100TH WESTERN OPEN

July 1, 2003

Jerry Kelly

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us in the media center at the 100th Western Open. How does it feel to be back?

JERRY KELLY: It does feel great to be back. I took the week off before here, so I'm home. Drove my own car down here. It feels like I'm still in the neighborhood. It always gives me great feelings to be here.

Q. At the Open you were worried about your back. What's the situation on that? I have you been given a clean hill?

JERRY KELLY: 100% healthy. I went through the MRI and x Rays and Dr. Dublin in Madison, Wisconsin is one of the leading in the nation with spinal and back problems. I got an absolute perfect bill. As a golfer he could not believe I had a back with no bulging disks and perfect spacing and everything being healthy. But I still have a numb leg and tension in the nerves. I don't know what it is, some stress in the hip probably. So I'm going to have to go back and get that checked out. As long as I know it's not structural in my back, I'll play through that, no problem.

Q. I'm going to beat this dead horse one more time. Tiger over the last couple of weeks has said, and I've heard him a couple of times say, there are hot drivers out here and we know who it is. Now, are you categorically disagreeing with him on that, and do you think most of the players that you've talked to did degree or disagree with that assessment?

JERRY KELLY: I would not have a hard time saying who it is, if I knew who had a hot driver. I say: Go test his, go test his, start there and go down.

I don't think there's a single player that thinks he has a non-conforming driver. I don't think so. I've talked to a lot of guys, and a lot of guys will say, "Boy, this thing is hot, it's hot." You can feel it. It's hotter than anything we've ever used before, but, you know, it's a combination of that face and the ball. And the shafts, also, they are getting lighter, so swing speed is coming up, even with the same strength.

You know, I trust what the company is giving me is going to be within the Rules of Golf, and everybody else, I think feels the same way.

Q. Do you think there are hot-faced drivers that have slipped through for whatever reason?

JERRY KELLY: Odds are, yes. That's what I'd say. I don't think you could ever say, you know, he's using one and he knows it. I look at some of the guys hitting by me and saying, well, something that's hot. It's either the ball and club face together, or what, but some of these guys are getting some incredible distance additions. I put in the Titleist X ball this year and guys could be saying that about my face because I gained 15, almost 20 yards in some spots.

You know, it's a combination of things, but I certainly don't think I'm playing with a hot-faced driver. I think all of the balls are hot. I am one of the guys extremely happy that we're drawing the line in the sand. I wish, really, I don't know if Tim wants to hear me say this or not, it's normally me anyway. If we come up with a testing method, and some of the balls right now are beyond that testing method, we've got to do like NASCAR, we've got to putt restrictor plates on it. I'll even -- we've got to put some restricted plates and stop these things from moving too far. (Laughter.)

Q. How strong of a line in the sand is it if it's not mandatory?

JERRY KELLY: This is a first step in announcing it. I hope it goes to mandatory sooner than later. I think guys will feel that way, too. Nobody wants to play with something illegal. I mean, they are going to set this thing up on the range January 1, first tournament of the year, and you're going to see a horde of guys over there. You know, everybody is going to want to know.

Q. Jerry, you talk about trust the manufacturers; is it ultimately the players' responsibility to check clubs, make sure they do conform?

JERRY KELLY: How are we supposed to test it? They give us something on the range in Chicago, you want me to hop on a flight, go to California, put it on a testing machine, go to Forest Hills, New Jersey, test it before the first round? We don't have the ability to do that. We trust the manufacturer. It is the manufacturer's responsibility.

Now once we get that testing site out here, then we can call it the players' responsibility, and I'm going to be one of the first players in line to get my stuff tested. I don't want to play with anything illegal.

Q. Congratulations on your win a year ago. I want to know, what are the keys to winning?

JERRY KELLY: The keys to winning, I would say No. 1 is mental toughness. You have to think about as many positive things as you can, get rid of those negative thoughts, and when something bad happens, you have to be strong enough to still think on the positive side. Too, still think about your goal and where you wants to go and whether it's to that hole, or whatever you're trying to do in life. You've got to be as positive as you can all the way through.

Q. Do you have any advice for a kid trying to earn his PGA TOUR kids card?

JERRY KELLY: That's not easy.

Q. No, it's not.

JERRY KELLY: I think the best thing for you guys to do is exactly what you're doing. You go up and ask as many pros or as many people involved what you can do, what you can learn, any question that you have. You can't be afraid to ask that question. You've just got to go get it, get what you want.

Q. You said you would eventually like to see the testing be mandatory. You also mentioned you made a reference to NASCAR, some people have expressed a concern that golf has always been a game of self-policing and integrity; and now leading down this slippery slope of suspicion where everybody has to guest tested before and after each round, do you think that's a concern?

JERRY KELLY: The Rules of Golf are pretty specific. We've kind of counted on the manufacturers to stay within those lines. Now it's to the point that we know things are right on the edge, and with just the way manufacturing happens, you're going to have some that are hot and some that are not when you're right up on the edge. That's just the way it is.

You know, it's going to get to the point where it's still, when the testing is available on the site, it is self-policing, whether it's mandatory or not it's self-policing. Guys are going to want to see it. They are going to want to know they are within the rules, because trust me, if I'm hitting a hot driver, and I'm not getting it tested, I hope there's something in the back of my head going, you know, "Do you think he's going to want to check my club?" That's what makes a golfer a golfer. That's what makes our tour special is because we don't want to be breaking the rules. We want to conform, and then beat the guy. We don't want any kind of special edge.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JERRY KELLY: I can't imagine it not being 100%.

