U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 30, 2000

Jim Thorpe

JIM THORPE: Back nine was an excellent nine holes. I drove the ball very, very solid back there. I didn't miss a fairway. Actually, probably one of the best putts I hit on the back nine didn't fall. The birdie putt on No. 11, hit a wonderful putt there. Hit 3-iron, just off the green to the left, couple of inches. I just hit a marvelous birdie putt that I really thought was in the hole. But I picked up 5 birdies back there, and I think really a key to really put icing on the cake, as far as the round goes, when you birdied 16, 17, 18. 16 was a -- pretty much a routine birdie for me, because the back pin placement -- I am one of those guys that turn the ball left. It is pretty much routine. I was kind of looking to hit a good shot there. 17, 7-iron from 170 there, probably two and a half feet short of the hole. I guess on 18, I had 194 to the hole there, and we was debating about a 4-, 5-iron. My brother said to me: "Would you rather putt uphill or downhill?" I said: "Of course, I like to putt uphill." Especially on Open greens. And I hit a 5-iron. I was kind of shooting center of the green, probably 30-foot putt there. I just had a perfect line on it.

JIM THORPE: Yes. No, he caddied for me on the regular Tour. We got lucky. He seems to be a lucky charm for me. Chester.

JIM THORPE: No. 1 was one of the first tee shots I missed today. I missed probably 20 yards off the fairway right. Perfect lie, iron, 15 feet, made it for birdie. No. 2, I hit a good tee shot there, marvelous second shot, to come up a little short. That is one of the greens I missed. I chipped it about a foot. Of course, No. 3, I hit 3-wood off the tee there. Actually, missed that fairway too. I caught another decent lie. I managed to bust the ball on the green. Routine 2-putt from probably 25 feet. 3 bad 8-iron -- 4, bad 8-iron shot. I mean, the hole was playing probably 151 today, I believe -- I am not sure, fanned an 8-iron, hit in the bunker, up-and-down, made a good 4-, 5-foot putt there. I started hitting the ball well. Missed a decent birdie putt on No. 5, and 6. I hit a good drive. Put my second shot in the rough, so I made a good par there. 2-putted from probably 20 feet. 7, I missed another fairway, and I hit a hell of a second shot there, because I never thought I could get it to the green. Got it all the way to the flag, and 2-putted from off the back fringe. 8, I hit a pretty decent shot. 9, a pretty decent shot, left the birdie putt short from 20 feet dead center. And on the way to the 10th tee, I was kind of talking a little bit to Chester to see if I was doing something, moving on the ball, or something I was doing -- something I couldn't pinpoint myself. He says: "I think you are cutting your swing short." Evidently, I was, because I concentrated on putting a good, solid swing on No. 10. Hit a big drive there. Only had like 55 yards to the flag there, and wedged about four feet; made birdie. 11, I hit 3-iron, probably an inch or two off the green on the left. 2-putted from probably 18, 20 feet. Birdied 12. I hit a nice 3-wood, very solid 3-iron, and good 9-iron about 6, 7 feet; made that putt for birdie. 13, another good drive, another good, solid iron shot there. Missed probably a 8, 9 foot birdie putt there. Pretty much routine par on 14. 15, is a very tough hole for me. 2-iron off the tee there. I got in between yardage -- 105, 106 yardage. If I hit sand wedge, it is going to spin too much. So 15 is one of the holes I really work hard on, just hustling my par, kind of getting -- different type of hole, where if you leave it above the flag, there is no doubt if you don't make the putt you are looking at a 3-putt. A good, solid tee shot on 16, dead center of the fairway. One of my best of the day. We hit 7-iron a little uphill against the wind from 146, I believe, probably 9, 10 feet left of the flag. I had a very nice little birdie putt, four inches of break, went dead center. 7-iron, 170, two and a half feet short on 17. Just a straight-in putt, just hit a -- hit it solid dead center. 183, wood off the tee. I kind of -- I didn't catch it very solid. I just wanted the ball in the fairway there. And Chester and I discussed a club, whether you want an up- or downhill putt. I chose to go uphill. Made the right choice. All and all, the golf course is set up perfect for scoring. Mother Nature drops some rain on the golf course, on the course, and even the tee shots -- they go down the side of the fairways, seem to stay on the fairway versus in the rough. When you catch playing conditions like we have them this week you, see some scores like that.

