	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AM

April 17, 2008

Curtis Strange

LUTZ, FLORIDA

Q. You've got to be excited the PGA is going to Oak Hill.
CURTIS STRANGE: I am and I'm apprehensive, too. It's a hard golf course. We don't play as well anymore.
Yeah, it's a wonderful venue. It's a lot of good memories. The Ryder Cup was there after that, so a bit back before then, but just with the people there, yeah, I'm looking forward to it very much.

Q. '88 was huge because you won your first Open there, but repeated that year, we all know the story. Was it truly the pinnacle of your career winning the second one at that time?
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, yeah, it was now. I at the time hoped it was not going to be, but yeah, to look back on it, absolutely. I guess could you say that year span between winning the first and winning the second, and, you know having a chance for the third -- and I say having a chance for the third because it was part of the build up in a two-year span. Yeah, it was exciting. It was hectic. It was stressful but also something you wouldn't trade for the world. It was what you strive to do.
In my case, it lasted, you know, a good two years. Now that's not to say that I didn't feel like I played well before, and some after, but for a stretch of actually getting it done, and winning your own National Championship, which is the pinnacle for us, my gosh, I don't care what they say about other golf tournaments, but your Open Championship is your Open Championship. It was absolutely the pinnacle for me.

Q. In '95, you talked about this many times, you have the unbelievable memory of winning at Oak Hill --
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, I try to balance the two realistically in that the Open was my best accomplishment, two in a row, and The Ryder Cup is a huge event, and just that, an event. It not a competition, per se. So disappointing because of team members, because of being a pick, because of being at Oak Hill, you know, the fans, but you've got to put it in perspective as well.
Since it's a team event, I didn't play well, but there are a number of others who didn't, as well. I take partial blame. I don't take all of it. And I take my share of it, you know, as a man, I'm not going to take all of it. But anyway, you put it in perspective and it was an exciting week. It was great to go back and we played well until the last day. Once again, it's an event versus your Open Championship. There's a big difference.

Q. People can't get out of their heads in Rochester --
CURTIS STRANGE: It was feast or famine, and you know, hey, you play golf long enough, you're going to experience -- hopefully you experience both of them and it's all a part of it. You know, as disappointing as losing to Nick was on Sunday, it's still a memory and it's still part of my life. You know, you've got to take the bad with the good.
You know, the game is going to do it to you. The game is going to do it to you, and it happens to be many of mine happen to be on a big stage. I would rather do that than not be on the stage at all.
So again, it's all part of it. I'm not trying to be -- it hurt. It was disappointing. But you know, it's nice to be on stage.

Q. Could you have ever imagined after the '89 Open that you would not win a PGA TOUR event?
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, I don't think of it like that. Looking back on it now -- well, I thought I would have done a little better, and quite frankly, I could have, should have, and maybe -- I opportunities and got beat in playoffs and things like that. I played some good golf and people exact like I didn't play well at you'll or didn't play. I played some pretty decent golf at times and was a bit unlucky a couple of times.
To answer your question, I don't know. I thought I would play a little better than I did. I thought I would continue at that time -- at that point in time, I didn't think it would end any time soon. I think the third Open took a lot out of me. I played reasonably well in the Open to have a chance on Sunday, but after that, I just didn't quite get it back.

Q. What were you saying, it wore you out?
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, looking back on it, it did. At the time it was just stressful and it was all part of the equation of building up for a huge event, but at the time, looking back on it, yeah, it did, and his wife and Sarah, and just the feeling of sinking back in the seat in the back seat, it's over. And it's like the air went out of the sails and never came back and never quite gained quite the enthusiasm, and maybe it was because I felt like I had done the best I could do. Who knows? I played hard and I practiced hard. It wasn't because I didn't put in the effort. I will say this. It was not -- I didn't play well because I didn't put the effort because I won my Open twice, screw it, I don't have to do anything else. I put in plenty of effort. I just didn't play well, and every effort physically is one thing; but being into it mentally is something else, and I don't think I ever quite got into it mentally again.
There were times, there were times, but you've got to remember, also, during that period, I was going through the same thing every other, you know, red-blooded American goes through with a family and all. You played well, I was 33, 34, and my kids were getting to an age you didn't want to leave a lot. They were into sports and Sarah wasn't traveling much at all with me, so that's a difficult time but everybody goes through it, balancing family and being on the road 30 weeks a year.
And so that weighed on me, and you know, no excuses, just facts. That's all. And everybody, you can go through everybody's career, 35 to 45, they fight that. So that was part of it.
And then went for a while and got an opportunity to work a little TV, and did that.

Q. How has the transition gone to the Champions Tour?
CURTIS STRANGE: Actually being out here has been fantastic. It's different. I miss the regular tour. I miss the influx of young -- seeing somebody different; this is the same every day. The atmospheres are different, although I truly do like this atmosphere, 50-plus, a quieter atmosphere, a quieter circus-type atmosphere is nice.
But I went from the TV to playing very easily. The playing part hasn't been very easy but as far as playing and being back into competition, which is what I do, has been good. AGAIN, you can always play better, but I've enjoyed it. I wish I could -- honestly, and I mean this in all seriousness, I wish I could age better, and I don't mean so much physically. I'm not doing that as well as I think I would, either, but my game has not aged very well. I wish I could accept that fact a little bit better and just kind of roll with the bunch and roll with the bad shots instead of acting like you're 25 again.
And I see some of the guys doing a better job out here than I do, and I think that affects your play.

Q. If your TV deal had not -- whatever happened, if that had not happened, would you be out here or would you still be doing TV?
CURTIS STRANGE: At the time I was working for ABC with a couple of years ago, and with a year to go, I didn't think I would play competitive golf a lot again. I knew I would play some on the Champions Tour, but I thought I was going to do the TV job for a long time. And new people moved in in the last year, and I saw the handwriting on the wall, so I came back and played golf.
But I really honestly didn't think I would be playing 20 tournaments out here competitively. I thought I would be playing a few and doing TV work, which would have been fine with me, which would have been very good with me. Because again, looking back on it now, my game has not aged very well. But that's -- hey, thank goodness I had this opportunity.
Thank goodness I had this opportunity to come back and do something. You know, that's my whole goal now is to stay busy. As we get older, you know, as much as I love to fish, I don't want to do it every day. And this is what I've done since I've been a kid, so I just want to play a few tournaments, stay busy, maybe -- you know, TV is not completely out of the picture as we sit here right now, but as far as a full-time job, it is.
The road is not bad. I just want to stay busy and stay active and keep out of Sarah's hair.

Q. Seven thousand yards in May where it could be --
CURTIS STRANGE: Oh, my God.

Q. It's going to be a hell of a golf course.
CURTIS STRANGE: It is. Well, I tell you, my first introduction to Oak Hill I was going to go up there for the press interview and I don't know if you were there, but went up for the interview and there was four inches of snow on the ground, so we bowled. So I guess it won't quite be snow, but it could be chilly.
I hope we have good weather, because again, these guys, cold weather doesn't bode well with these seniors, seriously, it really doesn't. So I hope it is so we can all enjoy the golf course, enjoy the whole Oak Hill experience and the golf course, because it's a hard golf course. They will set it up appropriately. It will be plenty tough. There will be rough and there will be length, and still, you know, quite frankly, Oak Hill, I don't care where you put the tees, it's still a hard golf course.
But you know, seven thousand a day, it's not that long anymore.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297