Saturday, August 11, 2007

Boo Weekley, Part 2


If you aren't a Boo Weekley fan yet, you will be. How can you not be. The guy gives the best interviews in golf -- not that he's trying to.

Here are excerpts from his post-round media chat Saturday after the PGA Championship, after he three-putted the 18th to shoot 65. If he had sank his 40-foot birdie putt, he could have tied Tiger's record-tying 63 on Friday.

Q. I suppose you know as you're playing 18 what birdie there does for you, right, had somebody told you what 63 would have meant and all that since it had been shot yesterday?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I didn't know.

Q. It would have matched the lowest score ever in a major championship, 63.

BOO WEEKLEY: Really, that would have been nice.

Q. You're kidding me, right, you had no idea?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I was just trying to make par. You try to make par, look where I ended up (laughter), trying to be safe.

Q. When you lopped that first putt short on 18, looked like you said something to Sergio and to the crowd. Can you share that with us?

BOO WEEKLEY: Sergio asked me what I was fixing to do and he said, Do you want to trade? And I said, no, I think I like what I got right here. And then as I hit the putt and I said, well, maybe I should have traded. After I hit my second putt as I was marking it, I looked over at him and I said, Maybe I should have traded you, you know.

Q. Were you surprised at just how popular you proved at Carnoustie and how much the crowd still seemed to be getting behind you here again?

BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I was very surprised over there for the people that would root for me. I mean, being a foreigner, you know, I didn't know what to expect, especially coming over here for the first time. I didn't know how the people would respond to me, being who I am. And I reckon as long as you're being yourself, you can't go wrong there.

Q. As you move forward, what do you know about the FedExCup and are you looking forward to that?

BOO WEEKLEY: I don't know nothing about the FedExCup (laughter) and I just know I'm playing golf and that's all that matters to me.

Q. Do you hope to find out?

BOO WEEKLEY: Maybe in a couple of years (chuckling).

Q. After Carnoustie, you were talking about going home, going fishing, getting away a little bit, eating some real food, I guess. (Laughter) so can you talk about what you did between Carnoustie and here and is this a little bit more your comfort zone to be south of the Mason-Dixon Line and sweating?

BOO WEEKLEY: I like to sweat. I like it hot. The hotter the better, the way I feel about it. And I didn't do nothing when I went home. I just hung out at the house, me and the wife and my little boy, we went to the beach. Just had a good time. Fished and swam and played around.
Q. Have you any ambitions to play in the Ryder Cup next year and do you know about that, have you followed it in the past?

BOO WEEKLEY: If they invite me to come play, I'll come play. But, no, I really don't know a whole lot about it. I've seen some clips of it. I think Justin Leonard made a putt or something. That's about the only thing I remember of the Ryder Cup stuff.

Q. When you were growing up, you realized you had a talent to play golf, who were the players on Tour that you used to hero worship and watch?

BOO WEEKLEY: I never really watched golf. I honestly couldn't tell you. That's just something that I've never done. Still to this day I will go home and watch a little bit of golf, like if I've seen they caught a little bit of me on TV and maybe my friends Slocum or Bubba Watson or Joe Durant. I just can't sit there and watch golf. It's just not my cup of tea. And I couldn't tell you if I had somebody that I looked forward to seeing out there when I was playing, when I was younger.

Q. You had no interest in the pro game when you were learning to play the game?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir.

Q. You've said before that winning majors isn't really what drives you. You just want to earn enough money to retire and go fishing. When you have days like these, does it change your view of that at all? Does it make you want more or less?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, sir, I want to play 10, 12 years, whatever it takes to get enough money in my bank. I'm done. I love the game. I get tired of the grind. I get tired of being away from my family. I get tired of being away from my friends and my heart is really set on -- I love to play the game, but my heart is really with hunting and fishing.

Q. You don't really get a kick out of this kind of day?

BOO WEEKLEY: No, I mean, I had a good day and it was fun. But, I mean, what would be even funner if I'm sitting at the house catching about a 10-pounder (laughter). That's about how you have to relate this day to. That day is over. This day is over with golf. Tomorrow we'll see what it brings.

