Bob May - Press Conference

JULIUS MASON: Bob May, ladies and gentlemen, your runner-up in the 82nd PGA Championship.

Bob, congratulations. If it's possible, we'd ask for some of your thoughts on what happened out there today.

BOB MAY: My thoughts were I just wanted to go out and play a good solid round of golf today. I never played so much golf in my sleep last night. I mean, I slept great until the alarm clock went off, but all I was doing was playing these holes in my sleep. I was like, wow, you know, played that hole again, and I'd wake up -- not really wake up, just kind of turn over, and it was kind of weird.

I woke up; I was fresh, but I felt like I played golf all night.

Came out and got off to a good, solid start, and I think that helped, hitting some good solid shots early on. And I think I proved to a lot of people that I can play under the heat.

JULIUS MASON: Let's go over your card real quickly.

BOB MAY: I birdied the 2nd hole. I hit a good drive out there, and I was trying to hit a 4-iron on the right-hand side of the green with a draw and kind of run it back in there because I figured the green was going to be pretty firm, and I pulled it left and it went into the bunker short of the green, which wasn't a bad place to miss it. And I consider myself a pretty decent bunker player; so liked my chances, and I hit a good bunker shot there and made a birdie.

Then I hit a good shot on the next hole, but didn't make the putt.

The next hole, I hit a decent shot off the tee, but the wind got it a little bit; pushed it in the rough. I hit a wedge out of the rough to about, oh, probably three feet. Made that.

Parred the next hole, which I felt I hit another really good iron shot right at the pin.

Then on No. 8 -- not No. 8, No. 6. I hit 8-iron and it was like 176 yards or 178 yards and wasn't exactly sure what the wind was doing. So, tried to hit it a little hard. It went over the back of the green, and unfortunately, it was in an area where -- someone else's chip. So, it was sitting down then I had a drain in front of me. I usually prefer to use like a 3-iron to chip and run it up those hills; and so I had to get something that I could get it in the air with. And hit an all right chip; didn't get it as close as I'd like, I guess probably six feet; missed that.

Hit a good drive off the next hole, hit a 3-wood just short of the green to the right about, I'd say, 30 yards and hit what I thought was pretty good chip, and it just spun real quick and stopped. Made par there.

I think I hit a good 7-iron on the next hole. Made a par there on the par 3.

9, I hit driver, sand wedge in there behind the hole. Misread it; made a par there.

Got to 10. Hit a good drive on 10. Hit a 3-wood, just caught the bunker. Hit out of the bunker to about ten feet. Made that for birdie.

Hit 8-iron on the next hole, I'd say about 25 feet, 20 feet, right of the hole, made that.

Then the next hole, 3-wood off the tee, and I hit 8-iron from 181 to about two feet, I guess, or three feet there.

Parred the next hole.

The next hole, I hit a 4-iron. I think it was playing 216 or something like that, 217, I can't remember. Hit a 4-iron right behind the hole there and I made that.

The next hole, I hit 2-iron off the tee. Hit 7-iron in there about, oh, eight feet, six feet, missed that.

Then parred 16 after hitting it in the rough off the tee.

Hit it in the rough on the tee on 17, made par there, 2-putted.

Then 18, I hit a decent drive down the fairway there, and hit a good 3-wood just on the front left; and the swales are pretty big out there. So, I thought I got hit this putt pretty hard. I was really concentrating on the line. Once you get over that hill, it starts going downhill, which I really didn't pay attention to. I just you know, worried about getting up that hill with a good, firm pace.

Once it got up the hill, it wasn't slowing down. The hill didn't take much pace of it off. Rolled all the way to the back of the green. From there, all I had to do was just get the right line because everything else was taken care of. The pace, all I had to do get the ball rolling; it was going to get to the hole. Fortunate enough, I pick the right line, hit a good solid putt and it went in, probably 15, 20 feet.

JULIUS MASON: Playoff holes?

BOB MAY: The first playoff hole, I was trying to cut a driver and I never completed my backswing. Kind of got out over the top of it and pulled it into the rough.

And then I hit out of the rough to the right of the green in some more rough. And then I hit a great chip shot. I knew I had to just barely get on the green there, because the green was so firm, and hit a chip shot, and it was probably one of the best shots I hit of the day; rolled right up there to about, I guess, four inches from the hole.

Next hole, I just wanted to hit a good, solid drive and figured out if I hit it solid, I might be able to get it over that bunker, but wanted to keep it down the left side. Pulled it a little bit and it went into the bank of the bunker. I tried to hit a 9-iron from there. Hit it into the front bunker, and I don't think the front bunker was too bad of a place. I thought I could maybe make the bunker shot and hit a decent bunker shot out; made that putt.

