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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 6, 2005

Jim Haley

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

LAURA NEAL: If you could just give us an update.

JIM HALEY: As best I can. We have had better days. The golf course was perfect this morning at 7:15. That is why we teed off on time. We had tenth of a inch at that point. Then we knew we were going to get rain. We knew this storm was on its way. We don't know how fast. We knew the speed. We didn't know exactly how much rain we were going to get. We make an attempt to play golf when the course is playable.

Obviously this rain came in and fairly moderate at times. The greens were fine, they were still fine. Being new they have got seven inches of roots and the water percolates right through. But the tees and fairways retain so much water, that we had to stop play at 10:40.

It is still raining. So the golf course is just not playable.

LAURA NEAL: As far as what we're looking at for the weekend?

JIM HALEY: For the weekend, most of you probably already know, we have washed out today's round. Today we never played in essence. Whether a player plays one hole or ten holes, the scores don't count. Same tee times, same groups tomorrow. We'll get the second round done. Make an attempt to play 36 holes on Sunday and complete 72 holes.

Q. Why wash out the round?

JIM HALEY: We just felt like it was going to be based on the weather predictions, it supposed to be really nice tomorrow and even nicer on Sunday. We knew we weren't going to go back out today, most likely because we are still expecting rain for next three or four hours.

Having said that, we just didn't feel like it was going to be fair. Some players that didn't tee off yet were going to come tomorrow and play in sunshine. We just didn't feel like that was fair to the field. We did have an opportunity based on the predicted weather to make that decision.

Q. Why do you play 36 on Sunday and not take a break after tomorrow's rounds?

JIM HALEY: The tournament sponsors want a 72 hole event. We would like to finish on Sunday as much as possible. There is some decision making to be made. We are hoping for a cut so we can get that field around Sunday in 36 holes.

Q. Why not start it tomorrow afternoon?

JIM HALEY: You can't start tomorrow afternoon. We still have is a full field of players playing. We will play until seven o'clock tomorrow night, finish the second round, make the cut then start as early as we can Sunday morning.

Q. When you say attempt to play 36 holes on Sunday, what could keep you from doing that?

JIM HALEY: If we had a huge cut, we may not be able to finish. I am not saying we won't, but we will make every attempt to get them all done.

Q. If 65 players make the cut, would you make the decision at that time that it will be a 54 hole tournament?

JIM HALEY: No, we wouldn't. The tournament, Anheuser Busch, Kingsmill, we want 72 holes. It is a significant tournament on our schedule with a significant amount of purse. We think in the best interest of the Tour and the tournament we should play 72 holes.

Q. Does that mean you may go to Monday?

JIM HALEY: There is a possibility. I am not saying that is going to happen. The good thing is the weather is good on Sunday, and if we can play until probably 8:15 on Sunday. So if we start at seven o'clock that gives us...

Q. Would it be leaders off first, like what was done last week?

JIM HALEY: The pairs will be split. The tees will be split, you know, just like they are the first two rounds. The players will stay in their same groups. There won't be any reshuffling of pairs. For instance, if I was playing with Laura, we would play the fourth round together and as soon as you finish, get ten or 15 minutes, go right to your starting tee again. There is really no change in pairings.

Q. Obviously some players struggled this morning. Natalie was 1 under. Any debate about leaving the scores, saying, you know, this is the rub of the green, some players play

JIM HALEY: There is always that discussion. We haven't done this after the second round has started in my 20 years. We don't really look to see who is on the leaderboard or what anybody is shooting. We know most people are struggling, but we don't take that into consideration. We make the decision not based on who is playing or where they are, but what is best for everybody. We don't take in consideration that somebody may be 2 under or 6 over.

Q. Even the scores aside, then was there a debate if the weather is bad it is still golf, sometimes you play when it is raining and sometimes when it is still.

JIM HALEY: I don't think there was a debate. We discussed it. We felt like to be fair to everyone we should scratch the round and start over.

