U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 27, 2001

Tom Kite

TOM KITE: Okay. Obviously, a lot of fun there at Southern Hills. It was an awesome golf course and one that was very very difficult. But one that I've had a long-time great relationship with. Almost a little love affair. I grew up on a Perry Maxwell course. Harvey Pennick and Perry Maxwell laid out the Austin Country Club where Crenshaw and I grew up. So I had a great love affair with Maxwell and his courses. And I've always enjoyed playing Colonial in Fort Worth, Prairie Dunes up in Kansas and Southern Hills. Those four clubs right in a row just almost straight down Interstate 35. Those are just wonderful courses. And so I went there thinking that I would have a good week, really liking the course and liking the way that the opportunities that the course presented for me. I struggled a little bit with my ball striking the first three days. Which is really, it's been the thing that's been holding me, that's been the glue in my game right now that's held everything together. But I chipped and putted much better than I had been. Really did some nice, made some nice saves. So I built up a little bit of confidence and then when I started hitting the ball well again on Sunday or Saturday afternoon, on the practice tee, I really went into Sunday's round very optimistic about what was going to happen. Of course, optimism and expecting a 64 are a long way apart. But I certainly felt very good about my chances and felt like that I would have a decent round. And I got on a great roll and played a very solid round. I think I hit 16 greens in regulation that day, so it was a kind of a nice little mini dream come true to shoot that kind of score the last day of an U.S. Open.

TOM KITE: Well there's no question that I am significantly more confident a player than I was a couple weeks ago. Heading into the U.S. Open I felt good about my game, but I hadn't quite put it all together yet. And to be honest, I still haven't quite put it all together. I had a great opportunity to win last week as we all know and I just came up a couple of feathers short. (Laughter) But I feel very good about my game. I'm excited about it. I'm really pleased with my ball striking right now. I'm hitting the ball very well from tee to green. And again, a lot of the confidence that I gained with my chipping, my bunker play, my putting, and my wedge game that I gained at Southern Hills is carrying over and I'm doing some nice things there.

TOM KITE: I knew that the top 8 gets back in the Masters. And when I got it going a little bit there at Southern Hills, when I got off, I made, I had a nice run on the front nine and shot a couple under and then I birdie three out of the first four holes on the back nine. So when I got it to five under, all of a sudden I was two over par for the tournament and I felt like that that possibly had a chance to make top 10. Maybe top 15. But I really felt if I could get one more birdie that I really had a chance to make -- well in my mind I'm sitting there thinking top 10. And then, I don't know, going down the 15th hole it was like all of a sudden it kind of hit me, top 10 is nice, but top 8 has some advantages that top 10 does not have. So when I finished I ended up birdieing 17 to get to 6-under for the day and made a nice par on 18. 2-putt from the back of the green there, which we all know was obviously a very difficult 2-putt that day at least for some people. But I was able to get a 2-putt in there and when I finished I was tied for 12th. And of course I played significantly earlier than the leaders on the course. So I felt like it had a chance. And I went back, took a shower and sat around and watched that name climb up the leader board. There were a lot of guys that were very nice to me that week.

TOM KITE: Totally different.

TOM KITE: Actually, in this particular case not much. Southern Hills is a southern course and the grasses are so totally different. The USGA does not go to the south very often. And so this is a more traditional USGA set up. For an Open or for a Senior Open. What we saw down at Southern Hills, which I truly love and I wish they would take advantage of all those great courses down in the south a little bit more, but the ground reacts a little bit different. You have the Bermuda grasses and the Bermuda grass rough can be very very difficult when it's lush, more so than here. But it tends to be a little bit spottier and so you can get some decent lies and then you can get some terrible, terrible lies. The fairways tend to run a little bit more. You'll get more bounce out of the fairways. And so it brings the hazards into play a little bit more than what we're going to have up here. But again, this is more the traditional USGA venue.

TOM KITE: Well it would be nice to get in that company, there's no question about it. A couple guys asked me what it would do to my life to win a Senior Open. And in that regard it's not going to do anything. I'm very pleased with my life and my relationship with my family and where I am. And I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing right now. And so I'm not looking for a lifestyle change. If I'm going to go through a mid life crisis it hasn't come yet or maybe I've gone through it or whatever. But I feel very good about where everything is in my life right now. So I'm not really looking for a change. But to be able to stick your name up alongside that group and I what are there six or seven guys?

TOM KITE: Seven players. So I knew it was a very select list. And that's what we're all trying to do out here is stick our names on as many of those lists of accomplishments as you can. And I get to a course like Salem Country Club which is going to put a big premium on driving the ball well, hitting nice irons and then really putting. You're going to have to have a total game to play well here this week. And come in here playing the way I am I feel very good about it and excited about the opportunity.

TOM KITE: Actually, I'm just standing, as soon as I hit, I walk backwards. (Laughter).

TOM KITE: Well, the advantages are obvious. I'm hitting less club into greens, reaching more Par-5's. It's a huge advantage. There's no question about it. Two main reasons why I'm hitting the ball further. I've got a more extensive golf swing oriented workout program during the off season. I really stepped that up. There's a strength coach at the University of Texas men's basketball program, a guy named Todd Wright from Massachusetts. His dad is up here. Todd is coming in this week to watch the tournament. We get together during the off season and he absolutely just be kicks my rear up one cheek and down the other. He wears me out. But it's a wonderful program that has added muscle, reduced fat and added speed to my body. It's really, he's changed the way that I worked out a lot. And a lot of the distance that I've been able to gain, the credit can be given to Todd and the program that he's developed for me. And then the other thing would be, I'm not trying to plug companies, but I do represent Titleist right now and in my opinion they have got the best driver in this new 975 J and they have obviously got the best ball in the Pro V 1. So some of it is technology, some of it is just sweat and tears and blood and guts in the gym. Those are the two things that have.

TOM KITE: I'm averaging close to 280 right now.

TOM KITE: Well, I mean which year? Depends on how far back you go. I've been short to medium short to medium well short. All the way up to now on the SENIOR TOUR at least I'm one of the longest. And even when I played at Southern Hills, if you discount the Mickelsons and the Woods and Duvals and the guys that are obscenely long, I'm quite competitive with them.

TOM KITE: You guys are way too easy today. Awesome. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Nice to see you.