KEMPER OPEN

May 28, 1999

Rich Beem

RICH BEEM: I had another good round. Played well today. Hit the golf ball off the tee box extremely well, real happy the way I drove the golf ball. Iron shots were, you know, crisp to a point, missed a couple of the shots out there, but for the most part, hit a lot of really good iron shots and what can I say, my putter is working. Rolled it beautifully today, had great pace. Hats off today to my caddie, Steve, to keep me focused and my head on straight and where I could have lost it a little bit, he kept my spirits up more than anything else and we just kept rolling.

RICH BEEM: Well, walking back to the tee box, No. 8, I was obviously a little disgusted. I think I got a couple bad breaks on those two holes. 6, I hit what I thought was perfect 4-iron. Again I was trying to go for the front part of the green. Once again just try and 2-putt if I had to from longer range for birdie, hits a tree, goes down in the hazard, caught a decent lie, I thought. I tried to gauge it out, couldn't get it on the green. Fortunate to make 6 there. Then the next hole I just had the wrong club in my hand for my second shot. Thought it was a 6-iron all the way and my caddie said 7 and we talked about it. He said go ahead and hit the 6. The back of my brain just telling me it wasn't the right stick but then we just rebounded on No. 8. We hit a great shot and had a perfect angle into the pin. He just kept my focus up and we hit another four, five feet, made that. That got me right back on track.

RICH BEEM: Actually I mean, whether I was leading the tournament or I wasn't even close to the lead, I would have gone over my to my college buddies and talked to them anyways. It was funny, I really was not as nervous as I had thought I would be out there. Coming down the stretch I got a little nervous on 13. I had a little short one for birdie there. I willed that one in the hole, kind of snuck it in the side. 14, I hit a perfect tee shot, you know, perfect sand wedge to about six feet. I made that. I willed a couple of putts in on 16 kind of got my attention a little bit. That got me focused again, just finished great.

RICH BEEM: Probably a little bit. Finishing on such a good note probably gave me a little confidence going into tomorrow -- first tee shot I think tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon, I have no idea what time the last tee time is.

RICH BEEM: Same time as today. I would imagine first tee shot will probably -- I will be the most nervous as it was for me today. I think I was probably more nervous on No. 1 tee than any other. Once I get past that, it will calm me down unless somebody starts hot. I can't control what they do, but it leaves a good taste in my mouth that I finished up really strong.

RICH BEEM: No, I am sure there is a lot of first-time winners. I don't know. I don't know about that history, but I am sure it would be nice to add to that list. Still got two more days.

RICH BEEM: I am not really surprised. I guess I am surprised about being in the lead. As well as I am playing, I am not surprised. I know that I can play like I have the last two days, the main evidence is how I played Q-School last fall. This is exactly what I did last fall at Q-School. I hit the ball in the middle of the fairway; knocked it on some greens; made some putts, and the last round of Q-School last fall was just a culmination of having a great year. And I think I am finally back swinging like I was at Q-School last fall, so, I am not really surprised. I guess I am a little surprised by the scores. I thought the scores might be lower when I got to the golf course this morning but they weren't. I am fortunate. I feel real fortunate to be in the lead.

RICH BEEM: Not at the moment. No. Yeah, I can probably lie in bed and dream about it. I am just having too much fun being in the moment. Being out on the golf course today was a lot of fun with all the people watching. Galleries got a little big, sometimes, but I am just having a lot of fun being there in the moment more than anything else. So if it all comes down to the wire on Sunday afternoon and the last nine holes and I do have the opportunity to win, then I might start thinking about it a little bit. But right now, like I said, it is just too much fun doing what I am doing.

RICH BEEM: My focus can be quite strong sometimes. She yells at me because I will be watching the TV and I will just zone her out, but I think that is a different type of focus. I think all of us do that a little bit. (laughter). (laughs). Yeah, on the golf course, I can -- this is my first experience ever with a lot of people watching and I know the cameras are going to be out there, and it is going to be a little different having all those sets of eyes on me, but I think that I am strong enough to zone most of that out. I certainly will find out tomorrow for the first time in my life if I am really strong enough to do it all, but I believe in myself and I believe I have the will and strength to do that.

RICH BEEM: It is enjoyment, yeah. I do that when I make a 10-footer for my fellow guys back home. I get a little emotional out there. On 17 I did the same thing. In fact, I did it so hard I thought I gave myself a little head rush for a second, which I did. I enjoy showing emotion on the golf course. When I hit a bad shot, I might toss a club. But when I make good putts or I do something good, I will get excited; I will pump my fist. I think that is very healthy for me and my game.

RICH BEEM: Yeah, made a good birdie on one. I just hit -- focused, hit a solid tee shot, had the same exact yardage I did yesterday; decided to go hit one extra club, hit 7-iron from about 168, strong wind, I think we had -- actually passed the hole, surprised both my caddie and myself. Just kind of like all the putts that I made of any length today, was just almost straight downhill and it wasn't a whole lot to it. I just got it rolling probably about 15 feet. I just got it rolling and it just crawled right in the center of the cup. That felt great to get off to a good start. 4, I hit it perfect in the middle of the fairway and we couldn't figure out the wind on that hole. It was going in all directions. We thought I could get 7-iron all the way back to the pin and ends up that the wind kind of shifted on us at the last moment, kind of was into us; ended up hitting it right on the front edge about good 45, 50 feet away and I was just trying to get it close. Sometimes when things are going in your direction you roll it close and it happens to sneak in. 7-iron about 45, 50 feet. It was pretty good length up and over a mound.

