	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 14, 2005

Peter Lonard

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Lonard, 68, 4 under par, joint leader in the clubhouse.

You must be very happy with your opening round, Peter.

PETER LONARD: Yeah, I was happy in the way that I made a lot of birdies, but I was disappointed that I was quite inconsistent. I didn't hit the ball great, but as it showed I made a couple of doubles. I suppose a couple of them were 3 putts. But all in all it was pretty good to get away with 4 under.

Q. Have you got a different putting grip or are you using the same putter?

PETER LONARD: From

Q. You looked like you're using a bit of a claw.

PETER LONARD: Yes, I walk up and if I feel like I'm going to claw it, I claw it; and if I don't, I don't. That's the way I've done it since I started using the short putter.

Q. How do you explain the inconsistency? A couple of double bogeys and an eagle and 7 birdies?

PETER LONARD: I didn't hit I wasn't hitting it great. I was reasonably smart, tried to keep it out of all the bunkers. I did my ironwork on the course pretty much, apart from the last, because I didn't think I could drive it anywhere near the hole. But outside of that, I missed it in the right spots, except for the 4th. And I pretty much stayed out of the fairway bunkers, which is always important.

Q. How much has the course changed, condition wise, since the practice rounds? Was it much different today?

PETER LONARD: No, I didn't feel it was much different at all. I thought it played like one of the days I played with this type of wind. And then I played one other day where it was going maybe 45 degrees the opposite. It was pretty similar. It was hard and bouncy. The greens were reasonable, very similar from the other days. It's always going to be hard and fast on this type of ground.

Q. With Michael winning the U.S. Open and you've competed against him for many years, do you feel that's given you an emphasis for going on to better things yourself?

PETER LONARD: Not really. I think we're just mates. I don't think we're really obviously we're competitive when we get in the same ring, but I don't run off him, and I'm sure he doesn't run off me. I don't think it makes any difference, as far as that's concerned.

Q. Talk about how you're playing this week versus how you felt the week at Harbour Town when you won. Is it similar, better or worse?

PETER LONARD: I think my putting is probably a little better than it was at Harbour Town. Harbour Town was probably the second day that I actually used the short putter for about seven years, so there were a few putts that I felt pretty ordinary on. I've done a lot of practice since then, so I feel reasonably confident with it. I don't think my ball striking is probably as good, but this course, I think, allows you to think around. And I don't think you have to hit it absolutely perfectly every day. You can use the wind to your advantage. You can roll the ball around if you don't feel comfortable hitting it in the air. That's the art of links golf, I think. You don't have to just flush it all the time. You can play the golf you have 160 yards, there's five ways of getting it 160 yards, whereas week in and week out we probably don't play that.

Q. Do these conditions remind you of home? Are these the kind of conditions you played in growing up, hard, fast, dry?

PETER LONARD: Yeah, there's a lot of similarities to Australia. We don't have a real links course like this that I know of or that I've played, but just the bounce of the ball is pretty similar to Australia. And you've got to keep it down. It gets pretty windy there, too. It definitely has its similarities.

STEWART McDOUGALL: Peter, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

About ASAP Sports • FastScripts Archive • Recent Interviews • Captioning • Upcoming Events • Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297