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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 31, 2005

Loren Roberts

KETTERING, OHIO

RAND JERRIS: We're now joined by Loren Roberts, runner up for the championship.

Loren, perhaps you can start us some with just some general comments about the day.

LOREN ROBERTS: Obviously Craig and I didn't play very good and we didn't spur each other on. I hit the ball pretty good the front nine, but I didn't take advantage of the par 5s. I just hit my approach shots to the par 5s in places where I couldn't make birdie from, and you just can't do that.

You know, I drove it in the rough one time on the front nine and bogeyed that hole.

I thought I had a chance when I birdied, made a good putt at 9 and made a good putt at 10 to get it to 12 and then drove it just perfect in the middle of the fairway on 11. I think I had 87 to carry and 92 to the hole or something like that, and I probably put the worst swing on it I've ever put on a wedge, and I just went blank or something. I was trying to hit some kind of a cut shot in there or something and didn't swing at it. Basically the 11th hole was my whole tournament right there.

The pins were tough. The greens got firm and the pins were tough after No. 12, and it was just tough to get the ball close to the hole to make a birdie, and I just couldn't make a birdie coming in.

RAND JERRIS: Could you walk us through your card quickly, please.

LOREN ROBERTS: Drove it in the right rough on 7 and had a pretty good lie, just couldn't get it on the green and hit it in the bunker and couldn't get up and down to made a bogey there.

Then made a good putt from probably about 25, 30 feet there at 9, pin high, left of the hole to get back to even par. I felt like, well, I'm still in the golf tournament, and I made a good birdie at 10 after driving it through the fairway. The fairways were really running today, and the ball was moving out there. The greens were tough and the pins were tough.

Like I said, the whole thing was the double bogey I made at 11 after just absolutely driving it perfect up there.

Q. How far was the birdie putt on 10?

LOREN ROBERTS: Probably about six feet.

Then hit it in the bunker, and the bunkers this week are I've never seen sand this tough. I mean, the bunkers were definitely hazards this week. A lot of times we get to where bunkers, you'd rather be in the bunker than the rough. But these bunkers were definitely hazards. The sand was really tough to play and you couldn't spin it out of there, so they were definitely a hazard. I got it in there and tried to hit a shot just to get it on the green and I couldn't get it on the green. I made a double bogey, and that was my whole tournament there for me.

Q. What was your club and yardage on 18 coming in?

LOREN ROBERTS: I hit it in the right rough down there, but I had 153 and 175 to the hole, and I hit a 7 iron out of the rough up there pin high. I knew I was going to have to make after I drove it out of the fairway I knew I was going to have to make a long putt to get a playoff. I hit it where I was looking, I just misread it. I thought it was going to break about a foot to the right and it went almost straight up there.

But, you know, I missed my opportunities at 17, which was definitely a birdie hole. It was a tough pin but it was still a birdie hole. And I didn't make birdie at 14. Those are the two real birdie holes on the back side. I didn't take advantage of either one of them.

Q. Can you talk about how your strategy changes, if at all, when an early number is posted?

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, obviously, I mean, the lowest round of the week on Sunday, I don't care where you start in the field, you're going to have a chance to win unless you're teeing off at 7:00 in the morning.

I just can't believe he just played a fantastic round of golf. I didn't see it, but he must have made an awful lot of long putts today because it was tough to get the ball close to the hole, especially on the back nine.

Gosh, I mean, 8 under par, put that up on the scoreboard, Craig and I couldn't do anything about it and we couldn't do anything with our games. Obviously the golf course played as hard as it's played all week, and for him to shoot the lowest round of the week on Sunday, he deserves to win.

Q. In general, what makes these bunkers so difficult, sand traps so difficult? And as a follow up to that, you took seemingly hardly any time between the two sand shots. Were you ticked? I mean, did you rush it and did that hurt you?

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, no. I mean, I was just trying to the first one I was just trying to play left of the flag and get it out there 25 feet past the hole and hopefully make a putt. They're just tough. I mean, the sand is real deep, and it's real soft, and it's not packed, and it's a definite hazard. I hit it as hard as I could hit it almost on the first one and I went under it, couldn't get it out. Then the next one it was the same kind of shot that I had, just trying to get it out left of the flag somehow. I barely got that one out. You know, the next one wasn't exactly a shot you were going to get close anyway.

Q. You played a lot of good golf to get in a position to win on Sunday. You walked away with more positives than negatives this week?

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, yeah. I mean, I've been pretty good at putting bad things behind me in my career. So yeah, I feel positive about the way I played because I'm going to tell myself, gosh, as poorly as I drove it on the weekend, I still had a chance to win the golf tournament, and that's the way I'm going to look at it, you know, instead of looking at the fact that I threw the Open away, I'm going to look at it, gosh, I drove it poorly on the weekend and still had a chance to win.

If my friend was with us today, and Walter Driver is taking over the USGA, I think, as the head, and next year they're at Prairie Dunes, I think, and that's in Hutchinson, Kansas, and I can't wait to get there. That might be one of the finest golf courses in America, and I can't wait to get there. I'm looking forward to that.

Q. At what point in the round did you notice what Allen was doing?

LOREN ROBERTS: Probably about 10, the 10th hole. I don't know how many birdies he made after he was only like four groups, five groups in front of us, but I don't know you know, I don't know what hole he was on, but I think I was about the 11th hole and I saw he had gotten it to 8 under for the day at that point it just a couple holes left to play. It was a great round, but Craig and I were still ahead at that time, and all we needed to do was play our game coming in, and we just didn't play good enough.

Q. Just out of curiosity, did you know what the playoff format was for this tournament?

LOREN ROBERTS: You know, I thought about that last night because I was thinking, doggone it, if there is a tie I wonder if they play 18 on Monday or what they do, but I had no idea what the playoff format was. What is it?

Q. Four holes.

LOREN ROBERTS: Oh, okay.

Q. Four holes and then sudden death.

LOREN ROBERTS: Okay. Let's hope I never have to do that.

RAND JERRIS: Well, Loren, thanks very much and congratulations on your fine play.

LOREN ROBERTS: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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