home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY


April 27, 2009


Doug Grabert

Jay Haas

Jim Remy

Bill Townsend


JULIUS MASON: Good beautiful Cleveland morning ladies and gentlemen, I'm Julius Mason the senior director of communications and media relations for the PGA of America. As we get settled in, please turn your attention to the monitors around the room for a brief reminder of the history and tradition that is the Senior PGA Championship.
(Video played).
JULIUS MASON: 70 years of history in five minutes, try that. Once again ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 70th Senior PGA Championship Media Day at Canterbury Golf Club.
We have some very special guests around the room that I would like to recognize. First representing the PGA of America board of directors, our District 5 director from Harbor Springs, Michigan, David Mocini. From the Northern Ohio PGA section, a big reason why golf is so very popular in the great state of Ohio, president, Judd Stephenson; vice president, Chad Seymour; secretary, Mike Heisterkamp; executive director Dominic Antenucci.
From Canterbury Golf Club, president Tony Asher; PGA head professional Mike Kernicki; director of golf, Craig Murray; general manager, Eric Rhodes -- Eric, love what you've done with the place, it's beautiful; Caddiemaster, Mike Kiely, and superintendent Tony Boner; Tony is also the 2009 winner of the PGA Green Section Award. Congratulations Tony.
Also joining us from the Senior PGA Championship office right here at Canterbury Golf Club the PGA of America's championship director, Brett Sterba. From PGA of America headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, David Charles, the senior director of championships. Earnie Ellison, the director of business and community relations is with us, and the newest PGA of America honorary member, Joe Steranka, the Chief Executive officer of the PGA of America.
I notice we still have a few celebrities as I look throughout the room, including the biggest and baddest trophy in golf, the 70-year-old Alfred S. Bourne Trophy right over there; Beachwood Mayor Earl Gordon, and Shaker Heights Mayor, Earl Leiken; a thank you goes out to you for the weather I'm guessing? Very good.
And one of the most respected personalities in Ohio sports history, from East Canton, Ohio, the recipient of the 2003 First Lady of Golf, who also received her doctor of law degree from St. Andrews University in 2008, ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Renee Powell.
But you can put her on the back shelf because I have somebody better than her right now; she is joined by her father, ladies and gentlemen, PGA Honorary Member Bill Powell, who was just named the 2009 PGA Distinguished Service Award recipient.
And now ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to turn the microphone over to the general chairman of the 70th PGA Championship, Mr. Bill Townsend.
BILL TOWNSEND: Thank you very much. I am the general chairman of this year's 70th senior PGA Championship that will be held here at Canterbury in May. On behalf of the men and women of Canterbury, I want to thank the PGA for allowing us to host this event.
As I was driving over here today I was thinking I'm the luckiest guy in the world, luckiest Canterbury member that I get to sit next to great golfers; NBC is here. I'm just one in a long line of general chairman here in the Canterbury. Canterbury was started in 1921. We built the place in 1921, and 11 years after that, we hosted our first major event which was Western Open, and it was won by Walter Hagen.
Well, since then, Canterbury has been a place where great golfers can come to test their skills against our course. In our history we have had two U.S. Opens, we have had one U.S. Senior Open, we have had the PGA Championship and two U.S. Amateurs, which brings us full circle back to where we are today.
And of course, we are getting ready in less than a month to host the senior PGA Championship. And I'm hoping that people of northeast Ohio and the surrounding area will come. We have tickets available and we have a telephone number for you. It IS a great time to come. Ticket prices will be going up a little bit if you buy them at the gate. So if everybody calls in at 1-800-PGA-GOLF, or if you're like me and have no possible way of dialing the letters, it's 1-800-742-4653, or you can simply go to WWW.SeniorPGA2009.com.
The good thing is, if you buy tickets, they will be a little cheaper now versus the dates you come in. Also, if you're 17 years of age or less, and this is the thing I like about the PGA, we put a lot of emphasis on youth, you get in for free, and so I think that's a great thing.
Also our PGA director tells us we have a couple of slots in the Pro-Am which is played on Tuesday of the event. So anybody that is interested in as a business or individually coming out and enjoying that, please call the telephone number or visit the Web site I gave you earlier.
In closing, I simply wanted to again say how proud I am of our Canterbury membership for hosting this, the PGA staff that's come on site, some people have been here for two or three -- I should say ten or 12, 14 months and certainly our volunteers, we have over 1,200 volunteers that have signed up and can really make this run.
But most importantly, I want to roll out the red carpet for the thousands of spectators, the people that really care and want to see great golfers like Jay here to my left play up close and personal. The red carpet is out for you, and I hope to see you in the end of May.
JULIUS MASON: Thank you very much and thank you for the hospitality you've shown us while we've been in town.
How about a local boy done good story here. He started his career at the local NBC affiliate in Cleveland, WKYC, moving up the network having positions at the NBC Nightly News, the Today Show, and ultimately full-time with NBC Sports where he is NBC's golf director. Please welcome a long time friend of the PGA of America, NBC Sports golf director, Doug Grabert.
