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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 2005

Olin Browne

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

Q. How important was that putt on 14?

OLIN BROWNE: I think every putt is important. That putt happened to be important for that hole, but every putt is important.

Q. Maybe a little bit more so finishing for your psyche down the stretch there?

OLIN BROWNE: No, I think everybody is going to run into a hole like that this week. I happened to escape. I made a nice putt, but every single putt has that kind of value like that to me this week. My putter saved my butt today, plain and simple.

Q. How tough are the last four playing holes?

OLIN BROWNE: Well, I teed off on 10, so 16 is a virtually impossible tee shot. I mean, we're almost hitting directly across that fairway, and with the wind where it was today where we teed off and it was left to right and into, there was almost to way to hit that fairway. I'm going to try and think my way through that and try and figure out what to do.

I'll tell you the toughest hole on this golf course, the 1st hole, and then the next one is the 2nd hole. There are 18 beasts out here, and that is the name of that game and this golf course.

Q. Played pretty steady today and kept yourself atop the leaderboard. How have you done that today?

OLIN BROWNE: Looked down at the ground a lot, try and move at the same speed all day long. You know, it's a little bit of shock when you hit a shot like I did on 6, the second one. So you've just got to recognize that those kinds of things happen on occasion and keep bumping along.

Q. Can you take us through 6 and then also how you got it back at that point for 7, 8, 9?

OLIN BROWNE: Well, I didn't get it back because I made double and didn't get it back. They're still out there somewhere. I hit a 3 iron off the tee. I hit 4 iron out and then the wind kicked up, so I went to 3 iron and I just got it going a fraction left of where I wanted to, was trying to hit the middle of the green. That hole is just brutal.

I got down into a very shallow spot in a bunker and it was kind of on the downslope and it just moved a little bit, caught the back lip of the bunker across the green and stayed there, and I had to kind of alter my shot, pick up the club very quickly. I hit a good shot and it kind of rolled and rolled and rolled and then I hit a pretty lousy chip and then I happened to make the putt.

Q. Was that about 20 feet?

OLIN BROWNE: You know, I don't even know. Somebody said 15. I think it was closer to 25 than 15. It was somewhere in between. Obviously I was pleased to make it. The name of this game on this golf course is to hit the best shot you can every time, so I got up on the next hole, hit the fairway, then I hit the green, and on the next hole I hit the fairway, then the green, next hole hit the edge of the fairway and got out of here. I played a pretty good game of golf, did not strike the ball well, and I'm going to go to the range and try and fix that before tomorrow.

Q. You're atop the leaderboard. What's your reaction?

OLIN BROWNE: Considering the way I played today, it's something of a miracle. I'm very pleased obviously and I'm ready for the weekend.

Q. On No. 3, you laid up with an iron, made a birdie to go to 4 under. Would you talk a little bit about the risk reward versus pulling out a driver on that hole and trying to mash it up there?

OLIN BROWNE: Well, there is no risk reward for me on that hole because if I hit driver I'm going to end up in a bad place. I just want to make sure that I hit the fairway and try and give myself a club to that pin. I took more club and tried to back off it a little bit and didn't quite get it backing down the slope, so I had about a 30 footer and it went right in the middle of the hole.

Then on the next hole hit a good shot into the green and couldn't get up and down in two. I made a good putt the first time and then I thought I made an even better one and horseshoed it. This game is all about staying in the present and hanging in there as long as you can. I've got no fingernails left today. I was hanging all day long, and they just all tore back. Hopefully I can straighten out my tee ball because that's an important component for me. You know, some of these guys, bigger hitters, they can afford to just blast it out down the fairway, and if it happened to go in the rough they've got a lot less club to the green.

Q. You finish in the Top 5, what does that do for you heading into Saturday and Sunday?

OLIN BROWNE: Well, I think a tournament like this plays to my style of play, which is I try and hit a lot of quality shots, and that's what a U.S. Open requires, and a golf course like this demands that you even though people will make birdies on some of the difficult holes like 16, it just demands that you play those holes with the utmost respect, and it's important to play intelligent and conservative but aggressive shots. When I say "conservative," I mean, you have to pick your line but you have to make it a point to hit that line. You can't be wishy washy. You have to commit to every shot. Maybe that's what I didn't do as well as yesterday, but I'll tell you, my putter bailed me out.

End of FastScripts.

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