FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 8, 1998

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: The very nature of the event, it being a designated major championship. It is played on a very nice golf course. It is in excellent condition this year. I think coupled with the play of so many different players who have won this year, it hasn't been quite the dominating effect, if you wish, than what we might have seen some of last year. We have got some new winners. I think there are a number of players that are playing extremely well at this time. I think the golf course is ready. For the those of us that kind of point towards these big events, I think we are ready. All and all, I am ready to get it going and see kind of what the week brings us.

HALE IRWIN: I am obviously playing good golf. There is a case to be made of, I suppose, that I might be playing with greater consistency than last year. Another case could be made that I may have played just a touch better and winning. I don't know at this stage, last year was -- four last year? Yeah, four. So, all and all, whichever way you go, I am playing well. I am doing a lot of things quite nicely and very consistently. I am giving myself a lot of chances to play well even more so than last year where I had a lot of wins this year, the three wins I have had four 2nds - knock on wood - haven't finished out of the Top 5. I don't know how long that will continue, but hopefully it will continue to through at least one more week.

HALE IRWIN: I don't think those are new thoughts for any of us. We were very sad to see Larry pass away. He was well liked. One of those people that was fulfilling a dream and many of us started with those dreams and very sad to see Larry come on as he did and right at the pinnacle of, I think a great excitement for him, to be stricken with that cancer, really, I think for many of us it hit close to home. There are lessons to be learned from that, I suppose, each day at a time and take care of yourself because you just never know.

HALE IRWIN: The overnight rain certainly has softened the golf course and made it play longer than I have seen it and the years I have played. Overall, the condition of the golf course is better because we haven't had any droughts, any extreme heat that we had two years ago, for instance. It is in really good shape. Greens might even be a little quicker than what they have been. I don't see any negatives anywhere in terms of the golf course and the preparation for it. I think it is going to be fantastic by the time it dries out and we are ready to go tomorrow. I don't know if we had seen any senior Majors - on the golf course at least - that its condition this seems to be in comes tomorrow.

HALE IRWIN: That is about the sixth time I have been asked what I think about Jack. It is inevitable somewhere along the line Jack is going to have to break the string - whether it be just because he got tired of it or because his hip was bothering him or whatever the reasons, it is his decision. It is sort of like one of those Cal Ripken records, somewhere along the line Cal is going to miss a game and that streak comes to an end. That is certainly not the end of Jack Nicklaus, let's not begin to print that because that is not the case. It may be the end of a string but far from Jack disappearing from the scene. He is going to be just as visible as he has been in the past, whether it be actively playing or around golf, I don't think we have heard or seen the last of Jack Nicklaus just because he is not going to be playing in the British Open this year.

HALE IRWIN: It wasn't a case that I have wanted to play. It was how much I was going to play. I knew I would play primarily here, but how much I would play the regular Tour. It is a question that is very difficult to answer because they are just different arenas, different atmospheres, different environments, different personalities. I very much enjoy the regular Tour but that is not my place. I don't think I could stay over there and be as content - forget the money part for a second; which I don't want to - but just it is easier to play the SENIOR TOUR because you can plan your weeks. I have opportunities to do some other things. My design business is very good right now. We are very active, so I can build that in. Over there you have cuts to make. You have some uncertainties in how you prepare your week. So, it is much easier to plan as a senior. But as a senior, you forget a lot of things (laughs). I think I have -- I knew the transition initially would be somewhat difficult because -- for everybody that has played successfully on the regular Tour, to come over quickly and easily is not that easy a transition because it is just hard to give up those 25, 30, 35 years you have played over there and then to come over and start all over with new golf courses, new cities, new -- to be a rookie and learn it all over again. I am very content with where I am. I am happy with where I am. I do enjoy those occasional visits over to the regular Tour. I found out just how it still is over there and how difficult it is and where I belong is on the SENIOR TOUR.

HALE IRWIN: Olympic Club, starting out, I thought would be a good course for me and I was playing well. There was no hesitancy in how I felt about playing. I just had one of those days where it didn't work. If I had played anywhere, it had to been one of those days where it just didn't work. I didn't feel poorly. I didn't have an injury. I didn't -- I wasn't ill. I just had sort of had an out-of-body experience, if you wish. Those things happen. Second round I got back to the way I have been playing. So it may have been something what it was -- I had no idea. I can't point to anything. It wasn't obvious something was wrong. There was something in my game that was wrong. But, it could have been triggered by the food I ate, or how I slept, I have no idea. But it wasn't nervousness. I didn't have a case of nerves - "I am playing the Open," no, I wish it was that. It may have been that I felt really too good about it. It may have been that I wasn't on edge enough. The next day I did have that to really hustle. I felt like I was going to have to shoot 67 or better and, sure enough, that is exactly what I needed to shoot unless that kid would have missed that 6-footer at the last hole. I felt very good about the comeback, played well the second day. I hit all but two fairways and made birdie from one of those. And hit 15 greens. So execution-wise, I played great. Shot 68. I felt like yes, I can still play. The 80 would say, boy, he can't do it anymore, but that really wasn't the case. I felt like I still could but, you know, there is a humble pie waiting out there everyday. There is a piece of humble pie out there and I just got the whole pie that day. It kind of -- it jerks your chain gets you back to reality. I probably needed that more than had I gone out and shot 73, 74 well, all right, 80 was okay, you can start going up again; no way to go but up. I deserved 80. I was lucky to get it. (laughs) There is no glossing over it. It was terrible.

HALE IRWIN: Senior U.S. Open, well, the only similarities really will be in that they are in the State of California. Riviera is a much different golf course than is Olympic Club. I don't know if you mean in general, or specifically, but this year you have got kikuyugrass which is a far different playing surface than is the poa annua and the bins and the rise that we saw at Olympic Club. The greens might be similar in that Olympic Club, there is a lot of poa in the greens and there has been that, and, at Riviera, now they have redone those greens. I haven't been there in a couple of years so I don't know how their putting; how they are rolling. I don't like to listen to the rumor mill that says they are not in good shape because that had been said about -- where did we play there in Washington? Congressional. That had been said about Congressional greens we when we got the U.S. Open there - Senior Open was terrible, U.S. Open: Just as bad; that was not true. They were in pretty good shape. All and all, it is a different kind of golf course. We have played Riviera a lot. It is not a learning experience in terms of how to play it. I know where the shots need to go and how to play those shots because of all the years I have played in the L.A. Open. So a little different feeling about playing Riviera. I have won at Riviera even though it was moons ago. I have won there. I have had some good experiences there. But, a little local knowledge on any golf course helps. But in terms of how the USGA will prepare it, probably it will be about the same. They don't generally slack off too much just because it is a Senior Open. A lot of that depends on how -- your weather conditions, how they bring it around. Southern California is a little different growing environment than is northern California, so, I suspect the rough won't be quite as heavy. But the roughs around the greens are going to be that kikuyua and that is a very difficult surface to play on a predictable basis. Boy, if you get it down in that stuff, you just cannot get it out. If you are on top of it, you will go right under it. It is to difficult to judge.

HALE IRWIN: Okay, thank you.