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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 16, 2006

John Senden

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Congratulations to John Senden the 2006 John Deere Classic winner. You played awesome out there today. You had those guys on your tail all day long. You did your job and got it done.

JOHN SENDEN: I felt great. You know, as I told you fellows last night that I would be nervous on the tee, I was more anxious than I was nervous. I felt better than I thought I was going to feel.

A birdie on the first two holes was a real confidence boost. I said, hey, you can do this. It was a plan that we had in the beginning of the week to, you know, to get it done. A trip to the British sounds good.

Q. Are you ready for the British? What kind of preparations do you have to make? Get a plane ticket?

JOHN SENDEN: Get on a jet first. I mean, I am not sure exactly what time flights leave at this point. Probably get a day and a half of preparation to go. Probably won't get there until Tuesday.

You know, I played there my first major championship. It was a great experience looking forward to, you know, preparing again for a another British Open.

Q. When you looked ahead from yesterday, how did it actually turn out?

JOHN SENDEN: At the start of the day, I was anxious. I didn't sleep great last night. It is the first time I held the lead. But, you know, I really warmed up well on the range again. And you know, I just had to, you know, be tough out there and try to really stick to my plan and it worked out well.

Q. Just describe what your emotions were when you made that final shot on 18?

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, it was a feeling of relief that you can get it done. Actually, my shot coming into the green I thought my 7 iron shot I hit was going to be fine. It was going to land on the green and land soft enough, but it didn't. My actual lie in the bunker was a beautiful lie, an uphill lie. All I had to do was splash it out, and let it track down the hole. The green was quite flat, slightly downhill. Very flat. So, you know, I had to be positive and knocking that last putt in was fantastic.

Q. You dropped the putter. Talk about that?

JOHN SENDEN: Yes, well, I had the ball in my pocket, right, so I went down, and as I was bending down with the putter in my left hand, as I got up it was like as if the putter brushed my leg as I came up. It is funny now, but it was sort of I thought, oh my God, what are you doing. You know, it was I was nervous hitting that putt in on the last. It was exciting. It was something that, you know, kind is a blur to me right now. But probably it would look silly if I watched it on TV again.

Q. What if it had fallen the other way?

JOHN SENDEN: Next question (Laughter).

Q. You tried to qualify for the British, and got cancelled?

JOHN SENDEN: That is right.

Q. Put into words how much it means to get in there this way?

JOHN SENDEN: It's a lot better feeling going to go to the British now that you are a winner rather than just qualifying through a system. You know, it is possibly, you know, whether you call it the hard way or not. But it was I was disappointed not having a chance to try to qualify at Congressional, but the weather wasn't great. But then I had to re set the goals to try to get it done at the Western or get it done here this week. It just worked out well.

Q. You talked yesterday about being inspired by the other Australians. What does it mean to you to join them?

JOHN SENDEN: Well, Rob this is probably my best Tour over here. We spend a lot of time together in practice and play. After winning at Denver, the first time was exciting. It really made me sort of feel like if he can do it I'm not saying anything against Rob. I have got the ability to do it as well. We play a similar game. I had to do the same thing. And you know, every week we just got better and better over here this year. I had to believe that I could do it. The other guys that have won this year, it has been exciting for Australian golf. The U.S. Open was extra special for Australia. It is going to be a good second half of the year this year.

Q. Your wife was saying that you brought Jacob three John Deere t shirts?

JOHN SENDEN: They went down to that John Deere museum. That was a big shop there. He was playing around on the tractors that sort of stuff. He was having a lot of fun. She said there was a lot of stuff in the gift shop and whatever, and all the stuff looked great. But you know, it was might have been good luck that he had the shirt on today. It was fitting for the end result. It is exciting to have everyone here. It was great. I have got my coach Ian Triggs who is sitting back there today. We have been together over 20 years trying to get the game right. As a junior golfer, I come up to my local club there. He was the head pro. Anyway, it has been I've only had Ian as my coach since day one. We sort of built a relationship that has been special since the time we met. Then to take it from junior golf to pro golf, and then to the Tour, it is like extra special. Today was a special day.

Q. What particularly clicked for you this week?

JOHN SENDEN: Well, it was a combination of you know, just hitting the ball very well. Off the tee and my stats prove that from the tee to green. You know, the putter has been something that has been not a miss but always been sort of mediocre, I feel, comparing it to other players on Tour. And you know, we made a few subtle changes technically and then had to try to, you know, work on the mental issues with putting and they have worked out really well.

