U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2001

Tom Watson

TOM WATSON: The greens were about as firm as they were yesterday when I played. And so it didn't change condition-wise except for the wind. The golf course is playing tougher because the pins aren't in the middle of the greens like they were in the practice rounds.

TOM WATSON: They're the right firmness now. It will be interesting to see how much firmer they get in the afternoon with the wind drying it out. They will get firmer.

TOM WATSON: It doesn't surprise me because of the pin positions. The pin positions are very very tough. Very difficult.

TOM WATSON: If I can hit the green three times in a row with an 8-iron, I would have made three pars rather than three bogeys. I missed the last green with a wedge and made bogey there. So I'm disappointed with my mistakes with the 8-irons and the last hole. It's not a good feeling when you bogey the last hole with a wedge in your hand. I'm at 74. I'm not that far out of the tournament. But it could have been quite a bit better today, if my short iron game was just a little bit better.

TOM WATSON: It will probably be around par, I would think. It will be under par, but it's not going to be very much under par. No more than -- probably no more than 5- or 6-under par. It depends on the wind. It depends on the pin positions. The pin positions are -- these greens that Don Ross built, if you miss it on the wrong side, you're dead, like I was at number 14 today or 13 today. I just knocked it on the absolute wrong side of the hole, and I knew it in the air. You have that sinking feeling when that happens.

TOM WATSON: No. You could get to them.

TOM WATSON: You could get to them.

TOM WATSON: The elbow is okay. It's okay. It's not too sore. It's better than it was two weeks ago. It's improving.

TOM WATSON: It was some pain there, there was. It doesn't hurt too much when I swing. It hurts when you do other things besides swinging.

TOM WATSON: Well, I've only played one other. It plays more difficult than Saucon Valley did last year. Saucon Valley was very wet. We didn't have firm greens. We didn't have firm greens for the whole week. That makes a big difference when you can shoot -- you can go right at the pin and hit your ball in flat to the pin and not go too far by and you're going to shoot some good scores. On these greens you can't do that. You have to play short of the pin. When the pin is on the front of the green, you have to use some imagination on how to get to it, the way some of these greens are elevated and how do you get there. That's the big question.

TOM WATSON: I wouldn't think so. They're more sloped than Saucon Valley's. I'll put it that way. I like these greens. I think they're a wonderful set of greens. Very good.

TOM WATSON: Well, it's disappointing from the standpoint of when you miss three greens in a row with an 8-iron, that's disappointing. When you miss the last green with a wedge, that's disappointing. That's throwing away shots.

TOM WATSON: 11, 12, and 13.

TOM WATSON: Yeah.

TOM WATSON: Well, the length of the golf course is short for the regular tour. For us it's very good. You've got some length out there for us. The second hole is all you want.

TOM WATSON: Thanks a lot.