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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2005

Hootie Johnson

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

BILLY PAYNE: Welcome once again, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2005 Masters, the 69th playing of our championship.

I'm pleased to be joined this morning by Mr. Will Nicholson, the chairman of our competition committees, and by our club and tournament chairman, Mr. Hootie Johnson.

Your questions, please.

Q. Will we see an honorary starter this year, or will you hold that position for the year Arnold Palmer is ready to take it?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: We are going to hold that position until Arnold is ready to go. Hope it won't be too long.

Q. Will you guys put the flags on the back nine on Sunday last year in some fairly generous spots, or so the players said? Was that by design to sort of bring the goosebumps and excitement back into it, and what are your plans for this year?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: I expect you'll see them pretty close to the same spot. If it ain't broke, don't fix it (laughter).

Q. Jack Nicklaus was in here yesterday and said that you asked him, "What are we going to do about the golf ball?" Are you concerned about the flight of the golf ball?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Yes, we are.

Q. Are you studying or do you have any thoughts or long-range plans?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: We are hopeful and we encouraged that the governing bodies and the Tour, Tim Finchem, that they are addressing this problem. It is a problem for the game, not just for Augusta National and The Masters tournament. We are hopeful and encouraged that progress is being made.

Q. Those of us who follow European golf closely were surprised that Mr. Katayama got an invite ahead of Colin Montgomerie. Can you tell us about the thinking and whether Colin's case was discussed at all?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, first, Colin will be back to the Masters tournament one way or another, surely.

We have a long relationship with Japan. The game of golf has a relationship with Japan. They have been the most populous golfing nation for many years. We do have a big broadcast over there, and that does influence us, those points that I make. And that's not -- I mean for a golfer like Colin to come real close, then we give an invitation, that's not something that we would want to do.

Q. It was just that obviously he did go to the end of the year, trying to get that Top-50th place by playing in Indonesia and China. Was his case discussed for this year; that if it happens again, he may get in further down the line?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: I don't think I have anything further to say on that.

Q. How serious are you about using your own ball for this tournament?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, we are not too far along with that. It's an option that we would not want to take off of the table. We are hopeful that the governing bodies will do something about what most everyone in golf considers to be a serious problem.

Q. Any discussions about lengthening the golf course in the next several years, possibly even the 12th hole?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Possibly the 12th hole?

Q. Yeah.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: We haven't thought about the 12th hole (laughter). That's another one of those, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yes, we have some options on lengthening the golf course, and we are seriously looking at those.

Q. Mr. Johnson, as the outgoing president of the Golf Writers, I just want to preface my question, and Ferman brought this up at our meeting, we want to thank you very much for the hospitality and the fabulous working conditions that you have provided us over the years, and that should not go unnoticed by all of us. That being said -- (laughter) -- let me ask you --

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Which hat do you have on?

Q. I'm just another golf writer, thank you very much, or I was just another golf writer. You sat up there several years ago long before exchanges of letters and press releases between Ms. Burke and yourself that you could -- and I'm paraphrasing, that you could foresee at some point in time in the future if the club would admit its first woman member. I wonder if you could update us on that situation, and is that something you still foresee in the future, if not soon?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, we've adopted a new policy. We don't talk about club matters, period.

Q. Thank you.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: You're welcome (laughter).

Q. But you did that --

HOOTIE JOHNSON: I'm sorry.

Q. But you did; you have spoken about club matters.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: I said we have a new policy. We don't talk about club matters, period.

Q. Could I belabor this point about the golf ball a little further?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Sure.

Q. The USGA, their representatives have said to me that they represent all of golf; they don't think all of golf has a problem with the length the golf ball is going.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Say that again.

Q. The USGA representatives have said to me, we represent all of golf, and we don't think there is a problem with how far the golf ball is going for all golfers, including amateurs and whomever else. Having said that, it appears the problem is only on the PGA TOUR, if there is such a problem. Would you rather the PGA TOUR address this issue and do something about it; is that what you're telling us?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: No. I think I'm telling you that the governing bodies are addressing this problem, along with some collaboration with the Tour.

