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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 26, 2015

Colin Montgomerie

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Up next Colin Montgomery, 2 under, 68 today, 4 under overall.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: As the masses gather, here we are once again. Tied for the lead, for now, until somebody beats it. But there's lots of players just around that mark. It's quite difficult to make a move on anything. Two 68s is safe. 68 yesterday was safe, and it is today. Didn't hole much today. Holed a couple putts yesterday. Holed a couple yesterday. Three birdies and a bogey, nothing to shout home about. But yeah, you know, determined to -- determined as anyone to try my best over the weekend and try and win this again.

Q. Is it hard sometimes when you're not seeing the putts go in and you feel like maybe you can separate yourself?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: You feel like you can score 5, 6, 7 under possibly at halfway, but it doesn't appear to be like it's going to happen. The greens -- we found yesterday afternoon the greens firm up. They get much firmer. Therefore, you can't stop the ball on the greens. We have eight holes today that the pins are eight or less on. So they're right at the front. So this afternoon's scoring, you would feel, would be worse than this morning's because you can't get close to some of these pins. They're right at the front of the green, and it's very difficult to get close to them.

Q. With that in mind, have you noticed that there's an advantage to go early late, or late early?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, there's no advantage, I don't think. They watered the greens before the 18s yesterday. They'll do that again. Over the day, they do dry out towards the end. So it makes it more difficult. But no, there's no difficulty there. It was just warmer yesterday afternoon than it will be today. It's only 100 and something today. It was 200 and something yesterday.

Q. It was like 27 degrees cooler today when you started than yesterday?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, indeed. That's a big difference on the 10th hole. Some 30-odd degrees difference, it makes a big difference. Yes, it does. Concentration levels as well. We suffer from concentration levels. When you're over the ball and your head's spinning because of the heat and what have you, being out there for five hours is difficult to concentrate in that amount of heat. So proud of myself to come up with a birdie at the very last hole there. It proves that things are okay.

Q. You were 2 under both days in scorching heat yesterday, a little milder today.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, that's fine. I'll take a couple more of them. If I can post 8, that won't be far away.

Q. You spoke yesterday about not driving the ball well. How was driving today?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: A bit better today. It wasn't very good yesterday at all. I missed every fairway on the back nine yesterday, which was awful for me. Better today, not great. So at least it's going in the right direction.

Q. Monty, can you talk about focus, and your focus on focus? There seem to be several incidents today and yesterday where somebody might have distracted you and you might have said something to them. Seemed like you really wanted to be focused on being focused, it seemed like.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Focused on being focused -- that's a good one. I've never been that way, ever. Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of incidents, of course there is. It's a marquee group. I'm playing with Bernhard Langer and the U.S. Senior Amateur Champion. So there's a lot of people watching, and the crowds are great. A couple of marshals just happened to move at the wrong time, trying to stop cameras or whatever the case may be. It's always going to be that way when you're in a marquee group. I suspect it will be similar tomorrow. You have to be patient, let my caddie do most of the talking to the spectators or whatever, and let's go enjoy ourselves.

Q. What part of your mindset seems to be proper for a U.S. Open or U.S. Senior Open?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: My game was built on these type of courses, four rounds, fairways and greens. You hole a couple of putts every day, and you shoot 68, and you walk off. That has always been my game. I always used to love coming to the U.S. Open when others didn't. I always felt you could -- out of the 156 field, 100 of them really didn't want to be there or didn't want to play. So as long as that was the case, I was quite happy.

Q. Colin, you talked about the marquee group you're in the last two days. Two of those three guys, not you, use the anchored putter. What do you think on the ban that's coming?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I would ban Bernhard Langer's putter immediately. Not just in 2016, but probably tomorrow. I'd have it banned tomorrow. Let me see how he does, because he does use it extremely well. He's a wizard with the damn thing. And, hey, I feel for the guys, anchor putters. I feel for the guys who have done nothing else in their lives but anchored putters. There's a couple guys out here that have done nothing else, that have been brought up from a young age playing golf with an anchored putter. Now they're told they cannot use it.

Q. [No microphone].
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I don't know. Keegan Bradley was like that. There's a few juniors like that. Now they're told having to change. That's difficult for them to understand, that there's a rule coming out. It's like you're not allowed to use a driver. I've used it all my life. Now you can't use it.

Q. [No question].
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, you know. They'll come up with something to try and reduce the scoring. We're all getting very good at this game, aren't we?

Q. You never thought of it as an advantage to them? Especially on a hot day when you might have a little bit of the shakes because of dehydration, whereas you have a normal grip and somebody else has the --
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, permanent shaking. Drink, really, being Scottish, you know. I just happen to yip them in. I don't know how it happens, but they seem to go in. No, there's no advantage either way, I don't think really. It's either/or. If you're happy with that, if you're more confident using a belly putter or an anchored putter, fine. If you're not, don't do it. I used a belly putter for many years, you know, until it got -- until it was too long, really, because my belly got bigger and, of course, the putter became longer, and I couldn't really use it. They don't get that. [Laughter]
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