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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalk zedb.

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Speaker 2: Ryan Fox is tied for thirty third at two under

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Speaker 2: the card after an even par third round at the

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Speaker 2: Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, widely known of course, as

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Speaker 2: the fifth Major. He is ten shots off the lead

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Speaker 2: held by American JJ Spawn, who is twelve under the cart.

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Speaker 2: In two thousand and two, Kiwee Craig Perks produced one

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Speaker 2: of golf's most memorable triumphs when he won this very event,

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Speaker 2: and one of the more remarkable finishes to a golf tournament.

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Speaker 2: He was a stroke behind Stephen Ames when he chipped

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Speaker 2: in for eagle at the par five sixteenth. Then on

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Speaker 2: the famous Island Green at seventeen he sunk a twenty

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Speaker 2: eight foot birdie putt, and on eighteen he took three shots.

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Speaker 2: Still wasn't on the green, but then this, well.

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Speaker 1: That's beautiful and fat is can you play?

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Speaker 3: Why not me? The three greatest haulouts the Major Championship type.

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Speaker 1: The atmosphere I've ever seen pitches with it.

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Speaker 2: I'm sixteenth for eagle, A snake over the hill at seventeen,

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Speaker 2: another pitch in at a camp.

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Speaker 3: Not only have you seen one of the most shocking

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Speaker 3: conclusions in golf history, especially at this championship, you've seen

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Speaker 3: the biggest surprise winner of this championship in its history.

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Speaker 2: Craig Perks incredible one put on the last three holes.

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Speaker 2: Craig Perks is now a TV golf analyst and has

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Speaker 2: been covering the Players Championship. He joins us now from Florida. Craig,

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Speaker 2: I can't believe it's been twenty three years. I remember

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Speaker 2: being glued to it back in March of two thousand

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Speaker 2: and two. What stands out most vividly when you think

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Speaker 2: back to that day, Well.

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Speaker 3: Good afternoon. Yeah, many strong memories, no question about it.

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Speaker 3: And some of the commentary from Johnny Miller. You know,

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Speaker 3: the three greatest wholeouts and major championship history is a

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Speaker 3: certainly a compliment. I know when I'm still on the

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Speaker 3: eighteenth tee with a two shot lead and took out driver.

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Speaker 3: I had been living in Louisiana for about twenty years

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Speaker 3: at that time, and he said I must have left

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Speaker 3: my brain and the Bayou. So a lot of great comments,

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Speaker 3: a lot of great memories, you know, when I showed

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Speaker 3: up there for my very first Players Championship in two

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Speaker 3: thousand and two. I was just honored to be in

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Speaker 3: the field, really just privileged to be a PGA two player,

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Speaker 3: coming from Palms to North New Zealand and lo and behold,

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Speaker 3: I walked away with a crystal And yeah, so many

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Speaker 3: incredibly indelible memories, I guess throughout the years, but it is.

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Speaker 3: I've chatted with a few people this week and it

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Speaker 3: seems like everyone remembers me for one week of the year,

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Speaker 3: and a lot of it. Most of them have said,

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Speaker 3: I can't believe it's been twenty three years.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I said, And I was watching the footage

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Speaker 2: back this morning in preparation for chatting to Yu Kragan

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Speaker 2: and the emotion when you won, you almost looked overcome

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Speaker 2: by it? Or what was it like when when you

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Speaker 2: chipped in on eighteen and you'd won.

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Speaker 3: I was overwhelmed, you know. I think at the time

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Speaker 3: I really didn't know what I'd accomplished. First, I didn't

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Speaker 3: know the magnitude of the event. And the reason I

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Speaker 3: state that I was actually in the second to last

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Speaker 3: group the following year with a wonderful chance to win.

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Speaker 3: I was one back going into the final day and

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Speaker 3: no one up to that point had ever won back

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Speaker 3: to back Players Championship and here I was the unheralded

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Speaker 3: Kiwi with a chance to do it. But then go

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Speaker 3: back to two and after I chipped in, you know,

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Speaker 3: I think just a flood of emotions. I'd you know,

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Speaker 3: I'd come from New Zealand, gone through qualifying school ten

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Speaker 3: different times. I had just had been you know, I

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Speaker 3: was a journeyman. It was a grind. I got to

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Speaker 3: the point at one point in nineteen ninety nine when

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Speaker 3: I'd run out of money and I was pleading to

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Speaker 3: some of my sponsors, just give me one more chance.

