May 23, 2009
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
MICHAEL ALLEN
KELLY ELBIN: Michael Allen, ladies and
gentlemen, in with a 9-under par 67 in the third
round of the 70th Senior PGA Championship at
Canterbury Golf Club. At this point late in the
round he's tied for the lead. Michael, you've
played the back nine in 6-under par over the last
two days. Looks like you really got something
going out there.
MICHAEL ALLEN: Well the back nine
seems to, at least I seem to find a nice little stretch
each day. Like 14, 15 and 16. I seem like I'm
playing really well on the front nine too, but I just
can't get if I birdies out of it. All the putts seem to
lip out.
KELLY ELBIN: You also hit 31 of 36
fairways, so you're driving the ball extremely well.
MICHAEL ALLEN: That is very good and
that's the key to it, getting the ball in play. And
then you hit some nice wedges into the greens and
you can be semi aggressive. But it is, you got to
get the ball in the fairway.
So I've taken a lot of different clubs, even
irons off tees and different things, just to get the
ball in play.
KELLY ELBIN: Do a quick recap on your
birdie on 2 and then, 14, 15 and 16, please.
MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah. 2, I hit a 7-iron
today. About 165 shot. I think I hit it about 15, 18
feet right of the hole and I made that. Which was
very nice.
Then the 14th, I hit a beautiful tee shot
right down the middle. I think I had about -- I was
hitting a little 105 shot. Just trying to keep it right
below the hole. Which I executed beautiful and
had about a 6-footer straight up the hill. Which I
made.
Next hole, hit a nice drive, 3-iron, just right
of the green in the fringe. And I was able to control
the distance on it real well and I chipped it to about
two to three feet.
And then 16, hit a nice drive again and
3-wood into the up slope. And hit a nice little chip
out of there to about five feet or something like
that. Five, six feet. Was able to make that too.
KELLY ELBIN: For the record, Michael
has birdied the 14th hole each of the three rounds
this week. Open it up for questions, please.
Q. What were your expectations this
week and how do you feel about your game
going into tomorrow?
MICHAEL ALLEN:
My expectations
coming in were definitely to be competitive and to
win. I mean, these guys are great players and they
have beat me for a long time, but maybe it is my
turn when I'm young now and with a little more
experience than when I first came out.
I don't know if I'm going to win or not, but I
felt like I should definitely be competitive here.
This course has been a little tougher for me than -I think it's taken away a little bit of my advantage
the way I drive the ball. That's why the back nine's
been better for me of the. But it's been a nice
challenge all week.
Q. I'm wondering if you can recap for
us the circumstances for you getting here,
when did you receive the special invitation
from the PGA of America, was it a very difficult
decision as to whether to come here or play on
TOUR?
MICHAEL ALLEN: I think I received the
invitation about two months ago. It was a little bit
of a tough decision because I still carry a spot, I'm
trying to get my card, keep my card on the PGA
TOUR. You got a six and a half million dollar
tournament, that's a big tournament out there.
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But I felt that it was a tournament that I
wasn't really -- it hasn't been great to me over the
years. So I thought that this was really a nice
opportunity to come here. It was a nice course, I
thought. I didn't know much about it, but I certainly
have seen it on the Major rotation years ago.
And so I just thought it would be a nice
opportunity to come out here and see how I
matchup and give it at least one shot this year.
Q. A lot of golfers talk about how they
got to put themselves in position over and
over, to win again. You obviously have had a
lot of situations like that. What do you draw on
for tomorrow and just talk about trying to end
this 20 year little stretch.
MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, you know, I don't
buy into that theory.
(Laughter.) That you got to be there a lot.
No, I just feel like I'm playing very well, I
feel like I'm really prepared. Me and my caddie
have a great routine on the course and we know
what we're trying to do out there and get
accomplished. So we got a nice game plan and
I'm really drawing on that. I feel like I'm in great
shape and I'm ready to, you know, move on. I've
been ready for a long time. It's about time that I
get on with it.