Then on 18, I just didn't -- another -- same thing at 16; never completed my backswing. Got out in front of it and pulled it, after the drive he hit. He left the door open, which was totally unexpected from Tiger, to hit a drive like that. And I was just trying to hit a good, solid drive down there and just got a little lazy on it; got over the top of it. Figured if I got it down in the fairway there, I could get home in two.

I didn't know where his ball was. I knew it hit the path. We thought it went forward and deeper into the bushes there. So then when I pulled my drive, then I realized I am going to have to -- hopefully get a good lie. And the lie I got wasn't too good, but it was one of those ones you are not sure what the rough is going to do: Is it going to turn the club over or not. When I hit it, actually opened the club up and I hit it right, and I was fortunate enough to catch decent lie up there where I could advance up to the green. I think I hit a pretty good putt there for birdie, and just wasn't hard enough.

Q. How long was the putt?

BOB MAY: Oh, probably 25 feet from -- 30 feet from below the swale down there on the right of 18.

Q. In the last five hours, you have gone from a relative unknown among golf fans to virtually a folk hero. Did you sense the electricity out there? And at what point did you know the fans were really rooting for you?

BOB MAY: I think the -- I think they started rooting for me when I birdied the 2nd hole and Tiger made an unfortunate bogey. You don't expect him to bogey a par 5.

And I think they kind of thought, 'okay, this is going to be a little interesting.' You know, I think they were expecting Tiger to come out and do like Tiger usually does. He is a great player and he has tendency to run away with things, and maybe they saw that, 'hey, maybe we are going to have a match on our hands today.'

But it was early in the round. But, they seemed to root for me all day and. It is tough out there. I turned to Tiger, I said, "Is this what you get every week?"

He says, "You got it." (Laughs).

I said, "Man that -- I could see how" -- you know, he can be a little irritable at times and people think that he is not being kind to people. But it is tough when you get that all four, five and a half hours a day. It is great to have fans. Fans make the golf tournament.

Q. Talk about the two putts on 18. How long did the putt in the playoff hold your interest and how long did it take for you to know that you had made the one in regulation?

BOB MAY: What was that?

Q. How long did the putt on the playoff hold your interest? Did you think you were going to make it?

BOB MAY: It held my interest -- well, I lost my interest real quick because I didn't think it was going to get up the hill. It finally crested the hill. I thought, "This has an outside chance." And then it just started diving out left, and, you know, after you see it going left, you know it is done and over.

And for the regulation putt, I figured if I just hit a good, solid putt, you never know what is going to happen. And it went in and first thing Steve Kaye said to me, who is caddying for me this week, said, "Partner, get ready. We are going into a playoff." He said, "He is not going to miss." He goes, "Just be ready." I think he wanted me to be -- you know, he didn't want me to think that we had won, and in case he, you know, he did make it like he did; and so we were focused and ready to continue.

Q. A lot of people around the world might have been surprised by your performance today. A lot of your peers had said they were not. I am wondering, were you surprised by how well you played today, or was this a fulfillment of some expectations you might have had after a great junior career?

BOB MAY: I think this is fulfilling some expectations I have had for myself that other people have had for me. I don't think -- you might say if I shot maybe 62 today and three 72s, it was kind of a fluke. But I shot 72 the first day and I have shot three rounds of 66 on a pretty good golf course. So, I don't think there is any fluke about that.

Q. The putt in regulation from the back fringe, at least from the angle we saw on television, appeared to be a double-breaker. Did you read it that way, or were you somewhat surprised when the ball curled to the left and went in the hole?

BOB MAY: Actually, I was playing it outside-left, and it was breaking back across the hole, and I don't know if it was coming back or not, but as slow as it was going, I think it was just taking tracks of maybe footprints or whatever. It just happened to catch that right side of the hole.

Q. Bob, for the last couple of months, the way Tiger has been playing, some other people in the game, people like Nicklaus and people like him, have said that unless somebody puts some pressure on him and raises their game and challenges him, he is going to get totally away from you guys. At any point in those two months did you ever think that guy was going to be you?

BOB MAY: No, I -- I have always thought that I have had a good game for majors, because I keep the ball in play pretty well -- where -- I have said this earlier, where par is a good score usually, I play pretty tough.

Tiger plays a different game than we play. He hits the ball incredibly far, as everyone knows. When we stood up on the 1st hole -- I hadn't had a chance to play with Tiger. I don't know, might have been the first time I played with Tiger, because when we were junior golf, he was only nine and I was 16; so he was still playing nine holes and I was playing full rounds.