Q. Is there a standard or guide in determining that? If half the field had played nine holes, is there anything that

JIM HALEY: Not once the first round is completed. We have washed out the first round two times to my memory. That is based on half the field played the nine holes, then we would not wash a round in the first round. But in the two cases that I am thinking of, the first round probably only played four or five holes. It was easy for us to make that decision.

Once the second round starts that is a whole different story. It doesn't matter if I play one hole or 15 holes.

So to answer your question, it is really kind of moot. The problem we would have had is if somebody would have completed 18 holes, that is another story. However you want to look at it, we didn't get to that point. 12 holes was the most anybody played today.

Q. When you say "we," who made the decision?

JIM HALEY: LPGA Rules Committee.

Q. Were the sponsors involved at all?

JIM HALEY: The Sponsors were to the point that they are part of our partnership here. We do take into consideration their opinions. We want to have them on the same page with us. We didn't ask them, "What think about washing out the round?" We didn't enter that. We were talking about, do you want to play 54 or 72? They want to play 72. In that part, that wasn't a hard decision to make.

Q. Was Ty consulted about it?

JIM HALEY: No, he wasn't. To my knowledge, there may have been somebody else talking to him while that was going on. I know he was updated. We didn't talk to him prior to making that decision.

Q. How long did you meet to make the decision?

JIM HALEY: We suspended play at 10:40, we didn't make the decision until around 12 o'clock.

Q. How about the television on Sunday will that stay on?

JIM HALEY: I don't know. I can't answer for television. I know they are on from 3:00 to 5:00. I know people from Anheuser Busch are making an attempt to call Bristol to see if there is any way to extend or get something some kind of coverage between 6:00 and 8:00 or maybe updates every 15 minutes. That is not our call from where I am sitting. There were calls being made.

Q. When was the last time the LPGA played on a Monday?

JIM HALEY: Boy, I can't really remember.

LAURA NEAL: One year twice in '99. We have to look.

JIM HALEY: I can't remember when we had a Monday finish. I would have to look. It has been a long time. We have been lucky.

Q. So you guys have taken a look at when the sun sets on Sunday, and you are thinking 8:15?

JIM HALEY: I don't know if that is exact. I think we could play to 8:15. Obviously we can look at it. Talk to our meteorologist and he can bring it up.

I was here last week when the sun was out and it looked like we could play to 8:17. The days are probably longer since then.

Q. How much rain had fallen when you called this game?

JIM HALEY: At 12 o'clock we had over a half inch between 7 o'clock and 12 o'clock. That is going to go up.

Q. How ornery were the players coming out that had to play this morning?

JIM HALEY: They weren't too bad actually because the greens are so good, they still had an opportunity to score. Granted the fairways were starting to go pretty bad. They weren't too bad. They know we're trying to play 72 holes within a four day period. A hundred percent of the group is not going to be happy. You can say that about any group. But by and large, I think they knew we were trying our best. They knew what we were facing. I think for the most part they probably agreed to wash out the round. We don't base our decision on what makes them happy, quite frankly. They seem to be okay.

Q. Do you think tomorrow's round will be delayed?

JIM HALEY: I hope not. The rain is supposed to be out of here early this evening. The meteorologist says it is going to be pretty nice tomorrow, even better on Sunday.

I talked with the superintendent, I gave him a couple of scenarios. He said we will be ready to go at 7:15 tomorrow. Hopefully the rain is not going all the way to midnight or something like that. He is very confident that everybody will be ready by 7:15.

Q. You have been out here 20 years, you don't remember ever washing out a round?

JIM HALEY: Not a second round. To my recollection we washed two first rounds: Once in Houston and once in Dayton to my knowledge. I haven't been at every tournament and can't remember.

Q. If you play 36 on Sunday will you switch pin position?

JIM HALEY: We will make that attempt if the ground staff is capable of doing it. At the LPGA Championship last year we played 36 holes, and they were able to switch. They didn't mow between, but they were able to switch holes.

Q. McDonald's?

LAURA NEAL: Yeah.

Q. You said on Sunday you will use both tees for both rounds?

JIM HALEY: Yes. We have to split tees to get everybody around.

LAURA NEAL: Anything else?

JIM HALEY: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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