Q. SENIOR TOUR in front of you?
CURTIS STRANGE: If they get rid of carts it would interest me. I'd play a little bit but it doesn't interest me too much with carts. I've told my feelings to them. Everybody has got their opinion, nobody really cares, but -- yes, sure, it interests me. I'm going to play. Absolutely I'm going to play some.
Q. In a cart?
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, you know, when you look at it with some of the problems the SENIOR TOUR has now, again, I'm not close enough, but I look at it more as a fan and somebody who does have a vested interest because in two and a half years I'll be out there, and I've done enough events for ABC on the SENIOR TOUR. I guess I'll make half the guys mad, but that's the way -- as we have gone to court over this, golf is not only hitting golf shots but being able to walk 18 holes and being in some kind of physical shape, and if you can't do that anymore, that's when you kind of go do something else. If I can jump in a cart and play and jump back in a cart and play, it just doesn't -- it doesn't look right for me. It doesn't look right. When I see the TV, it looks like a member-guest outing. Carts are going every which way. Guys are steaming off in carts and guys are still putting out on the last green. You see it all the time out there. I'm serious, I think it would improve a bunch if they got rid of the carts.
Q. Palmer has always suggested they drive carts during the ProAm and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday --
CURTIS STRANGE: I know he's an advocate for that.
Q. I'm not sure in the Casey Martin's decision you could make a change like that.
CURTIS STRANGE: You mean take the carts away?
Q. I don't know about all of that.
CURTIS STRANGE: I don't, either, but I was wondering.
Q. Well, if someone is legally disabled they would be able to get a cart. Casey Martin is legally disabled.
CURTIS STRANGE: I think we can do whatever we want to do. It's a matter of passing it through the board. You know how that goes.
Q. You probably just ticked off more people in five minutes than in three years with the Ryder Cup?
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: A couple more questions.
Q. After September 11th your main goal was to get the Ryder Cup back to where it should be and get golf revered by people the way it should be.
CURTIS STRANGE: We did that three years ago. Sam and I talked about that the first time we talked on the phone three years ago. It wasn't after September 11th. You know, we talked and talked, and the press wrote about friendship that we have, and you don't come out and just say that. We kind of just did our thing, and I think it did filter down somewhat through the players, although they didn't need a lot of help because they already get along, and it filtered through the press and got to the public, and I think we did okay with that, I really do. I only say that because we're just talking to people the last two days. Over there that week, how well everybody did behave -- Sam did a good job over there and I tried my best over here, and I think we did all right.
Q. It wasn't the controversy of two years ago or three years ago with the fans. Do you think it'll go back to a more respectful crowd when it comes back to the States.
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, I certainly hope so but I think whoever is the next captain has to continue on in that -- whatever I'm trying to say -- has to continue what Sam and I tried to do, I mean, talk about it and explain civility and sportsmanship and etiquette. That's the way we're brought up in this game, not only brought up in this game, brought up, period, so I think if they stress that I hope it'll get to the fans in two years over here. I certainly hope so because it was wonderful. It was hard-fought, which it's supposed to be, and a lot of people said that's not going to be worth a damn because everyone liked each other. I think it was pretty hard-fought. Y'all saw more shots than I did because I was all over the golf course, but what I did see and the reaction from the fans and reaction from the players, it went really well.
Q. They only showed you on TV when it looked like you were worried.
CURTIS STRANGE: Is that right? That could have been anytime.
Q. Is it fair to say that Sunday's singles matches are so craftedly contrived in the Ryder Cup that it's almost like throwing 24 guys into the final match of a group on the final Sunday? How much pressure is there playing a singles match on Sunday that day?
