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FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 10, 2005

Peter Jacobsen

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

THE MODERATOR: Peter, congratulations. Certainly not the first person to congratulate you today on your second Champions Tour victory and second major championship. Share your thoughts on beating a guy who's probably been the most successful Champions Tour player.

PETER JACOBSEN: He has been the most successful Champions Tour player. For me to hang with and eventually beat Hale Irwin is a proud moment for me. Hale and I have been playing against each other for a long time. He's 60 years old, I'm 51. When I came out on the tour, he was already an established star. I've got tremendous respect for Hale not only as a player, but as a person, too.

He's always been kind to me. I've said many times because of the alphabetical order of our games and locker assignments, he and I either lockered together or were next door neighbors. We've gotten to know each other very, very well over the years.

While I've got great respect for him as a player, there's nobody you'd rather beat than a great player. For me to come on top over Hale is a proud thing for me.

THE MODERATOR: Go through your card real quick starting at No. 4.

PETER JACOBSEN: No. 4, hit a beautiful 5 iron in there to about six feet. I made birdie.

No. 5, I hit an 8 iron long of the green. Had a very difficult chip. Chipped it down about 20 feet. 2 putted for a bogey.

No. 6, I hit a 3 iron and a sand wedge to about six feet. Birdied there.

No. 7, I hit a driver and a 3 wood into the green side bunker. Blasted it out about 10 feet. Birdied there.

Parred 8, 9 and 10.

11, I hit a driver and a sand wedge about 15 feet, birdied there.

No. 13, I birdied there. I hit a really good drive and a 4 iron just to the right of the green. I was afraid of left because of the pin position. Actually, I listened to what Hale said yesterday in his press interview. He said he played to the fat side of a lot of greens when the pin was in the corner. I took a page from his playbook and tried to err to the fat side of the green. I did that on 13. I missed the green to the right. But very good chip and run down to about three feet. Birdied that hole.

I parred 14, 15.

16 was a crazy situation. I hit a really good 2 iron off the tee and hit a pitching wedge right at the hole. It landed hard on the green. I thought it was going to be close, but it just trickled through, went down into one of the collection areas over the green.

I have to say that the practice I got at the US Open playing at Pinehurst, putting out of all of those collection areas, was a huge benefit to me there. When I got over the shot, it didn't scare me because I'd been doing it all week at Pinehurst a couple weeks ago. I pretty much knew what to do. The key there was getting the right speed and getting it within a three foot circle.

When I hit it, right on the line, right at the hole, boom, dropped right into the cup. I went from hitting a great shot thinking I was going to a have a tap in birdie to a difficult up and down to, hello, you did make birdie.

17, I hit a 3 wood off the tee today. It was downwind. I hit driver yesterday way down in the neck by the water. I didn't want to do the same thing today, so I hit 3 wood. Sure enough, it got way down on that neck again. I hit a 5 iron. Tried to play a smart shot. Played to the fat side of the green, which I did. Put it on the top shelf on 17. I 2 putted. It was about 60 feet.

THE MODERATOR: Actually 79 feet.

PETER JACOBSEN: Got it down to four feet, hit a great approach putt.

Then 18, again, I hit that 3 wood so good on 17, I went ahead and hit my 2 iron, which is a hybrid 2 iron, Titleist. I killed it off the tee, had 200 yards to the hole on 18. I hit a 5 iron in there about, oh, probably 20 feet. Hit a really good putt. I thought if I made that putt I was going to be for sure the winner. But it hung on the lip. I made par. We had to wait it out on 18.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How far would you guess you were on 16 in that collection area?

PETER JACOBSEN: I was probably not as far as from here to the camera. It was the bank. It drops down almost vertically. I mean, the pin was here. It went here. Literally dropped down like that.

The key for me was to get it with enough speed to get it up over the hill.

Q. So 14 feet?

PETER JACOBSEN: That was probably right.

THE MODERATOR: Lasered at 13.7.

PETER JACOBSEN: When you have a lot of drop offs in areas like that, it's a little goofy. It's not the kind of stuff you see in an average golf course. You know, these are not average players. Things like that, you know, you need to have things like that to separate the men from the boys. I got lucky there.

