	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

July 14, 2010

STATELINE, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're about to start the 11:30 press conference with Two-Time Defending Champion Rick Rhoden and Tournament Fan Favorite Mr. Billy Joe Tolliver.
Gentlemen, welcome aboard to the 2010 American Century Championship. Good to have you back.
The two gentlemen in this room have won half of the 20 tournaments over the years here.
Now Billy Joe, you have to do a little catching up.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: Did I tell you about the time that when me and Rhoden won half of the tournaments here? (Laughter) It's like playing basketball with Michael Jordan, say I scored a free throw tonight. Did he tell you about the time me and Jordan combined for 61?
THE MODERATOR: We have to even it out a little bit, here. Billy Joe says he's going to put some pressure on Rick this year. We'll see how that goes. Over the years, Rick Rhoden has won a combined $1,125,289 in this tournament. He's the first two-time winner. Going for the trifecta. Rick, Harrah's race and sports book has you at 9 to 5 this year. Billy Joe Tolliver is third all-time, $446,581.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: I don't know why they got him at 9 to 5, he don't work.
THE MODERATOR: Won this event in '96 and 2005. They got you going off at 5 to 1 odds.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: That's about my schedule.
THE MODERATOR: Rick, what do you think about those odds? And how are you playing, give us a little background on what's going on.
RICK RHODEN: First, I've seen $34 out of that money I won here. My wife got the rest. It's nice to be here and get away from 98 degree weather in Florida.
Right now I'm just glad to be there. It's beautiful here. The course -- I played today nine holes. The course was real good today. Much better today. The greens were a lot better.
I think it's going to be pretty good by Friday and Saturday. We'll see what we normally see here. We get new players. You have three new baseball guys. Thank goodness we've got some baseball guys playing. Smoltz I know is a good player. I think he can probably contend for this thing. I think the only thing that might keep him back is I don't know how much tournament golf he's played. It's a big difference.
We'll find out the first day. If he gets a lot of points the first day, I think he's going to be a big factor, because he can hit the ball nine miles.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: He will be a factor.
RICK RHODEN: I think so. So then the usual suspects, I think what you're going to see -- I don't think besides him, I don't expect to see any big surprises unless there's somebody we don't know about that can play really well.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: The hockey player, Langenbrunner.
RICK RHODEN: Most hockey players can play pretty good.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: And Modano can play.
RICK RHODEN: But we know him. There's guys that have been here. The new guys besides John, I don't know who is real good.
THE MODERATOR: You've got Romo coming back, obviously.
RICK RHODEN: Romo's a good player.
THE MODERATOR: Billy Joe, how much pressure is the wife putting on you to win some money and pay for some of those bills at home?
RICK RHODEN: You have no idea. I can't believe you brought that up. Are you talking to my wife? Where did you come with that question? How did you know?
No. You just come out here and play it falls where it falls. You always -- that cash is nice, but my wife loves that side of it, but I just like the bragging rights. That's what I'm going after. If it works out in my favor, great. If it doesn't, I got two big old cops with me this week that will break some legs. (Laughter).
THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up to the media for a few questions.

Q. As you get on with this thing, part of the fun of this is to talk among yourselves to see who has gotten better, who has worked on their games. What are you hearing the last couple of days?
RICK RHODEN: Talk is cheap. We've got a lot of guys that can talk. I think you've gotta watch, see how they play. We know who is capable of playing well and who is not.
Some guys, you know, can go really low here. It depends on how they're playing. The guys that can hit it a long way, if they can keep it in the fairway, are going to shoot good.
The key here to me is -- obviously putting is important. The greens are hard to putt. But the key is hitting your driver in play.
If you put your driver in play, you're not going to have a lot to the greens, you can get to most par 5s. Guys that hit it long, if they keep it between the trees, they'll play well.
If you don't hit your driver well, you get in those pine trees, they're pretty big, hard to get out of. Double bogey is the killer in this format. If you can keep yourself from getting double bogeys, you've got a good chance.

Q. How do you keep your head in the game on the weekends coming along on 17 fairway?
RICK RHODEN: Well, you know what it's going to be like there. It's getting to be like a rock show.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: Old, where you can't even see them anymore.
RICK RHODEN: You can't hear. I think sometimes the faster you hit it, the better. It's like playing at some of these Pro-Ams we played at before, where they've got somebody doing the emceeing, they're making fun of you in the middle of your backswing. You try to walk up, never take a practice swing; they're waiting for your practice swing. You hit the ball and get it over with before they know you're going to hit it. Sometimes that's the best way to do it.

Q. Rick, you doing any Champions Tour, Monday qualifying?
RICK RHODEN: No. I tried to qualify for the Senior Open, didn't get in. That's the only one I've tried this year. I might, depending -- it's just getting harder and harder for me. But I might try something later in the year.

