ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 7, 1996

Bobby Stroble

BOBBY STROBLE: I played pretty steady all day. I just from tee-to-green I parred the first 8 holes, had a chance to birdie I think the 4th hole. The par 5 hit a really big drive there. Hooked it around the corner, had like a 2-iron to the green, everybody else was laying up. But I hit a bad 2-iron iron. I hit it left and it was in a little fluff grass. I just fluffed it on the green and 2-putted. And so I played around -- parred everything through 8. And the last hole I hit a real good shot on 9, hit a 5-iron in there about four feet and made that for a birdie to turn it one under. Then I parred right on up, let us see, 10, 11, 12, 13, so I am still one under. Then I birdied 14, hit 8-iron in there about four feet, made that so I was 2-under. And 15, played the hole, good hit, 2-iron off the tee. 2-iron up on into the fairway, par 5 - I got mixed up on my yardage. I was playing in for 105. I had 115 into the wind so hit a pitching wedge, come up short and chipped hit. Didn't chip it too good. Chipped it up there about four feet. Missed the putt. That was my first bogey. Then I get lucky the next hole, hit a couple of good shots. Knocked it in there about four feet on 16. I birdied that to go 2-under. 17, I hit a good shot, missed it from about twelve feet. Then 18, I didn't drive it that well. I didn't drive it solid, but I kept it in the fairway, and I hit a little too much club on it, just flew it right over the flag and the bunker. It just faded. Hit real good bunker shot, couldn't carry it to the green. I dropped it into the fringe instead of releasing to the hole. It just hit and died, so I 2-putted for a bogey. So all and all it could have been a really good round. Still was a good round, but I was basically pretty solid today. I hope I stay that solid all week.

BOBBY STROBLE: I hit 5-iron, just - I don't know - I don't know if it jumped or what. Right over the flag probably only had like 177 into the wind, the ball probably carried, 180 or something.

BOBBY STROBLE: Yeah, this is a real good golf course. It is my type of golf course. It is a good track. You got to drive the ball pretty straight, and the greens, you got fairly big targets. You got medium irons in there. Every once in a while you catch a short iron. But it is a basically just a good, fair golf course, just a lot of good holes out there. 13 is a real good hole. Some people don't particularly like it, but that is a good golf hole too. The slope on the green, I think they can reslope the green on the par 5, 13, but, other than that, it is a great golf course.

BOBBY STROBLE: Well, I think the best is still ahead of me. I have had a real good year. I didn't putt as well this year as I thought I would. I didn't win a golf tournament which was one of my goals. I wanted to make Top 31. I made that. It was tough. Basically I had a real good year, but, like I say, I had pretty good ball-striking the first of the year. I didn't drive the ball that well. As the year went on I drove it a little better, and I just really didn't putt as well as I am capable of putting. I guess with the bad techniques that I have, if you are off a little with it, you are just really off.

BOBBY STROBLE: I am just going to groove it. Going to work with it. I have seen a lot of great players, I think - who is that Bob Rosburg, Billy Maxwell, all those guys got the funny little putting strokes, but they were great putters. I putted great up until this year, and I had to make some putts to make top 31. I just - I changed putters. I putted with a Cash-in all my life and I think I can handle the Cash-in better than I had can the Odyssey although, the Odyssey might be a better putter, but I don't handle the Odyssey putter as well as I did my Cash-in putter. I didn't work on my game on any -- this one I am going to work a couple of weeks, so I should be better next year.

BOBBY STROBLE: I always did. I never -- like I said, I watched Billy Maxwell putt; he was a little unorthodox, whatever - watching him, he was a great putter coming up through his career. I said I am not changing with - I am not changing. I stuck with it. I didn't putt as well this year as I did last year or previous years, but I think it is just a matter of me working on it.

BOBBY STROBLE: Yeah. I never -- this is a learning experience. It takes a year, I thought I would be last week real comfortable. Maybe I was too comfortable; I played real bad. Today, I wasn't as jittery as normally because it is a sort of a fun week, although you want to do good, but, yeah, I think next year I will be more comfortable. It takes about a year or two to really settle in with these guys.

BOBBY STROBLE: Well, none of us won a golf tournament, although we did make top 31. It is a pretty strong bunch of guys. Hopefully, I wouldn't hold them down too much.

BOBBY STROBLE: Mini-tours, state Opens, stuff like that.

BOBBY STROBLE: Not a whole lot of good ones; I have played a few. I had my card on and off about three or four different times, but I wasn't focused on it. I had another interests and stuff like that. I'd just as soon give a golf lesson than go play.

BOBBY STROBLE: 16?

BOBBY STROBLE: Second shot?

BOBBY STROBLE: I had hit a 3-wood -- I just knocked down an 8-iron, probably about 130 something.

BOBBY STROBLE: I don't know; you know, things happen. It was first time I had played golf all year in my entire career, so, you know, getting through that school; I mean, you know, it just takes everything from you. I mean, if you can make it through that school, you don't want to see a golf club; it just drains you. So when I got through the school, I mean, I knew this was smooth-sailing out here; when I say smooth-sailing, I knew I was going to get a check every week. So, you know, you tend to - like I said - if you go through that golf school, you don't want to see a golf club for a month. So only had like two months off, so there were some things going on and, you know, got the holidays, stuff like that, so I decided not to work on it.

BOBBY STROBLE: No. I never lived in St. Louis. Thought about it one time. Won the Missouri Open; St. Louis - always in the same year. But, no, I live -- I am from Georgia, but I live in Florida.

BOBBY STROBLE: In St. Louis?

BOBBY STROBLE: Yeah, they used to have a St. Louis Open. I think I won that two or three times. Won the Missouri Open, stuff like that, so I was always up-and-down. And through there, I think I won the Evansville Open or something like that, a couple of times, and so I think I won something, a Fenwick Open that was in Evansville, Indiana -- Missouri, I guess, but, I don't know -- I played a lot of golf through the state opens and stuff. I never was from there.

BOBBY STROBLE: Well, I think you slip a little bit with these soft spikes so I put the regular spikes in the back to try not to slip. Especially on wet days we got -- I think the golf course, with a little rain, I did not slip as much. I can slip a little bit in them.

BOBBY STROBLE: Oh, yeah, it helps everybody. It helps the greens; helps this carpet here, so I try to do my part, you know, I don't slip as much you know, with putting the full spikes in the back, so it helps on the greens, definitely do that, so I don't want to be a complete goofball out there. But you do slip a little bit.