SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP AT GAILLARDIA

October 26, 2002

Gil Morgan

Q. Another solid 69, and you're tied with Mr. Watson going into tomorrow's final round. Talk about your play today and how the course played.

GIL MORGAN: I thought it was very cold out on the range today starting out. During the day it seemed to get a little warmer. I was talking to a couple of the players, and we were prepared for it to be colder. It was still a pretty chilly day considering everything.

From a play standpoint, I didn't play quite as well as I had played the last two days, especially on the front side. I had a couple of opportunities and let them get away. Made a bogey at the fourth hole with a three putt. I don't know what happenened I just birdied the third hole, which Hale happened to make a bogey there. He hit it in the water. Hit the trees trying to go for the green. I thought I was in a pretty good position at that time but got a little aggressive at that time and hit it eight feet by and missed it coming back.

And then parred pretty much all the way around, until I got to 10. And then 10, I made a long one off the fringe. I had a whole lot of mud on the ball. I wasn't anticipating it going in, and it went in.

Q. How far?

GIL MORGAN: It was probably 35 feet or so, 40 feet. I hit driver, 5-iron. It ended up on the left fringe, I couldn't clean it.

The next hole I hit driver, I knocked it way down there. I only had 20, 25 yards to the front and pitched it to three and a half feet and made that for a birdie.

Parred the next hole.

And the par 3, I hit a 4-iron about 195 yards in that range. It looked like the wind kind of blew it out about 20 or 25 feet, and it was tricky. I thought it was going to go right and it came back left and it was hanging way out there and it barely dribbled in. And then I parred in.

I had a couple of chances to hit a good shot on the par 5. I had it to about 12, 15 feet. And the par 3, I had about 12 feet, and missed both of those.

At 17, I had it in there about 12 eight 15 feet. And the last hole, had about 20 or 30 footers. I had some opportunities. I let them get away again. That's just part of the game.

Q. Your birdie at 3?

GIL MORGAN: I hit driver and then tried to hit a 5-wood and just hit to the right of the green, almost down in a creek, and pitched it up to about three feet and made that one.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Not really. I mean, what I was thinking coming down the stretch if something happened, and it got rained out, I have to make another birdie. I tried to force myself. I had some opportunities and just couldn't make it happen. I know you don't really want to win that way, but you have to take advantage of every situation, so I thought if I could make one more birdie it would put me in good position starting tomorrow, one way or the other.

As far as tomorrow's round, I think I'm going to just play basic golf. Obviously I'm going to keep my eye on the score board and watch what Tom is doing. That won't be too hard because we're going to be playing together. But if it happens to get down to match-play position, if we're fortunate enough to be in that position, we'll key off everybody at that point, whoever that is.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Well, he's really a great player. He strikes the ball really well, kind of an aggressive player at times. Most of the time hits a lot of real solid shots almost every time. He's kind of like Hale, a good player. He's probably a little better -- he probably takes a few more chances than Hale does from time to time. He's always been a good player. He's played well. He hasn't played a whole lot of events this year, but he's still up there on the money list.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: He didn't get much out of his game. He didn't get it real close to the hole. He didn't hit the ball as well as what I anticipating him doing. On the third hole he had to hit it over the trees from where we were, he hit the hazard and had to go back and made a six there. He finally made a birdie at the 17th hole. He had several good putts. Kind of like I did, he didn't make many putts and he missed a few greens, more than he normally does. So he was chipping or pitching more than he was putting, almost. So he wasn't in a position to take advantage of every hole. Normally he's tee-to-green every time, and he has some sort of putt at it, but he missed several greens today. It was probably because of the weather.

We had more mud on the ball today, I think, than we had in the past, so I hit a few goofy shots with the mud. He had the same situation.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: If you've got mud on one side or the other, it's off-center weight, so it will make the ball curve. It could go both ways -- a lot of time, like mud on the right side, it will go left, if the wind happens to be going that way. I had mud on my ball a few shots where I thought it might affect it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: I tried to play on one, but it still got away from me a little bit. The wind was right to left and the mud was on the left side, so I thought it was going to go right a little bit. Instead of playing the wind, I played it right at the pin, but it still got all the way off the green to the right. That was a 6-iron.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Well, it started about probably March or April, somewhere around Pensacola.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Well, I'm obviously feeling a lot better. I'm able to hit some shots that earlier in the year I wasn't able to hit. I've got a little bit more power right now. I've got a little more control of the golf ball. With those injuries, I couldn't hit it the ball solid, thick or thin or curved it, just basic shot-making.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Yes, I think overall, he's probably been as good in his position as anybody, as far as injuries. Watson may be in the same category. I don't think Watson has had too many injuries.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Is he? I wasn't aware of that. But we've had a few players that have been injured, especially at this age.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: Yes, I think so. You see him in the trailer or something. I don't know if he has a few aches and pains, I'm sure we all do a little bit. Nothing significant, nothing major. That's got to be a plus. I was thinking about that the other day, how he's played almost his whole career, and playing football in Colorado, I don't know how he got away from all of that. Fortunate, I guess.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: A little bit out there.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: I think the crowd was definitely in my favor in our two some today, which is nice to have that support. You come to your hometown, you're excited to play here, for starters, and when the fans seem to be behind you, that gives you a little boost, keeps you fired up, wanting to try to do well.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: There were probably a couple hundred people out there at least.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: I wasn't thinking about the closing holes as much as I was thinking out on the golf course. It's nice that they come out. The weather is so rotten at this point in time. It's nice people want to come out.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: I think it's going to be a big factor tomorrow. It looks like it's going to rain again, and when it's cold and rainy -- I mean that was miserable the first day. It was cold and windy a little bit, rain going sideways. Everything was wet. Your glove was wet. It was complicated. It made everything a lot tougher. I think it will be a significant factor if it rains tomorrows.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: To me, you run this line. If you dressed warm enough so that you're not cold at times, you know, then you've got enough clothes that it encumbers your swing a little bit. It's kind of a give-and-take situation. Sometimes I go for being a little bit cool and still have the ability to swing, as opposed to being better prepared, a little warmer, basically, and not being bound up occasionally.

The way I dressed this year was probably the best. I think I found a solution here. I like what I'm doing now, the way I dressed. It seems to have really helped.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: I've got cut-off sleeve long underwear and a turtleneck over that, which is cotton. You could go for wool. And then I have a Cashmere sweater, a sleeveless sweater on, and then this is pretty warm. It's Gortex.

Q. (Inaudible.)

GIL MORGAN: He was on the phone. I heard him talking to the guy, "Can you get me a pair? I don't care what they are, just send them." And they sent him a couple of pairs. Big hightop -- they looked like hiking boots with golf cleats on the first part. And then the other pair was just a regular, bigger shoe. So he was fighting the cold himself.

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