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CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

October 25, 2007

Jim Thorpe

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Tell us how it feels to be here.
JIM THORPE: I'm happy to be here. Problems with the back a little bit and the hand, so, getting here was harder than trying to win a golf tournament, you know, because you know you can't make a mistake.
You can control what you're doing, but you can't control what the other guy is doing, and probably the last couple of weeks, Tom Jenkins was running me down there. The golf course we played in Augusta Pines was a golf course that doesn't separate players, so, you know, you know that course gives up a lot of birdies, but the course at Oak Hills is the type of course there in San Antonio, Texas the next week, where patience paid off.
My game was showing off a lot of sparks, and the one thing I had in the back of my mind, I knew -- I just don't play good on Bermuda golf courses for some reason. I have a tough time with them, and of course I shoot 1-over, and Tom Jenkins shoots 3-under and poor Tom, he couldn't manage to hold on, and I managed to sneak in.
And based on the preparation and stuff that I've come hoping to get back here, you know, I worked on a lot of -- I was here, and I could see that the golf course would be plush, it was going to play long, so I worked on my mid-irons. Par 3s, I knew they were going to play 300 yards plus, and I worked on the range this morning, and I think it paid off.
This golf course is in great condition, and my round started with a nice drive off of one, pitching wedge 18, 20 feet. I left it a foot short. That was a good sign, because I knew the greens didn't have the speed that they did in the practice round.
On two, drive a 3-wood, wedge, made that putt, and there was another good sign, because you like to make something early in the round.
I hit a good drive off three and made birdie there from 5 and a half to 6 feet, and I knew -- the stretch from four through seven is a tough stretch, and I pretty much stuck to the game plan, put it on the fairway, put it on the green. If you get a chance to make a putt, then do.
So but I hit a nice 3-iron on four, I think it was like 212, hit it 25 yards, then, decent birdie putt, got a nice two-putt.
The next hole, 12, 13 feet, good putt. No. 6, good tee shot, gorgeous 7-iron shot, chased it back of the green there and it kept running. I putted back up hill through the break.
Another good shot came on number seven, the par 3. I think we had 211, 2-iron, about 20 feet and two-putted.
Eight, hooked my second shot and caught it 40 yards short of the green, so I just chucked it out onto the green and hit a great birdie putt from 45 to 50 feet and had a good chance of going.
The boo-boo of the day came on nine. The problem I had was behind the flag, breaking right on -- I can't put the type of speed on the putt, because that can go off the green on you, so I choked on it a little bit and missed it, but I turned in 34, so it was a good start, you know?
Now I'm trying to pace myself, because I do play quick anyway, so we go to ten, I missed the fairway, just in the short cut there, and made a 7-iron, made a 20-footer for birdie.
Eleven, hit another good drive, pitching wedge 4 and a half, 5 feet left of the flag, made that for birdie.
Big drive on twelve, keep it under the hole to put it up hill. Came up a little short with a 9-iron and routine two-putt.
The first fairway I missed was on the thirteen. Missed it way right for some reason, and the rough is tough. You can't miss fairways. So I advanced it 100 yards, left it short of the hole there, pretty good.
On fourteen, par 3, I hit a 4-iron there about 4 feet; the pin was back left, it was a good shot.
Fifteen, yeah, fifteen we hit a perfect tee shot, dead center of the fairway. Tony said it was 285 to go through dead center, so I thought I could hit it there, but that ball hit the fairway and ran like a scared rabbit and ran into the rough there, probably a yard out of the fairway, and, man, I'm going to tell you what, it was almost like somebody stepped on it. I mean it was really down, so I chucked it out 10 feet and made a bogey there.
Sixteen, I hit a nice drive there, beautiful, soft 3-wood, about a yard short of the green, and two-putted that on the right front.
Seventeen could have been the shot of the day. Cut a 7-iron 8, 9 inches from the hole.
Eighteen another good drive into the fairway, 7-iron from 158 there about 6 feet and made that for birdie.
It was a good ball-striking day, the pace of play was perfect for me. I don't like to listen to other guys complain about, "Did you see that? God, I can't believe that thing" -- you know? I mean, I just hit it and didn't have to wait on anything.
No group in front of me, and I walk fast and play fast so what happened today -- when you get about 4 yards from the ball I slow down, let Tony go, so by the time I get to the ball he's got the yards, and I'm ready to go. It was perfect, man.
One thing here about this golf course, we started here in '03, and I never seen a golf course improve to the conditions it has. This is the best-conditioned golf course we've been on this year. I think it's a golf course that requires a lot of patience, a lot of accurate tee shots, keeping the ball under the hole a lot to get the right putt where you can be aggressive with it.
This golf course of all the four majors -- I didn't play the Senior British this year, but with all four majors that I played, you can combined all four, the roughs, and it wouldn't be as tough as this one this week.
It's not high, but it's thick, and you can't do nothing with it. Even the chip shots around the green -- thank God I didn't have any, but I think I only missed one green today -- did I? Yeah, four fairways, two short. And if you miss fairways here, you're not going to score, you're just not going to score.
But just having the opportunity to get back here and play a golf course that seemed to fit my eye well, I've had a lot of success here, and I know going into the last couple of tournaments where I stood on the money list, and there was no one to blame but me.
The one thing that we do is try to load up with a little medication, get the arthritis to vanish while we could play, and I was able to do that, but I wasn't able to practice, you know?
So last week in San Antonio I hit a lot of balls, on the golf course Monday hitting balls, waiting on the super singers to finish their Pro-Am and -- trying to wait for them to finish and get myself ready to go. I come in pretty good shape, you know what I mean, to go ahead and post birdies.
This particular course, it's a shame we can't play all 30 events here. I could probably be a multiple winner, you know? (Chuckles.) But we've got another good fight, and I think everybody here is playing good golf, Mark James, Eduardo Romero, if I had to go down the list the one guy -- the one that I would scratch before the tournament started was me, because I knew how my game has been.
When you playing bad, you never get breaks, you know? It seems like the ball bounces the wrong way when you're playing bad. I got off to a good start, felt good today, the weather was great. Boston is leading the World Series, so what more could I expect?

