FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 10, 2003

Tom Kite

PHIL STAMBAUGH: You shot a 66 the first time you played this golf course. Also, you made a nice par-saving putt on the last hole.

TOM KITE: Yeah, that was a good putt. That was pleasing. Yeah, I'd like to have a few more of those 66s. This golf course this doesn't give that many good scores. Right now, it's playing fairly benign because of all the rain that you've had around this area. The golf course is fairly soft, the greens are receptive, more so than what you would normally expect when you come into this area.

So there will be some good scores today, and if we get some more rain and if we don't get any wind, there will continue to be scores, fairly low scores this week, just because I think the golf course is a little bit softer.

Playing a little bit longer than what we are normally used seeing, but when the ball stops quickly on the green, it makes it a little bit easier for the guys to shoot low scores. And the golf course is in perfect condition. So going to be some good ones.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: You did not have a bogey.

TOM KITE: Yeah, that helped out a little bit. I had kind of a so-so front nine, made one birdie, made about a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 3 and parred everything else, and really was kind of disappointed in the way I was scoring on that first nine holes.

Then all of a sudden everything kind of lit up a little bit. I made -- I guess I had four 3s in a row to start off the back nine.

Nice birdie on 10, made about a 15-footer, pitching wedge.

Hit a nine-iron in about 12 feet on No. 11 and made birdie.

Parred No. 12 and then hit a driver.

And a 5-wood about five feet on 13 and made that for eagle. So that was kind of a nice little -- a nice little hit in the middle of the round.

A couple good pars in a row the next couple of holes and then birdied No. 16. Hit a 9-iron about 12 feet and made that.

Then made two good saves on 17 and 18. 17, I tried to go for the green in two and put it up to the right on that hill in that very, very high rough, and went right underneath it and just fluffed and kind of left it there. Had almost the exact same shot, just a few yards in front of me. Then played a nice shot and got it up there about three feet and made a good par save.

Then hit a 3-wood off the tee on 18 and pulled it just a little bit, and landed up just in the left rough, but it kicked left and rolled down in the hazard, but it wasn't in the water. It was in the dried area of the bank and everything, and I was able to just take a sand wedge and chop it out in the fairway with a nice 7-iron from 156 yards and made a good -- it was probably about a 20-footer, maybe 18 or 20 feet on the last hole to finish out on a nice, high note.

Q. When you are one of the first players getting in, do you feel it's into nice to get your score in the books, maybe with the rain coming?

TOM KITE: No question. We don't know what the weather is going to do. It looked like when I walked over here, I was talking to one of the officials and he said it looked like the stuff was trying to go south of us, which we may get this round in, which would be very fortunate.

When I saw the forecast for what was in store for us today, I was pleased with that early morning tee time because I felt like I had a chance to get in the round in without having a rain delay.

Yeah, again, we talked about how good of shape the golf course is in. This is one you always expect to be in good shape, but it seems like this year, it's in even a little bit better condition than it's been the last few years. I'm sure all of the rain has had a lot to do with that, but it's just such a pleasure to play. You get out there in those conditions when the wind is not blowing much and the humidity is fairly high; so the greens are not drying out, they are staying soft. It's just great conditions for shooting good scores.

Q. If we get rain tonight and then it goes away for tomorrow, will the numbers go maybe even lower because of the soft greens?

TOM KITE: I can't imagine them going any lower than they are right now. I mean, sooner or later, this golf course is going to bite back and is going to get its licks in. There will be some good scores, but, you know, I don't anticipate it being -- this golf course probably cannot play easier than it did today. I don't think I've ever played it when there was less wind out there than there was today, and at times, there was absolutely nothing. You just throw the grass up and it's like a parachute going down, it was nothing.

The golf course was out there for the taking today. But before the week is over, it will get its licks in.

Q. What was your mindset coming in, were you feeling pretty confident with your game heading into this round?

TOM KITE: Yeah, actually. Even though I haven't done a whole lot this year, I'm feeling pretty good about my game. I've been hitting the ball a little better lately, and I haven't hit the ball nearly as well as I have the last couple of years so far, but the last couple of tournaments I've played a little bit better. And I've really seen some encouraging signs on the putting, and certainly I putted very well today. So I'm quite optimistic with where my game is headed.

Q. On No. 15, you approached the group in front of you to apologize for something?

TOM KITE: Oh, what happened, we got up on the tee, and you know the 16th hole has that big between on the left-hand side and you cannot see the left-hand side of the landing area. We stepped up on the tee and looked, and there was nobody in the fairway that we could see and nobody on the green. The marshal on the tee didn't say that they were still down there, so we couldn't see the group in front of us. I hit a shot, and it was right over the mound where you're supposed to play and all of a sudden they popped out and said -- so I hit into that group. I mean, obviously, it's my fault, I guess, but it's one of those deals where I kind of expected if they were still down there, you just expect a marshal to hold us up, especially since we couldn't see the group over the hill and there was nobody there.

So when they popped out, it felt like I needed to run up there and at least tell them I'm sorry. Wasn't trying to rush them up.

Q. Going pack to your putting, you said there were encouraging signs. Anything specific about that?

TOM KITE: Yeah, I've been doing some work on my putting the last few weeks and adjusted the ball position. It helped with my stroke quite a bit.

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