UBS CUP

November 23, 2003

Hale Irwin

GORDON SIMPSON: We have Hale Irwin with us. You were breaking records out there every time we looked at the leaderboard, 7 and 5 a record. Four in a row, twice -- a record and you did it twice. Tell us a little bit about how it went today.

HALE IRWIN: What did you just say? Do we have an interpreter here?

I had a wonderful day today. Really, the tempo I think was set yesterday. I played very well yesterday, as well. The day started kindly for me. Bernhard gave me the second hole after a poor drive at the second. He hit it over into the marsh, but I don't want to say it was a turning point necessarily, but on the third I made quite a long putt for a birdie, perhaps 40 feet, 45 feet, and he was in there about 10 feet for a birdie. So what appeared to be -- I was hopeful of getting a half out of it and I got a win out of it. It looked as if I might go from 1-up to even, and at best probable come out of it 1-up, but I came out of it 2-up.

And then I proceeded to birdie the next two holes. He did make a nice birdie at the 7th, but I birdied the 8th and 9th to turn it 5-up. We both birdied the 10th. I birdied the 11th, and hit it quite close at 13, without having to putt that putt.

Just one of those days that had I been in his shoes it would have been a very discouraging day. I have been over there. I can tell you what it's like to see your opponent really not give you any openings and continue knocking the flag down, and that's exactly what I had today. A very good day. I didn't drive the ball particularly well, but my iron game was just right on and I made some really terrific putts. The kind of day you hope to have any day, but in match-play it can be a very discouraging day.

I must say about Bernhard, we've learned through the years, and certainly I have to, this gentleman is not discouraged. He keeps his emotions well under control. We can go back a number of years to Kiawah and how well he handled that event, and then go home to Germany the next week and win. He just did not let up. Coming back in the cart I told him, I learned an awful lot from you some 12 years ago of how you handled adversity and come back and do what you did.

GORDON SIMPSON: He said some very kind words about you on television, as well.

HALE IRWIN: We've been friends a long time. Everybody that plays this game, particularly when you get this age, we've played together a long, long time and we all know one another, and we know the families and we know the kids. Many of us will be down at the father/son together. We are all extended family. It's always an honor and a treat to play with someone like Bernhard. And he being chosen the Ryder Cup captain is quite an honor and I congratulate him on that, and I truly mean it. I think he's one of those class of people that have come out of Germany and really established himself and his country. It putt golf on the map that I think it should be on, if that makes any sense to anybody.

Q. Did you want to keep going to see if you could shoot 59?

HALE IRWIN: No. I figured the less swings I make, the better off my back will be. They were kind. They did give me a putt at the second for a birdie. It was not the easiest putt, it was perhaps maybe 12 feet. I would have had to make that to shoot -- when they announced I shot 29, I thought -- I hadn't really considered it, because it's not stroke-play. I didn't even know -- I guess there's only one par 5 on the front; is that right? In match-play you don't pay attention to that, I just go play.

Q. What was the biggest difference between your play today and Friday?

HALE IRWIN: Friday, I played with Raymond in alternate shot. It's so hard to get into a rhythm. I think the biggest problem I had was that having to wait, with my back and some of the other issues that are going on because of my back, I just get tight. I just couldn't make those swings like yesterday, today; you hit, you go and you hit it again. You can keep yourself sort of going. When you have to stand around and wait for your next shot which may be 10, 15, 20 minutes away, it doesn't lend itself to good stuff. I just found myself very, very tight and never got into the match. I must say that Monty and Bernhard played very well. There was no one in this field certainly that could have beaten those gentlemen that day.

Q. Could you pick out one thing that you do better as a senior than you did on the regular Tour? Could be mental, technical, anything you like.

HALE IRWIN: One thing better? I can think of a lot of things I do worse. I don't know if it's better. It may be it's in comparison to others. I don't know if there is any facet of my game -- perhaps I might putt a little better. I would have to say this has not been a particularly good putting year for me. The last several years I've led The Champions Tour in putting and putted very, very well. This year I did not putt well. I think statistics would certainly bear that out. But I did make a slight adjustment at the Schwab Cub Championship, our last event, and my stance which seemed to give me optically a little better look at the ball, the line. I did go back to -- I went back to a putter that I used to win the '90 U.S. Open, a longer putter, similar blade. Everything is a little different. So a little bit here and a little bit there can make for a lot of difference. It's a little longer putter, as well. I think by standing up and making that little bit of a stance adjustment really allowed me to see the line a little better.

I got here this week, looked in my bag for the putter and I remember leaving it at home. I was out prior to coming down here on a Monday afternoon, I was at home. I put in an artificial putting green, I was practicing my putting, and I know exactly where the putter is. It's up in my shop, up on the counter, and I just forgot to pack it. So when I got down here, I didn't have the putter I had been using for the last week. But I did use a putter that I've been using for several years, so it wanted a big change, but it was again a little different.

Q. What kind of putter was that?

HALE IRWIN: The old putter was an old TaylorMade 3. I don't think they make it anymore, although they said they will make me another one. And then on Friday I used a TaylorMade Rossa, I can't remember the name of it, but it was a TaylorMade. And then I went back to the Scotty Cameron that I've been using, although the Rossa and the Scotty Cameron are identical putters. There's not any difference. I just putted better. Again, getting into the flow of things, you're continuing to play.

Q. Hale, did you guys out there try to keep tabs on what was going on with the Presidents Cup today?

HALE IRWIN: I just heard they were in a momentous playoff, which is, I suppose, when you look at what's happened down there, I can only imagine the momentum swings that have happened in the last several days. I have to think the emotions that those players have gone through have been very high and very low, and now put it right down squarely on the shoulders, two broad shoulders of two very, very good players. It saves a lot of time and effort putting those two gentlemen out there on Friday. Maybe it's right that Tony and Arnie finish in a draw. There are just some things that ought to be.

GORDON SIMPSON: Once again, fantastic play.

HALE IRWIN: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.