Q. Since you changed the qualification standards a few years ago, the number of American qualifiers has gone down about 20 percent while the number of international qualifiers has gone up nearly 100%. Do you all expect any kind of changes in the near future possibly about PGA TOUR automatic winners again?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, we will be looking at our qualifications, but the fact that international players have qualified in great numbers would not be a factor in our reevaluating our qualifications.

And yes, we will give a serious consideration to the possibility of tournament winners receiving an invitation. This will be probably a couple of years off.

Q. As a follow-up, would that have something to do with maybe what the PGA TOUR might be doing in its future schedules that you want to look at first?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: No.

Q. Going back to the back nine of last year, when you set it up for Sunday morning, did you expect to see what you saw, and how happy were you with that result rather than guys trying to make pars?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, I know that Will wouldn't disagree with that, but really our golf course setup was not a great deal different on the back nine than the way it's set up every year. You know, the shots were hit. K.J. hits a 5-iron in the hole on No. 11; and those two hole-in-ones, that was just a lot -- the pin placement on 16 was probably within six inches of where it's been every year for at least the last five or six, seven years, probably longer than that.

Q. But were you pleased or displeased to see that many low scores?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Oh, we were very excited with that. I mean, Will sets it up -- he does set it up so he hopes that happens.

Q. Mr. Johnson, do you have a prototype ball in place or in development, and what would it take for your organization to say, enough is enough, we're going to play a standard ball in our tournament?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, we haven't decided what enough is enough yet, and we don't have a prototype ball.

Q. I understand you'll welcome back commercial sponsors this year. Is order restored, so to speak?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, I guess order is restored, and we are happy to have them back.

I said once, and I will still say this, repeat it, that we could go on indefinitely without sponsors. However, we do have a huge project underway in moving 3,000 cars off of our grounds onto properties adjacent to the club, and then preparing that land for those 3,000 cars and then building the practice facility that we think the Masters Tournament deserves. This will be pretty demanding financially. It would stretch out a long time without sponsors, so we are happy to have them -- that's not the sole reason, because historically we have had sponsors and we've only had four minute commercials per hour. That's part of our tradition.

Q. What's the timeline on that practice facility?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: On the practice facility, right now we are hopeful it will be five years, 2010.

Q. When Jack was in here yesterday, he expressed the opinion that Augusta National has changed from the second-shot golf course that Bobby Jones wanted into more of a bomber's golf course.

HOOTIE JOHNSON: He's the biggest bomber we know, the most successful bomber, but go ahead.

Q. Is there a way to bring more shot-making value back in and stretch it back this way?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, that's what we attempt to do. Had we not made some of the changes, let's just say, at 7 and 17, they would be driving the green or in the bunkers. On 7 and 17, I had a guest down here in March, 17 years old, about 5'10", 160 pounds. He hit pitching wedges into 17 and 7. A lot had been written some years back that we were trying to Tiger-proof our golf course, and we are not worried about Tiger. We are worried about these 17-year-olds (laughter).

Q. That said, a lot of the players have commented that the length on the course limits the number of players who can win. Do you agree with that?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: No, I don't agree with that. I think our greens are probably the toughest part of the golf course.

Q. You talk about allowing tournament winners, that that might be something you would consider the next year or two, changing the qualifications. What's prompting that line of thought to maybe go back to the way it used to be, allowing tournament winners?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: Well, everybody is entitled to change their mind, and we might change ours. But I didn't say we were going to. That's an option that most everybody has.

Q. The 3rd hole, I believe Jack predicted somebody might drive that green this year for the first time, and you all have moved the tees up occasionally on days to maybe offer that opportunity. Is that something that you all will consider, maybe Mr. Nicholson or Mr. Johnson, in the setup of the course, trying to give players the option if they want to go for No. 3?

HOOTIE JOHNSON: I think we do that probably at least once every year, don't we?

NICK PRICE: We've done it once every year for the last three or four years.

BILLY PAYNE: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Chairman.

End of FastScripts.

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