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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2004

John Jacobs

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

JOHN JACOBS: This is John Jacobs.

JULIUS MASON: John Jacobs, folks. He's at plus 3 at the 65th Senior PGA Championship. And John, I guess I'm going to ask right now, where is your mind? What are your thoughts? What's going on up in the locker room?

JOHN JACOBS: Well, I just came out to hit a few balls. I just want to stay a little loose today. I was hoping earlier today that maybe we could play nine holes and get that done. But that's out of the question. That 8th and 9th hole -- or the walk from 8 to 9 and 1 to 2 is just, I can see that that's out of the question for any golf for us. I know the 1 bridge took a hike two days ago?

JULIUS MASON: Well put.

JOHN JACOBS: They used to have another small bridge over 9 tee to 9 fairway. That's gone. I think they got to figure a way to shuttle us around, because every hour you're going to waste 15 minutes walking back around the way they got to go. At least that's what it seemed yesterday. I think we're getting a break. If it doesn't rain -- and again yesterday when we played the fairways were so wet, you know, the longer hitters kind of hit down on the ball. And the -- it wasn't like Aronimink last year, the -- I mean, I'm sure all guys are golfers, the -- it was so wet that the clubs weren't hitting into the turf, they were bouncing in the water, they were splashing the water. So I couldn't tell -- I mean I got real short arms, I think that an 8-iron can go 150 or 180. And that's what happens when it gets real wet. The water is still rolling in the fairways. You really can't -- and you don't want to go over in the rough and drop your ball. So it's very difficult for me, yes. And actually I played pretty good yesterday, I just never made a putt. It just seems like I didn't make a putt all day. And plus every time I did have a putt to make, Watson made one in front of me and it was like the hole got smaller. Hopefully tomorrow I'll make them and then let him deal with it. Any questions?

Q. Is this a good day to hit some balls and go to the track? What do the guys do?

JOHN JACOBS: Well, yeah, I was going to hit balls and go to the track, but I got here and they told me to wait a little bit to go do the television thing a little bit ago. So you guys are killing the daily double, because I had to come here. But I'll be there for the third or fourth race. I don't have far to go. Churchill Downs, back to the Hyatt, so -- my wife picked the Hyatt, she hates the race track, but she picked the Hyatt and I didn't tell her that the track was just down the street, Churchill Downs was just down the street.

Q. As a golfer, how do you guys prepare mentally for a layoff like this?

JOHN JACOBS: Well, the other guys probably have problems with it, I don't have problems with anything. I'm just happy to be a golfer. So I don't even think about it. I'm going to go out and hit some balls. There's a couple things that I know that I have to do, which I said earlier, the ground has changed. It's not like it's -- it's not like it's wet, there's water out there. So my clubs don't, they don't hit into the turf, they bounce. So I, I mean, I'm going to change -- I'm going to go out right now and I'm going to try to pick the ball more than hit down through the ball like my normal shot. I played with Raymond Wednesday, and I could see how he was picking the ball off these fairways. And I don't usually do that, but I think that if I hit balls for an hour I can figure it out. And that's what you have to do. Because when you hit down on it, you can't tell, you know, if -- maybe a wedge you can tell a little bit -- but you get the 5-iron, 6-iron, 7-irons, you have a 30 yard swing there. What happens is the club bounces so much that it will act like a flier. Sometimes it will and sometimes it won't. So you got to make sure that it's not going to fly.

Q. You played golf all around the world, ever recall any other course that was flooded this badly?

JOHN JACOBS: No. I don't. But when I first played here I could see that it was in "a flood plain over here and Raymond said it the other day, he said, "I hope they don't get too much rain because they won't be able to get through these holes with where it is the worst". No, I've never seen rain like this. It's a shame, because it's a great golf course and it's, it kind of kills the galleries, it's just a shame it's happened. But what are you going to do? They will figure it out. This tournament will get going and they will have a hell of a finish and you got Watson and Irwin up there with the lead. Somebody will pop up and you'll have a great championship.

Q. Before you came out today, what you thought you might see and then when you first drove out here?

JOHN JACOBS: Well, I was watching -- I don't know what network Channel 3 is, but I was watching Channel 3, in fact when I saw it I was laughing to myself, I called Phil I said -- I know where the media parked, I was calling Phil, I says, "Hey, was that your car down there where the water was up over the windows?" He says, "No, that wasn't my car." So, yeah, I knew before I got out here what it was, what it looked like. But the bridge went out the other bridge went out on 9, so I figured that it was going to be a problem over there.

Q. In general would you rather get some golf in today, play nine holes?

JOHN JACOBS: Oh, sure. I would rather, I wish I could get some golf in, sure. You never want to play a tournament and stop a day and then play again. You want to keep going. But nothing they can do. I hopefully they can get this morning round in, because I don't know what the gentleman to my left here probably knows what they're going to do, but he won't tell anybody, but I hope they get the groups finished so they can get some kind of resemblance of a tournament back.

Q. Does that favor the guys who do get to play a little today then?

JOHN JACOBS: Well, I would think if they play today and finish, the weather is going to be pretty good, so, yeah, I think they have an advantage because I think the ball will stop out there. I think it will be nice for the guys that -- especially the ones that are par or 1-under or something, 2-under. Yeah, I think they will enjoy it. Because from what I understand, late yesterday the weather was getting windy and everything, so they were probably happy they stopped it yes.

JULIUS MASON: Questions?

JOHN JACOBS: You know, this tournament, when it gets wet like this, I mean you guys have seen enough golf, there's a lot of luck comes into it when it's like this. You hit a shot up and it miscarries something by a foot and then sucks back 30, 40 feet, because you know these greens are very, very slopey, and it's a matter of a foot that changes your whole outlook. You hit it up a foot you make birdie or you hit it back a foot, you 3-putt, you know it's a big mind swing. I was happy -- I played with Jack yesterday, he built this thing, he hit it in those things he built about three or-footer times, I didn't say anything to him but I was thinking, you know, "How do you feel, partner?"

(Laughter.)

JULIUS MASON: We have a few more minutes if you would like to continue.

JOHN JACOBS: Well, if there's any questions I'm here. But, you know, spinning the ball on the greens, it's easy to hit the green, it's hard to figure out what the ball's going to do when it gets this wet because you don't know -- you know sometimes when it's wet the ball just goes plop and then sometimes if you hit it in there a little lower, it will spin unbelievable. So -- and you don't know. Everybody wants to think they know, but you just don't know until you hit the shot.

Q. A lot of players have complained about walking all 18 holes, it seems like some players may have to not only play 18 holes but maybe 24 or 25. How does that factor in?

JOHN JACOBS: Oh, poor babies. Poor babies. Listen, you know, I had to -- look, if you are in the middle of the field or at the end you're going to get your ass tired. If you have a chance to win or -- like I played almost 30 holes last year, or whatever it was, I wasn't tired one bit because I was in the hunt, I was concentrating. So that's all bullshit. If you're playing good, you could care less if you got to walk or you could care less what you got to go up. You're only thinking about getting the ball from A to B to C and get the job done. Forget about that the guys who complain. It does make it a little harder with the ground wet to walk, but believe me, if you're playing good, that doesn't even enter your mind.

JULIUS MASON: The afternoon show with John Jacobs, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much.

JOHN JACOBS: Thank you, guys.

End of FastScripts.

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