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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 31, 2005

Craig Stadler

KETTERING, OHIO

Q. It was a much different golf course today than yesterday a lot of guys said, did you feel that way?

CRAIG STADLER: The greens were a lot of firmer and were playing nice for two days and yesterday they kept us in 15, 20 feet today it was in 30, 40 feet so (inaudible).

Q. Obviously last week you were in the final group and this week again you're in the final group. You talked about that you need to get yourself in the final group more in order to get yourself over the hump. At the end of the day do you think of it that way?

CRAIG STADLER: No. I've never done it like this before. Yeah, I played 9 disappointingly every day. I plugged it in the lip of the bunker. Came out of there, the middle of the fairway, in the middle of the divot, chopped that one up there. Three putt and made six. (Inaudible) Then everything kind of went sideways.

I hit two good shots on 10. I three putted 9 for six. Two good shots, what I thought were great second shots, back fringe, three putted that one. Then a horrible drive on 11 and made bogey.

But I thought I had a decent shot on 13, decent shot on 14.

15 I hit it a three feet wider than I wanted to. I wanted to hit on the right side and get it over the hill. I missed it by two or three feet from 240, which I couldn't get it out from the bunker.

The hole before that I hit pitching wedge, which I thought was a pretty good shot. Hit it short of the green, bounced it up over the hill. The hole before that I was two feet off the green. (Inaudible).

Just everything I did was wrong. 17, I hit a 3 wood, like I did on 11. And it was just a comity of errors.

And I birdied 18.

Q. A lot of people went backwards today with the exception of one or two players. We're all looking at it as the course was playing much harder today than it was the past couple of days. I know you said you didn't play well, but there is some of this factor in there, isn't there?

CRAIG STADLER: Yes, there is. It's harder to get the balls in the fairways today because they were faster. The perfect example was 5 and 6.

The first three days I hit 3 wood to 5 and a couple of times I couldn't get there. (Inaudible) I couldn't get it high and right after it rolled 30 yards. Today I hit a 3 iron all the way to the back and left of the green on 5 and hit just a little 4 iron to 6. So obviously the ball is going a lot farther in the fairways, but it's just one of those days were everything you did was wrong.

Q. Even after the trouble with 9 you still felt you were still in there?

CRAIG STADLER: Absolutely. I hit what I thought was a perfect drive on 10. You had the crosswalk. I don't know where the second shot hit, but I had 186 to the hole on ten and hit it 40 feet with an 8 iron. So it shows something is firm.

But I made a bad par there and chipped out in the next hole and made a bad bogey there. I had some decent shots on 17. I only made four bogeys after what I thought were four decent shots. So obviously they weren't that decent or they would have been on the greens somewhere.

But between that and the fact that I had no clue on the greens today. I was so bad on the speed. The first two putts I had, I four, five, six feet wide, then I left a couple more short, which was stupid stuff.

Q. (Inaudible)?

CRAIG STADLER: I don't know. After the difficulty on 9, I was about 30 left of the hole. Going straight down to the pin. It looked quicker. When I hit it, I actually thought it was a decent putt. Looked such an idiot. I did it three times. I did again on 16. I did I don't know somewhere back then. And make sure I get the hole on the 10 and roll it 20 feet back down the hill because it is quicker.

Q. Last week with that course, even though it played hard it's been consistent over time. This course seemed like it became inconsistent over time. Maybe it was a harder course than last week?

CRAIG STADLER: The wind didn't play a factor, but the golf course played very different today from what it was on Thursday. Thursday and Friday were very similar. Yesterday it was firmer, it was faster but today the greens were not as crusty today as they were yesterday. They weren't nearly as fast as I thought in spots. But then you got a hole in spots and was foot over the green on 14 and I don't think I could have I don't think I could have kept any shot on the green, no matter what I did. I could have just dropped it on the back fringe and it would have rolled on the green 20 feet back.

Q. Are you playing next week?

CRAIG STADLER: I'm committed (laughing).

Q. Or you want to be committed?

CRAIG STADLER: Really. I feel like I should be.

But, yeah I'll play next week. It was ugly but it's been ugly before.

End of FastScripts.

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