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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJune 26, 2015Kevin SutherlandSACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: It's my pleasure to welcome Kevin Sutherland here into the Media Center. Rounds of 68 and 69 for a two-day total of 3 under par, 137. Kevin, excellent playing. Started today on 10, and just like yesterday, got off to a good start, birdying the first hole. KEVIN SUTHERLAND: It was nice to get off to a good start. I hit a 5 iron and had my 54-degree wedge from about 10 feet and made that. It was nice to get off to a good start. I feel like I played fairly well there for a little while and kind of had a bit of an up and down back nine. THE MODERATOR: 16 and 18 seemed like they were playing a lot easier today. Some of the most difficult holes on the course yesterday, but birdies happening on 16 and 18 today with the tees being up a little bit. You birdied both of them. KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Yeah, the tee was up on 16 so I hit a 3 wood and a 7 iron there today. 18 is a pin that we see a lot, the membership sees a lot there. You don't have to worry about the hazard in front so you can be kind of aggressive with it. If you happen to hit it past the hole, there's a good chance it will come back. So it's a good pin. If you get in the fairway, you can be aggressive with. THE MODERATOR: And then you got it going again in the middle of your second nine, birdies on 3, 6, and 7. KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Yeah, I made a really bad bogey on -- well, bad bogey on 1 and 2 really. Those holes weren't playing all that difficult. I hit a good drive on 1 and just got myself in a bad spot on my second shot and wasn't able to get on the green and ended up making bogey. Hit a really bad iron shot on 2 and made bogey. It was nice to bounce back on 3 and hit a 7 iron to 10 feet and made that. And then birdied -- I made a long putt on 6, probably a 40-footer, and then I made about another five-footer on 7. So it was nice to make some birdies, but then I made double on 8, which was playing hard. It was not an easy hole. Got myself out of position on the tee and then hit it in a bad spot on my third, and then not a real good shot on my fourth. It was just a bad hole. THE MODERATOR: You look up at the leaderboard, and you see the name Jeff Maggert. You lost to Jeff in a playoff in The Tradition to start off the year. A lot of similar names on top of the leaderboard Langer, Montgomerie, you, Maggert. Seems like the cream is rising to the top here at Del Paso. KEVIN SUTHERLAND: It's a good golf course. Guys who are playing well, hitting good shots, are going to play well here. If you're not playing on the top of your game and not hitting good shots, you're going to get penalized. Like on No. 8, I got out of position a little bit and I just couldn't get myself -- you know, sometimes bogey's a good score, and on that hole I just wasn't able to manage to do it. It shows what can happen if you just get a little out of position. That's what this course is doing right now. That's why the scores are what they are. And the players you named, Jeff Maggert is an incredible ball striker, and it showed today with 5 under. Q. You've had back-to-back years now at the Senior Open where a player who's been playing well is basically playing on their home course. Did you talk to Scott Verplank at all before this Senior Open to say, how did you handle this? What are your expectations based on the fact that you're so well-known here and you're a hometown guy? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: You know, I didn't. It probably would have been the smart thing to do, but I didn't. There's a few guys. Bob Tway is a member there, and there's a number of guys who play out of there, but I didn't. I thought today I did a really good job of just playing golf. I was very relaxed today compared to yesterday. Maybe it didn't show, but I felt like I was playing a little bit more comfortably. My score was one stroke higher, but it was more like silly mistakes, as opposed to yesterday, where I really felt like I got it around the course very well yesterday. I actually probably played a little better today, but I made a few mental mistakes and stuff, and that happens. But I felt like I did a really good job of managing my expectations, and I just really enjoyed the crowd and just the energy they brought. It was just an amazing feeling to play in front of your home crowd. I've never had it happen before, and I can see why sports teams love to play at home. Q. It's come up today again where the assistant pros now are caddies today, where both of them, Mr. Watson and Mr. Dickson, are caddying for Barry Lane and the amateur Mike McCoy. Is there something in the water here, Kevin, where it seems like this is becoming the underlying theme, Del Paso members or pros working this week? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I knew about Bobby Siravo caddying for Bernard, but I didn't know that Doug was caddying. It's interesting. I don't know what to say about it. I know that they're going to have a great time. Who is Doug caddying for? Q. Doug is caddying for the amateur Mike McCoy, and Mark Watson is caddying for Barry Lane. KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Perfect. They'll have a great time. I'll have to watch TV and see if I see them. Q. Knowing both of those folks, what can they add to their games out there right now? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: They both know the course very well, and they've both played a lot of golf here. I know that I was talking to Bobby Siravo, he was actually reading greens for Bernhard Langer, which is great because Bobby's a great putter and knows the greens extremely well. So it's smart on Bernhard's behalf to have him do that. So there can be some advantage to having a local guy caddie for you. They have a little bit of extra knowledge than maybe someone who just showed up this week. Q. Speaking of local guys on the bag, you've got one too. What kind of help has David been this tournament? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: He's been fantastic. We've gotten along so well, and it's been a great experience. It's been a lot of fun. We both know the course very well, and so we kind of can pick each other's brains a little bit on that if he thinks that maybe this is a better play than that, and we've read each other very well that way. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to the weekend. THE MODERATOR: I'll follow up with this last question. You played yesterday, it was about 100 degrees. Today, about 30 degrees cooler when you teed off. Did the course play any different? Was it a little more receptive? How did the weather factor into how the course is playing this morning? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: The fairways seemed quite a bit softer than they were yesterday. The ball was just rocketing down the fairways yesterday. So I felt like the fairways played softer, but I would assume they're going to firm up as the day goes on. The greens seemed like they were softer than they were when we played yesterday afternoon, but they weren't necessarily soft. They seem like they'll probably be pretty firm for the afternoon guys, but the course is in amazing condition. The fairways are spectacular, and the greens are amazing. Mark's done a fantastic job here, and you can't ask for a course to be in better shape. Q. Kevin, with your playing so well, you kind of come into this with I'm the hometown guy, are your expectations changed now that you're closer to the top? KEVIN SUTHERLAND: My expectations were always I thought it would be -- I've always kind of said this would be an awesome tournament to win. But I've been kind of putting that on the back burner. So starting the week, my expectation is to win the tournament, but I've realized that you can't try to do that on the 1st tee. So my expectations have been really one shot at a time and to be there at the end. That's been my goal from the beginning. So it hasn't changed at all based on where I'm at right now. It's to take one shot at a time, with the big goal being right there at the end of the tournament with a chance to win. THE MODERATOR: In very good position to win the Championship, 68, 69, 3 under, 137 through two rounds. Best of luck on the weekend. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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