U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 1994

Jim Albus

JIM ALBUS: Well, we got to play, anyway. It was nice out there once we finally got out there; it was nice. Conducive to scoring again. Although the scores aren't that low, I am surprised again. This old course seems to hold up pretty well because it was nice; hardly any wind, and greens were soft as can be and they are fairly smooth, although, they got a little spiked up there. There were a couple of things that looked like big old teeth looking at you there.

JIM ALBUS: I birdied the second hole from about eight feet. And the fourth hole I holed it from about 20 feet, 25 feet. And the 7th hole I holed it from about six feet. We all birdied there. All three of us birdied that hole. Pretty good hole too. And then I birdied the last hole, the 13th hole.

JIM ALBUS: I snuck a bogey in there on the fifth hole with a bad iron shot and a bad chip. Simon played great, putted well. He putted really well and played well too, so I talked to him. If he plays like that I am going to have to hole some putts.

JIM ALBUS: We were back and forth. I birdied; then he birdied; then it went back and forth. He is three ahead of me now, I think. But it was fun. We both had it going pretty good.

JIM ALBUS: No, he is fine. He always grumbles and grumbles like this, (making grunting noise), but he is fine. He is a character. Boy, he played well. He zinged that ball there, and putted well too. Putted real well.

JIM ALBUS: Yeah, it was after five o'clock and we were trying to figure out how many holes we would get in. It was a guessing game. I figured, I think, we could still be playing too. I don't know why they quit quite so early. I didn't think we were going to finish, so it didn't probably make a difference anyway. Some groups probably did, but we were going to go out there no matter what. But I think we still could be playing.

JIM ALBUS: I am playing well, so, I feel great out there. I love the way I feel. I love the way I am playing, so, if I can putt well, he is going to have to play well, I think, to beat me.

JIM ALBUS: Yeah, that is a fact, but no, we never said anything about it. That was a good group in front. Hear some yelling and screaming up there.

JIM ALBUS: No. I saw a couple of leader boards. It was nice to see that nobody else seemed to be doing anything great, and Simon actually opened up a pretty good gap ahead of the field. So that was nice to see. I think I started looking at it at the turn and nobody seemed to be doing anything. I don't know why.

JIM ALBUS: Yeah, we may be looking over our shoulder a little bit. (Hobday enters press room.) That Hobday is something, holed every single putt. It was unbelieveable, every putt.

JIM ALBUS: Yeah, there is a lot of holes left. Definitely don't want to start just thinking it is just him and me. There is a lot of guys out there that can really play right behind us. I am glad to see a big gap there, but you know, it is still wide open. Heck, we still got 27 some odd holes to play.

JIM ALBUS: I slept in. I slept in until almost eight o'clock which is great for me. I slept like a rock. Tomorrow, I guess we are going to play -- Simon, what time do you get up? I think tomorrow we go at 7:45, so you get to sleep in tomorrow, Simon.

JIM ALBUS: It's a great feeling. It's the sort of thing that you dream about, and I am going to try and emphasize how wonderful it is after the tournament, and not get too involved in it ahead of time. Trevino was telling me yesterday -- I was asking him while we were playing about his U.S. Open wins, and he was saying that he got the first one, I think, was at Oakland Hills -- no, Upstate New York, at Oak Hill, and he said he got around to about the 13th hole and he had the lead in the U.S. Open. He said he never choked so much in his life. He saw he had this lead with five holes to go, you don't picture that, you know, that-- Trevino doing that, but he said he just choked his ars (sic) off. But I don't think -- just try not to pay attention to it. I will just play hard and as good as I can and not get too involved with things.

JIM ALBUS: No, it is the latest. That reminded we when I was learning how to play; we used to do that. We used to play till dark and you needed flash lights to get in. That is about as late as it gets. .

JIM ALBUS: I watched Simon. We had-- during a tournament in San Antonio, they had special olympics kids over there on the side and they had brought them over to fish. They brought us all over to introduce us to them, when we were playing, and Simon took the pole -- the fishing pole from the one kid and threw it in the water and right away reeled it right in. He could fish. He fishes much better than he putts.

JIM ALBUS: No, it has been a slow week. I have had these late tee times, you know, all the mess and everything, it got me way off that schedule. So, it has been a nice lazy kind of a week, loafing around; plus I never found a real good gym.

JIM ALBUS: I usually work out for 45 minutes or so in the evening; get on the bike. I ride the bike and lift some weights and do whatever is available at that particular gym, but I usually find one and I try and work out 45 minutes, five nights a week, five or six nights a week.

JIM ALBUS: Simon is usually next door at the pub. I usually can hear him through the walls in the next door pub. He is lifting too, you know. See you tomorrow.