Q. There's always been confusion, companies say, you know, hot driver can be worth an extra 10 or 15 yards, .85, .84, what do the players think as far as a driver that's hot, how many extra yards can it be worth out there?

JERRY KELLY: I have no idea. I really have absolutely no idea. Phil could probably rattle off about 24 statistics to tell you exactly how it happens, but, you know, you give me a club, I see my trajectory, I see my turn, that's what I'm going to put it in. Really, I'm happy but I want to see the ball fly the way I'd like to see it fly, even more than I'd like to see it go a really long way. I know I've hit some hotter drivers that don't spin back for me with my draw, and I don't see the trajectory I'd like. I don't care if I hit it 15 yards longer. If I can't get it in the fairway, I'm going to beat up the guy that's hitting that club.

Q. Can you tell, though, is there a difference, can you feel if you're hitting a hotter driver?

JERRY KELLY: I think you can feel it, yeah. I think it's just, you know, if I hit a driver -- if gets small really quick. I don't know how else to describe it. It feels like it's not even hitting the club face and it gets small really quick and it stays up there.

But they usually don't spin quite as much and that means you're not going to have the accuracy. Even the ones that I feel are a little too hot, I still think they are giving it to me within the rules.

Q. Can you tell a conforming grip to non-conforming --

JERRY KELLY: No way. I've actually brought out in of my old clubs in the last couple months just to see, and I've really found it's more ball than it is driver, I think, anyway.

Q. What if the Commissioner and you and other players firmly believe that nobody is knowingly using a non-conforming driver, do you think manufacturers are knowingly -- inaudible -- tolerances?

JERRY KELLY: Tolerances. I don't think -- I don't know, actually, if they check every club. I don't know if they check every club. I don't know the method where they finish the manufacturing, they send them out to the players. I'm not familiar with it. So, conceivably we could be playing with something hot that they don't know is hot.

Q. So this is a test for them every bit as much as it is for you?

JERRY KELLY: They should want to know just as much as we want to know.

Q. You touched on this a little bit, the accuracy versus distance, with the equipment has the ball, has there been too much emphasis on distance and does that negate maybe some talent level?

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely. I think the workability of the ball is gone, which brings shot-making away from the game.

What is also brings is bad miss-hits away from the game. The ball doesn't spin as much and it jumps off the face a little more and you're finding so many straight shots.

When I used to play a 15-yard hook, and I used have a pretty consistent knowledge that this thing was going to spin. I can hardly play a three-yard hook now -- well, my swing has gotten a little bit better. The ball just doesn't curve as much, and you can really notice it on the drivers.

But, you know, it's taken the bad miss-hit really out of the game. You see a guy really hit it bad, boy, he really hit it bad.

Q. For the average fan one of the things that stands out is Tiger's ranking and driving, he goes from 1 or 2 to 29th, and obviously that's what's driving his comments. Do you have any opinion if it's not hot drivers that people are using any opinion on why so many people why so many people are passing?

JERRY KELLY: I sure hope I can pass him when I'm hitting driver and he's hitting 4-iron. When we start getting that statistic down on the PGA TOUR to drivers -- we've got driving distance holes where he's hitting 4-irons. The driving distances on two holes -- and there's no guarantee that that's going to be a driver hole for all the guys.

So, he's hitting those 4-irons, he's hitting the stinger, he's hitting a lot of different shots. He has matured as a golfer and he's finding what I always think is he's -- you know, a lot of the guys on the PGA TOUR are trying to chase him and adopt his type of game. I think he's looking at some of the guys who are beating him and saying: "How did he beat me, I've got my game." I think he's taking pieces of other people's games that he's watching, and he's getting that ball in the fairway a lot more than he's hitting it 320 down the middle because I think that's what he sees in guys that are beating him. They are patient, they are methodical and they don't make mistakes. That's the way Tiger is when he plays for the fairways that are for that big drive.

Q. Inaudible?

JERRY KELLY: He hits 4-iron more than you can imagine.

Q. Inaudible?

JERRY KELLY: No, certainly not all of them. I've hit iron off of a ton of them. No question. Those two holes that they have picked are not true driving distance holes. When you get the ShotLink really running, then they are going to see driver in the hand and we will just have a stat for drivers, not driving holes, drivers. I'm pushing for it now.

Q. How are you feeling as you defend your title this week?

JERRY KELLY: I'm feeling great. Got the full MRI, full X-ray. Doctor gave me an absolute perfect bill of health for my back and that was what was worrying me. People brought up growth on the spine, bulging disks and none of that. Everything was picture perfect. Now we just have to figure out why my leg is numb. Back did not have anything to do with it. They think a nerve coming through the hip, my right leg is half-an inch shorter than my left. It could be bet getting pinched in there at time.

I'm actually going to go back and get more things looked at, but once I find out that structurally my back is sound, I'll play through anything.

Q. Why is golf so cool?

JERRY KELLY: Golf is cool, isn't it? Thank you, Maestro.

Golf is so cool because it's so hard. You just can't master this game. I mean, anything that you could work your whole life at, when you're 70 years old, you can still learn something. It's like you just picked it up, I think that's pretty cool.

Q. How does the numbness in your leg affect you when you're playing?

JERRY KELLY: If doesn't really affect me when I'm playing. It's in my leg because when I go into my posture, I feel a little tingle going down my leg.

You know, it's just something I notice, and you see me rubbing it out there just trying to figure out what's going on. In the swing, things like that, no, I'm beyond that. My adrenaline has taken over and I'm fine right through it.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Jerry, for joining us.

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