U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 30, 1994

Simon Hobday

SIMON HOBDAY: I birdied the first, hit a driver and a wedge to about 10 feet and holed that. Par 5, I hit a driver and a 3-iron and a sand wedge to four feet. And holed that. And then I drove it in the long grass at 7, had to hit a sand iron out of that. Dropped the shot there. Number 12, I drove it in the long grass and got a lie and hit that on to 20 feet and holed that. And then I hit a drive, 8-iron at 13 to about 20 feet and holed that. And then I hit 5-iron at 15 to 20 feet and holed that. And then I 2-putted the driver and the 3-wood on the green on 16 and 2-putted.

SIMON HOBDAY: Well, he is in a different zip code as far as age is concerned, but hopefully we have two winners. That would be great.

SIMON HOBDAY: Yeah, I have known Ernie since he was about thirteen years old, and if any of you people saw him play at thirteen years old, you know, he is going to be a superstar then. He has got a lot of talent.

SIMON HOBDAY: When he was young, he played -- he did play, what we call, Rugby, in those days, and he is a good tennis player too. So he has been physically doing those kind of sports since he was a child, so he is strong.

SIMON HOBDAY: Well, I am not 100%. I have been playing bad for say 10 to 12 weeks now, and so I am not really confident yet. But today, for the first time, I hit a few really really good shots and that is a change. It has given me a lot of confidence.

SIMON HOBDAY: I don't know why that should be. Maybe you just get up a little bit because it is an Open or whatever. I don't know. I didn't realize I was 10th last year. I didn't know what I did before that.

SIMON HOBDAY: I don't know why that is. Hopefully it sticks.

SIMON HOBDAY: I just haven't been able to hit the middle of the club with the ball; been going left and right, both wings, so I haven't -- I don't even know where to aim the last 10 weeks. I start hitting them left; I start aiming right; then I start aiming it left and it goes -- it has just slipped out -- my rhythm slipped out for some reason, and it's just taking me a long time to get it back.

SIMON HOBDAY: At the end of last week I hit the balls a little bit better. I was definitely playing better when I arrived. Once you start on the upswing again, you do kind of look forward to playing and testing out whatever you were trying out on the practice tee, and I think that was it. I was just looking forward to playing this week, that is all.

SIMON HOBDAY: Why I came over here? Because of the money circuit. That is why I came over here.

SIMON HOBDAY: Car alarm business before that and then -- I was doing a lot of different odds and ends before I turned 50.

SIMON HOBDAY: Obviously, it's a fantastic golf course. The condition was perfect today. The greens were soft and, you know, you never got a bad lie in the fairway. It really is set up absolutely perfect. I hope it rains every night to keep those greens soft and, like, they played-- like it played today. I can't imagine how tough it would be if those greens got hard and they were running off the edges. They go down into those swells; really tough to up-and-down from. I hope it rains every night.

SIMON HOBDAY: Yes. Watched him going as a junior when he turned pro. We played in the South African circuit; played four, five tournaments in the last-- since we have been over here, and we have played with him then - South African tour.

SIMON HOBDAY: I figure if they could win one-- when it is your turn, it is your turn. If it happens to be a major, all the better. That is what happened to them. You know, when they won it, it was their turn to win it; just happened to be a major. Hopefully it is my turn to win this week.