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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2006

Gil Morgan

EDMOND, OKLAHOMA

KELLY ELBIN: Gil Morgan, ladies and gentlemen, in with a 1-under par 70 today. For a two round total of 6-under par, 136. One stroke out of the club house lead. Gil, some comments, please, on your round today.

GIL MORGAN: You want me to do what?

KELLY ELBIN: Some comments.

GIL MORGAN: Comments? Well, I don't know, my round was pretty erratic today. It seemed like I started off well, birdieing the first hole, but I just had a couple three putts out there, didn't hit the ball quite as well as I would like.

Maybe not as well as I did yesterday overall. I didn't -- I drove it a little bit erratic. A couple times I was kind of punished for it. So, but all in all I don't feel like it was a really bad round. And right now the lead as it stands at this point, I'm not in too bad a shape.

KELLY ELBIN: Questions?

Q. Is Oak Tree starting to show its teeth with the wind picking up this morning and probably going to continue this afternoon?

GIL MORGAN: Well, I think so. I think it's going to get probably a little more critical as we go into the weekend, obviously the wind is supposed to be up a little bit. And that always elevates scores at least on our TOUR.

It seems like that the overall the greens were fairly receptive this morning. They were a little softer because of the, I guess, the early morning little watering and stuff. So, but they were still very smooth overall. They putted great. I think the pins were a little more difficult today than they were yesterday. They must not have liked the lowness of the scores, as usual. That seems never to change a little bit.

But all in all, the golf course played pretty well and I think it will get more difficult.

Q. Can you just talk about how different, if it was much different condition wise this morning, obviously it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday afternoon when you played?

GIL MORGAN: Well, at least for nine holes it was pretty nice with the overcast, and then the sun came out about I guess about the 8th or 9th hole. Something like that.

It began to get a little more warm, more humid as the day wore along on the back nine for us. But the golf course was pretty receptive early, for sure, and it was beginning to get a little quicker looking as it, as the greens tend to dry out a little bit, they got a little more, maybe a little harder to read the speed a little bit at times, so.

But it was still good. It was probably the best time to play today, I bet.

Q. Two guy that is pulled away from the field, you and Peter Jacobsen get to play it looks like tomorrow. Talk about that pairing and playing with Peter Jacobsen, how that was.

GIL MORGAN: Well, I like playing with Peter. Peter is really a nice person, a nice individual. He's a good player. He plays very -- he's playing really consistent right now. He didn't make too many mistakes. Like yesterday, every time he seemed to make a mistake, he was able to capitalize and either make the putt for par or like today, every time he made an error, he was able to get it close to the hole and make the putt. And then he hit some really good shots on top of that and missed a couple putts, I think we all missed a few out there today.

But he's a nice gentleman and a pleasure to play with and if I get the opportunity, it would be great.

Q. Talk about the pressure, if you will, you handle it pretty well, but you have a lot of things going on, playing at home, you have some health issues, of course, and then just knowing, having all these people out here, is that a benefit, do you think, with all the stuff that's going on with you or not?

GIL MORGAN: Well, I think it's great that a lot of people are talking to you and supporting, rooting you on, so to speak. As you walk around the course that's always a plus for an individual that makes you feel good, hopefully, but at the same time I do think there's some added pressure that you're supposed to be able to play well here, that type of scenario.

Although I don't feel like that I a tremendous amount of knowledge of this golf course, I do have a good knowledge of the routing, obviously. But with the surfaces being redone and everything, I don't really know the breaks very well like someone would know their home course.

So I don't think it's a big advantage, I think it's probably a pretty much a wash on that situation, but the hometown crowd and the pressures of that, and knowing the course a little bit.

Q. Kind of comment on with the tougher winds today, the forecast for the weekend is for the wind to pick up more --

GIL MORGAN: Can you do something about that?

Q. No. I got clout, but not that much. Does it help you more, though?

GIL MORGAN: Help me what?

Q. Does that help you more if the wind picks up even more on Saturday and Sunday?

GIL MORGAN: Well, if it doesn't pick up I think it would be, obviously, a plus. I would like to play the championship without a whole lot of terrific winds here. Being in Oklahoma, we're going to get wind a lot, so you got to learn to play in it here somewhat.

I just wish it wouldn't be to the point where it was real detrimental to everybody's game. I would like to see scoring a little bit better, opportunity to score being better.

But at the same time, those situations, the guy that can control his golf ball the best usually has an advantage in those situations.

Q. What are you hearing from your playing partners and the rest of the field about Oak Tree, the experience, the people, the course?

GIL MORGAN: Well, I think overall the reports have been positive. I had a lot of players come up and tell us, you know, what a great golf course to have the opportunity to play every day. And the challenges that are here are immense. But at the same time it makes the course very difficult for a player that doesn't have an appropriate length maybe or can't control his golf ball, there's a good chance to get beat up pretty severely here if you make a mistake in the wrong direction you get really penalized.

So it's a penal golf course in that respect and then at the same time you still have to, once you get on the surfaces, you still don't have a bargain all the time. There are a lot of pins on plateaus today where if you didn't get on the right level, that it was very difficult to, you either had to putt up or putt down to get back into sync. So that I think made it a little more difficult today. But overall I think the response has been positive.