Q. You talk about the day being perfect, and you said before how fast you like to play. As cool as that was to play by yourself, was there a concern about going too fast?
JIM THORPE: Yeah, we talked about it earlier, and Tony was saying, "Why don't you slow down 30, 40 yards before you get to the ball, give me a chance to have it ready before you get there." Tony and I have been together since 2000, and I think we are god for each other. We know each other's personality a little bit, and there are times that we fight. We just like husband and wife, we fight and scratch and claw, but the bottom line is I know he's in my corner, you know what I mean?
Out there on the golf course you have -- Loren Roberts and Jay Haas are not going to be pulling for me to make that putt, so I turn to Tony, you know? When you're playing bad and things aren't going well, when you are looking for help and your caddy has this smirk on his face, or he's banging the golf clubs, or whatever, you in trouble. I can understand.
When you used to being in contention and that sort of stuff and people saying, "Well, you're getting older," I say, BS, I don't feel no different than I did when I first came on the Senior Tour. I have aches and pains, and that comes every twelve months or so when you have another birthday, and that comes with that.
From a health standpoint, a little ache in the back -- the back wasn't hurting, just a little ache when I made my transition, you know? Just something there, if you could pinpoint it, you knew it was going to happen. So I just didn't play good golf this year, the bottom line is.
I finished second in Hawaii earlier this year, I ran into a bug -- I think I shot 18, 19, heck, everybody else shooting 24, 25. You know, Fred Funk, we weren't going to beat him that week, and I think the other one I had a chance to win was AT&T out at Valencia, my brother Chester was working for me, and I said it to him -- and I said today I think if I had Tony with me on the bag, I think I would have won that tournament.
Some people know what to say to you down the stretch under pressure, that sort of stuff, and I play pretty loose on the golf course. I'm not going to run from too many flags and that sort of stuff, especially with a guy like Tony. When you walk up there and he says 139, 17, you can book it. You can stand there and hit that shot and know if you put the right shot on it, it's going that 155 distance and on the golf course.
He fires you up. I think my brother might have been a little bit intimidated, you know, kind of waiting until I made a decision. I might reach in the bag and grab an 8-iron, and Tony might say, "That's not the right club; let's talk about this." And when you're playing a golf course the type of condition that this golf course is in, the fairways, the ball sets nice, we can do a lot of things with the golf ball, and that's one of the things we did today; we played it perfect, you know?
I mean, if I had hit one shot over, it would probably be the putt on 9. Other than that, the round was beautiful. I played it -- Bob Gilder told me he played the Master Card Championship, and that was long, and this golf course is playing 7,000 or longer.
Everybody that comes out here -- as a matter of fact, I was talking to John Cook or Denis Watson, one of the two, two rookies that came out and they said to me, "Where are the short golf courses that you guys play out there?" No one knows we play 7,000 yards plus, but this golf course here is -- I mean it's very, very long, plus the condition of the ball is not releasing like it did in '03, so it's basic old golf here.
Four par 3s, and every one of them but one plays over 200 yards. And it's a solid golf course now. The last three or four years here you could hit all of the par 5s in, too. Now there's only one, sixteen. The rest of them you're going to be landing up, chipping in, and so the golf course is better, and the level of competition out here has gotten stronger.
I think it's great that we can go beyond 60 and play well. I think if you work out and take care of yourself and that sort of stuff, you can play beyond 60 years old, so I think most of us will. Guys like me and some of the others, you probably have to use a wheelchair to take us off. We are going to play until they chase us away. Any questions, guys?