RICH BEEM: Yeah, it was one step on the green. Barely on the green. 5 -- that birdie on 4 kind of got me going. On 5, hit 3-wood right in the middle of the fairway like I did yesterday, and had 99 yards to the pin, little downhill, downwind, and almost made it. Ended up about an inch, two inches from the cup and, sand wedge. Two inches. Bad stuff on 6 and 7. Then can we skip that or --

RICH BEEM: Darn. 6, I just -- I got up there; hit a perfect tee shot. I thought I was clear of the tree overhanging the -- kind of the front right-hand part of the green probably about 60 yards out, and I didn't have a very good lie. I told my caddie Steve that I think I needed to hit the 4-iron because I think it is kind of going to shoot out of there. It did, but it happened to shoot kind of in the left-hand limbs of the tree; just barely caught one of them; fell straight down. Like I said, it was in the hazard. I couldn't ground my club. I didn't know how the ball was sitting. So when I got it, I just kind of held up above the grass; I went down after it, and I just -- I guess I caught it fat. I don't even know what happened. Almost hit in the other hazard in front of the green; ended up staying out of that. But that was just a scary shot as the one previously. I knocked it up to about 25 feet or so and almost made that. But it was -- if there is ever a good bogey, that was another one of them. 7, just a bad hole. Hit a perfect tee shot, just had the wrong club, just hit a 6-iron when I should have hit 7-iron, towards the middle of green to keep my momentum going because I knew I was in the lead, and I think I got a little too greedy; wanted to get back that there make up for that bogey on 6. Then just after I thought I should have gone in the bunker, just hung on a lie right in the face of the bunker; my feet were in the bunker. The ball was almost chest-high. I mean, it was really severe, and I got it out on the green about 25 feet away and a lot more downhill than I thought. Ended up 3-putting it. That kind of got my attention real quick. But once again, I mean, my caddie Steve, he just kept me right into it. He says these things happen to the good players, you are a good player, let's get through it; let's make birdie on the next hole; we will get right back on track; you will still be tied for the lead if you make birdie on that hole. That got my attention. Hit a perfect drive. Had 165 to the pin, little downwind; hit 8-iron, just all over it - eatin fibers - I like to call, it ended up five feet away; snuck that in.

RICH BEEM: Eatin fiber. The flag sticks are made out of fiberglass or the poles are. At least I think they are. 13, got aggressive on. I hadn't played real aggressive up to that hole on 10, 11, 12, kind of plugged away from the hole; it almost cost me. On 13 Steve says, you have been hitting the driver perfect all day; hit the driver again. I said, let us do it. Hit it right where I needed to, and then had a front right pin placement, had 228 front, I guess, 235 overall or something like that, and just hit a really good 3-iron to the front edge and 2-putted; made the second one from about three feet which was a pretty good putt. Then 14, I played the best hole of the day. Probably best hole of the tournament. I was a little nervous on that hole. Hit a 7-iron right on the middle of the fairway, 82 yards to the pin. I knew that I could hit my lob wedge 86 yards so we did. It sucked back within about five, six feet, and rolled that one in; And after that, actually I kind of relaxed a little bit. The nerves actually settled down just a touch; except for the short putts on 15 and 16, they kind of snuck back up. Then 17, we watched Chris Smith - thank goodness I wasn't the guinea pig on that hole because I wouldn't have known what to hit. Chris Smith made a great saving par on 16 to get the tee box from me, and I thank him tremendously because he hit 8-iron. I knew if he hit 8 up to that position, I could hit hard 7 not having any fear of going over the green; so I did. I hit hard 7; ended up pin-high left of the pin about 20, 25 feet, and Steve and I picked out a great place to roll it over and, like I said, I just got it going. It was going downhill and hit it on the right line. It fed right into the hole. Same on 18. 18 I just hit another super drive. Had it 158 from the pin, little breeze into us, but we knew it wasn't 7-iron, so we just tried to hit 8-iron as good as we could - little bit out to the right. Got it up on the top shelf. We are having -- it was comfortable, and I don't know how fast it was going. Looked like it had some pretty good pace to it. But right in the hole; that just felt great.

RICH BEEM: About 25 -- 20, 25 feet.

RICH BEEM: Duplantis.

RICH BEEM: I don't think it is capital P. I don't know.

RICH BEEM: Yeah. I don't know.

RICH BEEM: Yeah, she just got here yesterday afternoon. This is the third tournament I think she has been to. She went to Pebble Beach, San Diego. She went out to Tucson, but I missed the cut, so...

RICH BEEM: Onick.

RICH BEEM: Yes.

RICH BEEM: I am not that -- no. Not yet. Man, I am -- couple more years for that, I hope.

RICH BEEM: Bigger truck; more stuff.