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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSIC PRESENTED BY WAL-MART


November 5, 2008


Boo Weekley


LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA

CHRIS REIMER: Thank you, Boo, for being here. Boo is making his first appearance since the great Ryder Cup victory, which he had a large part in leading them to victory. Boo, if you would, start out by just giving some general comments on what you've been doing since the Ryder Cup. We know we've seen you on The Leno Show, and a couple other national shows. Just kind of explain what you've been doing for the last month, and then we'll open it up to questions.
BOO WEEKLEY: I've been trying to catch up on a lot of rest, but mostly been hunting, doing a little fishing, hiding in the woods. Been to two NASCAR races. I went to Talladega and Charlotte, had fun at both of them.
Hung out with Junior, got to meet Junior, my little boy got to meet Dale Junior and got to hang out with him a little bit. And that's really it. I ain't played no golf (laughs). None.
CHRIS REIMER: Okay. We'll take some questions.

Q. Boo, I'm wondering if you can describe the moment where you during the Ryder Cup teed off, you straddled your driver and basically rode it down the fairway. That might be one of the funniest moments in the history of the Ryder Cup. Can you explain what came over you and what compelled you to do that?
BOO WEEKLEY: I was just kind of taking my practice swing and it hit me, you know. I was taking my first practice swing. I was looking down the fairway where I wanted to stop my ball at, and I was like, well, this would probably be pretty neat if I did this. (Laughs).
I took my second one, and said I'm going to do it if I get it over this tree, if it's drawing a little bit to the left or if it's cutting a little bit, I know I got it at least in the fairway down there. And I hit it and it took off right over that tree, and I was thinking, all right, here we go. (Laughs).

Q. Boo, what was it like sitting in The Green Room at The Leno Show? I think you were starting to talk about Dennis Miller a little yesterday. I guess he was in there. You were the two main guests that night, and meeting Leno and any other celebrities you might have bumped into in the hallways that week, or that day.
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't bump into nobody else except Dennis. He was right next to me, and you know what I mean. You kind of talked about it on the driving range yesterday. It's unreal how smart that guy is. You think as a comedian you think half the stuff he comes up with is already written or stuff like that, but he wings it off.
He gets the point or direction he wants to go on and he just goes from there. The guy's pretty brilliant. He's got a brilliant little mind, you know.

Q. Why are you here this week? Why are you playing? Kids wanted to do the theme park thing? Obviously a lot of guys skip the whole fall series, and you played in it last year and had a pretty good experience, I recall.
BOO WEEKLEY: I did it, we have the NASCAR thing here, Richard Petty thing, and my wife Karen and her daddy ain't never had that experience of being able to drive a NASCAR, so I figured I'd bring them down and let them try that out.
Plus my oldest boy he wants to come down here and hug Mickey and Daffney and all of them. So why not?

Q. What are you doing in the off-season?
BOO WEEKLEY: This is my off-season. (Laughs). I mean this is it.

Q. You're doing it, huh.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. I'm doing it. This is it right here. I mean I'm having a good time since I've been here, you know. It's been pretty fun.

Q. Are you going over to see (portion inaudible)?
BOO WEEKLEY: No. Not yet. We're looking into it this coming year going over and playing a little more of the European Tour, seeing what they got to represent, and that Chase and Dubai, that's a big deal.

Q. I missed you on Leno, but did you tell the orangatang story?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir. That story won't be told on national TV. (Laughs).

Q. The port-a-potty story is okay?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. That's fine (laughs).

Q. You were telling that story, I heard, when -- in the team room when the European team came in, and they had to be quiet so you could finish it, I understand. Is that true?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yes, sir. (Laughs).

Q. I saw a quote from you that your decision whether you'd play in Europe would be based partly on the presidential election, the tax structure that appears like it will be in place now.
BOO WEEKLEY: Uh-huh.

Q. Well, there was a winner last night.
BOO WEEKLEY: There was. You're right.

Q. Do you think that makes you more likely to spend more time on the European Tour?
BOO WEEKLEY: I ain't going to answer that one right now. I plead The Fifth right here in front of this TV screen and everything will be going on.

