	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

July 20, 2003

Billy Joe Tolliver

STATELINE, NEVADA

Q. Three-peat just not in the cards this week?

DAN QUINN: Yeah, I really feel like I blew it yesterday, the middle 27 holes of the tournament I played very poorly. I had a great front nine in the first round and never made a birdie until the 18th hole today on the back nine. 27 holes with one birdie on the back nine is what really cost me.

But, it is tough to win this thing three years in a row. You've got to do a lot of things. I had four 3-putts yesterday and that kind of got me a little shaky. And I hit the ball pretty crappy, actually, yesterday. Today I had a chance to go out but I just didn't -- actually, I felt like I was going to shoot a good score and I was trying to be patient and not force it. Billy Joe had a good start, and John Elway, but we just got in a lull there, nothing happened. Never hit it close enough, 10, 11, 12, never hit good putts. That was pretty much the end of me trying to win. Overall it was a pretty good run.

Q. Are either of you guys surprised that Rick came back to win?

BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: No, not at all.

DAN QUINN: The course played as easy as it ever played. There's no wind. The greens are perfect. If we're all keeping score, I'm sure we would have been looking at 10-under for three rounds. This thing is confusing the way you look at it and keep score in your head. I'm sure Billy will agree, it's as easy as it's ever been.

BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: The greens, you've got a couple but they were not as spongy as they were in the past. We thought they were a little more firm. I agree, we had perfect conditions to play in. He got the putter rolling and nobody else did. That's what it comes down to.

Q. Do you like the new scoring system, does it matter to you?

DAN QUINN: Did it create the excitement at the end? I don't know if it did or didn't. It is what it is. If it brings more players into it, which starting off the day, I thought there was three or four guys that could win. I think that's generally the case every year, but, I don't know. It obviously creates the potential for some excitement coming down the stretch, but it also gave -- I think the format really benefitted having shot 76 or 77 in the first round, it would have been hard to come back. I think Steve and Jack would have had a five-shot lead in the medal score, so I am sure they are the ones that get the short end. At the end of the day, I think whoever played the best probably -- I don't know what they shot behind us today.

BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: I think Rhoden probably came back and won the medal, anyway.

Q. Can you give your overall thoughts about the course?

BILLY JOE TOLLIVER: The course is in great shape. I think it's as good as we've played it in the 14 years we've been here. It's outstanding. I never had a chance because my putter didn't show up. I mean, I hit it solid and had a lot of good looks at it. Just didn't make it. That's about it. You know, you can talk about the format or whatever we're going to play. Like I said earlier, it doesn't matter. The same eight guys are going to be there with the same four, five or six guys having the chance to win.

And you know, when you do something like this, you know, you've got to make it something to keep it interesting for the guys that are higher-handicapped players. Now, the only frustrating thing about it is that you know that bogey is zero. You know a guy is not going to come back to you. The guy with the holes left to play is the guy that's going to win. Whoever is out there last is the guy that's going to win because bogey doesn't cost him anything. You know, Rick took care of his business, Jack Wagner took care of his and that's just the way it was.

So, format to me really doesn't matter. You've still got to make putts.