Q. Were you looking forward to playing by yourself and have you before?
JIM THORPE: I think this is my first time, and I enjoyed that. I really enjoyed it. I thought I would need to see somebody else putt and see the ball roll, and from the first hole it never bothered me, after I got into my rhythm and that sort of stuff. And it takes someone to know you, like Tony knows me. He knows when I want to talk and when I don't want to. Especially playing by yourself, you're not watching another ball go into the green, seeing the reaction, or not watching the ball roll across the green, whether it's going to bounce and go as fast.
We just kind of knew, and the first two or three holes today -- because he knew I was going to play fast, he was walking slow and talking about his wife and his son and trying to -- and how are your daughters doing. I realized right away what he was doing, so I slowed my pace down, but once I get them burned, I like to go, and I could keep going.
And he realized on the back nine, once I birdied ten and eleven, that -- I could tell that he had picked up his pace a little bit, you know what I mean? I like to do that when -- you don't necessarily feel pressure on Thursday. You can't win a golf tournament on Thursday, but you can put yourself into a position to lose.
He just talked me through the round, and I think this is the first time this year that we had a conversation, because I've been in a major funk, tough on the golf course, you know what I mean?
I'm one of those guys that don't care if I play -- I mumble to myself a lot when I'm playing bad, and you're getting yourself more flustered than you really need to. Whether we win, lose or draw, just by me getting here from where I came from and knowing the way I was playing, it's a win for me already.

Q. What would you have been doing if you weren't here?
JIM THORPE: I would have been in Las Vegas. (Chuckles.)

Q. That's the right answer.
JIM THORPE: It's been a tough year, and my way of relaxing and having fun. Probably this Sunday, when all is said and done, be on a plane to Vegas and relax two or three days, man, and there's nothing wrong with that. If I go home I'll be grouchy, and if I get home and stay too long, my wife will tell me, "Why don't you pack a bag and go somewhere."
It's still that we love the game so much -- as a matter of fact, I was talking to a friend of mine last night, Rick Hull, we worked a golfing convention together, and he was comparing the money to years ago, and it's no comparison. The one thing that brothers me -- the PGA tour, was it $100 million?

Q. $250 million.
JIM THORPE: Shoot, I would play every week, 52 weeks a year. Give me somewhere to play. You got these guys that don't want to do that. I talked to him about his nephew, Brett. He wants to play 25 events. I don't understand it. People wondered why we played so much golf, and we loved the game. It's not about the money; it's about the love that we have of the game.
The places we go to play, the people we meet and that sort of stuff -- and one thing that helped me today when I teed off on number one this morning, I looked back and there's 40 people going with me, 40, 45 people walking with me, and they stay with me all day long. And stuff like that fires you up to play, do you know what I mean?
Normally it's basically your superstar that gets the gallery going with them and that sort of stuff, and I said to Tony, "What the heck are all these people going with me for?" They must be markers, making sure we can find the ball when I hit it, you know?
But I thought it was nice for them to watch you play by yourself, because it is a difficult thing to do. I was talking to Mark, who played here by himself here last year, and actually I think he was playing with a marker, with tournament chairman Dade. But he said it's different when you play with somebody that's not competitive, that it doesn't mean anything to them, and that's why I wanted to play by myself.
And Joe asked me, "Are you sure you want to play by yourself?" And I said, "Joe, I'm fine."
I wish I could golf all four days by myself.