DOUG GRABERT: Thank you. I would like to say, first thing I do every morning, I am a local fella, but I've been gone for a long time. Driving over today I was listening to the radio station most local people listened to back many, many years ago, and it just happened that two out of the three people said: There's some fella out in the hallway, he's pretty famous from Cleveland, you ever hear of him, his name is Bernie, Bernie Kosar. Needless to say, I've been gone from Cleveland since before Bernie was here.
Also, thank you for the weather. When we come out ahead of time, a year ahead of time back in October, we go to decide where we want to put our cameras and locations, and we come out with Kerry Haigh and four or five us from NBC. When we came out in October, it was so cold, they had to go out and find gloves in the lost and found at Canterbury. It was 30 degrees, no golf to be played, straw on the greens and fairways, but we really appreciate getting the gloves. Living in Connecticut like I do now, this is beautiful, so I'm enjoying it.
One thing, NBC has had a great relationship with the PGA of America over the years. We have been very fortunate. We have done this event, I have done it since probably 1990 when I started doing golf. The other event we get to do besides this championship is The Ryder Cup. And for all my fortunate events I've been to at NBC from the Olympics to the World Series to the Super Bowl, if anyone has not been to a Ryder Cup, there's nothing more special than any event I've ever done than a Ryder Cup. So I have never been there; I've been there since '91, all of the events, but I've never been there as a fan. I've always been there to work.
So if anyone gets a chance because the PGA of America knows how to put on a great, great event, and this one is a great event. We have had a great relationship, from times on the course when we played it down at PGA National, which was a great golf course, that's where we do the Honda Classic now. If you can break par at the Honda Classic now, you're in the Top-10.
But one of the best moves we ever made back seven or eight years ago was moving this championship around to all of the great courses. We have been fortunate that visit northeast Ohio at Firestone; Oak Tree, Oak Hill last year, Valhalla. They talk about changing venues, and this was a great, great move by the PGA of America to start moving it around and now we are going to get to see legendary Canterbury.
The announcers we'll have on 18, Dan Hicks and Gary Koch; and Bob Murphy, part of our senior crew will be out at the 16th hole; and the funny man of our crew, Roger Maltbie, will be walking, as will Mark Rolfing; and Jimmy Roberts will be here to do interviews as the players finish.
One person I didn't hear him introduced that I work closely with at the PGA of America is Kerry Haigh. There is nobody nicer and no better course preparer of major championships than Kerry Haigh. And the PGA of America knows that are very, very fortunate, not just from a TV standpoint, we read about it all the times, that the players say that Kerry Haigh really knows how to set up a championship course for everybody.
As jewels mentioned I am from here, I grew up on the east side, graduated from Kent State and was fortunate enough when I got finished with Kent to get an internship and become a full-time associate director at WKYC TV in Cleveland, and that's where I really learned the business. Did a lot of different things there, and then back in the 80s I had an opportunity to move to New York and started working for NBC Sports, and slowly but surely worked my way up the ladder to finally becoming a full-time director ten or 12 years ago and taking over for golf just will the last five or six years.
But I've done golf since 1990. I was looking back at it, and now that's really dating myself how old I've been. So it's great for me to come back here. It brings back a lot of memories, but I also have a few memories of Canterbury. The first major I directed for NBC was the '96 U.S. Senior Open and that's always going to be a fond memory in my life, because when you finally get to direct a major; not that any tournament is any different for me, but to direct a major really means a lot. I was fortunate to direct the '96 Senior Open.
But biggest memory I have from Canterbury is as a high school boy back in the early 70s. The PGA of America had a rule at that point, might have been the last year that they had to use local caddies at the PGA Championship. And I happened to grow up as a caddie at Kirkland Country Club and I was chosen as one of the three caddies to come over and caddie and get the opportunity to caddie at the PGA Championship.
I remember ten days before the event sitting out on the patio on an evening nervous as I am right now it and they started pulling names out of the hat. As they are going along, there are players, jam Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and they called my name and out of the hat they pulled Raymond Floyd. So that ended up being something for a high school boy, a memory I'll never forget. I have fond memories No. 1 of the PGA but also of Canterbury.
One last little note is when I was in high school, I was fortunate, I was a recipient of the Cleveland District Golf Association Caddie Scholarship.
And this is going to be a great week for everybody. The weather doesn't even have to be 80 degrees, if it's only in the 70s, we'll be happy but thank you very much and I think everyone is going to have a great, great week.
JULIUS MASON: Man, Jay, we might have somebody else getting more autographs than you this week. Thank you very much. Now from Ludlow, Vermont the 36th president of the PGA of America Mr. Jim Remy.
JIM REMY: Thank you, Julius. It's a pleasure to be here, and to Jay Haas, by the way one of the nicest people in the whole game and it's truly an honor to be here with you today.