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Speaker 3: I really think I'm good enough to do it. And

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Speaker 3: lo and behold, I got onto the PGA two the

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Speaker 3: next year, and you know, and two years later I

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Speaker 3: won the Players. But I think more than anything, it

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Speaker 3: was just, you know, it was an appreciation for those

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Speaker 3: that helped me along the way, the journey that I've

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Speaker 3: made from New Zealand, and you know, just to win

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Speaker 3: an event of that magnitude in the exhilarating fashion that

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Speaker 3: I did it was it was it was pretty cool

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Speaker 3: to be a part of that.

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Speaker 2: Can we just go through the last three holes? On

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Speaker 2: sixteen part five and eagle talk us through sixteen.

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Speaker 3: Well, it was interesting because I had driven it all

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Speaker 3: over the entire day. I'd only hit four fairways, and

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Speaker 3: I've missed a couple of very short parts. Won at twelve,

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Speaker 3: at fifteen, and I stood on the sixteenth tee and

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Speaker 3: I still wasn't even contemplating winning. I'd played well up

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Speaker 3: to that point, and I was really in a situation

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Speaker 3: my career was just trying to keep my PGA to

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Speaker 3: a card, and I thought, man, if I could just

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Speaker 3: have a good finish this week, I could lock up

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Speaker 3: my card for the rest of the year. And exhale,

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Speaker 3: I had a wonderful drive down sixteen, the best of

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Speaker 3: the week, and it just set things in motion, middle

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Speaker 3: of the fairway with a foe iron from over two

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Speaker 3: hundred yards and I was always a hooker of the

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Speaker 3: golf ball or a hard drawer of the golf ball,

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Speaker 3: and the pin was over there on the right, and

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Speaker 3: I just told myself to hit it solid, and I

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Speaker 3: was very fortunate. There was a ribbon rough that blanketed

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Speaker 3: the edge of the green before it went in the water.

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Speaker 3: It's not there anymore. And if it wasn't there, my

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Speaker 3: border for would go on the water, but it stayed

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Speaker 3: up and I chipped it in and then sort of

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Speaker 3: to jump ahead here the warp to seventeen was it's

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Speaker 3: just amazing. I was the heart rate was elevated. I

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Speaker 3: was having trouble breathing. I was having trouble getting slyron spitting,

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Speaker 3: but it was it was you know, Pete Din Dean

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Speaker 3: Beaman created that stadium atmosphere, that colisseum, and it was

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Speaker 3: electric and I still wasn't thinking about winning. I was

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Speaker 3: just really trying to enjoy the atmosphere and maybe that

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Speaker 3: was beneficial.

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Speaker 2: Well, seventeen the famous Island Green. How intimidating a tea

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Speaker 2: shot is that?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think you've seen the triumphs and the disasters there.

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Speaker 3: I was. I felt lucky, you know, I was really

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Speaker 3: overwhelmed getting to the tea. It's as nervous as I've

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Speaker 3: ever been. And knowing the historyonics at that hole, and

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Speaker 3: really there's no there's no margin of era. You have

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Speaker 3: to hit it on the green or you're going to

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Speaker 3: look like a full I just stood up on the green.

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Speaker 3: I felt very calm. I had a wonderful yardage and

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Speaker 3: I didn't even really look at the flag. There was

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Speaker 3: a huge NBC plaqueard on a TV tower well behind

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Speaker 3: the green, and I said, I'm just going to aim

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Speaker 3: at the end, and that was really all I focused on.

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Speaker 3: I hit it solid. When I looked up, seeing it

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Speaker 3: pretty much going at that end of the NBC, I

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Speaker 3: was relieved. And then obviously the seat land in the

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Speaker 3: middle of the green, knowing all the disasters that occurred

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Speaker 3: there in previous years, I was more than pleased. I

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Speaker 3: can tell you that, all right.

