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CHRYSLER CHAMPIONSHIP

October 31, 2004

Tommy Armour III

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome Tommy Armour III, runner-up after a final round 2-under 69 today at the Chrysler Championship.

Vijay birdied the first two and he was hard to catch, I guess.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I mean, like I said yesterday, you're going to have to take it from him. He's not going to go out there and give it to you. That's about what happened.

TODD BUDNICK: You didn't play bad today.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: No, I had a veteran's 69. I mean, I didn't hit a lot of good shots, but I hit some good shots and I cleaned up around the hole nicely.

Q. Was there any point when you thought that you might -- he might let you in?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Well, on 16 when I made that 40-footer or whatever it was, you know, I figured, if he misses his, that's a two-shot swing and he's got a two-shot lead with two to go, and those are two pretty good holes where you finish 3, 3, you might have a chance. But he made his putt, and then I hit it in the right bunker on the 17th hole.

I mean, on 17 I hit it in the right bunker, and then he made his putt. I hit the pin -- in the air I thought my ball was going to fly in the hole, and it just skimmed the pin.

Q. I know you're focusing on your game, but when you're out there with Vijay, what is it that's most impressive about his game right now?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Well, he's inside you on every hole (laughter). I mean, that's it. I mean, I didn't play great. I mean, I shot 69. I figured I'd have to shoot 65. That's about right. I mean, he's just -- he hits the ball solid every shot and he makes putts and does what he has to do to be No. 1.

Q. So much has been made about 40-somethings really doing well on Tour, and you obviously won last year and now this. Do you feel like you're hitting a peak?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I don't know about a peak.

Q. Do you feel like you're playing as well as you've played?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Golf is a game where you can -- it's not raw strength. I mean, I am almost 6'3", and I can hit the ball far enough to compete, so that's not an issue. I'm pretty healthy and I don't have the flinches.

Q. What about just the notion of winning nine times in this day and age?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: That's damn good (laughter). I mean, who was the last player to win nine tournaments?

Q. Tiger Woods in 2000.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Nine, right?

Q. Yeah. Then it's back to 1951 with Sam Snead with 11.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Those are all three good years.

Q. When Tiger came along, he got immediate attention and people were watching him. Vijay has been out here now 11 years, and he's hit this peak. Was he somebody you knew this was coming eventually?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I mean, it's not like Vijay played like shit for 11 years (laughter). I mean, the guy is --

Q. He's won 13 times in the last two.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Right. I mean, how many tournaments has he won in his career, 25 or something?

TODD BUDNICK: 24.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I mean, there's not too many people that are ahead of him in tournament wins. I'd say there's probably 10 to 12, 15, guessing. That's an all-time. You know, he's good.

Q. He's made over $10 million. I think he made a bunch more with that last putt. Can you just talk about the money in the game today and maybe put it in perspective compared to when you joined the Tour?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Well, $1,000 goes about as far as $100 used to. I mean, there's more money out here. There's a lot more people coming to tournaments. There's big business. You know, it's the only sport in the country where you can actually go out on Wednesdays, which is one of our biggest days to keep our sponsors, and compete with the actual player. The president of Chrysler can go play with Vijay Singh on Wednesday. You're not going to go shoot hoops with Shaquille or hit pitches from Pedro. That's the unique thing about our sport is you can socialize while you're doing it, and that's why we're pretty steady.

Q. Are you looking forward to next year coming off of this? Do you feel like you've got a lot more --

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I look forward to every year. You know, I'm 45. I look forward to every year.

TODD BUDNICK: Tommy, just your birdies and bogey.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: I think I birdied 7, hit a wedge under the hole about 15 feet, made it.

10, I hit a great shot just out of the left rough and left it like an inch in the middle of the hole.

Birdied 16, made about a 45-footer. When I hit it, about halfway to the hole, I said, "That's going to go in," and it did. There were some spike marks in front of the hole, and I said, "I've got to hit these spike marks to make it." There was like a cleat drag. The ball hit it, and about that far (indicating) from the hole, I said, "It's going to go in."

I bogeyed the last hole, hit a sand wedge up there 30 feet left of the hole, hit it up there, had about a three and a half footer, hooked more than I thought, and my third putt was longer than my second.

Q. When you go against a guy like Vijay do you have the sense he's not going to make mistakes --

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Not the sense. You know he's not going to make mistakes. It's not like he's going to go out and shoot 76. You've got to be able to shoot 66, otherwise you're going to finish behind him.

Q. You put some pressure on him there for a while.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: Well, I don't know about pressure, but I didn't let him get too far ahead.

Q. On No. 10 you knocked it about yea far and he comes back five seconds later and throws it in about two and a half feet.

TOMMY ARMOUR III: That's what I mean. That's what great players do.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Tommy.

Q. What was your club on 10?

TOMMY ARMOUR III: 8-iron.

End of FastScripts.

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