June 5, 2007

JACKSON, MI — The annual practice round begins tommorrow with 51 participants at Grande Golf Club just south of Jackson, MI. There are 13 guys who have chosen against the optional practice session.

Mark Wray, a rookie from western Columbus, is clearly the best golfer to skip the optional practice round with an impressive 7.1 stroke handicap. Wray was asked for his thoughts on practice and how much value it really has in a major championship.

Reporter: "Could you clear the air about your practicing habits since we can't see you practice on Wednesday?"

Wray: "I have decided to skip the practice round and that's that. I play quite a bit and might miss one practice this year, but if somebody says I missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get the media started. The Carl Spackler Open deserves a winner regardless of practice. It's simple as that."

Reporter: "So Spackler has no problem with a low handicapper missing the practice round?"

Wray: "If I can't attend the practice round, I can't practice the day before. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the key participant, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a tournament, not even a scramble, but we're talking about practice. Not the major championship that I will go out there and die for. We're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example, but I am a rookie with a comprehensive yardage book. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. [laughter from the media crowd] We're talking about practice. [pause] We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the tournament. We're talking about practice. When you read the website, and you see my scores, you've got the idea of my skills, you've basically see me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. [more laughter]

Reporter: "But it's an issue with course knowledge that Spackler continues to question?"

Wray: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me to, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the tournament, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice."

Reporter: "Is it possible that if you practiced, not you but you would make your foursome better?"

Wray: "How in the hell can I make my foursome better by practicing?"

Reporter: "So they can learn some things from playing with you."

Wray: "There should be plenty of low handicaps participating in the practice round. So their tournament is going to deteriorate because I'm not practicing with the field of players? Is my game going to get worse? I'm asking you, is anybody's game going to get worse? So what about my golf game? Is my game going to get better or worse because other players are hurt by my absence, I mean, does that hurt me or them? I'm being honest, people are hurt, but does that hurt Spackler? Does that help Spackler if I go out there and play hard for 5 hours? Does that hurt me as a player? Does that hurt me if this person is hurt or that person is hurt? Does it hurt me? I am done with this meeting. I will see you guys on the range June 7."

The practice round begins tommorrow with the practice round. Mark Wray will arrive late Wednesday night with a chance at glory and no chance of  practice at the Grande Golf Club.