Q. Do you normally buy your son T shirts an souvenirs at all your stops or something special?

JOHN SENDEN: We bought him a few bits and pieces from other tournaments. My wife, Jackie, she is a country girl. You know, she grew up on the farm and John Deere being involved in agricultural equipment and earth moving equipment, it is just she loves this event and loves going to the Big D on Monday and Tuesday night. It is just a great win. She thinks it is Major.

Q. Does Jacob have a lawn tractor to play with, or are you going to keep it for yourself?

A. I don't know what we will do with it.

Q. Have you got a lawn?

JOHN SENDEN: Not a big enough lawn, no. Maybe one day. It will come in handy, I am sure. It is exciting to see Bob Lane, he presented me with that prize on the last there. It was exciting.

Q. What does it mean to you to be a winner on the PGA Tour?

JOHN SENDEN: I've been dreaming of it for a long time. When I finished my apprenticeship as a pro, I set out a goal to make the U.S. Tour by the year 2000. That was back in 91. I had to go through a series of getting experience. At that time I was playing golf in Asia. Then I made it to the European Tour on the end of '97. Then played four years in Europe. That experience in Europe put me in good standings for the U.S. Tour.

I went to the U.S. qualifying tournament at the end of 2001, and we got on the Tour straightaway, and it has been five years on Tour.

Now, being a winner on Tour is a different kettle of fish. It is like as if it is not a monkey off your back, but something that is a dream that you can go out there and say, hey look, I am a PGA Tour winner now. It is really exciting.

Q. Did it take you long to win on Tour than you anticipated?

JOHN SENDEN: We had to work out a lot of issues. I always thought that I could do it. Probably just had to be a matter of time. The last couple of years I have improved every single year I have been on the Tour.

Now this year has been probably the best I have been striking it. The best results I have had due to a possible better short game. I've been working really hard on trying to get it together with the wedge, the putting, and improve that way. I thought that it wasn't that far away. I had to dig deeper to try to overcome the few hurdles we have mentally and get out there and let it go and get it done.

Q. Did you see a short game coach?

A. No.

Q. What is the window to your future now? What is the potential from here on out?

JOHN SENDEN: I just go out there each week and prepared the same. It is going to get me a few extra events this year and next year possibly. My world ranking improves. It could be a different schedule. I think that it was it is going to be exciting for the next couple of years.

Q. Do you have a putting green and sand trap in your backyard?

JOHN SENDEN: We do, yeah. That has helped a lot. Southwest Green Company out of Phoenix are the guys the built it, got it to a level where it is good enough. It's not like putting on your carpet here. It is a true surface of what a putting green is like out there. No green is totally true, so this one reacts the same way. It is great to go out there and if you hit balls on the range, you can come home and have a rest and go in the backyard and have a putt. The look of it out there looks great, too.

Q. Do you have a bunker, too?

JOHN SENDEN: It is like it is sort of the green has got a surface, then a bunker, then a little tee on the other side of the yard. It has got landscaping around it. It looks fitting. It has a like a barbecue setting as well. We enjoy it out there.

Q. Shrimp on the Barbie?

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, why not.

Q. You said that the sand shot at 18 was relatively easy?

JOHN SENDEN: Easy to say.

Q. What were you feeling?

JOHN SENDEN: I was quite clear on what I had to do. The lie I had was great. It was slowly uphill. Looking at the green I just had to it was a flat surface and it was slightly downhill. The ball was going to I felt like it was going to track it down. It definitely had come out just lovely. I was expecting it to come out lower and run. It came out higher and softer. It just worked out great. Pretty clear on the shot. I had to go out there and hit it and not think too much.

Q. Did you know the situation at that point?

JOHN SENDEN: Yes, I did.

Q. Did you see the leaderboard?

JOHN SENDEN: Yeah. I didn't look at the leaderboard until the 7th or 8th hole?

Q. When you were in the fairway on 17, could you see J.P. on the green in front of you?

JOHN SENDEN: No.

Q. Were you aware he missed an eagle putt there?

JOHN SENDEN: No.

1st hole was driver and sand iron. Made a three foot putt.