Before I start I'm going to provide you with a little bit of information. I want to take the opportunity to tell you that one of great honors I have as president of the PGA of America is to take phone calls to recipients of awards that they have won an award. And one of my most exciting days was the day I got to call Mr. Powell, Bill Powell, to let him know that he is the Distinguished Service Award winner for 2009, and that will be presented at the PGA Championship this year. We are so proud of and you keep up the good work. I know Renee is going to keep a close eye on you and expect to see a lot more of you, so congratulations.
It seems appropriate that we get the opportunity to return to Canterbury Golf Club with senior golf's most coveted event after hosting some of the PGA of America's real jewels. If you recall, we hosted the memorable PGA Championship where Jack Nicklaus earned his second of five PGA Championships right here at Canterbury.
The PGA of America really is the backbone of golf. Since 1916, our goal has been to grow the game of golf and to improve the standards of our profession. We continue to do that today. A great example of what we do is teach the game, play the game and we are business leaders in the industry.
Since May coming up is Play Golf America month, we have two very special events I would like to help I learn more about. On Sunday May 17 is Ladies Play Golf America Day; by the way, free to all golf enthusiasts. So who says golf isn't affordable? From 1:00 to 4:00 PM at Stonewater Golf Club located in Highland Heights, the first 250 ladies to register will also receive two free practice rounds tickets to this event. They can find out more about that by going onto PlayGolfAmerica.com and find out some of the details on that. That's going to be a great event, and we are so happy to be involved with that.
On Monday May 18 we will feature a youth clinic featuring our Honorary PGA Member Dennis Walter and a junior clinic featuring PGA Members from the Northern Ohio Section, such tremendous supporters of junior golf. Within the State of Ohio, we have over 61,000 children that took part in junior clinics last year. This is a great section and they are really behind it. This will run from 4:00 to 6:00 PM and is located at The First Tee of Cleveland in Newburgh Heights. We expect to have over 200 children there, 25 PGA professionals and this will be benefitting local Cleveland area charities.
Several of the Cleveland-based charities that were selected for the Senior PGA Championship Community Relations Program are trying to change the growing concerns that cause youth hunger and the low high school graduation rate within Cleveland. The PGA Foundation, and thanks to Earnie Ellison for being here today, is so committed to helping change the statistics. Proceeds from the Senior PGA Championship Pro-Am scheduled for Tuesday May 19 will support the very special youth hunger project through a collaborative partnership among the United Way of Cleveland, Junior Achievement, the Cleveland Food Bank and the Achievement Centers for Children.
In total some 25 local charities will participate in the Senior PGA Championship Community Relations Program.
In less than three weeks the State of Ohio, Canterbury Golf Club and Cleveland will host the most historic and prestigious event in senior golf the Senior PGA Championship. It is an event that routinely features the strongest field in senior golf, and I'm glad to announce that this year is no exception. The number of players who have registered for this event and the quality of players is outstanding and it's a tribute to Canterbury Golf Club, we have: Greg Norman, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Sandy Lyle, Nick Price, Craig Stadler, Dave Stockton, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller and Ian Woosnam, just to name a few.
To date, after the exempt player deadline, we have 136 of the 156 players committed to the field. The final field will be determined April 27.
Now for you numbers people, take your pencils and note, currently the field has 104 U.S. players representing 30 states, 35 who earned their berth through the 2008 Senior PGA Professional National Championship. We have 32 international players representing 14 countries. 23 major champions who have won a cumulative of 42 major championships; nine Senior PGA Champions, ten Masters Champions; five U.S. Open Champions; seven British Open Champions; seven PGA Champions; 11 U.S. and European Ryder Cup Captains; and eight World Golf Hall of Famers. Wow, how is that for a field.
Last year as re we call the Senior PGA Championship was played at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester. In 1976, the individual sitting next to me turned professional and we are really graduate he is enjoying a good year, is off to a good start: Fifth on the Money List, two Top-10 performances in six events, fourth in scoring with a scoring average of 69.61. He tied for fifth in greens in regulation, 20 in putting and 22 on driving accuracy and I know he's focusing on the Senior PGA at Canterbury. We know him as the defending Senior PGA CHAMPION and a real friend to not only the game of golf, but to PGA Professionals everywhere.
Just in case you're a little fuzzy remembering the details of his win last year, we have something that might help you remember. So please take a few moments to look at the monitor.
(Video played)
Ladies and gentlemen, please help me to welcome the 2006 and 2008 Senior PGA Champion, Jay Haas.
JAY HAAS: Good morning. Thanks for being here, everybody. If any of you can take that trophy with one arm and lift it above your hard, we'll give you an exemption into the tournament in May. (Laughter).
I do not ever get tired of watching that film there or watching that shot go in. That was on Saturday last year, kind of a miracle shot, once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. As you can see it was a pretty good shock on my face when I saw it go in the hole.
I didn't realize, obviously during the telecast there, what a big deal they made about my experience there in the '95 Ryder Cup. If I can bore you with the story, we came down, had a big lead on Sunday, and I was the 11th match out that day, and Phil Mickelson was behind me. Phil was like 14 years old I think back then. (Laughter).