But when he hit the tee ball off of No. 1 over those trees left, I knew it was going to be a different day today.

Q. Years from now, no matter what happens in the rest of your career, can you envision a day where your grandchildren will say, "Well, how good a player were you?" And you can say, "Well, there was a day in Louisville, Kentucky where I looked the best player in the world eye-to-eye and I almost beat him. That is how good I was."

BOB MAY: Sure.

Q. Can you imagine that?

BOB MAY: Sure. I mean, you know, it was -- if it -- if I would have won today, it would have been a dream come true. Not only to win a major, but to beat probably -- well, we can't say he is the best golfer ever to play; it wouldn't be fair to a lot of the other players that have played before him. But he may be, you know, when he is done, the best player. And I went head-to-head with him, and, you know, lost out in the playoff.

Q. You were, as you mentioned, seven years older than Tiger growing up. Were you aware about these so-called amazing feats when he was very, very young, and as you played around the world, were you keeping track of his progress?

BOB MAY: I have always kept track of Tiger. When he was growing up in junior golf, he was a very good player.

I am not trying to toot my own horn, but in southern California, I was before him and it was pretty much -- he wanted, you know, in some newspaper articles that say "I am going to beat Bob May's record" and this, this and this and this. Which he pretty much proceeded to do.

But it is kind of -- he kept on saying it and doing it and saying it and doing it. So I was hoping maybe I could get a chance to get back at him. (Laughter).

Q. It looked like when Tiger would make a shot, a big shot, he would give you a look. Was there a lot of gamesmanship going on out there and did you play gamesmanship on him?

BOB MAY: No, I don't think so. I think he just gets excited. He likes to show emotion on the golf course. I don't show a whole bunch of emotion, besides on that putt on 18 that I made. I don't try to get my adrenaline going up or down, and I don't think -- I mean, he looked over at me, but I don't think it was anything intentionally.

A lot of times I was telling him "good shots"; so that is part of the reason he'd look over. But he was a true gentleman to play with. He was very nice. We talked all day and I enjoyed the chance to go out and play with him today.

Q. Congratulations on a great performance. How critical was the 15th hole? It looked as though you might leave there with a 3-shot lead; instead, you left with a one-shot lead.

BOB MAY: Yeah, it was critical. It was a putt that if you get too aggressive, it could get away from you and run away.

I had a similar putt yesterday. Seemed to have a pretty decent break to it. So, tried to hit a soft putt and let it break down to the right and I hit it. When I hit it, I thought, "Oh, this is going to be a good putt." It just hung out there left. So, that was kind of surprising to me. So I thought I hit a pretty good putt there.

Q. First of all, congratulations, again. But I have to wonder what your confidence level is now for the rest of the year and if you are going to have to guard against an emotional letdown? And you guys looked emotionally drained at that last playoff hole. Your thoughts, please.

BOB MAY: An emotional letdown there -- there is no emotional letdown. You know, I was in a similar position; lost to his teammate in Memphis. There was no letdown about -- I mean, you get yourself in the position. You'd like to finish the deal off, but, you know, I think if I would have made a bogey or so coming in, then there would have been a little letdown.

But when I did get myself in trouble, I got out of it and got away with either a par, and then you know, birdies the last hole; so there is no letdown at all.

Q. Throughout the tournament, there has been a lot of things happened on the 18th hole. I wondered if you would discuss the -- specifically, 18; is that a place where you thought you could make birdies?

BOB MAY: 18 -- ever since we had the rain, 18 became a driver and a 3-wood fairway wood for me. Before it rained, I could have -- I was hitting driver, 3-iron to 5-iron in there, or 4-iron and when the fairways were harder. But once it rained, it made it a good two-shot hole for myself.

Q. Can you talk about the fact that -- your familiarity and how it helped you today with Tiger? Did it help at all knowing who he was in terms of growing up?

BOB MAY: Well, you know, Tiger and I, when we were growing up, I didn't spend much time with him because I was so much older. Different age brackets.

But knowing him, you know, I have talked to him here and there throughout the year, this year. But today, I really got to know a lot about Tiger Woods. Sometimes, I thought you know, maybe he doesn't handle himself that good with some of the press or here and there, and -- but after going out there this week. And seeing what he has to put up with -- I mean, granted, it is part of being famous, but it is hard on him. I mean, I could see how it is emotionally draining on him.

It is fun to have fans screaming and hollering your name, but once in a while, I think he would like to come to a tournament and just be able to play.