Q. What shape is your back in?
RICK RHODEN: I wish I could use it as a excuse, but I'm probably in the best shape I've been in a long time, physically. It just gets a little harder. You can't do things you used to do.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: You keep convincing yourself of that. Keep that question line going.

Q. Rick, you brought it up, talking about John Smoltz, saying he hits the ball a ton but he hasn't done a lot of tournament play.
RICK RHODEN: I don't think he has.

Q. With the two of you having won as you have, what's been the difference? You've both been pro athletes, you've been around the crowds, performing in front of people, what's the difference between tournament golf?
RICK RHODEN: Everyone has performed here in front of people. That's what we did. But we didn't perform in front of them playing golf. You know, it's something -- football for Billy, baseball for me is something we did since we were five years old. And it's something we feel comfortable doing.
We feel like we've probably seen most situations in baseball over the years. Golf is a different animal. Most of us started playing -- I started playing competitive golf at 38 years old. So it's not like a guy that's played golf his whole life. It's a big deal. And I think the last day here, you see most of the time the scores aren't as good because it is different. And if you're not playing well, the pressure does bother you.
I think the guys that have played long enough now have gotten into the final group, you know what it's going to be like. It's not easy. But you know what it's going to be like and you're ready for it.
And guys that haven't, a lot of times you see them, might be a little meltdown, especially if they don't start off well. If they start off good, you know, it's a lot better if you can get off to a pretty good start.

Q. Rick, any additional pressure on you trying to win it for a third time?
RICK RHODEN: You know, I try to win every year. I don't care how many times in a row. I try not to worry about the other guys. There's guys like Billy, they can go low, get a lot of points.
They can get eagles. I haven't had an eagle in a while. They can get eagles because they can get to these places with short irons. I have to worry about myself. If I get in the 70s, I think you have a chance to win. Last year I got 74. Last day I played terrible. It doesn't matter. If you get to 70 points, somewhere in the 70s, you'll be right in the mix.

Q. Billy Joe, any additional pressure on you trying to win again?
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: Not really. I'm kind of like Rick. I really -- I know all the guys. I know who the usual suspects are going to be. I don't worry about them. I can't control them.
All I can do is control what I do. Like you said, I don't care how long you hit it, you've got to hit it in play here, because it's Stableford.
And you've got to give yourself opportunities at birdies. It's a simple process. I can go out, make nine bogeys and nine birdies and have 27 points and I'm still even par.
I can go out make 18 straight pars and only have 18 points. You've got to put it in position where you can have opportunities at birdies. Now, you're not going to make a bunch of them, because when we do tee off later in the day, you're going to have some issues with greens.
Half this field doesn't know how to get the ball out of the hole. So you run into some of those issues on the putting green. But you just know you've got to hit as many greens as you can. You can't make a bunch of four-footers; you're not getting up and down all day here.
Jack Wagner is the only guy I ever saw do it and that was 15 years ago. The guy hit five greens and shot 72. How do you hit five greens on this golf course? But it was a phenomenal round of golf, but you're not going to make a living on this -- you're not moving anywhere on this golf course getting up and down for par.
So I really -- I love all the guys I hang out with. Stick the needle in. But I don't sweat any of them, and I don't worry about any of them, because they're not hitting my ball.

Q. Billy Joe and Rick, I was wondering, golf has been a pretty important factor of your post-professional career. Put it in perspective as to what golf means to your afterlife and where you might be with or without it?
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: Well, I mean, you know, without golf, let's face the facts, most of these guys here are pretty successful people. Pretty driven individuals. It ain't like they're just going to stick their head in the crack pipe and stay there. It's not like it would have ruined my life without golf.
But to have it, you know, it's a game for life. You can play -- played rounds with my sons. And you don't get that any other way. It's not like I'd go out and play football with them.
You can play baseball with your kids, but you reach a certain age, I'm not standing in front of my kid swinging a bat at 13 years old. He'll hit me in the face and he'll do it on purpose because I'm worth more to him dead than alive. (Laughter) Hell, I'm not getting into that.
But it's more on the game-for-life side of it that I would enjoy; and without it, shoot, I probably would be driving a truck right now or something.
RICK RHODEN: Yeah, I think y'all probably think this is pretty corny, but I usually say it every year:
To me, the best thing about this celebrity golf we fell into really. 1990 it started here. Then we played other tournaments. And this one's been our big tournament, obviously, every year. To me playing, competing is good.
It gives us a place to compete. We've done it our whole lives. We can't do it in what we used to do. But the main thing is over the last 20 years we've become, you have to meet guys you probably wouldn't have met from other sports, other walks of life become good friends with them and their family. Seen their kids grow up.
20 years, you see kids, Aldo Greco, used to sit on my lap, watching fireworks. Now he's at Auburn playing golf, or Vanderbilt. You see all these kids grow up. And we've stayed friends. It's like a reunion every year. We come back to here see everybody, see how everything is going on in their life and what's happening. And to me that's the best part of the whole deal.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: The best part, too, is we pick up right where we left off. And that's what I love about it. I mean, a year later we pick right back where we left off. So where was I?
RICK RHODEN: Right back razzin' the guys like we always have.

