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CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

October 21, 2004

Tom Kite

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

Q. Maybe get us started. 64, great start.

TOM KITE: Yeah, obviously. With all the rain that we've had out here the first part of the week and narrowing of the fairways and the effort that they've put in to get the rough more consistent, I really didn't think there would be any scores like this, not that many of them. Certainly the softer greens makes it a little bit easier to fire shots closer.

I was surprised at the lowness of the scores. We had to play lift, clean and place because there was so much casual water and we weren't able to get out there and really take care of the golf course. Probably we'll have to play lift, clean and place one more day because of all the rain.

I birdied No. 3, hit a 7-iron to one foot.

No. 6, hit 9-iron to 15 feet.

I made a lucky birdie on No. 8, drove it in the right rough and chopped it out of the fairway, still had 175 yards to the hole, came up about probably 35 feet short of the hole and made that putt for birdie, which was a nice, nice surprise.

No. 9, I hit an L-wedge 65 yards to about four feet.

I birdied 10, hit 9-iron probably 15 feet past the hole and made that.

Birdied 13, the par 5, hit 5-wood from -- excuse me, 3-wood there to 25 feet, two-putted.

Bogeyed 15, the only green that I missed in regulation. I pulled a 5-iron left of the green, played a nice pitch shot down there about five feet and wasn't sure about the read of the green.

I made eagle on 16, good drive, 5-wood.

Parred 17, and then hit 8-iron two and a half, three feet on the last one.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Yeah, I mean, it was a good, solid round. I'm very pleased. 17 greens in regulation, that's good on any golf course no matter how soft the conditions are, so I was very pleased with that. If you can keep it out of the rough around the greens you've got a chance because that rough is tough right around the greens, and you've got to hit the greens, so I was very pleased.

Yeah, the bombs turned a 67 or 68 into a 64.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Yeah, generally speaking, the softer the golf course, the easier it is to play. Obviously the rough is tough if you drive it in the rough or you're missing greens because it's so lush and wet and heavy, the recovery is very difficult, but if you're playing well and driving it in the fairway and hitting greens, you're right, it does help you because the ball is not running away and running into the rough and running off the green.

Q. You played here last year --

TOM KITE: Totally different golf course. I mean, this is -- to the people that didn't get in this tournament last year and qualified this year, they can't even comprehend how much this golf course has changed. They've really had a strong effort to get the golf course in tournament condition this year.

Unfortunately the rains that we had early in the week negated a lot of the efforts that they had, just softened up the golf course so much, and it's a shame because the casual water forces us to play lift, clean and place, where if it was drier, it would be the best golf course we've played all year. Certainly when you have poa annua greens you like to see them bouncing around a little bit. When they get soft they get footprints and those putts can make it fairly -- (inaudible).

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Oh, they're still tough to read. You've got that valley over there that's just like a black hole. They're just sucking that ball in that direction and it is unbelievable how strong the grain is on some of these greens. As we get more and more rounds on the golf course, we're going to learn an awful lot about it, and that helps out.

The first year is always a learning curve, trying to get to know the golf course.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Well, Bermuda, you just know it's just grainy. If you hit a solid putt and it gets caught up in the grain, you know it has no chance. This, poa annua, as soft as it is, you get those footprints. It was the same situation that we have at Spyglass, Pebble Beach during the AT & T Championship where you have the poa annua grass that's soft, and every time somebody takes a step it makes an indentation, so if you're not the very first group of the day, you have little crazy rolls. Once that ball starts dying, it's like an out-of-round golf ball that bobbles its way down the green.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: No, I wouldn't do that because actually I'm pulling for the Sox. Well, I was pulling for the Sox to get past the Yankees, and depending upon what happens tonight, I may or may not be pulling for them. Obviously I'll be pulling for Houston if it comes to that. But yeah, I think it's a great story. I'm really pleased for all those people up in New England, Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade, Quigley, all those guys that are from that area. They've got to be riding a high.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Oh, yeah. I haven't done it there. I've thrown out the first ball at Texas Houston and Baltimore. It's quite a thrill.

Q. Did you keep it airborne?

TOM KITE: I threw a perfect strike. Keep it airborne? Do you think I'm a cripple? I've got an arm that will throw it 60 feet every time.

Q. (Inaudible).

TOM KITE: Oh, no, I couldn't do that. I'll tell you what, though, if you get Pudge behind the plate you'd better throw a strike. It's pretty cool having him catch the first pitch.

End of FastScripts.

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