Q. Did you sense the drama that we all did as we were watching this? As you were in the middle of it, did you sense that this was very special? And then also, another question: This is -- was there ever a point in your career where you never foresaw this day where maybe golf was not happening for you or --

BOB MAY: Well, back -- I would say when I lost my card in 1994, that was -- was pretty down and out. And I always, you know, wanted to play golf. I was thinking, "Man, this was no fun this year."

I went over to Europe and I start started playing well, and I got a lot of confidence over -- by playing in Europe. And the European Tour was good to me. The guys over there were very nice. I was fortunate enough to build my game back up to where I thought it belonged, and decided to go through Tour School this year and come back over here.

I don't think you could come over here and not be ready to play. You have to be ready to play because you have got -- you have got Tiger Woods. You have got David Duval. You have got Ernie Els. You have got the best players in the world over here. Not saying they are not -- I mean you have got great players in Europe, too. Some of the best players in the world are over there too. Just the depth over here is a little stronger.

As the fairy tale goes on with today, no, I didn't try to get caught up in that. I just tried to stick to my game plan. And I told my caddie: "If we could beat up on Old Man Par bad enough today, we might have a chance."

Q. The knock on this golf course is that it doesn't have enough tradition. Do you believe what happened today changes that?

BOB MAY: I don't know. Tradition has to start somewhere, and maybe that is the starting point for it here.

Q. You don't seem particularly upset. Do you feel like in a way maybe you won today?

BOB MAY: No, I don't feel like I won. Obviously, if I would have won, I'd have a little bit different feeling. But believe it or not I don't feel disappointed at all. I went out there; I played a good, solid round of golf. And I just fell a little short.

Q. I had two questions for you. You said that you played golf in your dreams all night. Wondering how you played?

BOB MAY: Actually, you know what, I never played a hole out. I just kept on seeing holes. Really, I'd see -- keep on seeing holes, but I never really -- never hit a shot. (Laughs).

Q. Before you made that putt on -- tried to make the putt on 15, when you had a chance to go up 3, did you let it sneak into your mind, even for an instant, that, "oh, my God if I make this in Tiger misses I " --

BOB MAY: No. You can't do that, because if I am thinking "if I make this and he misses I am 3-up," well, then he goes ahead and makes it. Now I am thinking, "oh, boy, now it is" -- you can't get ahead of yourself out there. You've got to take what is at hand right then and there. You can't think that far ahead.

Q. You already answered the question about Europe. Do you have family?

BOB MAY: Yes, I do. I have a wonderful wife, Brenda, and wonderful little boy, Trenton. The reason my wife is not here is she is due with our second one in four and a half weeks, five weeks. So, the doctor doesn't let her fly anymore.

Q. Tiger put his arm around you after the match, right before the interviews out there. Said something to you. Do you remember what that was?

BOB MAY: He said, "It was a great match." He said, "You played incredible."

So, he was very nice to me, very complimentary.

Q. One thing that seemed to change over the three 66s was at the end, you hooked or pulled five of your last six drives. Is that just attributed to the pressure down the stretch of a major championship?

BOB MAY: No. It is a left-to-right hole, 16, and I prefer to play the ball right-to-left; so that is one reason.

17 never really set up good for me all week. I probably should have maybe hit 3-wood, but I wanted to get it up there in the fairway where I could have a short iron to be aggressive.

Then 18 was just a little lazy on it. Didn't complete my backswing.

Q. You played the last three rounds in 18-under par, three, 66s. Does that leave you in any sense sort of scratching your head saying, "What do I have to do to win this golf tournament?"

BOB MAY: I think if you shoot three 66s in a major, you should win. (Laughs).

But, you know, you are playing against the best player in the world, and he proved that that is not good enough.

Q. On 18 in the playoff holes, did you have a discussion with your caddie on what line you wanted to take? Did you want to take it over the bunkers by any chance?

BOB MAY: On?

Q. On the final playoff hole?

BOB MAY: Over -- what bunkers, out of --

Q. Out of the rough?

BOB MAY: We were aiming over that bunker. We were aiming actually right down the center of the fairway, because you are not sure if the rough is going to turn that club over or not. It has a tendency to turn it over. Instead, it actually opened it up.

I was aiming for the center of the fairway, hoping that it was going to come out straight and it shot out right. I still ended up missing the fairway. I was trying to leave myself room either way, if the ball did go one way or the other.

Q. What kind of support did you get in the last, I guess, 24 hours? Did you get a lot of phone calls from people? Did Joe Pesci call you?

BOB MAY: No. I haven't talked to Joe Pesci in quite a while.

But I had four wonderful friends fly in from Vegas on Saturday night. I had my parents come in -- well, my parents came in at the beginning of the week with another one of our friends. And then I had a friend that caddied for me at Castle Pines, his wife and kids.

Email this page to a friend