Q. Last night. The National League finally wins an All-Star game. As a former Big League pitcher with the Dodgers. I believe the Dodger pitcher was the only one that gave up a run for the National League, what did you think about the streak finally ending?
RICK RHODEN: I wish I could tell you, but I only watched about two innings. Obviously if you lose 13 in a row, the other league has better players. When I was with the National League, it won something like 16 out of 18, back in the '70s and early '80s.
I don't know. I don't watch too much baseball anymore. I really don't. It's a different game than when I played. It's more of an offensive game. The talent-wise, the guys are bigger, faster, stronger. Obviously they're better. Can they play better? I'm not sure. Do they know how to play the game better?
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: No, they're better athletes.
RICK RHODEN: They're better athletes; they rush them to the Big Leagues out of college now. They've all got great arms. And I don't think they know -- they've got a coach telling every outfielder where to play. When I played, the players learned where to play, you know, it was their job to know where to play. It wasn't somebody to teach them.
It's turned into a different game. But the thing about the All-Star game which people don't pay much attention to, they play a game at a time they never play baseball games. They played the game last night at, what, 5:45 it starts.
It's the worst possible time to ever play a game. You can't see. The hitters can't see. That's why the game was 3-1. You've got the best pitchers in the world pitching at a time when it's half sun, half shadow. Hitters can't see until about the sixth inning.
So I don't care; you can throw the fifth starter on the Oakland A's team and they probably wouldn't have got any runs off him. That's how hard it is to see in some of those games.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: Why you gotta throw that guy under the bus, like he can't get out --
RICK RHODEN: It would have to be Roy Halladay.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: You could have put it that way.

Q. Give us your thoughts on pitch counts.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: We don't have enough time.
RICK RHODEN: I played guys with beer guts, the only time they ran was to the bar. 275 innings a year off three days' rest for 15 years. The guys are bigger, stronger, they're more athletic, and they don't let them pitch. It's not their fault. They don't let them pitch. So that's just the way the game's evolved.
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: But let's face the fact on the deal, there's economics involved there, too. I mean, Rick's playing back in the day and dropping 150,000 on his salary, whatever it was. And that same guy's making $100 million over the life of his short contract, three-, four-year deal.
RICK RHODEN: It's all about protecting the guy. I don't know if it's working. I don't know if there's less guys on the disabled list now, pitchers, than there used to be. I'm sure they have that stat, because they have a stat for everything.
If it's not -- let's say it was 100 pitchers a year on the disabled list and now there's only 90. To me, it's not really worth the thing keeping the guy at 100 pitches.

Q. Billy Joe, quarterbacks don't spend very long once they get out of college anymore, to where all of a sudden they're pushed into game situations. Your thoughts on that?
BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: They're more prepared now. I mean, you can thank the great state of Texas for instituting 7-on-7 in high school football.
They were the first ones to get it started, I believe. Then they turned it into tournaments and then Florida picked it up. And everybody picked it up and they have national tournaments.
Now these high school kids who have been running the wing-T and the wishbone and the whacker veer, all this other stuff, pounding the ball, running 500 games on the ground and stuff, they've learned that let's get the ball in the air. So everybody's throwing the football now.
So these kids that have been, ten years ago in grade school, they start throwing the football in fifth, sixth grade, they've experienced all through high school, the colleges are throwing the football now where they used to pound it 25 years ago, 20 years ago.
And it's just natural progression. These kids are more prepared when they come into the league than we were 20 years ago.
Every interview I do this week, this is off the record because this is just between us -- every interview I do this week I have to work the word "packitize". That's p-a-c-k-i-t-i-z-e. Because I was having a business meeting in Reno the other night.
This guy was talking about securities, and he's going to securitize. And he said packitize. And I said, "Ricky Henderson, just stop right there, did you just make a word up?"
Packitize is not a word, am I correct? You made that shit up. All right. So now we're back on the record. And you get all these players in here in the tournament and it's what makes this tournament so great and the event so wonderful.
And you got a whole book of players, and it's all been packitized and all the guys are together and it's just a fun week, and I'm glad you guys are all out to cover it, and I appreciate your time.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297