KELLY ELBIN:
Has the golf course
changed appreciably over the course of the three
days? In terms of firmness, what have you.
MICHAEL ALLEN: You know, the first day
was so hard it's actually gotten a little bit softer. It's
still very firm and you still got to be very careful
with these greens. They can bounce. You got to
keep the ball below the hole without keeping it
from falling off the front of the green too.
I guess I'm getting a little more comfortable
with a lot of the shots, having played them a few
days in a row. So the golf course has been very
consistent, you guys have done a wonderful job
getting it in great shape.
Q. Kind of an odd question, but is
there, once you reach a certain age, are you no
longer cowed or intimidated by guys who have
won Major Championships in front of you or
coming up the leaderboard behind you?
MICHAEL ALLEN: What's the question?
Q. When you reach a certain age are
you and you've been around quite a bit, are you
no longer intimidated or cowed when you see
Greg Norman, Tom Kite, whoever, name a
name.
MICHAEL ALLEN: You know, I'm certainly
not intimidated. I guess when you're 50 you kind
of lose some that have stuff, you know. I have
played against Tiger a lot, so I always love to
compete. And he's intimidating a little bit.
But out here I played with most all these
guys for years and I know them all pretty well. And
I think that we're not trying to compete for, you
know, Major Championships that you were when
you were 30. It's not marking your career.
So I don't know. I mean, I'm more -- if
there's any intimidation, I'm more intimidated by
the factors of winning tournaments than I am of
anything else than playing with the guys, I don't
think. However, I do respect them all a great deal.
Q. Talk about, you're playing some of
your best golf of your life lately, late in your
career here. Why is that, what came about,
what led to that?
MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, yeah, I think it's
really the last five years I've, after I've been with
Hank Haney for like 10 years, I searched for a
while and thought about what I want to do with my
game. I went through a lot of people. Took
lessons from everybody. And had an idea what I
wanted to do.
And I met Mike Mitchell out in Palm
Springs at Mission Hills and he's just helped
change my game. And his enthusiasm and drive, I
mean he is more driven than any man I've ever
met. He's got more passion for it .
And it's just carried off. I think that the
change in my swing and not fighting to find my
swing every single day has made the game more
fun. I don't have to sit here and try and figure out
how I'm going to hit the ball each day, I feel that for
the most part I'm going to hit it decently. Obviously
some days will be better than others, but.
So I think that's been the biggest change is
just getting around Mike and he's really helped me
change my game and be competitive. And given
me the passion for it that I may not even have had
when I was younger.
Q. So are you better suited now to win
than you probably have ever been?
MICHAEL ALLEN: I truly believe that.
And that's, you know, that's my thing that I draw on
the most, is I feel I am ready. I got to have some
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heart.
Q. Would a win validate that you've
always belonged, that you just haven't won, but
you were as good as these guys, but just didn't
have a win?
MICHAEL ALLEN: I would say most of my
peers know that I'm a very good player. I don't
think that's a big thing. Certainly it would validate it
for me. It's been very important for me to do it, to
win.
If I go to my grave and don't win, I've still
had a great time playing golf every day. And I
made a great living. So it's been a win/win no
matter what for me. But it certainly is important for
me to win.
Q. You shot the low round of the day
the last two days. How much confidence do
you have that you can finish this off tomorrow?
MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, I feel great about
it. I feel my opportunities are -- this is as good an
opportunities as I'm going to have in a long time.
Tom Kite's a great player and Jeff Sluman's been a
great professional. So I know they're all great
players, and that's who I want to play against
tomorrow. That's going to be a fun day tomorrow.
And I believe I'm in a great situation to do it.
KELLY ELBIN: Michael Allen in at 3-under
par after three rounds of the seen 70th Senior PGA
Championship at Canterbury Golf Club. Thank
you.
MICHAEL ALLEN: Thank you, guys.
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