Q. Do you know where you are in the Presidents Cup points list at all and what if Nicklaus called you on Monday and said, You're on the team, what would it mean to you?

BOO WEEKLEY: That would be great. I don't know where I am on the points. I haven't got a clue.

Q. You've kind of established that you're not a golf historian. You don't like to watch golf. What got you interested enough in this to become as good as you are. Who and what got you interested in golf?

BOO WEEKLEY: I had a golf coach at the house. I played every sport you could play growing up through high school as a kid. And I got hurt in every one of them. I figured I might want to pick up a sport that ain't so much where I don't get hurt as much. I don't want to hurt myself, get hit with something. Gene Howard was his name, the golf coach that taught me how to play. And I kind of went off to college and then came back and went to a chemical plant and worked for three years there. And then my buddy Keith Slocum and his daddy talked me into coming back out and playing. They said, You've got too much talent; come out and try something a little different. So they were laying off at the plant. I took the layoff and I started playing golf. And I played my first major event and I won it. I was like, man, this is an easy way to make a living right here (laughter). So I just kind of stuck with that. Easy way of making a living.

Q. You mentioned before that you're going to play for 10, 12 years until you have enough money to go hunting and fishing. What's enough money?

BOO WEEKLEY: I don't know. I ain't got that far yet (laughter).

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did anyone ask Boo if he could count to 5?

Anonymous said...

Boo isn't exactly an intellectual but he represents something lacking on the tour these days--personality.

Nikki said...

Boo...
Great job representing our country!!!
Your cousin from Alabama,
Nikki

Anonymous said...

Boo is No Tiger in an interview. But, matches Tiger if not surpases him as a true ambassador for the game of golf. together he and Tiger have done marvels for the game and for all that like and love the game. I mostly appreciate the respect Boo displays when he is interviewed. He cntantly shows respect by addressing his answers with a "Yes SIR" or " No Sir" and this means more than any dollar sign does. Good job, Boo and I know all that have had a hand in your raising are very PROUD to have such a true and down-to-earth, friend, kin aND/OR LOVED ONE. kEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. i KNOW YOU AND tIGER WOULD BE GREAT AS A PAIR---YOU BOTH ARE ALREADY TRU AMBASSODORS OF THIS GREAT GAME.
GOOD LUCK! SAnd, please escuse the typo's.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the one with so many typo's---I tried again. Hope this one is a tad more legible!

Boo is No Tiger in an interview. But, matches Tiger, if not surpases him, as a true ambassador for the game of golf. Together, he and Tiger, have done marvels for the game, and for all of us that, like and love, the game. I mostly appreciate the respect Boo displays when he is interviewed. He constantly shows respect by addressing his answers with a "Yes SIR" or " No Sir" and this means more than any dollar sign does. This manner, in itsself, is a very positive role model for youth and the entire world! Good job, Boo, and I know all that have had a hand in your raising are very PROUD to have such a true and down-to-earth, friend, kin, and/or LOVED ONE. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. I KNOW YOU AND TIGER WOULD BE GREAT AS A PAIR---YOU BOTH ARE ALREADY TRUE AMBASSADORS OF THIS GREAT GAME.
GOOD LUCK! And, please excuse the typo's.
Oh, pumkin-seed, do-nothing, worms are the trick for those 10-pounders!!!!

Anonymous said...

Boo what is the name of the course in the photo of you fishing in Golf Digest or Golf Magazine???

And where is it???

Good luck in 08

Anonymous said...

You mean the course name that was on his t-shirt, correct.

Anonymous said...

from the top comment, if you check last year in earning & this year plus endorsements, he proably can count to 5 million. More than you will ever have. Boo is the greatest thing in golf except tiger. Tiger is great in what he does, Boo is great in what he does. I saw his fan club in Jackson mississippi, they had shirts saying " The CornBread Mafia" this fits boo to a tee. Does anyone know where to get those shirts??