Wednesday, February 8, 2017
The Old Course at Broken Sound
Allianz Championship Media Center
Jack Peter, World Golf Hall of Fame President
Ian Woosnam, Class of 2017 Inductee
David Cordero, World Golf Hall of Fame Communications Director
DAVID CORDERO: Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us this afternoon for a special World Golf Hall of Fame press conference. A couple folks to my right: Mr. Ian Woosnam; to the right of him is President of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Jack Peter.
I’m going to turn it over to Jack here in a moment to say a few words. We’re going to get Ian’s comments on going into the Hall of Fame, and then we’re going to have a Q&A with all of you, followed by a celebratory toast to really bring Ian in properly.
So with that, I would like to turn it over to our President of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Jack Peter.
JACK PETER: Thank you, Dave. On behalf of everyone at the Hall of Fame, I want to thank everybody for being here today. It is a special occasion when we get a chance to say hello and welcome in a press conference setting one of the new Inductees to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
I did want to thank Hollis Cavner and his team at Pro Links for being a great host for us today and for all their support.
Ryan Dillon and his team at Allianz have been doing a great job. This is one of the favorite stops on the PGA TOUR Champions circuit, so it’s great to be down here. It’s a great field you have. There are eight Hall of Fame Members playing this week so we are well represented; we love that. As Dave said, speaking of Hall of Famers, I have the pleasure of sitting next to Ian, who you’re going to hear from in just a few minutes.
I did want to talk just a minute about the upcoming Induction Ceremony in New York City. Along with Ian, we’ll be inducting Davis Love III, Meg Mallon, Lorena Ochoa and the late Henry Longhurst. The ceremony will take place Tuesday, September 26th, in New York City. It’s the week of the Presidents Cup. We’ll be kicking off the week. It will be held at a venue called Cipriani Wall Street and will be carried live on the Golf Channel at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
We think one of the reasons for the move to New York City and the Presidents Cup is that it really connected with those events, making it a week‑long celebration of the game. In addition to the ceremony and the Presidents Cup, we’re also launching the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup and we’ll also be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The First Tee. So there will be a lot of activity, a lot of Hall of Fame activity, and a lot of great golf in arguably the world’s largest media market. We are really looking forward to that.
Getting back to the class, we couldn’t be happier. One of our goals at the Hall of Fame is to make sure of the word “world” in our title, and we think this class is very international, clearly with the addition of Ian and Lorena and the late Henry. And each of the Hall of Fame Inductees has contributed to the game in a variety of different ways.
So let’s talk about Ian for a second. As you know, he began his career on the European Tour in 1979. One of the greatest hitters of the golf ball ever, he could almost outdrive anyone. Thirty wins on the European Tour, including the ’91 Masters. Nine Ryder Cup appearances, including captaining the winning team at the K Club in 2006. Two-time European Tour Player of the Year and a two-time European Tour Order of Merit winner, and in September we will add Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame to his long, distinguished resume. With that, I’ll hand it off to Dave to get the Q&A started. Thank you all again for being here.
DAVID CORDERO: We’re going to open it up for questions here in a second. I did want to have Ian open us up here. Ian, on September 26th you’re going to join an exclusive list. You’re going to be one of 155 Members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. How do you put that into words?
IAN WOOSNAM: It’s a great honor. Obviously very happy to be in the Hall of Fame. To be joining some of the great golfers that are in that Hall of Fame is just unbelievable. As the time gets closer and closer to September, I think I’m getting more and more excited about it. I’m going to be going up to the Hall of Fame in about a month’s time. We’re going to see how everything happens there. I’m looking forward to doing my speech more than anything because it’s not just about me being in the Hall of Fame. It’s about the people who got me into the Hall of Fame; my parents, people who have been close to me at golf clubs and everything. They’re all a part of it.
DAVID CORDERO: Questions?
REPORTER: Ian, did you ever think you would be in the World Golf Hall of Fame?
IAN WOOSNAM: How do you want me to answer that?
REPORTER: Honestly if you can.
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, I have to be honest, I was getting a little bit concerned about it. I wasn’t sure what kind of record I needed to be to be into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sometimes, you know, when you just sit back a little bit and take it easy, people forget about you a little bit and I think maybe that’s what I did. I just wanted to sit back and not be in the limelight so much. I think if you keep yourself in the limelight, I might have been in the Hall of Fame quicker. Maybe it’s my own fault. I don’t really want to answer that much too much.
