SEI PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC

September 16, 2000

Loren Roberts

LOREN ROBERTS: I made a lot of birdies today. My putter is really -- I'm seeing the line good and I'm making a lot of putts. I'm making some bogeys, but I'm making a lot of birdies, too. Hopefully we can keep it going for one more day. Started out good today. Hit it about a foot on the first hole for birdie. Probably 3-putted the third hole. Then hit it maybe six feet at the par 3 and made that for birdie. And then made about a 15-footer for birdie at the next hole. Made a great 2-putt to kind of keep the round going at No. 7. I drove it in the right rough and kind of hacked it up there and got it on the green, but it rolled back to the very front edge and I was able to putt from there. That was kind of a key point in the round. Birdied the next hole from about 12 feet for birdie. Then made a good up-and-down for bogey on 9. Seemed like if I miss the green -- I'm having a hard time getting my third shot even on the green. Seemed like if I'm missing it I can't chip it on the green. But I made a good bogey there. And good 2-putt at 10 from the right side of the green. Then really the putter took off and made it from almost 18 feet above and left of the hole at No. 11; that was a real key. Then made it from about eight feet on 12. Made about another 8-, 10-footer on 15 for birdie from right of the hole. Then knocked it in there about four feet on 18 and made that for birdie. Every time I hit it close, I made it.

LOREN ROBERTS: I think it's a combination. When I first got here and looked at the golf course, and of course that was before it rained I thought 8- to 10-under might win this tournament. Obviously we got some rain and the greens softened up and that's why I think the scores are lower. But if the greens would have stayed firm and fast, I thought 8- or 10(-under) would have won it. Especially the first year. I think it is a combination of guys have not seen it yet and guys are hitting what they are thinking of some pretty good shots and putting the balls in places on the greens that it is just really hard to do anything from. You know, I wouldn't look to see anything more than about, I don't know, depending what the leaders do today, I would say 13-under would be pretty solid, pretty safe. And that's three better than I thought it would have been at the start of the week.

LOREN ROBERTS: The fairways were perfect today. In fact, the golf course is the driest I've seen it all week today, other than on Tuesday. You know, I think being able to touch the ball is probably what kept the score -- I was surprised the scores were low yesterday, just because, I mean, it was windy. It was tough. I thought playing the hardest all week yesterday and they put some low scores up. That's just what touching the ball will do for you. I know the guys at 2-over par are pretty upset they were touching it yesterday, because that definitely lowered the cut.

LOREN ROBERTS: Hey, as long as it works, go ahead. I've never had to worry about that kind of thing, yet. So, you never know. When I get a little older I might have to. It's whatever works. And obviously if it does something for him, not so much mechanically, but mentally, that can make all the difference.

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, this golf course is a pretty -- got some pretty tough starting holes. You know, the third and the fourth holes are a couple of holes that you really need to hit a couple of solid pars on. If you can do that, then you can take advantage of the next two. But I'm just going to go out and start out with the idea that if I can go through the first five holes and be, you know, 1-under for the round, I've got a real shot; I'm right there. You have got to play 7 and 9 and 10 good, and the rest of them after that are holes that you can make birdies on. I looked at some of the pin positions that they are going to have tomorrow, and you might be able to play a little more aggressively. We'll just have to kind of wait and see what happens. The real key is that once you get through the ninth and 10th hole, because as I say, if you go through just even par on those two holes you might be half a shot up on the field.

LOREN ROBERTS: You know, we had a little bit of wind out there; it cooled off. The guys this morning, the guys that could have read really made some kind of a jump, the guys that played at 9:30 or so had to deal with some cold weather and some wind. You know, this is not the kind of a golf course where you can really, I think, run away from anybody, just because you're going to hit some good shots and the ball is going to end up in some spots where you're going to struggle to make par from.

LOREN ROBERTS: Oh, I think very happy. I think guys are really pleasantly surprised at the quality of the golf course for a first-year event. Obviously, the greens and everything are in excellent shape. The fairways are in excellent shape. I think guys are really pleasantly surprised with the quality of the golf course. You know, of course, obviously Philadelphia has a great history of producing great golf courses. So, it doesn't surprise me that it is a good golf course.