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Speaker 2: So then eighteen what happened on eighteen?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, so this was my first Players Championship and

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Speaker 3: I've played. I practiced around Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and I'd

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Speaker 3: hit driver there every single day. And again, I'm a

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Speaker 3: Keiwi and I have no ide I have no idea

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Speaker 3: how to win golf. Tom it so I had. You know,

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Speaker 3: I played on the I'd won a lot in many

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Speaker 3: two and a little bit in college, but you know,

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Speaker 3: I wasn't proficient at it. So I didn't stand on

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Speaker 3: that tea going okay, I got to protect this two

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Speaker 3: shot lead. I'm really thinking more Okay, I just hit

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Speaker 3: a good T shot and then hit it in the

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Speaker 3: green and make it power not not the culmination of

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Speaker 3: the whole week, and where I positioned myself. You know, legitimately,

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Speaker 3: great champions would have probably hit a four or five

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Speaker 3: im down to the right and hit an eight iron

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Speaker 3: short of the green and knocked it on and made

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Speaker 3: it five and one by one and walked off, and

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Speaker 3: everyone would have pat patted to you on the back

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Speaker 3: and said well done. I just I was still trying

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Speaker 3: to play golf like I had through my career in

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Speaker 3: New Zealand and then through college and the Mini Tours

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Speaker 3: and and the Nike two and so on and so forth,

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Speaker 3: and so I just thought, I'm going to hit this

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Speaker 3: drive and I'm gonna take it down the right. It

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Speaker 3: sets up perfectly. I had a drawer and lo and beholder.

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Speaker 3: You know, coming down on the downswing, you don't want

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Speaker 3: to hook it in the water, so you block it

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Speaker 3: to the right. And then I get over there and

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Speaker 3: I'm still trying to make it four, not thinking okay,

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Speaker 3: I just make it five and I can still win.

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Speaker 3: And then I pitched. I was able to pitch it out,

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Speaker 3: which I think was a pretty smart play. And then

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Speaker 3: I hit this wonderful aid iron from one hundred and

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Speaker 3: sixty yards and thinking it's perfect in the middle of

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Speaker 3: the green that goes over the green. My first thought was,

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Speaker 3: Jean Vandervelt, I'm gonna make it double or a triple

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Speaker 3: or a quadruple, and I'm gonna lose this, and I'm

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Speaker 3: gonna look like the biggest moron in the entire world.

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Speaker 3: And I can't believe I've just done this. I've hit

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Speaker 3: it over the green in three and now I really

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Speaker 3: do have to get it up and down. And I

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Speaker 3: walked back there, and you know, again there was this

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Speaker 3: sense of calm. This wasn't the most difficult thing I've

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Speaker 3: ever done in my life, so try and keep my

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Speaker 3: competitive career alive. At spots along the journey was more

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Speaker 3: difficult because there might not have been it tomorrow here.

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Speaker 3: If I didn't get this up and down and I

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Speaker 3: last in the playoff, it would still be my best

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Speaker 3: ever finished and I might have made, you know, seven

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Speaker 3: hundred and fifty thousand, and I would have kept my card.

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Speaker 3: And I was on my way in all this sort

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Speaker 3: of stuff. But when I walked down there, the lie

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Speaker 3: was really really good. There was a slight little puff

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Speaker 3: of breeze back in my face, and I said I've

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Speaker 3: hit this. All I did was work on my short game.

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Speaker 3: I love spending time just tucked away somewhere working on

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Speaker 3: my short gam And I said, you've done this a

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Speaker 3: thousand times, not thinking I'm going to make this, but

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Speaker 3: just get this ball up and down. And as soon

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Speaker 3: as I hit it, I said, I've done it because

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Speaker 3: I didn't expect it to go in, but I knew

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Speaker 3: it wasn't going to be more than a couple of

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Speaker 3: feet past, and li and behold it dropped in and

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Speaker 3: then obviously pandemonium.

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Speaker 2: Brilliant, So good gee, what a great description, getting goosebumps

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Speaker 2: even listening to you talk about it. Defending champion Tiger

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Speaker 2: Woods finished seven shots behind you in a tie for fourteenth,

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Speaker 2: but then he handed over the trophy and famously said,

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Speaker 2: you're unbelievable. How cool the moment was that?

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Speaker 3: Well more famously, you know, after you finished the round,

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Speaker 3: you've got to walk through the grandstand and go to

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Speaker 3: the scorer's tent and validate it all and make sure

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Speaker 3: it's official. And my wife was Maureen, she was with me, uh,

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Speaker 3: and so we walked. They said, some of the red

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Speaker 3: coats there, Brian going, the tournament director. He escorted me back.

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Speaker 3: He said, look, the the commissioner will be on a

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Speaker 3: little platform behind the green, and you're there's a trophy

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Speaker 3: presentation with listen. I had no idea what what had

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Speaker 3: just occurred. I had no idea how to walk and

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Speaker 3: be present in a prize ceremony or anything like this.