REPORTER: Ian, you played on nine Ryder Cups, and once the Euros entered the picture in ’83 or so, the whole panorama changed. Seve Ballesteros was one of the most exciting people ever to watch, especially in the Ryder Cup. How did you get along with Seve and what are you going to remember about him forever?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, obviously when he first went to where the Europeans play, and I didn’t play in the very first one but I think it was the second one I think when we played in West Palm Beach. I played with Seve that year and I’ll tell you a little story. The first time I ever played with Seve was in Leeds and this is the sort of character he was and how he played his game of golf.
I was a bit nervous. Stood on the first tee and I introduced myself, Seve, Ian Woosnam. No joke, we played nine holes, right? And I did nine greens and I had one single putt and I was 1‑under par. Seve Ballesteros missed seven greens, hit two greens and he was out in 2‑under. I thought that’s the way, there’s no pictures on the scorecard, and that was my first introduction to Seve really. Great character. He played his golf on his shirt, you know. It didn’t matter how he played it, it was all about winning. He was massive and he’s missed and we miss him for that sort of charisma he had on the golf courses, his excitement, and he had it in the Ryder Cup as well. Great character.
REPORTER: Ian, what’s the most prized possession that you’ll be donating to the Hall of Fame?
IAN WOOSNAM: Obviously the Masters trophy. It will be that one because it’s, you know, the only major I’ve won, for a start. I did send it once to another, what they call the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and I never seen it again. So I hope you do look after it, Jack. (Laughs.)
But that will be ‑‑ I have it in my cabinet at home with all my trophies at home. Obviously I’ve got to send a few trophies for a year or so, is it, and that is my pride and joy. But also one of my favorite tournament trophies is the very first tournament I won on the European Tour, the Swiss Masters, so that’s very close to my heart as well. It was getting over that first hurdle of winning any tournament on the European Tour. It took off from there really.
REPORTER: Ian, what was the reaction of, say, your mom or your father or somebody very close to your family when they first heard you were elected to the Hall of Fame?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, unfortunately, my mom and dad are not here, but obviously I was in Barbados at the time. I think Jack or someone was trying to get ahold of me. I had all these phone calls coming in. I didn’t have time to say anything else other than to say yes because I had an interview in about two minutes’ time.
My wife was the first one to know and very excited and very happy for me. You know, it was a while coming, but it’s all good now.
REPORTER: Ian, who is your greatest influence when you were young, and part two of that question is how’s the game and your schedule coming up this year?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, influential on me would have been the Jack Nicklauses, the Arnold Palmers, the Gary Players, the Big Three. I used to watch them on TV. When you’re a kid and you’re standing on the putting green and you think I’m Gary Player, this is for the Masters, this is for the U.S. Open. Them three players was my inspiration to play golf.
Obviously I’ve played with a lot of great golfers and I’ve got to say Sandy Lyle is one of my greatest inspirations. And my great friend Tony Mitchell is here today. We all played together when we were kids. When Sandy Lyle was 15, 16 years of age. He was ‑‑ at that age he was one of the best golfers in the world and I think that helped me to become a better golfer because I knew what standard to play at at 16 years of age. Sandy dragged us all on, and fortunately sometimes I beat him, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s great having someone who’s that good and that young close to you as well.
The game? My schedule, I’m going to play a lot more in America this year. My game is in pretty good shape. I still keep messing around. Like anybody else, I’m still looking for the secret. One week it’s good, the other week it’s not so good, but I’m trying to enjoy it, that’s the main thing.
REPORTER: Ian, golf’s about the only sport where you get in the Hall of Fame and continue competing. What is it like for you when you’re on the first tee and you’re announced as a Hall of Fame member, about to be Hall of Fame member, and do you feel pressure trying to keep performing to that level as you get on in your career?
