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BUICK OPEN

July 29, 2009

Bob Seger

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

Q. How was it, Bob?
BOB SEGER: Tiger Woods. Wow! Oh, I haven't walked a golf course in 30 years. I'm a cart guy. I've never done that, ever.
And we did one last year, and then of course, Tiger's knee at the Open. So I'm very tired. I feel every 64 years.

Q. What did Tiger tell you round to round as far as advice on your golf game?
BOB SEGER: He's just a very nice guy. You know, very personable and very nice to a lot of people out there, yeah.
And oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what a thrill, you know. I mean nine putts on the front nine. He didn't miss a putt on the front nine. I went 9-under, so that helped. (Laughs).
And you know, he missed one fairway all day, 18. And he hit every par-3, so 17 for 18. You see that and to be eight feet away, wow, what a thrill. What a great golf thrill.
I mean I'm a golf fan. My wife and I go to tournaments all the time. We play together all the time, my wife and I. So it's just a really interesting golf nirvana right there. Eight feet away watching the best maybe who ever was. He is the best who ever was, probably.

Q. We saw a little bit of it at 18. He said you were on today as well.
BOB SEGER: Yeah, I made three bombs, 2, 4 and 6. I made three bombs and had a few each time. So I felt good about that.
And then just age kicked in. Boy, my feet hurt. My back hurt. I was stretching as much as I could, and then I got it back a little bit later in the game.

Q. What was it like on 16 when you could hear "Old Time Rock and Roll"?
BOB SEGER: Oh, yeah. It was 16 or 14. Yeah. We were at 14. And yeah, that was nice.

Q. Did Tiger have a good sense of your career and who you are?
BOB SEGER: I gotta tell you this. This is funny. About five years ago I met Tiger -- he won't remember, but Al Sutton took me to the Ryder Cup room. So I met everybody. Phil wasn't there. He was off doing something. But I met everybody on the team except for Phil, and Tiger goes up and I'm taking pictures with all the golfers' wives, all Furyk and Saxon. Tiger is right here. And I see Tiger off in the corner he's talking to Chris, young Chris, and he says, "who's he?" He had no idea who I was. (Laughs). He was 25 at the time, 25, 26.

Q. Talk about Rich and John Berringer here. He said you've been out like last year playing four or five points with your swing coach. The swing coach is your caddie.
BOB SEGER: Yeah. This goes out of my range. I started swinging really hard in the Back 9. That's why I lost it, and I realized after swinging way too many. It was too far and hard for me.
But even on 18 I hit 5-wood and hit the water and it skipped out, and I still made par. I didn't think I could hit it over the water. I just can't hit it that far at 64. (Indiscernible)
I've been in the house in Jupiter, so we talked about our houses a little bit. And he's like, this is where we'll meet next year, Jupiter.

Q. Can you talk about teeing off on the first tee?
BOB SEGER: Oh, my God.

Q. Can you talk about that?
BOB SEGER: I actually did -- that's right. I had a good swing on that tee, but yeah, nerves.
Oh, my gosh, through the first six holes I was a wreck. I don't know how I made those putts, but I did.

Q. You got a bigger cheer than Tiger there.
BOB SEGER: Oh, I've been here 40 years, you know. I got a few fans around here.
Yeah, but he's really special. To stand that close is so -- such a privilege, to someone that great.

Q. Bob, you've done some pretty cool things in your time, in your career. How does this compare with some of the other cool things that you've done in your life?
BOB SEGER: Well, like I said, I've played golf for about 16 years, (Indiscernible) but this is it. This is top of the -- I mean you can't get better than this. This is really something.

Q. Bob, Tiger Woods mentioned to Jim Schwartz, he told you (indiscernible) rock and roll fans?
BOB SEGER: I beg your pardon? What was the question?

Q. This is a rock and roll -- (indiscernible).
BOB SEGER: Yeah. Yeah. He's really happy with that, too. So that's very exciting.

