An interview with:
TOM KITE

RAND JERRIS: It's a pleasure to welcome 1992 US Open champion, Tom Kite. Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. Two third-place finishes in the Senior Open in the last three years. Can you talk to us a little about what the Senior Open means to a former U.S. Open champion.

TOM KITE: Well, I think it's probably the next best thing. Obviously the U.S. Open is the kingpin of all of the major championships and in my opinion No. 1 tournament in the world. But once you get to our age and our level this is certainly the premiere tournament on the Champions TOUR right now so this is one that everybody shoots for, this and the Senior PGA, which we had a couple of weeks ago, are the two top tournaments and so these are the ones that you really focus in on. Golf courses are usually set up wonderfully well. This golf course is set up magnificent. This will be every bit as difficult as what we had in any one of the major championships that we played here at Inverness.

In a lot of respects this golf course will be probably more difficult or certainly as difficult as what we saw the weeks ago at Olympia Fields. The golf course is just really set up to the nines and it will be a great pleasure to play.

RAND JERRIS: You mentioned the past major championships that were here. You played in three major championships, two PGA and a U.S. Open, what are your memories of the golf course and what do you expect to see out there this week.

TOM KITE: The key thing on this golf course is the greens. The severity and the size of these greens makes this a very demanding golf course. One, you have small greens like this, it putts such a premium on all aspects of your game. If you don't hit the fairways you're not going to have many opportunities to hit the greens. If you don't hit your irons well you are going to miss some of these greens because they are small so you are going have to have to operate scrambling with bunker shots, pitch shots and chip shots and putting is always key.

I love the golf courses with the very small greens like this. I think it really puts a premium, or it balls everything out where there is not so much an emphasis on any one aspect of your game. You have to come with all of your barrels loaded if you will because it's such a wonderful golf course.

RAND JERRIS: Some questions out here.

Q. You talk about how your game has changed in the last 25 years, you personally; how it has changed?

TOM KITE: Well, I wish that I had the golf swing 25 years ago that I have right now. I wish I had the conditioning 25 years ago that I have now. I think I would have won a lot more tournaments. Obviously, I did a lot of great things with the short game back then that really carried me and saved me an awful lot from my wedges and my chipping, my bunker play and putting. That part of the game is not as sharp as what it used to be. So I have become a better ball striker from tee to green. But I haven't been quite as good in the short game area and that's obviously something that I am really keying on. I am working very hard on my short game right now trying to get that thing back to a level that is reminiscent of what I had 25 years ago or 10 years ago.

Q. Tom, starting with the third hole, I think you played yesterday?

TOM KITE: Yes.

Q. Starting with hole No. 3, can you talk about the five-hole stretch and what demands it brings in there and what ramifications it might have to the eventual outcome?

TOM KITE: Well, those are obviously a very, very difficult stretch of golf holes. As you know, a couple of those holes are new, are new in relationship to the original design. We have now played them for a number of years and, quite honestly, the first year we played those holes they did not look like they fit. They didn't look like they belonged with the rest of the golf course. But as they have matured, as the trees have grown in and the maintenance practices have been improved on those holes, well, then they look like they come closer to fitting than they did when they were originally designed. So that's pleasing.

That's one of the things that we talked about last week, that when you come here and you see how those holes have improved it flows a little bit better. Of course, it creates some traffic flow problems because of the long walks from green to tee. The long walk from 3 to 4, from 4 to 5 and then from 6 to 7; probably adds 15 or 20 minutes to the round that we're playing. Not so much because how we are playing because you got to get from the green to the next tee. And in that regard it's pretty unfortunate.

One of the great qualities of so of these old golf courses is that you walk off the green and there is the next tee. And that shortens the amount of time that you spend on a golf course and shortens the time frame for the rounds. To me that's enjoyable. What happens between those holes I think is unfortunate but the holes themselves are beginning to look like  -- I won't say beginning to  -- they are looking more like they belong on the golf course than they did the first few years.

Q. Can you talk about the difficulty of that stretch and in particular maybe numbers 4 and 7 which are Ross's two best known par-4's back there?

TOM KITE: The two most severe greens. Two of the best vertical greens in existence. Most greens they lay in there horizontal. These are tilted. They are pretty close to vertical. You know, they have really done something nasty on No. 4 this year that I don't remember from years past, the ball coming as far off the green with the false front as it used to. Obviously the green was very, very severe. Always has been. But I don't remember the ball coming 20 and 30 yards off of the green in years past. I think that's one of the things that Tom Meeks is falling in love with. We seem to see it at a number of USGA, Southern Hills and on Olympia Fields where they have false fronts on the front of the green and they shave the front of the green down so the ball runs back 40 or 50 yards back from the green and usually winds up in a patch of divots.

We saw it at Olympia Fields, we saw it at Southern Hills, personally, I don't thing it's a great practice. I don't think the original designers of the golf course wanted it that way. I don't think Harry Maxwell designed the 18th hole at Southern Hills to do that. I don't think that Donald Ross designed the fourth hole to come back here that far short.