IAN WOOSNAM: To be honest, I don’t think ‑‑ I think will be easier for me as being a Hall of Fame member. You feel like you’ve done everything and you can relax, where I haven’t been in the Hall of Fame I still want to put my pressure on myself, and no doubt when I won in Houston I was trying to prove a point, to tell you the truth. I am still here, you know? But you know, sometimes you have ‑‑ you get into situations where you want to get something so badly it makes you try harder and makes you more determined. Hopefully, that work I did a couple years I did has got me into the situation where I am today.
REPORTER: When you won the Masters in 1991, I was in the clubhouse. It was so crowded, you couldn’t get out there to watch. You’re standing on the 18th tee, you have a one‑stroke lead on Watson.
IAN WOOSNAM: Nope, we’re all level.
REPORTER: What’s going through your mind on 18, because you don’t usually fade the ball?
IAN WOOSNAM: No.
REPORTER: Did you not knock it over the traps?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, I tried to hit it straight but the wind was off the right, down and off the right. A couple of days before that I tried the same shot, I just blew it straight over the traps. You know, I had spells in my game, when I played golf I hit the ball 20 yards further for no reason whatsoever when I got a little bit pumped up. I just felt that I could carry that trap and I knew there was going to be no trouble down there. I know Olazabal had taken a bogey, I watched him hit it in the trees. So I was playing to a safe area to basically try and make a par really.
REPORTER: You had six foot left and that was for the win, right?
IAN WOOSNAM: Yep. Well, you know, I was just off the edge of the green and I had this little ‑‑ if it would have been earlier in the week, I would have chipped it. But I looked at the grain into and I thought no, there’s all these people around, I thought no, it’s not a good time to stub one.
I got the putter and I thought it was going to go to the left a little bit, but it jumped across the grass and went off six foot, six, seven foot. But you know it’s your time when you’ve got a putt and you can just see the line straightaway, one ball outside the right, a right‑hander, right to left, but couldn’t be a simpler putt.
Just have to remember them times when I was on that green. Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus. That is your chance. I just took it. Fortunately, I got it in.
REPORTER: Ian, we didn’t get to see a lot of you during your prime here in the U.S. What’s been the motivation for you to come play more here on the PGA TOUR Champions?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, I have a home in Barbados and I have a home in England and I think it’s nice that I can spread myself around and play in both places, but over the last few years I’ve spent more time playing here. I really enjoy playing here. The way you set up the golf courses, the spectators, the sponsors and everything, it’s just magnificent. Just what it looks like this week, it’s great to be playing golf here. I wish I could have played more golf here when I was younger, but at that time I didn’t want to move my family and everything. You’ve got to make your choices.
REPORTER: Also, regarding your induction ceremony, any thought about who you would like to have introduce you?
IAN WOOSNAM: I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve got to wait for him to say yes first before I can tell you who it is.
DAVID CORDERO: I was going to ask, what has been the reaction from the other Hall of Fame members here at the Allianz? It’s a great field. Have you had a chance to interact with some of the other players?
IAN WOOSNAM: Not really. It’s that everybody’s so gracious and everything, so happy for me. I know we’re going out for dinner tonight and there’s going to be some more Hall of Famers there tonight so I guess we’ll have a few of these to celebrate.
DAVID CORDERO: Any last questions?
JACK PETER: Thank you again for being here. It’s a great day for the Hall of Fame, it’s a great day for Ian, so please raise your glass and join me in a toast.
Ian, welcome to the Hall of Fame family. Congratulations. I look forward to getting to know you more and here’s to you.
IAN WOOSNAM: Thanks, Jack. Cheers, guys. Thanks, everybody.
Photos of the press conference and celebratory toast can be downloaded here.
About the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum
The World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum preserves and honors the history of golf and the legacies of those who have made it great. The Hall of Fame & Museum, located at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida, serves as a steward of the game through engaging, interactive storytelling and exhibitions featuring artifacts, works of art, audio, video and photography significant to the history of golf and its members. The Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution and is allied with 26 national and international golf organizations, including The European Tour, LPGA, the Masters Tournament, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, The R&A and USGA. To learn more about the Hall of Fame or to lend support, visit www.WorldGolfHallofFame.org. As the sole founding partner of World Golf Hall of Fame, Shell Oil Company provides financial support and plays the lead role in charitable initiatives aimed at introducing golf to young people, and through the golf experience promotes scholastic achievement, community service and those values intrinsic to the game of golf: honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.
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