Q. So you had a choice to play by yourself today --
JIM THORPE: Yeah. I think it was absolutely perfect. The pace was good, didn't have to wait for nobody, the greens was perfect. It was perfect, man! Maybe I get lucky tomorrow and play the last round by myself!

Q. Did you walk around the putt?
JIM THORPE: I let the group behind me know I was here.

Q. What's your caddy's last name?
JIM THORPE: Shepard, S-h-e-p-a-r-d.

Q. You've never played by yourself?
JIM THORPE: No, I can't remember playing by myself. I was thinking about that today. Seemed like the Master Card Championship I might have went out by myself, I'm not 100% sure. This is my ninth year getting to the Tour championship, and -- I'm on the down swing of this thing. I'm not stupid; I know I am end of my run, and I don't think anybody has enjoyed themselves as much as I have.
This mulligan we got for life was a mulligan sent from the big guy up top. It's been fun, it's been great, met tons and tons of people that only golf would have allowed me to do meet. The places I've played and the spectators -- and I was talking to a guy the other day. He walked up to me, I just made a birdie, and he was telling me something that happened 20 years ago. Shit, man, I can't remember the last hole, and he's trying to get me to remember something that happened 20 years ago? (Chuckles.) And he stopped, looked me in the eye, and I said, "Yeah, you darn right. How you doing?" I have no clue what he was talking about, you know? If I see that guy again I will remember his face, and that sort of stuff, but try to remember where we went and what we did?
Black guy the other day walked up to me and said, "Jim, remember when we used to go out drinking and all that?" And I've never had a drink in my life, and I said, "How long we known each other?" And he said, "Man, we known each other for 30 years. How could you forget?"
And I said, "We used to go out together?" And he said, "Yeah, we used to go out to every bar in town." Well, the only bar I ever walked into my life is a bar I had with a business partner, had with a friend of mine, and he was going to talk to me about chasing women and having drinks and I said, "Yeah, man, good to see you." (Chuckles.)
What are you going to do, argue with them? And finally 15 minutes later he come back and he said, "God, man, I thought you was Chuck, your brother." But then that's why Chuck didn't make it out here.