Q. Boo, now that you've had some time to reflect on the whole Ryder Cup thing, what was that whole week like for you? Did you imagine it would be that way or was it something that you just went, oh, my God, what is this?
BOO WEEKLEY: It was more than I dreamed, a lot more than I ever dreamed of, actually the golf. You know, I mean you can probably ask all the guys that were there, which the rookies, I should say, ones that were there. It was pretty neat because we all actually came together as a team, and you know, we were pulling for one another, where out here, you know, we're playing individual ball.
It ain't that we're pulling against one another. It's just that we're out here trying to beat you, or beat them each day and every day and each hole. So it was pretty neat that we all kind of came together and actually thrived off of one another, and it was just a hell of an experience.

Q. What was the thing about Azinger that you think made him as successful as he was as a captain?
BOO WEEKLEY: I just think he came to each one of us as an individual person and asked us for our opinion. He sat us down and talked to us and he broke us out into groups, and each group he made us sit there and we talked about what would make our group better. You know what I mean? Who in this group is going to be the person that decides what's going to let things happen and what ain't. I think he had a perfect task how he had it set up for us to go out and play.

Q. Did you happen to run across Erik Compton back in your days of playing the minor leagues and are you aware of his circumstances of him being here this week? If so, what do you think of the fact this guy is playing in a Tour event five months after his heart was stacked in a Styrofoam box?
BOO WEEKLEY: Only thing I can tell you is the Lord blessed him. I played with him the year I got my Tour card, final stage of Q School.

Q. Fair Lake?
BOO WEEKLEY: Fair Lake. He fell out right there on -- I think it was 16.

Q. He had an episode. Right?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. He had an episode with us. It was me and Jack Slocum. Slocum's daddy was caddy, and he ran over there as I ran up the fairway trying to get an official to get somebody to get some help out there.
And I got some Gatorade, which we all got Gatorades and brought them back to him, and I've actually played with him a couple times since then. He's an amazing kid, just like that one sitting right behind you.

Q. What do you think about the fact that he's actually here at this event and this soon after heart surgery?
BOO WEEKLEY: Amazing. I mean I haven't seen him. I honestly, tell you the truth, I didn't know he'd had heart surgery again. I mean I haven't -- I don't keep up with golf.
I don't keep up with much except what's going on around the house, and that's only if I get the paper about every third day when the dog don't chew it up, you know. It's amazing that he's back out here five months after surgery.

Q. Boo, what are your thoughts on D.J. Gregory's adventure this year and your part in that adventure?
BOO WEEKLEY: I didn't have no part in this adventure. This is all him, brother. I mean it's amazing. I mean it is. You are amazing. You are very amazing. Lord blessed you, too, and blessed everybody that you have walked with every step, just to know who you are and get to know you.
I actually got lucky and sat down with him and had dinner with him one night. Of course, he wouldn't let me buy. He was arguing about all that anyway. But he's awesome, very awesome.

Q. Those of us around the game of golf have known about Boo for a couple of years. Now the rest of the world knows about Boo. How is the rest of the world and Boo doing? There's some people outside this game that you probably wouldn't have met. How is it with the people outside the game of golf?
BOO WEEKLEY: It's pretty good, I reckon. I mean I'd go to the woods where I live at and just hide, man. I'm trying to get away from everything.
You know, we ain't got but, what, eight more weeks, seven more weeks left till we're back on the road again playing, you know. So I mean but everybody outside has been pretty good.
I've gotten a lot more mail at the house for some reason. I mean stuff keeps showing up. I done got three or four different tail boxes and I can't find what -- I can't hide.

Q. Is it just stuff they want you to autograph?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. Just stuff they want signed. You know, it's fine. You know, it's just -- but here's the thing. When I receive something, like I got a flag the other day and I felt kind of bad because the guy sent me the flag and wanted me to sign it, but he wants me to pay for it to get it back, which is fine, I mean but at least write me a note and say, hey, man, I couldn't afford to ship it back. You know, just give me a letter or something. Make it look like, hey, I just ain't got no money, dude. Help me out! I mean I don't mind. I don't mind.
Just mail me something -- I've gotten a bunch of pictures of different people, hey, man, Boo, will you sign this? I'm like, yeah. It ain't me, though. It's pictures of other people. One was a picture of Robert Gomez or whatever his name is.

Q. Was that thrown away?
BOO WEEKLEY: I don't send it back, no. I just kind of -- sorry, it got lost in the mail (laughs).