Q. Bob, two questions. Can you talk about just how the opportunity developed to play in the Pro-Am with Tiger?
BOB SEGER: My wife's -- one of my wife's best friends, her brother knows Larry Peck at GM, and they're old friends. And so last year, you know, I was set to do this, play with Tiger. And I was up watching the Open with my wife, and I said, oh, there's no way he's going to make it, with the knee. And of course, that was the story, him winning the Open.
I knew there was no way he was coming. I said, well, I had my chance, and I was practicing, too.
I was practicing like six days a week. Short game, short game, short game.

Q. Just one more question. It looks like this might be the last Buick Open. Can you just sort of talk about that and your thoughts?
BOB SEGER: Yeah. And they said that wasn't true. Maybe it is. Is it?
DOUG MILNE: Still no word.
BOB SEGER: Well, of course, it's the GM situation, and you want to hope it comes back, because I know some golf fans, and they love it. And I can't tell you how many times I heard out there, "thank you for coming, Tiger, thank you for coming, Tiger." I mean everywhere he was walking, "thanks for coming."
So people were, you know, very into it. It's a shame if it is the last one, but at least I got to play with Tiger.

Q. Did you thank him for coming also?
BOB SEGER: You know, I really did. I just thanked him, this is the ultimate golf thrill of a lifetime and I'll never forget it and I can't do better than this.

Q. Bob, what do you think about the crowds here, the fans and what's your feelings about?
BOB SEGER: Oh, I loved playing Saginaw, it's been so long since we played here, but those are two of my favorite shows on my last tour.
And I've never been here before, and today, that was one of my favorite places to play, seats like 6,000, 7,000, whatever they put in there with a big stage at the base. That means a lot to a band. If you feel the energy in the building, it really propels the band. I had a great time. I'll do it again.

Q. Home crowd here today.
BOB SEGER: Well, hometown crowd for me. No doubt about it.

Q. Bob, you've been playing about 16 years. How often have you actually come down and watched here?
BOB SEGER: I love this golf. (Indiscernible).

Q. In the last 15 years how often have you come here as a fan?
BOB SEGER: This is first time I've ever done it, ever because, frankly, I thought I would (indiscernible) which I did for a while there, and I knew -- of all time, the [Eagles|eagles]. And one day we were talking because he's always (indiscernible) and he was doing -- I'll shoot 2,000. You know, I don't want to do it. But I couldn't pass this up.

Q. Are there any similarities between like writing music and playing golf?
BOB SEGER: You know, yeah. Typically. You know, you look at something of the day, and you gotta be your worst critic. And when you see Tiger play, it's a similar thing. He gets on himself when he makes a mistake, and that's -- I totally can relate to that.
You know, if I don't think I worked hard enough on a lyric, or if I didn't come up with a right passage for the right song or something like that, if I drop the ball, and in that regard, disappointment is what makes hard work, really. Hard work.
I mean that's how it works. But guys, it was so extraordinary. I mean he hit every fairway. Hit every par-3, made every putt in the first nine holes. That's hard to do.

Q. (Indiscernible).
BOB SEGER: I don't know how much of it's Greek to me and how much of it is just phenomenal athleticism and tremendous concentration.
I know when I was out there, I wasn't talking much. I was thinking about what I was trying to do. I was talking to my caddie, who was my teacher, and I said, take time to think about my lie, how I hit it when I smash down on it.
Did I want to hit an iron, because I couldn't get a fairway wood on it because I was too deep in the rough or whatever, and I was out there thinking probably like he's thinking. But he never acted like it.
He's on the fairway all the time. But I wasn't. So you know, in that regard, when you're trying to do something, you try and do it well. You try to think about it, concentrate.
DOUG MILNE: We know you gotta go. We appreciate you spending a few minutes with us.
BOB SEGER: Yeah. Thanks everybody.

End of FastScripts

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