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Speaker 3: I had. I'm just I'm complete rookie and all this,

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Speaker 3: you know, sort of theatrics and what was going on.

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Speaker 3: And then so we Marian and I my wife, walked

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Speaker 3: through the the grand stand and I sort of peaked

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Speaker 3: to my right and I looked over and I said,

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Speaker 3: what in the I'm not going to use the explicator,

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Speaker 3: but I said, what in the you know, what is

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Speaker 3: Tiger Woods doing here? And then I'm like, okay, so

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Speaker 3: where he's the defending Champonese hold standing there at the crystal.

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Speaker 3: Tim Vincon's there. So we walked up under the podium

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Speaker 3: and Tiger looks me in. I'd play with Tiger two

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Speaker 3: weeks previous at Drau the event down there in Florida

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Speaker 3: in the final round and I paid well. I'd finished

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Speaker 3: fifth and Tiger finished second, and so you know, and

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Speaker 3: Stevie Williams on the bank obviously, so there's a connection there.

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Speaker 3: And so we walk up and Tiger looks at me

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Speaker 3: and laughs and shakes his hand, and then Maureen's sitting

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Speaker 3: right next to me, and I'm going to swear on

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Speaker 3: the air. I hope you guys don't go on. Go on,

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Speaker 3: so it's not that bad. But so I walk up

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Speaker 3: there shake Tiger's hand. He goes, you know, you're unbelievable whatever,

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Speaker 3: and then he sort of moves over, slides over and

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Speaker 3: looks down to Maureen and puts his hand out and

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Speaker 3: he goes, nice to meet you on Tiger Woods. And

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Speaker 3: Maureen looks up and goes, yeah, no shit, So you

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Speaker 3: know it was that was sort of I chuckled and

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Speaker 3: Maury we laugh about that. Yeah, of course we know

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Speaker 3: you Tiger Woods. You don't really have to introduce yourself.

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Speaker 3: So that was funny. And then you know all the

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Speaker 3: other stuff that I sat there for two and a

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Speaker 3: half hours going to you know, we had the the

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Speaker 3: ceremony on the back of the green, and then you

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Speaker 3: have to talk to Mike Thrico from NBC, and then

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Speaker 3: you have to go into the media center, and then

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Speaker 3: you have to go thank all the volunteers and then

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Speaker 3: you go into the locker room and thank the all

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Speaker 3: the people that have helped you for the week, and

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Speaker 3: then you go to a little whatever it may be

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Speaker 3: with all of the red coats who are the ones

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Speaker 3: that sort of put on the show, and then and

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Speaker 3: I am my brain, my mind is just I'm like,

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Speaker 3: I'm really hungry. Actually I'd like to get out of

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Speaker 3: here and go home, because that's normally what I did.

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Speaker 3: It was actually happened on a Friday, not I'll just

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Speaker 3: miss the cart and go home and go to the

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Speaker 3: next event. But I'm like, why the hell do I

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Speaker 3: have to do all this stuff for the next three

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Speaker 3: or four hours? Again I had I couldn't comprehend the

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Speaker 3: magnitude of this event. And you know what, I want

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Speaker 3: to talk to the people in the locker room and

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Speaker 3: the guys that helped shine our shoes and prepare, you know,

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Speaker 3: have things ready for us. And then there was a

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Speaker 3: there was a special champions locker room. Champion Zone walked

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Speaker 3: in there and lit a little ceremony, so it was

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Speaker 3: you know, literally I think that when I chipped in

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Speaker 3: at eighteen, it was six thirty local, and I didn't

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Speaker 3: leave the golf course till ten o'clock, and I'm like,

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Speaker 3: what just occurred? And Marey and I are sitting there

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Speaker 3: just looking at each other, bewildered at what we accomplished,

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Speaker 3: and we had no idea how our lives were about

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Speaker 3: to change.

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Speaker 2: How do you feel when you go back there?

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Speaker 3: Now that's a loaded question. It's really it's really interesting.

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Speaker 3: Like you said, it's twenty three years I played, you know,

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Speaker 3: so it was a five year exemption. So the next

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Speaker 3: three years that I played, the next five years as

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Speaker 3: poorly as you could ever imagine, completely lost my way.