Q. How anxious were you being on the edge of qualifying, especially as a defending champion?
JIM THORPE: That was the biggest thing. If I had missed the top 30 and had not won last year, it wouldn't have bothered me. But by winning it last year, and in '03, coming back to this, I think that was eating at me more than anything.
Everybody -- you know, all the guys last week, you know, from Denis Watson to Bobby Wadkins to Dana Quigley, they were saying, come on, Thorpe, you can do it, and that adds pressure, you know what I mean?
But I'll say it again, we played a tough golf course last week, and I look at the scores, and I beat Jenkins by 6 or 7 last year, and I felt like even though he got off to a much faster start than I did, I felt if I waited and kept being patient -- but coming down the stretch I made a couple of birdies the last three holes last week, so, yeah, it wasn't like I was choking. I couldn't make anything happen out there, you know?
But I think the birdie I made on number eight, because we was tied at that point, so I went from number eight, 297, I think it played, so I could drive that green, and it was straight down wind, so I went from a driver to a 3-wood to a wedge, to a 6-iron. I hit it on the green and wedged it about 4 feet. You seen the ninth hole, it's as hard as concrete, and I hit an 8-iron from 173, 174, to make sure I didn't knock it over the green.
I hit a marvelous chip shot there, one of the my finest executions. So it wasn't like I was choking, sometimes you just can't make it happen, man. But I said to Tony -- and Tony admitted to me, he said, "This is worse than trying to win at golf, man." He was absolutely right. If I hadn't won it last year, it wouldn't make that big of a difference, you know what I mean?
But I talked to Leon, and I said, "Whether I'm in the 30 or not, I will be at the clinic on Tuesday, just to see the faces of the kids and talk to them about life and what it has to offer them if you prepare.
Jay and I had a wonderful time out there with those kids on Tuesday. I really thank Leon for asking me to be a part of that, because you have a lot of African American kids, and it's tough for a guy like Jay Haas to talk to African American kids. I'm going to tell them the truth: "You guys are born with a handicap, drugs and that stuff, you are on the borderline of being born with a handicap. I'm not saying you have to be twice as smart or twice as gifted, but that's the way the system works."
So I'm going to tell these kids, by putting tattoos all over your body, having babies out of wedlock, disrespecting your mom and dad, not getting the right education, then you're putting yourselves behind the 8-ball. But if you do society right, then it will do you right.
I saw one kid, I said, "You see that tattoo you have there? If you walked into my office looking for a job, I would turn you around and send you out." "You, running with the pants around your butt, pull those up! That's stupid man, no one wants to give you a job looking like a thug."
And this is what these kids need to here. Jay is such a nice guy. He's not going to say nothing like that, you know what I mean? I tell you, asshole, you need to straighten up, man (Chuckles.)
This is the way society gave it to us, you know? So you have to look the part, act the part, and education is the key to life. If you educate yourself -- and Tiger Woods didn't get where he got because he was lucky. He works hard, and he got himself a good education.
And I said that if you walk and speak with confidence then people will believe you. That's what you have to do. But if you show up looking like a thug, no. This is a true story, man, then I gotta go.
My daughter was 16, Sherie, and she was -- I don't know if she was dating this guy, but they was friends, and I was going to the golf course to practice and she said, "Dad, can I ride with you? I would like to talk to you," and I said, "Yeah, girl, get on the golf cart."
She said, I was talking with my friend Ray," she talked about everything and this sort of stuff, and she brought up sex. And I think it's great when you have that relationship with kids, and I said, "It's a beautiful thing, but there is a time and place for it. You have to use protection, you have to wait, just don't do it because someone pushes you to this point. You're a solid, young girl. Your mother has done a great job with you while I was traveling and stuff," and I said "What's your boyfriend's name?" I see him come by on the bike, I don't know, Ray-Ray, something stupid, I don't know.
And I said I would like to sit down and talk with him, you know, I would like to meet him, shake his hand, "I see you guys coming from the bus stop, and I would like to meet the gent." She calls him. Cute guy. It's, "Mr. Thorpe" this and "Mr. Thorpe" that. I had a lot of bushes and flowering trees and walked around the yard kicking the stick and throwing the stick, something of that nature.
He was a little short kid, so I dropped my arm around his shoulders, and I said, "I understand you and my daughter been talking about sex?" And he said, "Yes, sir, we talked about it, but we ain't done nothing like that," and by this time I got a grip on his shoulder, you know what I mean? (Chuckles.) And I stopped and I said, "Let me tell you something: Don't you ever speak with my daughter about sex again!" And I turned him loose, and he left his bike, you know what I mean? He was gone! (Chuckles.) So about two weeks later my daughter said, "Dad, what did you say to him?" And I said, "Nothing. We just walked around the yard and talked."
Basically -- I can't speak about everybody, but I can only speak about the things that I see. I have two daughters in Baltimore, Maryland, and they both have kids, and we've seen the mistakes that kids make and that sort of stuff, and the one thing that I talked to them about in Baltimore is don't let your kids raise you, and I think that's one of the things that I see from young parents.
They let their kids take control and raise them, and it's something that we have to stop, and something we have to take control of. Parents don't do it, or role models don't do it, then, you know, the kids today -- as you guys know, the kids today live in a different world. We live in a new Millenium, right?
I joined the Tour in 1975, we had 12, 13, 14, African America players, Charlie Orange, Calvin Peete, Jimmy Dent, my brother Chuck, today -- this is a new Millenium, money is -- you could -- today we have nobody playing. Jimmy Dent is 66, 67 years old; he's getting ready to quit. I'm 58, I'm getting there. Tiger, biracial or whatever you call him, there is just nobody.
1994, we had racial incident, and the things that Tiger has done since he's been on the scene, there are many programs that we were involved in years ago. Johnson, Walker, the young man out of Phoenix, Arizona, runs that program, Bill Dickey -- but for some reason we can't get kids involved, man! I think the kids that you see in the -- the tournament at Pebble Beach, man, these kids don't need help, the kids that I see.
I think they should have went into the heart of the ghetto and encouraged African American kids, Hispanic kids and said, "Hey, this is what we are going to do, kids." Hopefully we can go in there and get -- be a part of the First Tee program with the kids -- where do they go? 18 years old, you are booted out, kicked out. You go on to college. We should to have a program, a step-up from the First Tee, where we can take the talent and not just talk to them about golf and life skills but introduce them to the administration side of golf.
I've seen my whole life -- ever see a black man working for the PGA? And that's not negative, it's just the truth. African American kids aren't involved in the summer program by the PGA, and one of the reasons is, I don't think they know. I think we need to sit down and talk to Joe in the First Tee program and say, "Hey, this is what we need to do."
I played with the kid the first year in the Wal-Mart First Tee. That kid didn't need help. I do understand we have to get kids that play golf, understand the ethics of the game, and -- in order to get them to play golf, qualifying.
But I think that's something that the people who run First Tee program should prepare these kids for, and then have a qualifying system. We had -- who was it, Paula Creamer, she's making millions. I think First Tee was probably a great stepping stone for her, whatever, but did she really need the help?
Something we need to do, and I don't know the answer, but I think we need to sit at a round table with all the people involved and talk about all the golf programs, the minority programs, and see if we can get it -- I leave here, Tiger Woods, everybody else is going to be lily white, unless you have Japanese players. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but for some reason, I don't understand, because I've been involved with inner city golf programs for years. I've seen a lot of young talent out there, and I don't know what happens to it.
We need to have a follow-up, need to do something to let these kids know that, you know, everybody is not going to play golf a professional level, not going to be a Tiger Woods or even a Jim Thorpe, but there are ways to make money in golf without playing the game. Here is a guy here that makes a half million a year with a $250,000 expense account.
THE MODERATOR: Anymore questions? (Chuckles.)

