U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 27, 2002

Jim Thorpe

JIM THORPE: The golf course did play pretty good. I think the fairways are very, very friendly. Matter of fact I normally-- we don't catch an Open golf course quite that open. And a couple of times I put it in the rough, I had no problems putting it on the green. I think what a lot of us coming here -- a lot of guys coming for the first time, I played the course quite a bit, and the course is playing different than what I'm used to playing, but some of the greens was lightning fast. I think when you have downhill putts, you just touch it and it just keeps going.

But the golf course played very, very nicely. Actually, we hit a few shots today, the group, Fuzzy, Watson and I hit a few and spun back. Which means they can't get the greens the speed they want because of the heat. But it's a beautiful golf course, and we seen somebody going crazy, was 8-under par through 12 holes, and normally the Open course doesn't give up those type of scores that quick. I think the golf course -- if you hit on 14 fairways, where you are getting something on the tee, and you keep it on the right side of the pin, where you're always putting kind of northwest, I believe, or putting south, anything that runs east seems fast. But we talked about it between Fuzzy, Tom and I, we still think a winning score 4 or 5-under par when it's all said and done. The greens, if they're on the soft side, the guys like to shoot in there.

Q. A lot of people have been talking about the heat, humidity, did it seem to be a factor?

JIM THORPE: No, man, this is actually -- I'm the type of player where I like a lot of heat, hot weather. It didn't seem to play a major part today. It seemed like the high today -- the back nine, where you go down to the bottom, it gets a little hot. I bet the toughest thing, I think the pace of play got nasty. We waited today. On 18 we had a 10, 12 minute wait there. That can throw you out of your rhythm a little bit. Other than that, everything was perfect.

Q. You were anxious coming into today's round? Do you feel more relaxed now?

JIM THORPE: I have a lot of friends here. I might have put added pressure on myself. It was probably there. And actually, I played pretty good today. I drove the ball well. But I hit a couple of bad wedge shots. I normally don't do that, not from the fairway. I don't think I putted the ball well at all today. I didn't putt the ball well at all. I think I had maybe two bogeys and three birdies for the day, and that's not -- I just didn't putt the ball well. The golf course is set up today to make a lot of birdies and I didn't capitalize on that.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JIM THORPE: I've got some grandkids in the area, a couple of daughters, so I come through quite a bit. It's a beautiful area. And the golf course -- I tell you what, it's a fun golf course. It's one of the most beautiful courses I think we've played in quite a while. And as the week goes, the golf course is going to toughen up.

Q. Any comment on the crowd? It seemed very supportive, of particularly your group?

JIM THORPE: Oh, yeah. Anytime you play with Fuzzy and Tom, they're superstars. And Fuzzy is a crowd pleaser. Sometimes when my game is on track, I have a lot of fun. Today, I was more or less worried about the putting. I could tell right away, when the putter wasn't there. It wasn't the speed of the putts, my line was real bad today. But the crowd was great and they applaud good shots and ooh and ahh when you miss shots. This is a U.S. Open. I told one guy that I had a short birdie putt on 10, and I didn't know if it was going straight, breaking right or going left. I missed it, and he said, "Oh, come on, you've got to make it." And I said, "Don't you think I'm trying?" It's not like I'm trying to miss these putts. It's a beautiful turnout, and so I hope it rains on the afternoon guys.

End of FastScripts....