2nd hole, driver 3 iron on the green. Two putted from 40 feet.

7 was a 6 iron to about six feet.

The 9th was a 3 wood and a 4 iron to the back of the green. I would have had an 80 foot putt. Rolled it down to four feet and missed the second, third, fourth putt.

17 was driver and 6 iron just on the front edge to about maybe 25 feet.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Was there a hole that you can remember where you might have saved par?

JOHN SENDEN: On No. 13, I was I had a 3 iron off the tee and hit a 6 iron. The shot again went a little too far. I was on downhill lie and the grass was quite long. I felt like I had to play it like a bunker shot. Then a five foot putt for par. That was probably one turning point on the back nine which held me together mentally.

Q. You mention that I am kind of a country boy. I am more like what you call a spectator; we call it a gallery. Lot of people going to get together with you guys so I like to play golf. So golf is more bringing people here to watch you. Anybody bothered you as far as a spectator today?

JOHN SENDEN: Spectators won't bother me at all. They are all fantastic out there.

Q. Then what is your idea of the best way to bring some more people here?

JOHN SENDEN: Best way to bring more people here? There are lot of people here. I mean, it is not a large town. There are a lot of people that support this golf tournament. We play the Classic at Westchester. How many millions of people in New York? There were less people there than at the John Deere Classic. I think they had great support. I don't know how you get more people. It is about the style of golf that we play. It is the venue, the excitement of drama on the last few holes. It is great for that. I think you will see more people in the future.

Q. I came over here to cover Michelle Wie.

JOHN SENDEN: She was definitely a crowd pleaser out there. Unfortunately, she didn't feel too great on Friday. She was the cause of a lot of fans following up. It was exciting for the tournament to have her here.

Q. John, you said that you had a game plan about one and two. You had success getting off to good start in your rounds?

A. That is right. The 1st and 2nd holes, it was a matter of feeling like on the third day, telling you that the pin was short on the 1st hole, it was a quite an accessible pin there to o. It was great to hit it close on the 1st hole. The opening two holes of this golf course are reasonably generous. It is not like other golf courses where you 1st hole might be like the Sony Open in Hawaii. The 1st hole is the most difficult hole on the golf course. It is very important to get off to a good start and feel like, you know, you have got some positive momentum earlier in your round. That happened this week.

Q. Have you always had confidence with your game?

JOHN SENDEN: It has been I had to work hard on it to really get to improve that area. It is more so I felt confident in the way I hit the ball and actually played. But it is about believing that you can do it in the real thing. I have had to really work hard on that issue to make that happen.

Q. Does a win now make that task easier?

A. It does. It gives you a lot of confidence. Allows me to believe better out here and think if you can do it once, hopefully you can do it again. Several times. I am excited about the future now with having a win behind me and go around really see if we can go from now on.

Q. What was your reaction when you saw you were in the sand on 18?

JOHN SENDEN: Well, when I saw the ball go into the bunker and I thought that hopefully it hasn't gone to the bottom because it would be a more difficult shot. When I looked at ball in the bunker, it was a level lie. It was uphill. And looking where the green was, I had plenty of green to work with. Slightly downhill. All I had to do was splash it out. What I tried to do was actually I didn't think the ball would travel that far through the air. Trying to let it come out, and just on the green and run out. The ball actually flew quite a lot farther than I shot. It worked out well.

Q. With the water as a backdrop, were you able to block out the water?

JOHN SENDEN: You know it is there. I just work on the process of the shot trying to think that I have got to be strong. Hit the shot as best I can and really work on just seeing what I see to the ball to the hole rather than seeing the water.

Q. Was there a moment either when the ball was in the air that you knew you had completed it and you won the golf tournament?

JOHN SENDEN: When I got four foot short of the hole and I knew how fast the ball was rolling, I knew it was going to go in or be close.

Q. I think I am more like your personal stuff. Today you won the championship. One day you are not playing well; you don't want to talk anybody. Lot of people like to ask questions. Ask you questions because you are famous. Are you going to answer the question or turn away and go home?

JOHN SENDEN: No. No. You have to be very professional about what you do, and that is about dealing with the whole situation where you are. PGA Tour is about giving back to the fans or the sponsors that run the tournaments. If you are not obliging to those people, I think that you are a fool because you are actually hurting the Tour's image. I think the fans are part of that.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, John. Congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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