Q. On Wednesday Mike Reid was here and he was saying that with today's technology with the equipment, the way guys are taking care of themselves, that he was certain that within five years we were going to see somebody 50 or older win a Major on the Regular TOUR. Do you agree with that? Do you think somebody could go on the Regular TOUR with this at your age and win a regular Major?

GIL MORGAN: Well, I think it's possible, I just, you know, I think probability is not as good as what he was talking about. But I think there is a possibility. You know, Jack won what, at 46? At Augusta. I think that those type of golf courses have a better chance maybe the British Open or the Masters there, because of the type of play and rough level and stuff. The Open and the PGA Championship, that gets a little bit more penal with the rough, narrowness of fairways, length, that type of thing. So we have had a couple guys that have qualified to play on some of the, on those, and have elected not to because they are just not quite long enough, even though they're capable of winning, you know, it just doesn't seem to fit their game very well.

So I think there's a player, like just take myself, I think I have enough length to play out there, I just don't know whether I have enough ability at this point in time to be consistent for four rounds and in that situation.

It just gets a little harder as you get older, especially at my age level, maybe at 50, you know, you've got a little bit better chance. And I think that we'll have some players that obviously will win out there after 50. I think that's a real probability. But I'm not sure about Majors at this point in time.

KELLY ELBIN: Could you go through birdies and bogeys from today, please.

GIL MORGAN: Birdie, bogey, bogey.

KELLY ELBIN: Length of putts, you know. Clubs hit in.

GIL MORGAN: Okay. Well, let's see, first hole I hit elected to hit driver off the tee. Yesterday I hit 3-wood there. And then I had a little wedge in there and I hit it in there about eight, 10 feet and made that one.

Knocked it on the third hole kind of in the back. I had it a little right hand rough therewith about 110 yards there and tried to hit a gap wedge and it released all the way to the back and I 3-putted that one, which I was pretty disappointed in at that point in time.

Then kind of did the same thing at 6. The pin was up on the right plateau and my ball landed past the hole up on the slope and rolled all the way down and went right up against the fringe about 40 feet away and I kind of muffed it a little bit and 3-putted that one. Caught the fringe on my stroke there.

8, I hit a 9-iron about maybe 15 feet and made that.

Then at the 9th hole I hit a good drive, hit it down there, I hit a pitching wedge that landed right on the crest and backed up off or where I had about a 30 footer and I made that one for birdie. That was probably my longest putt of the tournament.

At 11, I hit a bad drive, I hit in the second fairway bunker there and hit it all the way up against the front lip and had to kind of pitch out. Then I made a really pretty good recovery and then that was to about six feet and I couldn't make the putt. So I made bogey there.

At 13 we all played that hole very well. I think we all had at least -- I know Peter and I both had pitching wedge I think maybe Flash might have hit a nine. But Peter almost holed it. He had it about a foot or. So, and myself, I had it about, I was the longest, furthest away and I was about seven feet, I guess. And I made that one. Flash made his, so I think we got a group skin for the day on that hole maybe. We're hoping at least. We'll maybe see it posted in the locker room tomorrow, it would be great.

14, I don't know, I was debating between 3-wood and driver off the tee and I elected to hit driver and I went through the fairway and got kind of tied up by the tree. Kind of a bad break a little bit. And didn't hit a really a very good shot. I had a restricted forward swing a little bit. Mishit it a little bit and left it short of the bunker and tried to pitch. Pitched it to about, oh, 15 feet short and then missed that one and made another bogey there.

Then at 16, I drove it left to the left of the tree up there and had a bad lie and tried to hit 9-iron and put it out there about, oh, I had about 110 to the pin and I hit a, from there I hit a pitching wedge about 35 feet because the hole and made that one. That was another long putt for me. I just don't do that very often. And that concluded that for the day. I parred the last two coming in.

Q. That shot on 16, could you just, that wasn't a typical shot from you, did you yank that left or were you, was there not much room there?

GIL MORGAN: I just don't feel like when I aim it down the fairway, I aim at that tree every time and it just, if it goes a little right, then I can get a good play out of it. If it goes a little left, I am up there on the grass and then I'll just have to take potluck on my lie.

Q. The third shot I mean.

GIL MORGAN: The third shot? Well, the third shot was, I don't know, I had to kind of go over the tree a little bit, and the wind was blowing right-to-left and the pin right, I kind of aimed at the hole and kind of looped it just a little bit and of course when it landed it spun left too. So, and I just, I want to make sure I got it up on top so I hit it a little bit harder than probably what I needed to. I think I had 108 to the hole there.

Q. It looked like you're struggling a little bit with your putter on the front nine. Were there any changes or just did the putts start falling on the back?

GIL MORGAN: I just putted a little better. I had three or four opportunities and a couple of par putts that I could have made, you know, if I hadn't have had a couple three putts and made a couple putts, it would have been another good round, but I didn't putt quite well enough and I was a little bit out of sync overall. But I don't know, my putting is kind of erratic at times any ways. So usually I don't have too many three putts, but it seemed to kind of bite me today a little bit in that regard.

KELLY ELBIN: Gil Morgan, ladies and gentlemen.

GIL MORGAN: All right. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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