Q. Some of the talk earlier in the week was about you playing both tours. I thought that was interesting. You said Pinehurst really came through here.

PETER JACOBSEN: It helped me a lot on that shot. I didn't have too many of those this week. I really played well. I hit a lot of great iron shots to the green. I didn't put myself into too many bad positions. When I hit my ball in that bowl, I turned to my caddie Mike, said, "We saw 72 holes of this at Pinehurst. If I don't learn anything now, I'll never learn anything." I certainly didn't expect to knock it in, but I hoped to get it close.

Q. You got yourself back in the Schwab Cup now.

PETER JACOBSEN: How many points?

Q. 750. You moved up to third.

PETER JACOBSEN: All right, nice. This is my fourth Champions Tour event. I played four this year.

Q. Dana, Hale and you moved up to third now.

PETER JACOBSEN: Pretty good company right there for a guy like me.

Q. When you played with Hale yesterday, was this the first time you've been paired with him?

PETER JACOBSEN: No. Actually I played with Hale my first tournament when I came out on the Champions Tour, which was at the SBC Classic in Valencia last year, 2004. I turned 50 March 4th and played the week following and played with Hale the last round. I played with him probably three or four times out here. I played a lot with him obviously on TOUR. In fact, he beat me in the 1981 playoff at the Buick Open. Kind of nice. Payback is sweet. Shouldn't say that.

Q. In Michigan?

PETER JACOBSEN: Right up here, Grand Blanc.

Q. On 17, the 4 footer, just snuck in the right side of the lip. You seemed to be getting the breaks. Hale was missing, lipping out. Did it feel like it was going your way?

PETER JACOBSEN: It did. The first round to the third round, I felt like the breaks weren't going my way. I hit a lot of good putts and they didn't go in. But I kept positive. I said to Mike, my caddie, going into today, "The quality of my putts have been so good this week, they either went in or they looked like they were going in." That's really how a professional will measure their game, by the quality of their tee shots, the quality of their iron shots and the quality of their putts.

You can get by after maybe one or two rounds hitting it lousy, saving pars from everywhere. I think the guys that are going to end up at the top of the leaderboard are the ones that are playing solid for the week. I definitely was hitting the ball solidly. My putts, I was hitting quality putts.

Q. Can you talk about the fact that this is two wins on the which happens tour and they're both in majors.

PETER JACOBSEN: Yeah, see, I'm trying to think of how many Champions Tour majors I played. I played at the Senior US Open. I played four. Jeld Wen Tradition last year, had a good chance to win there. Leading that most of the time. Senior PGA, I think I finished sixth or something.

I really like playing tough golf courses. I think a lot of the times the majors you see are the golf courses that are ball striking golf courses. They're four rounds. I think my career on the PGA TOUR, playing a lot of four round tournaments, helps me in the majors.

I think sometimes it hurts you in the three round tournaments because 54 holes is not the same as 72 holes. Sometimes it ends pretty quick.

Q. How much longer do you plan on playing on both tours?

PETER JACOBSEN: Well, my exemption will end this year, at the end of this year. I won The Greater Hartford Open in '03 which exempted me in '04 and '05. I wanted to continue to play with my exemption on TOUR because I fought for 29 years to keep my card. It's hard to turn around and walk away when you turn 50. You're going to see a lot of players in my same category. Jay Haas is there, Stadler, Fred Funk, Loren Roberts. Greg Norman is a lifetime exemption on the TOUR. So I think that strengthens the Champions Tour to see players playing both tours. It's kind of a blurring of the edges so to speak. These guys out here on the Champions Tour, they're as competitive as anybody on the regular TOUR. Obviously they're older and don't hit the ball as far.

Coming down the stretch, a Hale Irwin or Dana Quigley or Tom Watson is pretty tough.

