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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2008

Loren Roberts

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

KELLY ELBIN: Loren Roberts, ladies and gentlemen, joining us at the 69th Senior PGA Championship. Loren is making his third Senior PGA Championship appearance. Tied for fifth last year. Excuse me, tied for 12th last year at Kiawah and tied for fifth the year before. Also tied for 7th at the PGA Championship here in 2003. Loren, welcome back to Oak Hill. Some thoughts on the golf course that you played well on five years ago.
LOREN ROBERTS: Thank you. Doesn't get any better than this. That's about all you can say. I mean, you think about it, it's just a pure golf course. It really doesn't get any better than this.
You've got everything that you could possibly want. You got tough driving golf course, you got your tough second shot golf course, you got some really good par-3s, like the third hole. And they're not real long, and yet they're tough. And once you get on greens you got to really use your imagination. It's just a tough golf course all the way around.
Even a lot of really great golf courses there's always one hole that may be a little bit weak, not on this golf course. There isn't one hole that's just not a really could stand on its own. Every hole stands on its own here. It's just a great venue.
KELLY ELBIN: In the two top-5s on the Champions Tour coming in here, you feel pretty good about your game?
LOREN ROBERTS: My whole game just really revolves around the putter. If I can get the putter going well then I feel like I have a chance. And so I feel like I've been working hard on that and hopefully something will go. Something will happen good. So we'll see.
KELLY ELBIN: All right. Thank you. Open it up for questions, please.

Q. Obviously you've played well here. You played the 2003 PGA here, a top-10 finish and playing well this year. It's a golf course that would seem to suit your game. Because you do keep it generally in play and you putt so well. So do you come in here feeling like this is a place where you could get it going and maybe be a factor?
LOREN ROBERTS: Well I hope so. I really feel like I could be a factor here. Huge key to this golf course is, and it could be a little tougher, to keep the ball under the hole here. Because you really got to try to keep the ball under the hole here. There's some pretty quick putts and a lot of putts with a lot of swing to them if you get in the wrong parts of the greens.
There is room to drive it, I mean the fairways aren't super narrow, but I believe that in the rough, now, it's just as bad as it was for the PGA in 2003 for the young guys. So I think you probably are looking at the sternest test that the senior players have had in a Major in a long, long time. I think.

Q. Tell me about the when I talked about this a month ago with you, '95 Ryder Cup, you happened to be involved in the Pavin match when he chips in at 18. I remember you telling me about what that felt like. But if you could kind of relive because here around here that's a moment that is going to live forever and you had the best seat in the house for that. Please recollect what that was like that day.
LOREN ROBERTS: Well, it was pretty magical day, I mean Corey and I ham and egged it pretty good all the way around the golf course. And I think we were going into the 18th hole all square and I managed to get it in the fairway and got on the green although I was I think about 35, 40 feet left of the hole. The pin was front middle right over there. And Corey was just in the right rough and he had a lie, I just couldn't believe that he could get on the green and he hit some kind of shot out of there that just landed just on the front edge and it rolled just into the back fringe and it was a hell of a shot to get it there. Nick Faldo probably had it about 15 feet or something just pin high left of the hole and had a good look at a birdie. And it was magical that he chipped it in. Because I know I lagged it down there about a foot and a half from the hole and he walked by me on the green and says, you can make that, can't you?
(Laughter.)
Of course I kind of looked at him like what are you thinking I am? You know. But, and he obviously tried to make it all the way and he got up there and just was positive and everything and just chipped it right in the hole. I think he knew he was going to chip it in. And it was a funny thing is I just, as soon as it went in the hole for some reason I just happened to look at Nick Faldo and he had a smile on his face. So I think he kind of expected Corey to do something like that too. So, but it was a magical, it went from a really magical day to a pretty sour day the next day though.

Q. Since you brought it up, tell me about, you obviously had highs and you've had lows in this game. That particular, when you come back to this place, was that one of the lower moments for you personally too that you were involved in a team that struggled and lost the Ryder Cup everyone thought you were going to win?
LOREN ROBERTS: Yeah, that was a tough day. It really was. Europe played really good in the singles matches. Doesn't matter how good you play as an individual, I mean, if the team doesn't win, you don't get the job done.
And I didn't play -- I played good the first two day, I didn't play particularly well on Sunday and I remember I think Sam beat me 2 and 1 and it was just a tough day for everybody because the hopes were pretty doggone high Saturday night.
KELLY ELBIN: For the record, Loren won three of his four matches during that Ryder Cup. Questions? Loren, the golf course from what you remember five years ago versus what you've seen so far, similar? Any changes at all?
LOREN ROBERTS: Well, I can't really tell any changes. I can't, I'm having a hard time remembering if we played the first hole off the back tee like we're doing now. I really can't remember that if we were or not.
But other than that, I don't really remember any changes to the golf course. You don't need to change anything here. It's such a great golf course. It's a long golf course, for us anyway, you really don't need to add anything to the golf course. I know they're always looking at putting new tees in here and there, but it's just a great driving golf course, because you have to move it both ways off the tee.
You have got some holes where you really have to move it right-to-left and other holes where you have to move it left-to-right. I mean, you got to hit every shot on this golf course and that's why this golf course is just really stood the test of time for 70, 80 years.
KELLY ELBIN: Loren Roberts, thank you very much.
LOREN ROBERTS: Okay, thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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