But he had dusted off somebody early, and it turns out I was the only match on the course and I was 3-down with three to play, and if I tied my match, we would tie The Ryder Cup and retain it because we won it the year before. And I happened to win 16 and then bogeyed 17, so now I got on 18 tee, and it's a very difficult hole. If you've been to Oak Hill, it's quite a challenge. But I almost choked my guts out basically, but as you can see, I was using one of those wooden drivers. Today we have these big heads, you can't hardly miss one. I hit a terrible drive.
During the week last year, we talked about that, some of the press guys and I remembered it. I would see the highlights of The Ryder Cup on the GOLF CHANNEL and I would just immediately turn it off. I just felt so nauseous about it almost, you know; and there were other guys, it wasn't just me. There were a few other guys that didn't finish the way they wanted to finish that day. I just could hardly watch it. Anyway, it came down to that last hole, and here I have a one-shot lead; I bogeyed 17 to make sure I only had a one-shot lead.
But I don't think I'll ever forget the feeling that I had hitting those two shots there. They showed the drive. I hit a beautiful 6-iron and lagged a putt down there, certainly not close enough, but managed to shake that one in. And I heard earlier on the other film, Denis Watson said he thought it was the crowning achievement of his career.
And I definitely think that last year's victory was, for me -- I did win at Oak Tree three years ago, and that to me obviously was the greatest accomplishment personally in my golfing career.
But last year, exorcizing those demons I guess you might say, and the history of Oak Hill, kind of combined. On the film they panned across on the wall there and they call it -- where any of the champions from that tournament or from a tournament at Oak Hill will get a brass plate on there, so I will be on that wall.
I can talk about where these tournaments, where we get to play these events; the PGA of America, how they have gone to these old club, these classic old clubs, and we are so looking forward to coming to Canterbury. It fits right into the Oak Hills and where we have gone lately, and what a tribute it is for us to be able to go to these great golf courses and they are not just pushing us to the side. I think all of the players, we love that; and to be able to come here; to think that there was a PGA Championship here years ago and U.S. Open Championship here, it's a pleasure to come.
Jim read off the list of a lot of the players that will be here, and each and every year, the field gets deeper and deeper. You just look yesterday, if anybody watched that, with Tom Lehman winning his first senior event; I kind of shake my head and think, that guy's 50 already? Doesn't seem possible. Bob Tway I think will make his debut here in a few weeks.
It's getting tougher and tougher to win a tournament, tougher and tougher to be up there on the Money List every year. To have my name on that trophy a couple of times, is, like I said, the crown achievement of my career. To be here as a defender is really special.
I've already run into more people today who talk more about my caddie than me here, actually, Tommy Lamb grew up caddying at this golf course, and he has told me about Canterbury for years and years. And he knows the Caddiemaster, Mike, and if I have a home-field advantage, that would be it. Still have to hit the shot. But I think without question, he has as much local knowledge as anyone here.
I met Tommy I guess in the 80s at a Senior Players Championship, and he caddied for my Uncle Bob. The story goes, I was just saying earlier, he was like 14 years old and Bob had a guy come, when he came for Media Day, and that guy got booted out. He got in trouble or something. And then Bob had a caddie in the practice round, and Bob booted him out. So Mike, the Caddiemaster said: "I've got somebody for you, Tommy." He tells this story now. He says, "God, he's got nobody." And Mike says, "Tommy, get up here." And so he's 14, caddied for my Uncle Bob here, and that was kind of meeting of Tom Lamb for me, and he's been a caddie for me now for about 20 years. It will be fun. I'll have to calm him down because we will have all of the spectators hollering at him rather than the players.
What a treat it is to be here for me and to get to be the champion of this event. That earlier film that you saw, although I didn't know a lot of those people, I knew all of the names up there, what a great collection of champions and wonderful people that have been in this game. The PGA of America is the root of what we do. Can't say enough about all of these guys up here and everybody, the Club Professionals around the country, for us to be able to play in this championship is a great honor that we do not take lightly.
Thank y'all for being here. It's, again, a pleasure for me to be the defender. Hopefully I can get things going a little bit this year. It's been a little bit slow. I've had a couple of chances to win, but Bernhard has been pretty hard to handle here and he will definitely be a factor, along with quite a few other guys. Last year kind of gave me a real spurt for the year to win this tournament last year, and I'm looking forward to maybe that happening again.
Again, thanks for being here.
JULIUS MASON: This is our question-and-answer portion of the news conference, ladies and gentlemen. Jay, this is not your first time to Canterbury, right?
JAY HAAS: No. I have not played the course, but I was here at a rehearsal dinner party here, had dinner here one night. Took a ride around the golf course a little bit and saw a lot of the holes and the course looks like it's in outstanding condition; we'll play later.
There was some talking about the routing of the golf course, and I think that we'll talk about that as we go along, but I did get a nice view of the last three holes, and wow, pretty difficult holes under some pretty tense conditions, there should be some great stuff coming down the stretch.

