CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

July 29, 1999

Kevin Sutherland

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: That's good.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: That was a different golf course.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: 10, I hit a good drive and 5-iron about 10 feet and made it for birdie. I'll take a par there any day so a birdie is like a bonus. One of the more difficult holes on the course. 12, I hit it in the left fairway bunker. I hit a good 7-iron out right in the middle of the green and I made about a 40-footer. It was kind of a big, swinging putt that just happened to go in. You feel like those are kind of a bonus. Next hole, I hit a driver and 3-wood right of the green on 13, and I chipped it up to about four feet and rolled that one in for a birdie. And then 14, I birdied 14. I hit a driver and 9-iron, and I hit about a 12-footer there and kind of down the hill. Hit another really good putt. Putted very well today. Everything I -- I saw a good line on every putt I hit. It was kind of nice. You wish for days like that. The next birdie was -- oh, 16. I hit a 6-iron there about -- probably about 15 feet behind the hole. Went past the hole. I made a right-to-left putt down the hole there. The next hole would be No. 2. I should say the 1st hole. I hit my drive left there and didn't get a very good line. I was able to get in the front bunker, hit a below-average bunker shot to probably about 20 feet and made that for par. That was a huge putt to just keep the round going. When you get things going well you don't want to set it back with a bogey. That was a big putt. I turned around and birdied two. I hit a lob-wedge about -- probably about 20 feet again and rolled that one in, a little left-to-right putt. The next hole I hit a 3-wood and an 8-iron about 10 feet and made that. And I parred everything else on the last six. I hit good putts. I had good chances for birdie but it just didn't go in. I made a lot of putts before that, though.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Probably. I can't think offhand of anything -- it just seemed like every putt I hit -- it wasn't necessarily -- they were all kind of going in the middle, too. I would say it probably my best putting round of the year. I had a lot of good chances.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I don't think. So I didn't hit a very good putt there. It was the worst putt I hit all day. But I don't think it was anything to do with the delay. That stuff happens. You're going to have a ruling or two on the course. I don't think it really bothered me too much.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Fulton is about the easiest guy to play with. Jeff Gallagher, we have a good time when we play together. They kept me loose. We had a good time today. Unfortunately, I know Jeff didn't play very well. Fulton, he played well. He had a good day; so we had a good group.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: You know, I've been asked that question a number of times, and I don't know what it is. I like the course. I seem to putt well here. Like I was saying before, for some reason, I get out here and I see a good line on the putts. For some reason, I can just see it going in. And that's a big bonus, because sometimes, you get on some courses and maybe the greens are a little harder to read. For me today, it seems like what I was seeing was what I was getting, and I think that's a sign of really good greens.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Well, usually it seems like normally there's always a breeze, and the greens and the fairways are softer than I think they have ever been. Which I think is odd because you guys are in the middle of a drought, I think. The greens and fairways are pretty soft. So with no wind, guys are going to shoot a lot of good scores, like they are.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: They weren't hard. They were just the middle of the road. I don't say they were soft, but they weren't firm, put it that way. For late in the day -- they were soft for late in the day.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: A little bit. More so than like on Tuesday. But they are still a little soft. When the ball is not bouncing into the rough, you can shoot right at a pin; you know guys are going to shoot good scores.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: When we were in Westchester, we were talking about there was a drought. And when you got here you can see how dry it is along the outside of the course. I knew obviously they were not getting the usual rain. But the golf course is really lush. It's in great condition. I mean, we don't shoot good scores like this when the course is not in good condition. The course is perfect. And so as a result, guys shoot good scores.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Yeah, I think obviously the more times you play a course, the more you learn about it. So you learn maybe you might not make the same mistake twice that maybe you made two years ago. But I still think the big factor -- if the greens were firm and the wind was blowing, the scores would be high. It's just the conditions we were playing under today were very good. That's not much wind and the greens were perfect. So you're going to shoot good scores. I don't think that's -- I think it's a great course. I really do. I like it a lot. I don't think it's anything to do with the course. Just the setup right now and the wind conditions are perfect for scoring. It wasn't that long ago that winning scores --

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I remember some were single digits, you know. The wind usually -- every time I've been here, the wind has always blown a little bit. Like 12 and 13 are always either into the wind or downwind, and 17 and 18 are the same way. Now, I don't want to say it's playing easy, but you're going to get chances to make good shots to make birdies.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: You have less control of the ball.

KEVIN SUTHERLAND: It depends which way it goes. If 17 and 18 are into the wind, those holes are going to be very difficult. And they have played that way before. I remember, I think, last year I was hitting driver off 17, and I normally hit 3-wood there. So it makes a big difference. If the wind blows, it just affects the control you have of the golf ball. And today, we had very little wind.