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FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 11, 2004

Mark James

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

Q. Mark, congratulations first off. That was an interesting day for you, but maybe just a couple things couple announcements. Mark is the first European player to win a major championship on the Champions Tour since it started in 1980. So, congratulations on that honor. Picks up 1,175 points, and I believe he moves into the top three now; and $375,000 first place check, but maybe just share your thoughts on your first win here in the US on the Champions Tour?

MARK JAMES: Well, it's been a dream really. I came over here in the last year, tried to get my card, and being in the top 7 got me into most things. I played pretty solidly from the start this season. I'm enjoying it. The guys are very friendly, really nice. It's a good tour to be on, and then suddenly to win here is amazing. I played tremendous. I don't know where such good golf came from, but I certainly enjoyed it, and to move up to the top 3, that's brilliant. It's a great feeling.

Q. Maybe go through your card real quick.

(Scorecard read.)

Q. Questions? Mark, you thought it might take 17 under to win it and a lot of us did too, and yet to win at 1 over for the day, is it a relief?

MARK JAMES: I knew as soon as we went out, some guys that played early, I heard how the greens were faster and harder and everything. I knew as soon as I saw the first couple, it was going to be nearer 14 or 15 that would win. I knew how tough it was. It doesn't take much wind when the greens are that hard to make it tough, and that 10, 12 mile an hour wind is enough to toughen some of the holes up.

Q. Mark, for someone that's had to overcome what you have had to overcome, where would you rank this victory for yourself?

MARK JAMES: This is the biggest win of my career without question. To win a Major, it's incredible. This is definitely the biggest win of my career.

Q. (Inaudible)?

MARK JAMES: I tore the meniscus, and I realized I couldn't play anymore, so I had the operation. I was organized to see the Miami Dolphins surgeon. He fast tracked me and did the operation that Friday after, and then I ended up in Mexico I think for three weeks after the operation, which is great. They were really helpful. The doctor, surgeon, was brilliant. It was really good of him.

Q. Mark, if you were out there with you, I was curious if you heard when you were putting on number 7, if you heard the siren go off in mid stroke, and in number 9, a car alarm went off, I wondered if you were focused enough on your game because they were very, very loud?

MARK JAMES: It would be a convenient excuse, but, no, I didn't hear them.

Q. Mark, can you talk about the cancer and the chemo after you had the operation and the 18 months it took to get your strength back to play. What time frames were those?

MARK JAMES: I was diagnosed in 2000 and had an operation October 2000, and then immediately started chemo, finished my chemo January 1st and had another operation to remove the remnants of the dead tumor in February '01, but I came back and went skiing five weeks after that. It was brilliant. I had been working out and everything, but I didn't have the strength. If I made the cut and lasted four rounds, I was exhausted. On your feet for five or six hours a day for five days was very difficult.

It was about 18 months

Q. So 2002?

MARK JAMES: Middle of 2002, I felt stronger.

Q. You have been fine ever since?

MARK JAMES: Yeah.

Q. With the exception of the knee?

MARK JAMES: Yeah, that's one of those things, you get little injuries like that.

Q. Kind of along the same lines, you haven't won a tournament of any kind in a while. Did you ever think it was going to be tough getting another one, or were you concerned with those other things in your life?

MARK JAMES: I didn't quite hear you; I thought you said in Hawaii. 1997 was the last one I won, the Spanish Open. I was second in the tournament early 2000. 7 years, yeah.

Q. Did you ever think it was going to be tough getting another win, or were you more concerned about other things in your life?

MARK JAMES: I knew it would be tough to win. I was under no illusions, absolutely. These days, there is good players on every tour and every tournament. If you win in America or Europe, you've beaten a strong field. There is more depth than I thought on this tour. I knew there was good players and I had a lot of respect for them, but there is still more depth than I expected.

Q. Mark, can you talk about the fact that you picked up your first win on the tour today, and that's great, but the fact that you did that in a major?

MARK JAMES: Well, I'm lucky, really, that I suddenly produced my better golf of the year here this week. You know, that's the sort of luck some people get occasionally, and during my regular career on the main tour, I don't think I ever quite got that click during a major. I was on the top 5 two or three times, but my game was really good this week, and it was in a major. It was an element of luck.

Q. Mark, a couple questions here: Is this good celebration music for you? And talk about the deal you made with your dad. Looking back, I bet you're glad you did?