Anyway, that's the way they set it up so that's going to be very, very difficult to have that happen when you hit a ball that is a significant distance into the green and then it starts coming back and not only does it roll off the green but it rolls quite a distance away from the green and then into the rough. I think that might be a little bit of overkill if you will. But those two holes are fabulous golf holes. Again, you have to drive the ball in the fairway to have a chance to hit the green. And then you better hit a quality iron shot to get it on the green. And in both of those cases just getting it on the green and keeping it to green is not the total solution to the problem. It's very difficult putting once you get on those greens. Those are very tough.

The par-3s that we play in that stretch that you talked about, 3 and 6. 6 they have a lot of distance to. That is a very difficult green to get close to the pin on. With a long iron now or a medium long iron. And No. 3, that will get your heart pumping any place you put that hole in the round, whether it's the 17th hole, 16th hole or third hole; that hole is quite a challenge. You better be ready to go early in the round.

Q. Tom, you mentioned the need for premium for accuracy off the tee, then the smaller it gets off the green then the greens themselves being so difficult to maneuver on, how does that change your preparation time? You said it's important that the greens are the key, but does this increase your preparation time in terms of practice because of the overall challenge you're going to have?

TOM KITE: Not really. You know, you are going to have to drive the ball well with whatever club you choose. I think you will see a lot of -- even with the increased length in the golf course. I think somebody totaled it up we are playing 120 or 130 yards longer than they did in the PGA Championship in '93 for the Senior Open. And, they have some additional tees to go back when and if -- is this going to be and open site? They haven't announced it. Obviously I'm hopeful to try to get another Open here. We are playing a much longer golf course than we have ever played here before. And I still think that you will see a lot of 3-woods off of some of these tees just to get the ball in play. It may give you a little longer shot into the green. But playing out of the short grass is the start of having a chance.

Q. (Inaudible)

? TOM KITE: It seems like somebody made a pretty good bunker shot once here. Well, the first championship I played here I missed the cut. I was so bummed out I think my wife and I stopped by Baskin Robbins and probably consumed a whole turtle pie that night.

Inverness is just a wonderful golf course. I have not had great success here before in major championships. I came in here one time having won the week before. I won at the Kemper the week before we came here and was playing very, very well and did not play well during the championship. So I am looking forward to renewing a battle here with this golf course because I feel like I'm playing better now than I have shown here at Inverness. So I am looking forward to this challenge.

Q. Not to put you on the spot but since you sort of brought it up a minute ago based on what you seen yesterday and will see, would you endorse this as an Open course?

TOM KITE: No question. No question. This is awesome. The golf course is exactly what the USGA looks for. The PGA also. I think this belongs in the rotation. This golf course is all world.

Q. My second question if I can remember, yesterday, today, tomorrow, hot, sunny, greens getting faster and faster now they are talking maybe rain Thursday and Friday, my question is how difficult is it on you guys to prepare for a course one way and then see a change when the time comes to tee it up for good?

TOM KITE: Not that difficult. I mean we want to learn as much as we can about the golf course but in my opinion, the No. 1 thing that separates the professionals, the really good professionals from the amateurs, and even the club pros who play this game is our ability to adjust to different conditions. Because we play different golf courses in different parts of the country week after week and you are constantly having to change to adjust your techniques.

One week you are playing on Bermuda grass, the next week bent and rye. One week you got course sand, the next weak fine powder, fluffy sand. The guy's ability to adjust to varying conditions like that is incredible to me. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly we all are able to adjust to those difficult conditions. It's just a question of doing it.

Q. Do you do anything to prepare for this venue since you played here before?

TOM KITE: Not really, you try to get your game in as good as shape can you every week out of the year. Yes, this is a bigger event than most of the tournaments that we play in, but we are -- in a stretch right now of a lot of major championships. We played the Senior PGA. I played the U.S. Open. Now we are playing here.

I got the Ford Senior two weeks from now. The British Seniors the week after that  -- two weeks after that.

Watson and Irwin and a couple of us are in the same boat where we just got a bunch of major, major, major; one right after another. So hopefully we have done all of the preparation and got our games in good shape coming into the stretch because it's a difficult stretch to have to work very hard on. You want to be kind to yourself and be kind to your body and be mentally ready to go for these weeks. So you don't want to have to spend a lot of time searching for a game especially in '95 degree temperature with high humidity. You don't want to be searching for a game this week. So I hope I am playing well. I do feel like I am doing some nice things right now.

Q. Your thoughts on all of the majors, all of the big tournaments seem go to be maybe six weeks a part; do you like that, would you like to see it different from that, a little more spread out?

TOM KITE: It's kind of hard to have major championships in the wintertime. They belong in the summer. That's really when they have to happen. You know, in our situation, even though we are not getting in quite as many as we used to, there are a number of us who still have the opportunity to play at some major championships the regular TOUR and then we play now five major championships on the Champions TOUR. All of a sudden that's quite a run.

Yes, it would be nice if it was spread out a little bit. But I would 20 times rather play these quality of tournaments on this quality of golf course week after week than to play just a normal tournament be it on the PGA TOUR or the Champion's Tour. These are fun. They are demanding. These are hard. This is what golf is all about as far as I'm concerned. I think all of the top players in the field just start salivating when they get to a golf course like this and have a chance to compete at this level.

RAND JERRIS: Tom, thank you very much. We wish you luck.

TOM KITE: Thank you.

Fastscripts by ASAP Sports....