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Speaker 3: I was in the wilderness. So I I left, I

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Speaker 3: quit plan and left the tour at the end of

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Speaker 3: two thousand and seven, And fortunate enough to I still

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Speaker 3: loved the game, and I really appreciated what the game

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Speaker 3: had allowed us and the blessings that I went and

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Speaker 3: played Open Championships with Nick Fouder at Mirefield Up and

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Speaker 3: Sevi Balistereos walked with me for nine holes that trooon

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Speaker 3: after I'd helped them in the gym the day before.

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Speaker 3: But so I would be all of these incredible experiences

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Speaker 3: that were just you could They were sort of parts

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Speaker 3: of dreams that you could never imagine happened. So then

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Speaker 3: I got into television in two thousand and eight, and

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Speaker 3: then I went back to the players doing television, and

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Speaker 3: I've been doing it every year since twenty ten. So

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Speaker 3: really my experience in my lifetime of memories started in

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Speaker 3: two So again, literally I've been part of the fabric

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Speaker 3: of this event for nearly twenty five years, a quarter

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Speaker 3: of a century. I was so, yeah, I was so

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Speaker 3: I was such an unheralded winner, and I'm sort of

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Speaker 3: the outlier in the in the wrong direction if you

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Speaker 3: look at the role the role call of champions here,

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Speaker 3: you know, if you think Jack Nicholas is one in

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Speaker 3: Trevino and Floyd and Norman Price and Elkington and the

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Speaker 3: great my name doesn't belong there. And I think sometimes

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Speaker 3: when I go back, I'm so thankful and appreciative and

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Speaker 3: all that, but sometimes I just don't feel like I

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Speaker 3: should be part of the fiber and the fabric of

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Speaker 3: the event because my name sort of you'll see graphics

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Speaker 3: throughout tomorrow, as you know, maybe even Bud Cawley or

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Speaker 3: Alex Smalley, they'll say that the guy with the I

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Speaker 3: don't want to say worse, but let's say the lowest

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Speaker 3: world ranking to win the Players champ was me at

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Speaker 3: two thousand, at two two hundred and third in the world.

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Speaker 3: You know, the greats of this game, the best of

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Speaker 3: the best, have won this event. So I'm sort of

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Speaker 3: the sore thumb there, and not in a negative way,

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Speaker 3: but to be one hundred percent honest, I'd rather watch

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Speaker 3: this from Afar. I've had my time here. I'm so

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Speaker 3: thankful that I'm part of the event, but I think

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Speaker 3: at some point it's it's time to, you know, and

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Speaker 3: I'm so thankful to be part of television, but I

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Speaker 3: think that nowadays. I walked around and drove around here

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Speaker 3: preparing for this week for television, and it's I don't

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Speaker 3: really know. It's interesting. I'm trying to come up with

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Speaker 3: the correct words to describe it. But I just it'd

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Speaker 3: be nice to just step away and just watch from

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Speaker 3: Afar and be thankful for what I did accomplish twenty

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Speaker 3: three years ago.

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Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you from the list of thing

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Speaker 2: back we're getting, Craig, that you absolutely belong on that leaderboard.

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Speaker 2: I know what you're saying. I know you know on

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Speaker 2: that on that board of champions. I know exactly what

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Speaker 2: you're saying, and you've articular loved yourself beautifully, but yeah,

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Speaker 2: I don't think you'll get too many people agreeing with

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Speaker 2: that particular part of it. Craig, mate, it's been such

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Speaker 2: a wonderful wander down memory lane with you. Thank you

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Speaker 2: for being so generous with your time, and you know

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Speaker 2: we'll always have two thousand and two and I know

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Speaker 2: the whole legion of golf fans still look back particularly

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Speaker 2: fondly on that on that day in March of two

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Speaker 2: thousand and two. Thanks for reliving up with us.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks again. It's it's good to be you know.

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Speaker 3: You think of Subb, you know, winning an Open championship

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Speaker 3: and Cambo winning a US Open, so you know, Frank

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Speaker 3: Nobolo a Couplers so much and obviously Grant Wait as well.

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Speaker 3: But just to be part of the Kiwi legion that

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Speaker 3: has had some success on the PGA two, I think

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Speaker 3: that's what I'm most proud of. But listen, thanks thanks

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Speaker 3: so letting me join you guys and wander down memory

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Speaker 3: lane a little bit.

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Speaker 2: All the best to you, Craig, Thanks again.

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Speaker 3: Craig Perks, thank you, Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Players Championship winner two thousand and joining us from the

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Speaker 2: course at which he achieved that wonderful feedback in two

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Speaker 2: thousand and two.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekends Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to news talks at B Weekends from midday, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio