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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONALAugust 3, 2011Andy PazderAKRON, OHIO Q. Are there any restrictions about him taking membership next year? ANDY PAZDER: No. In Rory's case, he is able to rejoin the PGA TOUR for next season. He needs to let us know within 30 days following our final official money event, the Children's Miracle Network Classic, and he is a member in good standing and would be obligated to play 15 tournaments or more in 2012. So there are no restrictions on him as far as rejoining the TOUR for next year. Q. Did it come as a surprise to you? ANDY PAZDER: He talked to a couple of us this morning, indicated that he's given it some thought. Certainly didn't indicate to us at that time that it was a final decision. I heard the press conference just like the rest of you did, and he certainly gave strong indication. He has plenty of time to make a final decision, and if it works out that he's rejoining the PGA TOUR, obviously we're ecstatic about that. An immense talent and a personable young man, he'd be an asset for us, no question. Q. How important is McIlroy do you think to the whole golf brand no matter where he plays? ANDY PAZDER: Again, Rory is an immense talent, and for a person to win the U.S. Open by eight shots, he captivated certainly the fans in the U.S. and frankly around the world. So to have him potentially as a member next year is very significant. If it works out that that is what happens, then we'll be quite happy with that. Q. Who else did he meet with, you and who else? ANDY PAZDER: Ross Berlin from our player relations department. Q. In what situation would there be a restriction for him or anyone to come back? Is there never a restriction? ANDY PAZDER: The restriction is that when you have a player who's a member and he resigns his membership or doesn't fulfill his 15-event membership, for a period of one season he cannot rejoin the PGA TOUR, so Rory is not eligible to rejoin the TOUR during the course of the season. So when he won at Congressional, he was not given the opportunity to join based on that win. He would need to wait until next year. So if Miguel Angel Jiménez wins this week, he could join Monday morning. Rory did not have the opportunity to do that this year, so he would have to wait until the off-season to join the following year. Q. What about someone like Westwood? ANDY PAZDER: Lee is in the same situation as Rory, he'd have to wait. Q. It was also the restriction of having the number of events to play reduced, 10 plus -- ANDY PAZDER: Plus THE PLAYERS Championship. Q. That's for three years? ANDY PAZDER: That's for a period of five years. But again, Lee, Rory, others that are under that restriction can join at any point between seasons. Q. So he approached you this morning to ask you about all this stuff, and your reaction was to say -- ANDY PAZDER: I don't want to get too much into the conversation. It was a visit that he had with Ross initially, and I spoke with him very briefly earlier today. We did not get into any specifics, timing, et cetera, et cetera, which I think is -- if you watched the end of his press conference there were some questions to that effect. There's plenty of time. He's got a lot to consider, and we'll help him in whatever way we can with his thought process and decision and so forth. Q. Did you tell the boss? Does the boss know? ANDY PAZDER: I haven't talked to my wife yet. (Laughter.) Q. The other one? ANDY PAZDER: He's, I think, in the air, so I'm not sure if he's aware of it. Q. Can you think of another situation that's been anything close to this where someone has been in this situation and changed their mind a year later? ANDY PAZDER: I can't off the top of my head, no. I suppose -- it was way before my time. We'd have to go back and look at the history books, but Seve, I think he was in and out of membership a couple times. I think I was still in grade school. My history there is a little suspect. Q. Were you surprised given how vocal he was when he stepped down from his membership last year saying he didn't enjoy the Playoffs and wanted to focus on Europe? Were you surprised by this turn? ANDY PAZDER: Well, first of all, I don't think he's made a final decision, so we need to be cautiously optimistic, I suppose. It's important to recognize that. I thought for no particular reason, I just thought that at some point Rory would eventually take membership up, whether it was within a year or five years. I just think that there's something to be said about competing in America. I thought he might possibly rejoin at some point. Q. Gut instinct? ANDY PAZDER: Yeah, you know, again, nothing that he said to me, nothing that his management team ever said to me, but just the fact that he's a young person, he's 21 years old, and he's got quite a bit of golf ahead of him, and as he matures and so forth his priorities could change, his focus on where he wants to play could change. There's a number of factors that go into that on the golf course and off the course. Q. Without revealing too much, did he bring up the weather issue this morning in talking to him? ANDY PAZDER: Not with me, no. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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