Q. Was there a point in time in today's round that you started to sneak peeks at the leaderboard?

PETER JACOBSEN: Yeah. I knew I had to get back in it with a good Front 9 score. I shot 2 under, which wasn't a great Front 9 score. Didn't get me back into it, but it kept me in the neighborhood. When I birdied 11 and 13, I knew I was probably getting close to the lead. I saw the lead was 15. I was 13 or I was 12. I thought, "Well, I got a chance." I think sometimes when you're behind, nine holes to play, you're focused on being aggressive, I think that helps you. Which is what I was I was going at a lot of pins, being aggressive, trying to make birdies.

Q. You said you're going to give away your daughter this week, this win. Special back to back?

PETER JACOBSEN: Very, very special. Steve asked me, "You've got this tournament, the Senior British, the Senior Open, which you defend." I said, "All those come a distant second to next Saturday when I walk my oldest daughter down the aisle." She's getting married to a gentleman by the name of Brian Biery. It's going to be a great occasion. She's 25. She's 29. He's a great young man. In fact, I even changed my daughter's name in my email, Blackberry, to Amy Biery. Had it that way for about six months. Getting ready for the big day (laughter).

Q. What is your caddie's last name?

PETER JACOBSEN: Michael O'Connell. Good Irish Catholic boy.

Q. Does winning this and beating Hale make you think after your exemption runs out you'll come out here and go after some of Hale's records?

PETER JACOBSEN: It's a long haul. Hale has dominated this Champions Tour like no other player and probably will. I think the Champions Tour is only going to get stronger as the younger players start turning 50. I'm probably in the generation that when the Champions Tour came to fruition, we realized that, hey, there's life after 50, there's life after the PGA TOUR. So you're going to see more and more players coming out on the Champions Tour that can win.

I'm not sure Hale's record will ever be in jeopardy. What he's done out here is phenomenal.

Q. What were the particulars of the Buick playoff that he beat you at?

PETER JACOBSEN: It was a four man playoff. In fact, I had won the 1980 Buick Open, was the defending champ. I got into a four way playoff with Hale Irwin, Gil Morgan, Bobby Clampett and myself. We all tied the first playoff hole, which was 16. On 17, the hole with the crowd in Flint, Hale made about a 40 foot putt for a birdie. Gil and Bobby and I hit it in there closer than that but we all missed. Hale has been a great player a long time.

Q. With that playoff in mind, what was going through your mind as you sat long side 18 and saw Hale hit to within 10 of the hole?

PETER JACOBSEN: Well, I expected him to make that putt. I thought he was going to make that putt. I thought we were going right down 18. I was thinking, "Well, that playoff in '81, turnaround would be fair play. I'd like to get the better of him on this playoff." It didn't turn out that way.

Q. You might be the only guy in the field who knows who the Goo Goo Dolls are.

PETER JACOBSEN: I love the Goo Goo Dolls. I love rock. I love alternative music. Reckless Kelly, the new CD by Reckless Kelly, Wicked Twisted Road. I have that in my CD player. Goo Goo Dolls. Matchbox 20. Rob Thomas is the lead singer for Matchbox 20. Great CD.

Q. (No microphone.)

PETER JACOBSEN: You know, it's different. Rob Thomas' stuff is different than Matchbox 20. Matchbox 20 was a little more pop. His is a little alternative, a little harder. It's good. He's a great entertainer. It's good. I'd pick it up. In fact, you know what I got right here, this is a Carlos the guitar tech for the Goo Goo Dolls is also the guitar tech for Carlos Santana. He knew we had done a couple albums. Gave me his guitar pick. Carlos Santana's guitar picks.

Most guitar picks are kind of teardrop shaped. It's a lot easier when you play individual strings and notes like Santana does. He'd be a lead player. Most guys are rhythm guitar players. A lot easier to get to the strings. This is cool. This is cool. You can get some real small ones which helps you.

Q. Did you meet the Goo Goo Dolls?

PETER JACOBSEN: I didn't meet them all. I met all the guitar guys. They said, "I know who you are. Congratulations." Mostly their guitars are Guilds. I play a lot of Taylor and Martin.

Q. Maybe they'll want you for an encore.

PETER JACOBSEN: It's hot on that stage. I told them, "It's hot up there."

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

PETER JACOBSEN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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