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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2007

Arron Oberholser

TULSA, OKLAHOMA

Q. Hotter today than the last few?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Today was the hottest day. There wasn't any wind out there today. And it was -- today I had one of the trainers out here, Chris Noss, works with a bunch of the guys out here, gave me some good stuff from a company out here, some new stuff that I haven't tried before and it worked really well and kept me hydrated. It wasn't as sugary as stuff, this Amino Vital stuff I've been using for the last two, three years.
It kept me more hydrated than I was yesterday. I'm still pretty worn out and feel a little sick physically, but I feel better than I did after yesterday's round.

Q. You've been insisting you're a better golfer than your record shows. And obviously a high finish in a major finishing with a sub par round sort of puts you in that position.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Yeah. I guess it does. I've always said if I'm healthy and I trust my golf swing, I can compete on any golf course anywhere in the world, with anybody. Doesn't say I'm always going to win or finish Top 5 or Top 10, but I'm going to make the cut and I'm going to have a chance somehow on the weekend if I can get the ball rolling and get things going my way.
But I really think that when I'm in a good frame of mind and I'm trusting myself, that I can play and give myself chances to win all the majors.

Q. What did you know about majors coming in here? And what did you learn this time?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, about the PGA championship in general or majors in general?

Q. Majors in general, and the PGA Championship?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, they're hard. I've known that, ever since my first one, which was the PGA at Whistling Straits. And they're difficult.
But, again, you guys hear me, you Bay Area writers hear me say it all the time, that growing up where I did, narrow fairways, tree-line fairways, lots of doglegs, you have to learn how to shape your shots. You have to learn how to take spin off the ball. You have to learn how to put spin on the ball, and you have to have a creative short game, growing up in Northern California.
And all that really is conducive to helping you in a major championship, because that's what it's all about, is creating shots and seeing the shot and pulling it off.

Q. There were some low rounds posted out here but also the course has some teeth as we're seeing by so many guys finishing over par. How would you rate this course as a major championship venue?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I think it's absolutely fantastic. I think the PGA has done an incredible job this week with the setup.
You know, the greens are a little bit bumpy, but that's no fault of theirs by any stretch. You don't want to burn these greens out for the poor members who have done a great job letting us use the golf course this week.
But I hate to sound like a broken record, but the USGA should take notes. This was a fabulous setup. It's exciting. You're hearing a lot of roars around the golf course. It's very fair. But it's very difficult.
If you drive the ball in the fairway, you have a chance. The fairways aren't so narrow that you have no chance. If you hit a perfect shot, to have it bounce out of the fairway like we saw at Oakmont a little bit.
It's just -- and the greens are soft enough to where they accept a shot, if you hit a solid shot. But if you don't hit a very good shot, you're going to have a very tough putt or you'll be penalized with a green-side rough.

Q. You talked about the Olympic Club, which struck me here, where it's the same; you can stand in a one place and see the old-fashioned six, seven holes, reverse camber narrow fairways. How many times did you play Olympic as a kid?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: If I had to guess, man, it's gotta be around -- a realistic number, 20, 30 times, between age 15 and now, 16 and now.

Q. Johnny Miller said when he played well in a U.S. Open, won it, that the Olympic Club was the reason. Did you learn a lot from playing that course?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, you know, I don't want to give Olympic Club all the credit because that's not my home course. I have to give credit to the guys at the California Club. That's where I grew up playing.
I'm citing Olympic because the fairways are very similar to this place, the reverse camber. But I learned most of my golf at the California Golf Club in Crystal Springs, and those are the two places where I learned to shape shots and hit all the shots.

Q. What do you think about the FedExCup coming up, not just your spot in it, but just general, the concept?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: The concept of the FedExCup?

Q. That's the next thing on tap.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Can you ask another question? (Smiling) I like the old way. I'm sorry. I really do. I think the FedEx is going to be fine. I think it's going to create some excitement. But I thought Tim Finchham did a great job in shortening the season to not compete with football. But we'll see. I'm a-wait-and-see guy. I want to see after the year to see what happens, see how exciting it really is and see if we really do get some excitement coming down at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, to see if there's like 10 to 15 guys on the back nine on Sunday that actually have a chance to win the FedExCup; that will be really cool if that happens.
I hope it does for the sake of it.

Q. Is this tournament proof that you have to be in great condition, in great shape to win a major?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, in these conditions, I think it helps to be well-conditioned absolutely. I think when the temperature is in the mid-60s on mid-80s, I think that it brings a lot more players into play.
I think if you are in very good condition, you can play under any circumstances. But especially here, it helps to be a well-conditioned athlete to play here.

Q. Obviously you played well this week, best finish ever in a major. Do you allow yourself to think "What if I had changed a couple shots here, I would have been in contention going through the stretch"?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Look at my year. I haven't had a good year. So I'm very happy with my finish this year and in this major. I made three of the four major cuts. Only missing the U.S. Open. And considering I missed the whole West Coast, which is my bread and butter, you know, the year's gone pretty well to this point. And I'm getting married in October, so I'm stoked about that as well.

Q. Do you think Southern Hills is worthy of another major championship in the next decade?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Absolutely. Absolutely. I'd like to see the PGA come back here. I'd love to see the PGA come back to this place, because their setup is -- I particularly, honestly, didn't like the setup last year. But this year it's fantastic. And a lot of it is the course and a lot is the PGA of America setting it up. Fifty/fifty, in all honesty, it's a great venue and they did a fantastic job setting it up.

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