U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

May 30, 1996

Brandie Burton

BRANDIE BURTON: Well, I played not real steady and not real awkward. I kind of hit the ball sporadic in some places. I don't feel like I hit it as well as I'd like to, but I did get it up-and-down when it counted and made the putts when it counted. I had four birdies and four bogeys. I putted well. And missed a lot of putts, too, because obviously the greens get a little bumpy that late in the afternoon. Patience was the biggest thing out there today. That was the best thing I had going for me, that I was patient in every shot that I had.

BRANDIE BURTON: No. 2 I hit it left off the tee, had a chip out in the fairway, hit a pitching wedge to the green to about 30 feet and two-putted for a bogey. No. 4, hit the tee shot left again. I had no chance to hit the green. Chipped up from about 20 yards away and made about a 15-footer to save par. Sorry, that was not a bogey --

BRANDIE BURTON: No. 5 I hit a 4-wood right in the bunker and put it about 20 foot and missed the putt and made bogey. No. 6, hit a 6-iron to about 3 feet, made birdie. No. 10, I was about 10 yards off the green in two, chipped up to about 5 feet and made that for birdie. No. 11, hit 8-iron to about 20 feet and made that for birdie. No. 12, hit a drive left in a deep rough and kind of caught a flier and hit a pitching wedge to the back edge and three-putted. My second putt was about 12 feet.

BRANDIE BURTON: Probably about 50 feet, I would say.

BRANDIE BURTON: I was left. Bad read, really bad read there. 17, hit the drive straight through to the fairway. We were downwind coming into those holes, so I hit it a little too far right and hit it through the fairway and got the deep rough and left it. Hit a 5-iron short of the green about 15 yards, and chipped up to about eight feet and missed that putt, so I made bogey there. 18, hit an 8-iron to about 20 feet and made that for birdie.

BRANDIE BURTON: Thank you.

BRANDIE BURTON: Well, it's something you kind of expect when you come to this event. It has a past history of being slow out there in the U.S. Opens. And I can't say that I expected it to be like it was today. We stepped on 2 tee and there were already 3 groups. By the time we got to 5 there was three, plus one on the green in back of us. So it was tough. But like I said, I've really been working on having patience with my game. So that was a great test. And I feel like I fully succeeded in that situation today.

BRANDIE BURTON: I don't know what's so difficult about No. 2. Obviously I bogeyed it. But I guess because the green runs away from you a little bit, and the approach shot is tough. But maybe it was just one of those holes today where everybody just had a problem with it.

BRANDIE BURTON: Well, it's always a comfort when you come back to where you've won. There's nothing better than a confidence builder for that to happen. I think that was probably one of the big pluses that I had over everybody else coming in here is that I have won a major championship. Even though it was Juniors, it's still big in my book. As far as the course is playing, I don't feel like I had that much of an advantage. It was 7 years ago, the course has changed quite a bit. I did recognize some holes, but overall I don't think the conditions -- I had an advantage in that way.

BRANDIE BURTON: You know, you've got to wander your mind a little bit and think about the birds and the trees and the leaves and the wildlife, or whatever you can find out there. Because if you're trying to think about golf those five hours and 40 minutes, you have no chance to perform a hundred percent, I can tell you that. Your brain just cannot work a hundred percent for five hours and 40 minutes. So I just really tried to wander away in between shots. And when it was time to get under the gun, I got my process and got my routine and then let it rip.

BRANDIE BURTON: Well, actually, in January of this year I started working with a sports psychologist, by Dr. Debra Graham, and that's something we've tried to accomplish within my game, because I was a very impatient person with my game. So that's something that I've been working on.

BRANDIE BURTON: I'm not -- not now I'm not, considering the conditions it was this morning. But I guess I was a little bit disappointed when I saw them. But everybody is in the same boat -- not everybody. But everybody has to play this golf course, and everybody has to putt on these greens. If we're allowed to showcase women's golf, we've got to do what we can do to showcase it. I'm lucky to be here, and that's the way I looked at it. It was a privilege to play in the United States Women's Open and I'm given the opportunity, and there's no qualms about it.

BRANDIE BURTON: I'm a hundred percent healthy, I believe. My legs are usually my strong suit, so I feel very comfortable in that sense.