JIM THORPE: No. I think that is one of my best nine holes I have ever played. I think back when I won Milwaukee in 1985 on the regular Tour, I think I had a nine -- 29 or 30. I think I shot 32, 33, 29 -- but I am not 100% sure. But no, because I haven't been really playing well this year. One thing -- I was home looking at some old tapes of the way I used to play. And a lot of you guys know -- my golf swing is a little bit unorthodox. I'm kind of big guy. I am more of a hitter of the ball than I am a ball-striker. I have good feel and touch for a big guy. One of the things that I did at home a couple weeks ago, I looked a the some films -- the way I used to putt the ball, to me, it doesn't make any difference how to get it there. It all boils down to the putter. I think today I might have had 24 or 25 putts, where if I had 31 or 32 putts then, that round would have been 72, 73.

JIM THORPE: I wouldn't be sitting here, that simple. I used to putt the ball real flat with a lot of wrist, and this is the way I learned to putt. So I said to myself: Why not try this? I went out and played with a couple of buddies of mine. I cut my putter down to 34 inches long. And the first hole, I knocked in a 20-footer. Second hole, 2-putted from 40 feet. 3rd hole, I made a 10-footer. So I have been putting that way for the last couple of weeks now. Last week, I didn't play well at all, but I putted well. Coming into this week, during the practice round, I putted very, very well. Plus the fact I like tough, tough greens. I like tough contours on the greens. I like it when you just can't stand it and bang it in the hole, like a lot of golf courses that we play on the SENIOR TOUR. We play a lot of courses where you just -- the putts -- putt them straight. You put a lot of speed on them, you make them. Here, you have got to have some feel, you have got to kind of -- like today, I think on number -- I don't remember what hole it was. No, yesterday, on 15, I had about a 10-foot putt for birdie. But I am playing about four feet of break. So you have to really feel that putt versus just setting up at the hole somewhere and really hitting it firm in there. I like a tough-condition golf course. I always liked tough golf courses. I have always played decent at the U.S. Open. I never really -- I never thought I was going to be a good enough ball-striker to go, say: Yeah, I am going to win an Open. I have always liked it when the conditions get very, very tough and always been around the leaders for a while. I am looking forward to this golf course here. To me, the golf course fits the way I play. You have to shape the ball off the tee. I like to turn the ball left, so that is perfect for me. I noticed some of the greens, even when you put the ball in the rough, you can chase the ball up. That is the way I learned to play. Maybe if I can stop in Fleisher's hotel tonight and beat him up a little bit --

JIM THORPE: That guy that makes some of those putts.

JIM THORPE: Yeah, the pin placements were very, very tough today and yesterday. As a matter of fact, the scores are very, very surprising yesterday and today. Yesterday, I am telling my brother after we played the first three, four holes, I said, even par is going to be a hell of a score. Let's not do anything stupid; put the ball in the center of the green; trying to keep putting uphill. If we miss a green, make sure we chip it uphill. The scores were shockingly low yesterday. I left the golf course yesterday 2-under, was like fourth, fifth on the board or third or fourth on the board. Then last night when I watched it on television, I don't think there were 20 something scores in the 60s. Normally that doesn't happen with the pin placements than we had yesterday. Also today, I mean, you had wonderful pin placements today. Nothing was easy, one was kind of tucked. 2 was excellent -- every hole was perfect pin. I think the reason that we are making birdies and you are seeing low scores is because the greens are soft. We can fly that ball right there to the hole and make it stay.

JIM THORPE: Basically I won't change anything. I am just happy to be playing well. Last night I went down to, I guess they call it OTB, Off Track Betting. I bet some races at the Meadowlands and, you know, I had a cheeseburger and told some lies to a bunch of guys sitting there and we bet some horses. I will do the same thing tonight.

JIM THORPE: No, I lost. I have to play good just to cover my losses from that OTB.