MARK JAMES: That was a long time ago, yeah.

Q. Were you aware what was going on; that everybody was having a brutal time out there?

MARK JAMES: Yeah, I wasn't too happy on the putting green, so it didn't bode well. I thought I would set up and not look at the scoreboard, but then I forced a birdie, and it settled me down, and I looked, and I was aware that nobody was having an easy time of it. People shooting eagle/par in the middle of the field were moving up. It was obviously difficult.

Q. Besides the satisfaction of winning a major, is there any extra satisfaction for you to win for the first time on American soil? Does that mean anything to you, or do you not hold any significance in that?

MARK JAMES: This is the tour I'm playing on now, so, yeah, it's fantastic, but the fact that it's on American soil, this tour is on American soil. There is no extra significance. It's great to win and win this major.

Q. Having been seven years since you have been in this situation, did the old feelings come back? Did you feel secure and confident?

MARK JAMES: No, no, I didn't feel at all secure or confident. When you've got this sort of a course on this sort of a day, you feel anything but secure and confident. I had a really good patch probably around 4 to 12 where I had control of my game and had a lot of good shots. I basically went from 1 over for the day to 1 under in that period, and then started to get a bit scratchy after that. I felt relatively secure in that spell, and then coming down 13 to 16, I felt very insecure. And about 17 or 18, I think I saw almost finishing was in sight, and I maybe relaxed a bit and was freed up slightly.

Q. This is kind of along the same lines: When did you realize that Jose had the two double bogeys and when he fell behind in one stroke?

MARK JAMES: I didn't know he had. Did he birdie 15?

Q. Yes.

MARK JAMES: And 16. Well, I saw him walking back on 14, so I assumed he doubled it, and then I dropped one and suddenly we were tied, so I was sort of aware of the score. It was all happening a bit fast.

Q. Had you ever had any duels with Canizares in Europe in years past?

MARK JAMES: I don't think so, no. I don't think our paths have crossed coming down in a tournament, but I can't be certain.

Q. Obviously, no cancer is something to shrug at, but how serious did it get in terms of your health? Did you ever doubt you would be out here playing golf at all? Were you near death?

MARK JAMES: I had a very big tumor in the middle of my body that was about 10 inches by 4 in the abdominal cavity that originated in the testicle. They didn't know what kind of cancer it was at first. I was very ill at that point. I couldn't eat. The stomach pushed on the tumor and the spine. I was very ill, not eating, losing weight rapidly. I had to have a full laparoscopy to get a full diagnosis and get the tissue out to decide what kind of treatment to have. As soon as we knew the type of cancer, they said it's not too bad, you have a 90 percent chance here. I started chemo very quickly, and immediately the pain went because the tumor started to react.

It was sort of a period of 6 weeks it was very worrying, but then it eventually got better and the chemo went well, and everything went fine after that.

Q. Keeping that in perspective, how does that feel?

MARK JAMES: My perspective hasn't changed too much. It's always been great to win tournaments, and I've always felt lucky to be good at something that's like golf. You know, it's a nice way to make a living.

Q. Maybe a couple more questions. I know, Mark, you have a flight to catch this evening.

MARK JAMES: I'm good for five minutes.

Q. At 17, did you go at that pin? I couldn't tell for sure.

MARK JAMES: No, I did not. I hit exactly where I aimed. I hardly went for a pin all day. They were inaccessible really. They're in portions of the green that were not wide. The fairways were firming up. It was very, very difficult. On 9 where the ball was on a brownish bit of grass, I tried to get it higher, and it bounced and I ended up with a 40 footer. It was really tough conditions. The course playing short didn't make it easy. If the greens had been soft, and the fairways had been soft, it would have been an easy course, but it wasn't.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the shot on the 17th hole where you got a little help from the cart?

MARK JAMES: On the 14th. Well, yeah I just topped a 5 wood at 13 ten yards. I gave it a safe swing, and it carried the slope that I was aiming at into the cart path and took three or four huge hops. That put it in a really good position. I thought I played a good shot, and it somehow stuck and ended up with a horrible chip.

Q. Did you hit a 5 wood on your third shot on 13?

MARK JAMES: Yes, back to back 5 woods.

Q. Okay. Thank you, Mark.

MARK JAMES: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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