U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 29, 2001

Jim Thorpe

JIM THORPE: Just start talking? No questions, huh? Yesterday the conditions that we played on the late tee times yesterday afternoon, the us golf course played three or four shots harder. This morning the greens was more receptive to the shots. We had no wind to speak of. We had both days very tough pin placements. Other than that the golf course was set up for scoring today. We took advantage of the early morning. I think if anything that got me going is I hit a big tee ball off 1 this morning. I hit it to about 80 yards. I kind chunked a wedge and chipped it in. I made a couple of bogeys on the back 9. Missed the tee ball, I don't remember what hole it was back there, but I missed the tee ball. I hit a very, very dumb shot on number 11, I believe. Other than two bad swings, I felt I played a pretty solid round of golf. Like I said, I think the difference was the golf course played so hard yesterday. We played, as a group yesterday, we just couldn't get birdie putts regardless of what we did. The last four or five holes on the back 9 playing down wind, with pins up front, we couldn't keep it on the green. Today is a little different. I think the group today we made probably 10 birdies between us, which is a big improvement from yesterday. And like I say, if there's no wind -- yesterday, to give a good example. Number 2 I hit driver, 3-wood. Today I hit driver, 6-iron this morning. That's a major difference. 18 we hit 3-wood, 9-iron versus yesterday hitting driver and something on. The weather conditions, kind of like last year. Last year at Saucon Valley, mother nature dropped a foot or so of rain on her. We beat the course up pretty bad. Basically the same thing happened here. If we don't get that 30 to 40 miles per hour wind like we got yesterday, and the greens are softened up a little bit, nine guys will shoot lower. But the greens are not really to U.S. Open speed. That's probably the most shocking thing that we have run into this week. The greens don't have the speed the Open normally has. The greens, I doubt if they get them too quick, if they could we, we couldn't finish. Yesterday if they shot 73, 74 yesterday, they shot a good round. This morning, if someone tees off, they could shoot 67, 68. The par-3's today played much easier than yesterday. And both par-5's, I knocked it on both par-5's, on the front 9. And the back 9 is very easy. We have a lot more control over the trajectory of the ball that we can go out there and score. My whole group played, I think we had two rounds of even par and a round of 5-under par. That's pretty solid.

JIM THORPE: No. I was much too aggressive yesterday. I hit drivers in places I shouldn't hit drivers. I shot in places where I should have bounced the ball in. I had to go and have a really good talk to go myself. I think basically what happened to us is somewhere two to three weeks before the Open we started changing our game. We would think about getting ready for the Open. I think you get a little pumped up about that. I think the key to one of these golf tournaments is to get off to a good start. I think that happened to Tony and I. We tried to force too much versus just letting it happen. I got into a bad frame of mind. I had a stretch yesterday where I parred the first three, four holes. I'm hitting a 5-iron to the par-5, I made bogey from the center of the fairway. I got into a really bad funk. After that I settled down again. I think I played my last seven holes on the front 9 even par. And I just played much too aggressive versus bagging off and taking it what the golf course and letting -- trying to actually take something. You can't play the game that way. If you try to take something with the U.S. Open course, the course is going to beat you to death.

JIM THORPE: Even though I shot 77 yesterday, we never felt like I was really too far out. You had one guy under par and everybody else was -- besides we knew the players pretty good. We knew who can stay there and can't stay there. We take those things into consideration. Today when we left the practice tee, I only hit about 25 or 30 balls warming up, if I hit that many. The first four or five swings were just good golf swings for me. And after that it was just the idea of keeping the ball on the fairway. And I think we only missed a couple of fairways today, which was actually a good driving day for me. Like I say, the conditions versus the 8-iron travelling 168 to 170, the 8-iron will go to 150 or 155, which is a better shot for me. Much more controllable. Like 17 today, I hit 177, I just hit the most gorgeous 6-iron shot, trickling the ball 12 or 13 feet by the hole. I don't think anybody will get it closer than that today because it was a tremendous shot. The weather conditions like this, we can shoot it low.

JIM THORPE: I thought we hit a perfect drive. Unfortunately, we got down to the bottom of the hill, and everything is like this. Now I'm faced with a situation where we've got 129, which I'm kind of between pitching wedge and 9-iron with just a little bit of wind. But the situation I'm faced with, with the ball above my feet, whether to send it out to the right and try to turn it in a little bit left and let the next shot do that. I tried to hit a cut shot. Basically because the greens are not that quick, downhill putts don't really bother me that much as we speak now. If this green was rolling with the speeds that U.S. Open greens normally roll, if I wouldn't have hit the cup, the ball would definitely have rolled off the green. It's a good way to finish. Gary McCord and I both hit wonderful tee balls. His ball was in the rough. My ball is on that sidehill. And I think the thing that kind of beats you on the golf course like this, you can stand there and work so hard to hit good shots. And sometimes you find them in the fairway, and you kind of wished you'd missed it. You're kind of in the rough a little bit. But it was a good, solid round. So basically go out tomorrow and just try to do the same thing and just see what happens.

JIM THORPE: You know what, I think what happened, because I've been here so many times, I've been in the position to do well in Opens, I just -- you just try so hard to make it happen. I think that's what happened. We probably end up putting a little bit too much pressure on ourselves and start to doubt your swing a little bit. Win, lose, or draw, we'll just score tomorrow and hopefully shoot a good round. If not, just try to take whatever the golf course gives me. All set, guys?

JIM THORPE: Of course you do. Actually, you know what, the front 9 -- I went to number 10 and hit it probably 10-12 feet behind the hole. 11 I just hit a dumb shot. When you hit dumb shots you're supposed to make bogey. I knew when I hit it it was a dumb shot. I hit it good on 12. 13 I drove in the trees, I think. I drove in the trees and decided to chip out and take my medicine there. But I had some pretty close putts coming in. I hit a marvelous shot on 16 and 17. Unfortunately the way that the pin just over the crown on 16, my ball landed on the down slope. It went over the green. I got it up and down. 17, it's just impossible to get it close because the hole is playing a long way. I hit 6-iron today. So I think most of the players might be hitting something a little bit longer than a 6-, 7-iron. With the pins set just over the bunker, you're not going to stop it. I don't care what you do. Gary McCord hit a gorgeous wedge shot that landed and went past mine. That kind of made me feel pretty good, because I knew I hit the best shot I could hit. Thank you, guys.