JIM THORPE: No, no, yeah, I just -- I have been putting one of those Hawk putters, between the Hawk and the Callaway putter, and I think I was putting like 35 and a half inches which makes me stand up more straight on the ball. And years ago I putted so flat, I putted a lot like Allen Doyle. I think my hands might have been a little lower than Allen's. I looked at a couple of old tapes down in the golf room, something I was going to throw away. I looked at them. I was making putts. I say: Why not try it? Because I have been putting kind of lousy. Since I have been on the SENIOR TOUR, I think I played pretty decent. And probably the difference between my game now on the SENIOR TOUR than it was on the regular Tour, I am a much better ball-striker now than I was back then. Back then, I was young and strong and everything -- I had to hit it a half a mile. Now, even though I can hit a 7-iron from 180 yards, I know I don't have to. I can take a easy 5-iron or nice, solid 6-iron. And you know, now on the tee shots versus trying to try to drive it 300 yards, I just make good, solid contact. I think I am a much better player than I was 20 years ago.

JIM THORPE: I am one of those guys -- it is no doubt, you know, Hubert Green has won 17 times, 18 times on the regular Tour -- U.S. Opens. And Hubert is going to be tough, because his short game is unbelievably good. We also have Bruce Fleisher, who has won 5, 7, 9 -- probably 13 or 14 times since he has turned Senior. I know I can't go out there and make pars and beat these guys. In my case, I don't have anything to lose but to try to go make birdies. They are both playing good. They both have been there. I have yet to win out here, so it probably is a little bit more pressure on me than it is a guy like Fleisher or Hubert Green. But they know I am not going to lay down and just let them win. They have got to go make some birdies too. Plus the fact, a guy like Tom Kite, a guy that can go there and shoot 65 or 66 -- a guy like a Tom Watson, so you got a half dozen guys -- probably 10 guys there. And I think anyone that is under par within 8, 9 shots, with two days left, has a chance to win the golf tournament. I really think it will be more pressure in the last couple of groups than it will be if you play four, five groups ahead of the last couple of groups. But my game is to go out there, play like I did today, make birdies. Hopefully don't get stupid. The most important thing: Keep it under control. Just control the tempo, just accept that bad shot. Because this is a U.S. Open course. You are going to get some bad shots, some bad lies. You are going to get that 15-foot putt where you are playing 9 feet of break. So just kind of accept it and go. But my chances -- I am going to be trying to win, to answer your question. I am definitely going to go out there and try to make birdies. If I can get one or two shots up I can --driver, I can hit a little bit further, and I think it plays to my advantage on the tough condition because I can hit the 7, 8, 9-irons from the rough. I am strong enough to dig them out of there. So I just got to hope the wind blows and the greens firm up and we will see what happens.

JIM THORPE: Yeah, last year he beat me a couple times, but he was putting good. He would have beat God. I mean, when he gets on a roll with his putter, he just makes tons and tons of putts. But I think the difference -- yesterday he shoots 7-under; is that right? Yeah. I think today they went out and posted that 4-, 5-under par today, again, to put himself in double figures then, yes, he would have been gone. But I think the golf course might have played a little bit more difficult, he might have backed off a little bit more because of the pin placements, so it is going to be very, very interesting because I am thinking a guy like a Tom Watson or a Tom Kite is going to just, you know, come out the pack and Watson is the type of guy that can do that and so is Tome Kite.

JIM THORPE: Yeah, I think about Merion. I had a good shot to win there. Unfortunate David Graham, couple of other guys just played a magnificent round of golf on Sunday. Probably the Open that my probably best chance came at is Winged Foot in 1984. I think Greg Norman and Fuzzy Zoeller had a playoff there. I was tied with Curtis Strange. I think we missed by one or two shots, and I still look at those films because on Sunday I never had a one-putt green. And I drove the ball very well; hit some excellent iron shots; just never made a putt. So I feel that that Open and the Open we played in San Francisco at the Olympic Club, Scott Simpson won it, I think I missed about four, five shots, I played one hole on the front nine like 10, 11 over for the week, the 5th hole, so I really felt like I had a chance to win a couple Opens if I could have made something happen. Unfortunately it didn't happen, but I did well in some Opens and I have always liked the way they set the golf courses up. If you hit good golf shots, you get rewarded for them. If you hit bad shots, then the golf course is going to beat you to death. To me I think that is the way the game should be played. Basically what I am saying I shouldn't stand on the tee and miss the fairway 20 yards and make birdie. But if I miss there, drive it dead center, hit an excellent second shot, then I should have a chance. I think most of the golf courses that we play, you know, it doesn't mean nothing anymore by missing a fairway. The guys make just as many birdies from the rough as they do the fairways. But Open golf courses, you miss the fairways here you are going to pay the price.