Q. What did you think when you saw Oak Hill on the schedule; and talk about exorcizing the demons, and what would you tell Kenny Perry going back to the Masters next year?
JAY HAAS: Well, now I have a great history at Oak Hill, but I played -- and that's probably only my fifth major competition there over the years. I've played in the U.S. Open there and The Ryder Cup and the PGA, Senior PGA. It just seems like every six or eight years, I have gone back there.
My caddie for a long time was Bill Harmon, who is the son of Claude Harmon, brother of Craig Harmon, who Craig is the pro and has been there the there for maybe 35 years or something at Oak Hill. So I had been to Oak Hill, other than the championships that I competed in. So I know the golf course and I know the clubhouse, and what a great history they do have there.
But you're right, I did not think I would get another chance to compete there. And to go out on the notion that I gagged it in The Ryder Cup was not the way I wanted to think about that. Although when Shaun Micheel won, I had a good championship there and played well enough to qualify for The Presidents Cup at the end of that year.
I played well at that golf course, but to finish it off, to cap it off with a win was beyond my wildest dreams I guess.
As far as Kenny, I think I'm like everybody else maybe in this room, and feel terrible for him. Watching that tournament as it unfolded, it was certainly his event. He played so well for so many holes. Never seemed rushed, never seemed out of control. The chip obviously at 17 was something he didn't want to do, but a bogey there wasn't the end of the world.
You know, everything that unfolded there, all of a sudden Angel is holding the trophy, it just didn't seem justified or something. For him going back there next year, you know, that's all they will talk about, and it will be difficult for him.
And he's the kind of -- he can go two ways with it, I guess. He can just say: I'm tired of talking it and don't want to talk about it anymore, or embrace it; and I kind of did, I guess, and tried not to think too much about the bad stuff but maybe learn from it.
What I learned was I tried to be too fine when I hit that drive in '95. I tried to be too perfect, and I told Billy Harmon in years after that think wish I had just gotten up there and swung the club as hard as I could swing it like, I was in a driving contest; and couldn't hit a worse drive.
So that helped me in the future coming down the stretch. If Kenny comes out and finishes off the rest of the year, wins some tournaments, then I don't think it will be a big issue with him. But you just don't get that many chances to win major tournaments, and I'm sure it will come back to him and hopefully not haunt him.