Q. When you see a person of color, like Leon doing what he does, what does that mean to you?
JIM THORPE: That means we're making progress. He qualified himself, he's proved he can do the job, and of course it makes you feel good. I've been out here since 1975, so Leon might be the first, you know what I mean? So 32 years. So we are making progress, but I think the one reason that Leon is in the position he is in is because somewhere along that road being involved with golf, he realized he would never make it as a Tour player, but he could be involved with golf from the administration side.
We need guys like Leon to speak out and come and sit down at the table, and I think that's the way we're going to make a difference. You guys write about golf, you've been around it for a long time, even when I go to the amateur tournament -- I just did a thing in Washington, D.C., 60 kids up at Langstrom Golf Course, and there were a few black kids, and I was explaining the roots, where we came from, the legacy sort of stuff, and these kids after doing the clinic and talking to them, I carried out a bunch of golf clubs and balls, and they strike the ball, man!
I had a couple of girls step forward, 14, 15 years old, guys 11, 12, 13, it was beautiful. I said to Roy, who was the director there of the Boys and Girls Club and the First Tee program I said, "Why don't you take these kids to the next level?" Don't bus them to the Washington Monument -- look at the zoo or some lions or tigers. Give them a trip to Palm Beach or someplace where they can get involved with the golf programs and see these things.
Basically what we have with the First Tee program, like I was saying to Joe is, it's a wonderful program, and it's a program that we have needed for a long time, but I personally feel that the people who run these programs are not qualified.
I'm not saying all of them, but there are some that aren't qualified. I would like to you take my kids to Pinehurst, show them the PGA headquarters, all that stuff, instead of going to the Washington zoo. These are the things we need to do. You have kids with a field trip today, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza -- take them where they can learn something, and that's what we need to do with our kids. Until we do that, it's going to be just like it is.

Q. What happened to your daughter?
JIM THORPE: She didn't have a boyfriend. (Chuckles.)

End of FastScripts

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