournament has been in my memory.

I think given the experience at Kemper Lakes and that, I don't know if it's coincidence or what, but it's pretty special.

Q. You talked about the difference in the weather from yesterday to today and the start of the month, the southerly wind, how does that change 18? It's a pretty tough hole to close out, but with that southerly wind, how does that change your approach on how you play that hole?

MIKE REID: It still takes two good shots. I think that when we played that shoot out, do you remember the shoot out? And it was down wind? It was a drive and a 9 iron. And yesterday for me it was a drive and a 4 wood. And I hit them both pretty good. So anywhere in that range in between a 4 wood and a 9 iron it really, you go from offense to defense. And that's the difference the wind can make.

I think the beguiling thing about the wind here is that on most golf courses logically you think, well, this hole's into the wind, that means a couple of other holes will be down wind. But when you get to the down wind holes, those can be tougher than the into the wind holes because sometimes the greens slope away from you, I noticed and the greens are firm enough to where you've got to hit quality shots into the wind, down wind, cross wind, it's a very demanding golf course. It's a very evenhanded golf course. There's just, like one of the marshals was telling me today that one of the groups came through and one of the fellows said, you know, I played here two days and I'm just looking around for a hole that you can take a breather on. And as you look at the golf course, there aren't any. There just aren't any. You have got to be spot on. You really got to be executing good golf shots and thinking well, creative around the greens, patient, all the qualities that it's a very straightforward challenge.

Q. Last year and it's been a year after you won and you were literally speechless. You were as shocked as anyone that you won. How long did it take to set in that you won that event and that you will be known as a Major championship winner from here on out or has it sunk in?

MIKE REID: Oh, I think it took a couple of weeks. I think it took a couple of weeks. After answering I think in the neighborhood of about 40 messages that night on my cell phone, I don't think I ever had more than six or seven before. It took awhile though.

Q. No one over the age of 48 has ever won a Major on the Regular TOUR, considering the advances in technology, guys taking better care of themselves, advances in health and science, do you think it's possible we might see someone 50 or older win a Major in a regular tournament and could you tell us your position on that?

MIKE REID: I don't think, I not only think it's possible, I think there's a likelihood we may see it in the next five years. You look at the quality of golf that the guys like Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen, Craig Stadler, guys that are still transitioning in and out of the Regular TOUR and are doing just fine. That and you look at the type of golf that Major tournaments require, and the skills guys have maintained out here, not only their physical shape, but their golf skills, I think that there's a chance that's going to happen. I mean what did Peter Jacobsen finish like 12th at the hope last year?

And the reason why I think that's possible is because a lot of young players on the PGA TOUR now hit it hard someplace and putt good. But they don't always hit they hit it a great distance, but not always the right distance. And Major championships you not only have to hit it in the right place, you got to know how far the ball is going. And I think that those skills are maintained by guys that the guys that I mentioned earlier, they still do that very well. They control their distances well. And I think that they're patient enough that they can just keep their head, which is a good thing about playing Major championships, just keeping your head. And so what they may lose in some areas of athletic skill they make up for in emotional control and course management. So I think there's a possibility guys like and then you look at sort of the next generation, the guy that is are 45 to 50, that are, I mean they have their eyes oncoming out on the Champions Tour, but are still pretty competitive out there, guys like Fred Funk, for instance and Nick Price and though guys are just bulletproof from tee to green and they catch a week where they're putting reasonably well, they could contend anywhere. I really think it's going to happen.

Q. Does the golf course favor a particular style of play, whether a low ball hitter, high ball hitter, left to right, right to left, does any of that come into play here?

MIKE REID: I just think it favors a pretty well rounded game. I think that I see some tee shots you want to work left to right, some you want to work right to left. I don't see any one particular style that stands out here. The course has enough variety and challenge in the shot making that I couldn't detect anything in that area at all.

I think if you're looking for something like that that might give somebody an edge, I think you have to think about the type of golf courses that Pete Dye generally builds and if there's one characteristic of a Pete Dye golf course that I have noticed and this golf course is an example of it, is there is no such thing as the middle of the green. And hints, if you're going to play well on a Pete Dye golf course, if you're executing your shots and playing your game, you got to be kind of daring. Because the spots you need to hit the ball can look pretty intimidating, but there's nothing easy about the middle of the green. And in fact, you can get some pretty weird bounces from the middle of the green, either towards the pin or away from the pin. And so I think that you got to, I think the player that wins here is going to be, is going to dare and is going to pull off those shots with a little more regularity than maybe the fellows that don't do so well. Because just about every hole, even if you're on the fairways, it's sort of asking you, you know, is this a pin you want to go for or do you want to try to make par from 20 or 30 feet or are you comfortable with this shot. So it's really a lot of decision making.

Q. With that said, about the greens, a lot of guys have said so far this week that they feel they're much more receptive than they were in '88, would you agree with that or is it still going to be tough to go at those pins?

MIKE REID: Oh, I think that there's some truth to that. I remember that week it was pretty hot. And it wasn't that windy. But I think since they rebuilt them they're generally a little more receptive. I don't know how much water they will put on them, but yeah.

Q. I was at Laurel Valley last year, congratulations, and I was just curious if there's a little, if you notice any comparisons or how you set up for last year's tournament compared to this year's tournament, prepare comparing Laurel Valley to this course.

MIKE REID: Boy, golf course wise there's not much comparison, but I think as far as the mindset going into an important tournament on a tough golf course, you can take some of those sort of the characteristics that you try to cultivate for a tournament like this of patience and staying focused and hitting one shot at a time, all those unromantic things that wind up coming out in interviews, those are the type of things that you try to focus on that are similar to, but the golf course, you know, that was I think just because of the wet conditions we had that week it was more of a target course. And this course is, there is more strategy involved. When you have the ball being affected in the air by the wind and on the ground when it hits the green by the rolls and the character of these greens, it's a little bit different golf course.

Q. Of those 40 cell phone messages that you received from winning last year, any one particular memorable more than any of the others? You talked about the seven or eight you usually get. Was there anything unusual about any of the other 35 of them?

MIKE REID: I think, I guess one characteristic turned up in about every six or seven calls and that was that I would say one out of every five calls would start out with the words, "Boy, I thought you were on your way to another good finish and so I turned the TV off and went and started the barbecue, came back on the 10 o'clock news and found out you won." And that was a common theme. And I answered those messages and I said, "I would have done the same thing."

KELLY ELBIN: Mike Reid, thank you very much.

MIKE REID: You bet.

End of FastScripts.

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