CURTIS STRANGE: I put my 12 guys up, they put their 12 guys up and you play head-to-head. I mean, there's pressure, and there's pressure when you're at the end of the field and you see not enough of your color on the board, in our case the red, and if they don't see enough blue up there. That's one other reason you have to have some meat at the end. You know, it's the all day long pressure. In Davis' and Phil's and Tiger's case when they went to the first tee they saw a lot of blue, but they had to be able to handle that and go out and perform and win their matches because everything -- you know, I'm not going to get bark and start critiquing individual matches, but the first thing, first and foremost they were told be me on the first tee is you take care of your own business. Don't worry about anything else. You have one job to do today. Don't look at that board too much because there's nothing you can do about that. They all say, yeah, but it doesn't work like that. All you see is blue. That's part of the pressure of playing at the end of the field and pressure starting in the field of getting red on the board for your team. There's a lot going on. You're playing for your teammates, for your country, and you know there's a lot of people watching this thing, and you know if you don't perform then people will speculate on this, that and the other, so it's a lot of -- everything boils down to, you know, you better be able to handle a lot of nerves on Sunday, I think more so -- I personally think it's so different than a final round of a major championship. There's pressure but it's different pressure. The final round of a majors pressure, if you don't do well, well, there will be another day. But in the Ryder Cup there might not be another Ryder Cup for you, depends on who you are. If you don't do well in a Ryder Cup you will feel as though you have let other people down, your teammates as well as a lot of fans, that really care about you or your team. In a major championship, they don't really care, period. They just want to see a good tournament.
Q. Do you think that the Ryder Cup for the people involved, the people that play, it's more like 12 on 12 or United States versus Europe?
CURTIS STRANGE: United States versus Europe.
Q. Really?
CURTIS STRANGE: Oh, yeah. That's why it's fun. That's why everybody watches it. It's them versus us, head-to-head, there's a winner and loser in every match and there's a winner and loser on Sunday afternoon. That's why I like to watch it. It's us and them, and nothing negative or derogatory about it, it's just the way it is. They certainly want to beat us and we would certainly like to beat them.
Q. Scott said expectation-wise it's almost like the U.S. basketball team at this point where we're expected to win. If we don't win it's an upset.
CURTIS STRANGE: Well, on paper it looks like that, and I only say that because, look, it's stroke play events. I'm not saying anything that's not proven every week in big tournaments. Look at Ireland the week before, look at the Open, all of it. But when you get head-to-head in 18 holes of match play and you've heard it a million times and you're sick of it, but it's the truth, anybody can beat anybody if they get fired up because you don't have to sustain solid play for 72 holes. It's only a few holes, you know, 18 max, and so -- and people can do that. Price beating Phil Mickelson, who would have thought? But all you can do is applaud him because he'll never forget it. As badly as I felt for Phil and as badly as I felt for the team at that point, I couldn't help but think for Phil, Price, either, how he'll never forget this moment the rest of his life, seriously. When Zinger put it in there a foot on Friday when they were dead even -- no, they were one hole, all of a sudden Zinger on the last hole, like this, with Tiger, and Bjorn hit it 25 feet and Price hit it five feet, boom, bottom. You've got to applaud him. Anybody that's played any kind of athletics like to see people perform at top level. You have to applaud because it's neat stuff. Zinger did what he had to do and Bjorn did what he had to do. It was neat stuff.
Q. Is that an attitude you've developed in the two or three days since then? I'm sure there's disappointment.
CURTIS STRANGE: No, absolutely not. I've always had the attitude. You always hate to lose. If I shot 65 and Lanny shot 64 out here that Sunday, there's nothing I can do about it. I can't hit him from behind. All you can do is applaud him. You hate it but you can't do anything about it - not so much in stroke play but in match play I'm like that, in something like the Ryder Cup. I don't care if it's a football game or a basketball game, hey, it's good stuff.
Q. In your opinion did Tiger enjoy last week?
CURTIS STRANGE: Yes, absolutely. I talked to him last night. Yes, he did. You know, they all said it was very, very -- it was a good week. You know, The Belfry lent itself to that being such a nice facility. Our rooms were right above our hangout area and the locker room was out the door of our hangout area, it was all right there. The Belfry is a big place, but the Europeans were over there in their little thing, and it was easy and simple. It was very well done, so he had a ball, yes.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Curtis, for joining us. We appreciate it.
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