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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2006

Tom Kite

EDMOND, OKLAHOMA

KELLY ELBIN: Tom Kite, ladies and gentlemen, Tom is playing in his 7th Senior PGA Championship this week at Oak Tree.

TOM KITE: That's scary right there.

Q. Tom tied for second in the 2000 PGA Championship or Senior PGA Championship and tied for fourth in the 1988 PGA Championship here at Oak Tree. Tom, thoughts on the golf course that you might remember a little bit from 18 years ago to what you've seen today or the last couple days.

TOM KITE: Well, it's basically the same golf course that we played. They redone a few greens and I guess they have softened the contours, but in terms of what we're playing, they're not actually softer, because the speed of the greens is so much faster than what we had in '88.

So any comments that you would have that the greens are have been flattened out is totally offset by the speed of the greens. So the golf course is plenty hard, it is a heck of a golf course, it is a great test, and it's going to, you're going to have to really play well this week to even survive, much less contend in this tournament.

KELLY ELBIN: Questions?

Q. Mr. Kite

TOM KITE: Mr. Kite? He's at home with mom.

Q. Would you comment about your being captain of the 1997 U.S. Ryder Cup team?

TOM KITE: That was a great thrill. I, obviously, being, having played in seven Ryder Cup matches I had a great love affair with the Ryder Cup and everything it stood for and representing your country. And being named captain was a tremendous honor, very pleased that the PGA saw fit to choose me as their captain.

Q. What stood out memories that came back from '88 when you've been playing out here the last couple days on this course?

TOM KITE: There were certain holes, I didn't remember every hole on the golf course. I did when I stepped up on it and saw the shot, but when I was going through the round trying to picture every hole, I wasn't able to picture every hole on this golf course.

The ones that did stick out in my mind were those on the back side there were so fabulous, right along the creek there, that stretch of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, those are just phenomenal golf holes. And he did a great job with those. Those are the ones that I remember the most about.

Q. Talk about the state of your game, if you don't mind. You've had a win this year, you had a couple good weeks, you had some lesser weeks?

TOM KITE: Yeah, some so so weeks in there.

Q. What's the state of your game now?

TOM KITE: Cautiously optimistic. You're right, I've been a little inconsistent this year, I haven't played quite as well all the weeks that I wanted to. Getting the win was nice, playing well in Austin, almost winning in my hometown was very nice. For the last two weeks I've not played particularly well and there are a couple little issues that I got with the swing. It's not right on right now. It's better than it was last couple of weeks and certainly better than it was at the Boeing Championship. But this is going to test me this week, no question, because I don't feel like I'm right on, even though I'm moving in the right direction. Hopefully the direction that I'm moving will get me there pretty quickly and I'll be able to probably what I'm hoping is that everything will kind of start out a little slow and I'll get some confidence and get some momentum going and build in and it will get better each day throughout the week.

Q. Is anybody helping with you that at the moment?

TOM KITE: Well, not this week, I worked with Chuck cook in Austin last week. I worked on some things that we needed to get straightened out.

Q. Gordie Howe played in the NHL playoffs at age 52 and Sachel Paige played in the Major league baseball at age 59, will we ever see a golfer age 50 or over win a Major on the Regular TOUR? It's never happened on the oldest the guy has been is 48 to win a Major.

TOM KITE: Will we? I got no clue. I couldn't it would just be me giving a yes or no answer to that would be a guess just like you giving a yes or no answer to that. Is it possible? Darn right. It's very possible. The way the guys are taking care of themselves now, you're going to get you're getting better and better athletes that are coming into the game because of the money, huge money brings people into it. It brings great athletes. People that would have gone into other sports are now being drawn into the professional game on, especially on the PGA TOUR. So you're getting great athletes that are coming in here and those people are taking better care of themselves now than they have in the past. It kind of, the game kind of runs in cycles. You'll get periods of time where nobody in their 20s can play and win on the PGA TOUR and then you'll get periods every time where only 20 year olds are the ones that are doing it. So the timing has kind of got to be right. But, yes, it's definitely possible.

Q. As long as we're on hypothetical, what do you think, what did we miss, if there had been no SENIOR Tour and you and Hale and Tom Watson had all played exclusively on the PGA TOUR the last eight or ten years? What might we have missed out on?

TOM KITE: I don't know. I think we would still be playing. I don't really see Hale wanting to go back to St. Louis or Scottsdale and retire. I don't. I think if we were playing exclusively on the PGA TOUR Tom might have played a little bit more than he has. But that's pure speculation. But would we have won as often? Obviously not. And if there was only the SENIOR Tour or I mean if there was only the PGA TOUR, you probably would have driven some guys off too. Guys that are playing that are playing well and winning certainly would not have continued to play. There would have been a small, very small select group of people that probably would still be playing on the PGA TOUR, but it would be a much smaller number than what we have now, obviously.

