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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 11, 2007

Arron Oberholser

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

Q. It's like heat stroke?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Yeah. Nothing I ate -- I told the guys in the trailer, it's dangerous out there heat-wise. And, I mean, I drank and drank and drank and drank out there today. I must have gone through -- I'd have to say ten to -- how many things of Gatorade mixed with water do you think we went through today? Ten to 15?
Ten to 15, roughly.

Q. Sometimes that Gatorade on a hot day will --
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I dilute it. I pour three-quarters of it out and put water in the rest, because it's just too much sugar, which dehydrates you even more.

Q. Nice way to finish, though.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Thank you.

Q. It was, what, 10, 15 feet?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: It was 20.

Q. Even par, it's not great, but never terrible.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, I think it's great. I think it's great in a major. I think even par is absolutely fantastic under these conditions. And if it was 20 degrees cooler, even par would just be a so-so round out here considering the greens are soft. But the greens wouldn't be as soft if it was 20 degrees cooler. So either way it's a good round of golf. Very good round of golf, in my opinion.

Q. Right now you're tied for 8th. Your thoughts heading into the final round in the Top-10?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, it's too hot to worry and think about things, to be very honest with you. It's kind of nice, because it's so hot out there it takes your mind off everything because you're just thinking about the heat all day and how you're going to survive the heat.
I don't envy people that live in this part of the country when it gets like this. This is oppressive.

Q. You haven't had the final round with Tiger, have you?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I've never played a round with Tiger in five years on the PGA Tour. I've been in the winner's category now for almost two years, and I have yet to play with him, even on a weekend, when I wasn't in the winner's category, it just hasn't happened. I've been in back of him, I've been in front of him. I've missed him by a group here or there over the past four, five years. We just haven't played together.
And I enjoyed playing with him in college, when we played together. It was fun. Unfortunately I think in college I caught myself watching like a lot of guys do because it is pretty -- he does stuff that none of us -- that none of us can do. Most of us can't do, as far as the way he hits the ball.

Q. Is that how you explain a situation like this where he's the only one who hasn't made a bogey today for example? Oh, he just made one. It seems like it's relentless, that once he gets the lead he's not making mistakes.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: That all has to do with, in my opinion, experience. And he has won at every level from age five on up, and he has put those experiences in the memory bank and he uses them, and he draws on them. And he has so many of them. He has such an abundance from which to draw from. The rest of us don't have that many experiences to draw from.
So when he gets into a tight situation, he's got, you know, a file log full of memories he can call back and say, "Oh, I've hit this shot before, this is where I did it. This is the feeling I felt," and he can recall that feeling and try to emulate the same shot.
Where I think the rest of us, including the two, three, four, five players in the world, don't have the same amount from which to draw from as he does, and I think the experience is a huge, huge factor in a situation like this. In any situation, but especially in major championships. And he's won 12. I mean, he can draw off the 12 he's won. He knows he's going to win. I think the scary thing is that maybe he knows that you know he's going to win.
And that's the kicker of it all. So until one of us one of these days steps up and just -- and maybe who is not playing with him, but the group in front steps up and plays a phenomenal round of golf in a final round, on championship Sunday, which this golf course it can yield that if you're hitting the ball well, it can yield a low -- mid-60 score tomorrow from someone who is at 2, 3, get in the house at 4-under par and that person could pull it off if he's just a little bit off on his game.

Q. Basically once he gets a lead he just plods along. He doesn't take any chances?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: No, he doesn't. I think that's what we're all taught to do to a certain extent. He just does it with such horrifying precision that the rest of us are made to fire at flag sticks in cases where normally we wouldn't and therefore we make mistakes.
So it pads his lead. So it's just a case of -- I don't know what it is. It is what it is. He's the greatest in the world for a reason. And in my opinion probably the greatest -- well, definitely the greatest I've ever seen play without a doubt.

Q. If it weren't for Bobby Jones?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I think he would take Bobby Jones behind the wood shed, absolutely. You give Jones this equipment today, I think he would still take him behind the wood shed. No disrespect to Bobby Jones, but you're dealing with an athlete of just incredible ability. And no one in history has had the ability that Tiger has.

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