Q. You were very complimentary about Dennis Miller, about his comedic genius. Does this stuff just come to you like that?
BOO WEEKLEY: Me?

Q. Yeah.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I reckon. I mean ain't nobody standing behind me. I ain't got no earpiece in. Yeah, it's coming -- I reckon just because of my experience, my experiences I've run into, I reckon. I don't know. It just happens.

Q. Does this game, which is so straightlaced, need characters?
BOO WEEKLEY: We have a good place for it. Why don't you go ask them, see if they want to come out and work with us.
No, I think it does. I really do. I think if we can get a couple more people out here, you know. There's a kid on the Nationwide Tour that I'm a big fan of, Josh Broadway. I don't know if anybody's really ever heard of him, but he's a cross-handed kid. He plays cross-handed, and it's amazing to watch him go around and hit the ball, and he hits it a long ways. He's a decent player. I think he's in the top 40 this year on our Money List.
So I'm hoping he can get through Q School and get his butt out here with us. I roomed with him for a couple years when I was on the Nationwide Tour. I'd like to see him come out because he's got a lot of character. You hear a lot of different sayings coming from him.

Q. Players that played on the Ryder Cup team all through history, some day they say, hey, that was the greatest thing that ever happened, but that first tee shot scared me to death. Were you scared on that first tee shot?
BOO WEEKLEY: Not really, no, sir.

Q. Just hit it?
BOO WEEKLEY: Just hit it. It's just golf. I mean what's the worst thing that can happen? You top it? How many in the room here ain't never topped the ball? I mean seriously. What's the worst thing that can happen? They're going to boo me one way or the other, whether I hit it good or I hit it bad. I mean come on. It's going to happen one way or the other.

Q. All right. Follow-up question to that. Can you see Boo some day as a Ryder Cup captain? Would you like that job?
BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir. I couldn't handle it.

Q. Why?
BOO WEEKLEY: I just don't think I got the nerves for it. I can tell you that right now. First of all, I ain't going to be in golf that long, I hope. I hope I ain't gonna be here that long. If I am, I'll be up for the challenge, I reckon, if I got elected.

Q. Boo, you were just saying that you don't want to be in golf that long. I think I read you said you want to make eight million and then you're out?
BOO WEEKLEY: I think -- I gotta make a number. My number just went up after last night (laughs).
I just gotta make a number that I know I can live off of and my family can live off of and take care of some of my cousins and some of my tree limbs that are gonna come off the tree of the family, you know.
If I can get to my goal, yes, I'm out of here. I'm out of here.

Q. That just seems like -- that's a different way of thinking for a lot of these guys. I mean your life sounds pretty good to me. I don't know why you're trying to run away from it.
BOO WEEKLEY: I ain't running away from it. I just got better things to do with my life. The way I look at it, I chased my dream. I got to my dream. I'm going to play my dream until I just decide, hey, I'm not in my dream. I've got to where I wanted to get.
Everybody dreams of winning a PGA event. Well, that's what I dreamed. I've done it twice before. If I can do it every year I'm out here -- if I can do it seven more years, hey, I should be out of here. Hell, if I win it twice -- you set goals, but your dream's already there, you know what I mean? And I've already reached my dream.
So now all I gotta do is just stay out here and help people and have fun and enjoy it. That's what it's about, isn't it? It's about the kids that are coming up behind us.
You show them a little bit of respect and show them what it should be like and how to have fun with it, and the rest of it should take care of itself.

Q. How about doing a hunting show or fishing show on TV when you're done with golf?
BOO WEEKLEY: You can bet on it. You can bet on it.

Q. You've already done that, haven't you?
BOO WEEKLEY: I've done a few. We're trying to do some again. We've got one coming up that I'm going to do in -- as a matter of fact, the 16th through the 23rd we're doing two different ones. We're doing one in Missouri and then one in Illinois.

Q. Of this month?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. We're going to film it.

Q. Aren't you supposed to go to the White House or something?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah. That's the 16th. I'm going to run up there and shake his hand. Be the last redneck to one through there, I reckon, won't I? (Laughs).
CHRIS REIMER: Any other questions?

Q. I can't top that.
CHRIS REIMER: All right, Boo. Thank you for being here.
BOO WEEKLEY: Enjoyed it, guys.

End of FastScripts




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