Q. What challenges does a Pete Dye designed course give you and your contemporaries out here for the next four days?

TOM KITE: This golf course is hard from start to finish. You have to do everything really, really well. It's a fantastic driving golf course. The trees are there, they're tight, they're close. You have to hit the ball in the fairway. There's not a brutal rough, but it's that gnarly, common Bermuda that is so difficult to control the ball out of. You can advance it, but you can't control it very well. And going into these greens as small and precise as the target areas in these greens are, if you're not in the fairway, you're going to have a difficult time. So you have to drive it well first.

The greens are not all small, but they play small. There are little sections where they will put the pin and if you're not in that section you're going to have a tough putt getting to it. So hitting really good iron shots is going to be pretty critical.

In a lot of places if you're outside 15 feet, you're no good. You're in another section of the green or you're rolling back in the bunker or you're rolling back off the green and into one of his grassy hollows and you can it's very, very precise. In a lot of ways not the same speed of the greens, but in a lot of ways the preciseness reminds me of Augusta in that you just got to hit it almost perfect and if you don't, you're back off.

Q. Talk a little bit about what the heat, humidity, and some 20 to 25 mile an hour winds are going to do to the golf course?

TOM KITE: We keep hearing that the winds are going to lay down. We better hope there's a little bit of wind, because it is pretty warm out there without some breeze. And especially on the back nine when you get down in the low lying areas, there's not much air circulating going on down there. So it gets pretty hot. But the guys that are playing the best golf in the game right now are in shape. And that's part of the reason why they're playing some of the best golf. We're working out on the Champions Tour the same way that they're working out on the PGA TOUR. So the guys will do well. There will be a lot of water drunk. I can promise you. I mean you just, you drink and drink and drink and drink and it just goes right through you. But the guys are ready for it. They know how to play in this stuff.

Q. Some of the other players we have asked them who are some of the favorites this week the names Loren Roberts and Jay Haas keep popping up. Would you tend to agree with that assessment or do you see other players maybe stepping to the forefront this week?

TOM KITE: Well those would be in a short list, that's for sure. Jay's playing well and is doing all the right things. Loren is playing great. Hale Irwin, you got to throw in there because of the way he hits his irons.

Like I said, I'm moving in the right direction, I think I've got a pretty good chance to play well and I like Pete Dye golf courses. Peter Jacobsen, I don't know what the state of his health is right now, but he will play well if he's healthy. Help me out. Those are names that come to mind right off the bat. But, yeah, Jay and Loren will do well.

Q. What would you need to do particularly well this week to give your self a real good chance to win?

TOM KITE: My iron play has got to step up. That's the thing that I'm working on right now. I'm putting very well and I'm driving it pretty well right now, so if I can get a little bit better control over my irons, I think I'll have a good week.

Q. Do you think the heat will further narrow the number of players that can contend just like a tough course would?

TOM KITE: No question. No question. The more difficult the conditions, the more select and talented the, those that contend becomes. It gets very small. Whether it's really hot weather or windy weather or rainy weather or cold weather or anything that's, that stresses the guys out more, along with a difficult golf course that's already stressing them is enough to fray the nerves. And there's going to be some crabby personalities out there coming over the 18th green. And from time to time that's going to be the way it is. It's a tough golf course and it's going to beat you up and the heat is going to wear you down and it's, you're going to have to have your act together, physically, mentally, and emotionally this week to contend.

Q. You talk about liking Pete Dye golf courses, the next Major is on a Perry Maxwell golf course?

TOM KITE: I love them.

Q. I know you're a little familiar with those. Can you compare just what similarities, what differences there are between a Pete Dye and a Maxwell golf course?

TOM KITE: Ying and yang. Black and white. Totally different type things. Totally different eras. I grew up on a Maxwell golf course, the old Austin Country Club was one. I love Colonial, I love Southern Hills. I only played Prairie Dunes one time and that was years ago back in college, so I remember nothing about it. I played one round of golf on that. So I'm anxious to get up there and see that. The Austin Country Club was a Maxwell golf course when Harvey Penick was the professional there and in the early '80s it moved to the other side of town and it's now Pete Dye golf course. So I get to play on Pete Dye golf course, I grew up on a Maxwell golf course, I think that both of them were genius. I love the subtleties well, Pete, Pete's not always subtle, but I love his design. It's the most innovative, most creative architect in the game. He pushes it, pushes the envelope hard. But I think he's very, very creative, he does some fantastic things. Maxwell was certainly much more subtle in his design, but that was back when you were moving dirt with less than ideal equipment. Certainly not the things we have today.

Q. I live in Enid, Oklahoma and I play on a Perry Maxwell club. You have an open invitation to stop by any time.

TOM KITE: I tell you, he built, he was kind of like, the I 35 architect. I mean from the Austin Country Club to Colonial to Southern Hills to Prairie Dunes, your club, in Enid. He did the University, the OU course, didn't he? And a number of others up here. He dominated the architecture in Texas and Oklahoma through the '50s and '60s.

KELLY ELBIN: Tom Kite, thank you very much.

TOM KITE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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