Q&A for 2003 Champions Skins Game

Can you talk about the Wailea Resort's Championship Gold Course and why it sets up so well for the ConAgra Foods Champions Skins Game?

JACK: "The Gold Course is a good test of golf and a good venue for this type of format. It's not an exceptionally long course, and it's set up well for senior golf. It's set up in a way so that Arnold Palmer, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino or Jack Nicklaus can win. That's the whole idea of matching the golf course or venue to the format. You don't want a golf course that just lends itself to Hale Irwin's game. You don't want a golf course that is set up just for Jack Nicklaus. You don't want a golf course that gives Arnold Palmer an advantage. And, you don't want a golf course that plays into Lee Trevino's hands. This golf course is a fair test for all of us."

What are the strengths of your three opponents in the field - Hale Irwin, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino?

JACK: "It seems that every year we're talking about how well Hale Irwin has been playing. He's been one of the best senior players and certainly the most consistent over the last six or seven years. I fully expect him to be one of the guys to beat this year. He's always very competitive. Hale has always been a wonderfully talented player, but also a very well-conditioned, hard-working athlete. He's carried his conditioning as an athlete into and through the Senior Tour, which has added to his longevity and allowed him to maintain his level of success. Hale is a good player and because of his physical condition, he plays like a person much younger than his age."

"Arnold and I have had countless battles over the years, and there is not a single time where we don't go out there and have a great deal of fun, and, at the same time, want to beat each other. I think Arnold will tell you that he has a bit of a hard time competing in a full event. But in an event like this, he is just as competitive as anyone you could put out there. It's a good event for Arnold, and you best not count him out. I never do."

"I have always had great respect for Lee Trevino and his game. I think Ben Hogan and Lee are the best ball-strikers I have ever seen. Trevino could do everything with the golf ball, the same as Hogan could. Trevino has had a great outlook his entire career and still does. He enjoys the game. It was always fun for Lee to be on the golf course. We had a chance to compete against each other last year at Bighorn, and let me tell you, Lee still has a lot of game left."

What is the state of your game (your health) and what will you have to do well to win the Champions Skins Game? How many tournaments do you expect to play in 2003?

JACK: "My health is actually pretty good right now. I feel better now than I did at this time last year. Over the last six months, I have been involved in a diet that has not only allowed me to lose over 20 pounds, but it's allowed my natural healing abilities to work better. In turn, I feel better. We'll just have to see how I feel and how I play the day we tee it up in Hawaii.

"As for 2003, the only events currently on my schedule are the Senior Skins Game and the MasterCard Championship. After that, we'll just have to see how I feel and how I'm playing. I've said before that I don't want to clutter any fields."

Two years ago you could have won the Senior Skins Game by missing a putt on the final hole, but you made it because, as you explained, you have never purposely missed a putt in your life. Facing a putt like that, was it more important to make it because you knew there would be some people who thought you missed in on purpose if you had missed it?

JACK: "I didn't think that in the spirit of the game of golf that it was right to miss that putt. I have always tried my best on every shot I have played throughout my career. Never would I miss something in a circumstance like that just to win. If I had missed that putt on purpose, it would have been bad for me, bad for the Senior Skins Game, and bad for golf in general."