U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 1999

Tim Herron

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I guess so. (Laughter.)

TIM HERRON: Yeah. You know, U.S. Open probably isn't my style of golf, because I don't drive it real straight, but this week I'm driving it good, and the last six months I've driven it really good. I missed one fairway today and missed it by a huge margin where I had an actual shot. I played well and I have the greens down, lagging the ball very well. And I hope for a good day home.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I'll probably watch the Dallas hockey game, and go to bed after that.

TIM HERRON: Okay. The 2nd hole I made par from behind the green, putted it up from one of those valleys. No. 5, I hit it over the green, hit a good shot, landed about center of the green, hopped over the green, and lagged it up there about three feet from behind the green, which I thought was a pretty good putt. I birdied 6, which might be a skin today, from where that pin was. And hit it about three feet. It hit kind of on the front edge and I kind of hit a nice high draw in there, and luckily the ball stayed.

TIM HERRON: 5-iron. I went -- I think the total was 226 or 228 or something, flew it about 209 and ran it back there.

TIM HERRON: 14, that was my bogey. I drove it in the middle of the fairway there. We were kind of in between clubs, and we took the shorter club and kind of got a wind gust and came almost 15 yards short of the green. And then chipped it up to about ten feet and missed that. I hit a good putt and it just didn't break in. And I hit a great putt off the green on the next hole.

TIM HERRON: That must have been pretty close to 80 feet. I mean, it just barely cleared -- I didn't hit a good iron at all. I tried to cut it in there. I didn't quite know where the wind was coming from, and I'm the kind of guy -- that's one of the only ones that I really guided it. I came up short. I told my caddy I've been putting it pretty well off the green. So I putted it up there, and I got it up there stiff about six inches.

TIM HERRON: Well, I knew that it was going to firm up a little bit. I watched a couple of shots on 5. I watched Price from behind the green where I was hit it up, rollback up, and then I don't know what he did with the next shot. I had to go hit some balls. But I knew you had to try to stay short there. But if you stay too far short it's going to back up off the green. I thought I had a perfect number there, hit an 8-iron, hit it it nice and high, floater, and went over the green, so.

TIM HERRON: You never know. It depends if the wind stays the way it is. You never know. The wind died down a little bit in the afternoon. If it kind of stays a little cloudy and the wind stays down you might see not quite as high. But you've just got to go out and play in golf.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, pretty much. Probably mostly off the golf course it probably fits. I feel like, yeah, you have to have a little fire in your belly. I've got a big enough gut to have a lot of fire in there. I'm human. I get mad just like anyone else. But I try to stay loose, and my caddy tries to keep my loose. And you've got to remember it's a game, and they stick the pin wherever they want and you can just take a while for it to get in the hole or get it in the hole as soon as possible.

TIM HERRON: It was a hard day of golf. I liked what they did, especially with the rough this week where you could actually advance it, get it pretty close up to the green. But it was blowing so hard on the holes into the wind, you can't get a 4-iron out or anything like that. Do you know where you can get a wedge out or an 8-iron or 7-iron, there's spots where you can. So I like the way it's set up. The pin placements are really difficult and that's about all I can comment on that.