Q. No matter where you go for a major, the face that you're a local guy and you know so much about the course, will there be extra pride in the way it's presented?
DOUG GRABERT: I think you will see subtle difference. But the highlight for me is when we go to different golf courses, and since we have the USGA package and this, we go to like 28 events a year, and to go back and forth, first thing I do when I come to a golf course on a Monday afternoon or Tuesday is to go out and ride the course over and over again trying to realize what cameras are seeing the shots. So for me the biggest thing for me is just remembering what cameras are on each hole.
So I think in the long run, that's where my -- where I think -- I just got finished, somebody that I just went to college with said, where did you get the tan, and I just got off doing seven events in the last eight weeks.
When you go to a golf course, it really helps to go to someplace that you remember, or even in the back of my mind, because the producer will say, let's go to 12. I have to realize what cameras are on the 12th hole immediately, instantaneously. So in that regard, that's what's going to help me the most being here.

Q. From a technical point of view, old-style design, does that lend itself to better coverage?
DOUG GRABERT: For the cameramen it's a little bit more difficult, because it's so tree-lined. That's how it was at Oak Hill, Valhalla, and you get to some older-style courses; there are so many trees lining the courses and the fairways are much narrower. So for following the golf ball, it's a little bit more difficult, rather than when you get to a regular, newer course; it's kind of spread out. So in that regard, it's a little bit more difficult with everything being tree-lined.
And another note for the way the NBC coverage goes here, we are very fortunate. I had three regular cameramen who live here in the Cleveland area, one of them is friends with Jay's caddie, Tommy, but I have three local cameramen who do 90 percent of our golf tournaments here locally. So it will bring our more of the flavor of how good and rich of a tradition Cleveland has with golf.

Q. A lot of talk was made in the last several years about the improvements of the equipment and the ball, wonder if you think that has helped the seniors more than the regular TOUR players?
JAY HAAS: I guess I can only speak for myself in that regard, but I think without question, equipment has allowed us to hit the ball farther, play better, score better.
I shudder to think that we would still be playing with the drivers -- the other day I was at home, I pulled out a driver I used back in the 80s and I pulled out the first metal wood I used and one that I used about six years ago and the one that I use today, and it's a newer model and it's lighter. Each one got bigger, and I look at that first one with the wooden head and it's the size of a hybrid club almost. It's amazing where the clubs have gone, and what it has allowed us to do.
For me, I tell people all the time, in the early 80s they first started doing the statistics, and my first year, I was about 252, 253 was my average driving distance. And for the last six or eight years, it's been about anywhere from 275 to 278, somewhere in there.
So 25 years longer, 25 years older, that doesn't compute. So I will say that most of the golf courses that we go to have been lengthened, so they maybe wouldn't have had to do that if we would have had the old equipment.
But I think for me, yes, it has helped me and it's helped the guys stay more current, say, and so you're seeing a lot of guys in their late 40s still be very competitive on the PGA TOUR, and I think that helps the depth of the Champions Tour when the guys come out and are still very current, playing well, and I think 30 years ago, you never saw a guy in his late 40s, Sam Snead, play well into his 50s and 60s.
There are very few people who kept their games intact when they were in their late 40s. There was no Champions Tour to go to, so you had to start looking for another job. So the equipment has allowed us to stretch our careers longer.
JULIUS MASON: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us today.

End of FastScripts




About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297