THE RYDER CUP MATCHES

September 24, 2002

Scott Verplank

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Scott, in common with the other six rookies on the two teams, you've had to wait for 12 months for this to happen. How do you feel now that you've finally played 18 holes on the course and you're in the team mode again.

SCOTT VERPLANK: The same way I did before today. I'm really excited to be here. I have been looking forward to coming here this week with the events that happened last year. There's no way around that. But here in the last couple of weeks I've been started to get more keyed up to come in here and play.

GORDON SIMPSON: Have you found it difficult for the last 12 months? Some of the Europeans have dipped in form. How have you felt?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I wouldn't say difficult, just once it was postponed and put off, then pretty much put it out of my mind. Curtis kind of said he wasn't going to bug anybody about it for a few months. Just really with everything that was going on, the reason why it was postponed was a lot more in the front of my mind than worrying about winning, if this thing was going to be pulled off. And like I said, it's nice to be here, and hopefully everything -- the world will stay somewhat calm for a while longer.

Q. This is your first Ryder Cup. It's hard to call you a rookie, at your advanced age.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Thank you.

Q. What have been some of the surprises or the things that maybe you weren't prepared for? Any little things and how are you feeling about playing in your first matches?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Obviously I'm excited to play. But there hasn't been anything yet that has been a surprise. Actually it's probably better than I thought. We have a Ping-Pong table and a pool table. We've got video games. I'm like going, "Wow! This would be great if they took care of us like this every week."

Q. But no surprises about actually being out here or being in the atmosphere of a Ryder Cup?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I guess that since you mentioned my age, you know, I've had plenty of life experiences up to this point, so this is a -- I'm excited to be here and I don't know how you couldn't have fun this week.

Q. Since everybody is talking about your age, how long has this been a goal of yours and to finally have this accomplishment?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Do I have a lot of gray hair? I didn't think I looked that old. Obviously if you play on the PGA TOUR or the European Tour, if you're a good player, it's got to be a goal. Obviously it's a huge event. Being from the United States it's a tremendous honor to represent your country. And I wouldn't say that getting on this particular team was necessarily a goal, but as a player you definitely want to be playing well enough to be qualified for all the events where you can represent your country.

Q. I just wanted you to talk about the diabetes, and how much that has stalled your career at times, affected your career, and now with the new pump, I guess, how has that helped?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, start at the back. It's helped immensely. Actually I started wearing an insulin pump three years ago this week. And it's made a big difference in just my day-to-day living as far as being diabetic. You have to really control your blood sugar. And it's been a huge difference in just the consistency of my health. And as far as golf goes, that's translated into me being able to kind of take it up to a different -- to another level, a little bit better level of consistency, because I feel better. It's pretty simple. I always say if you wake up in the morning and feel terrible, and you hardly feel like getting out of bed, it's hard to have a good attitude about anything or to be overly excited or pumped up about doing anything. So that's made a big difference.

It's been a real blessing for me to have to pump, because it's made my life easier, and an event like this in the past might have been a little harder for me to handle healthwise, but I don't foresee any problems.

Q. Not having played in one yet, obviously, but where would you rank making this team among the major championships? Where would this stand among your list of priorities?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I think that winning a major championship would probably still be a greater individual accomplishment than playing on this team. But they kind of go hand in hand. If you win a major, there's a good chance you're going to play on a Ryder Cup team or represent your country in some way. Every player -- like I said, every player on the PGA TOUR strives to be sitting here in this chair right now, I would sure think. I know that I have, and like I said it hasn't been like the one cart out in front of the donkey, but it's obviously a -- like I said, it's obviously been a goal. And I'm thrilled, but I'm also honored to be here to do this.

Q. Was there ever a time when you're sitting at home watching a Ryder Cup and think to yourself, you know, I have to make that team?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No, I don't think I ever said that. But I think I watched and said, that's right up my alley, so I'd like to play in that sometime. So hopefully I'll get a few more chances after this one.

Q. You played with Hal Sutton today. Is Hal a guy you look to for leadership or the team might look to, because he's had a lot of experience and had a long layoff?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I think so, just because Hal -- you think I'm old? No, but Hal has been there and done that. And he's got stories from way back. And he's been in most of the situations, good and bad. So he's definitely a guy that you can lean on and get some helpful advice from.

Q. So much of golf resolves around people aiming at Tiger. What's it like to have him as one of 12 equals, and is he one of 12 equals this week?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, as far as his team goes, yeah. How would you feel if you had him on your team? Pretty good? It's great. It's pretty cool. Like last night we had a big team Ping-Pong match, so we're all still very competitive, and we all still want to beat each other every week we tee it up. But this week we're all pulling for each other. And I think we're coming together nicely as a team.

Q. Who won that?

SCOTT VERPLANK: You know, I can't tell you that.

Q. Every player I've seen come in here for the American team has been asked about pressure of the Ryder Cup. I know you can't say from experience being a rookie, but is there any different feelings you've noticed in the brief time that you've been here in preparation?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, yeah, you look around the golf course and there's all this signage about the Ryder Cup and Europe versus the USA and all of that. So, yeah, it's a little bit different. But for a practice round I didn't feel any different today. It was the same as all of them. We got out there -- had been out there quite a long time, and I was getting tired in quite a -- like I do all the time. Man, when is this practice round going to be over with? Each player is going to prepare individually how they prepare for a big event and that will equate into coming together as a team.

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