CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

July 26, 1997

Tom Byrum

TOM BYRUM: It was a good day. I had -- I was relaxed out there after a first few balls. It took a while to shake off the rust of something the first few miles. I had a late tee time like that. I'm not too used of those I guess. Hopefully, I can get used to it. We have to birdie after that bogey. I made on four, I guess, and I kind of settled down after that and made a couple more and enjoyed the day and enjoyed playing golf today.

TOM BYRUM: Well at times, but it seemed like I was hitting first. A lot of time we were making birdies on the same hole. I had the honor it seemed like. It seemed like I was going first, so, I wasn't feeling like he was, he was hitting a little closer than I was, so, if I made a birdie, it was before him. So, I guess I didn't feel like it.

TOM BYRUM: I played very well in the beginning. I just didn't cut very well and I changed putters after the west coast and went back to actually the putter that I used last year when I was playing decent and it seems to be working pretty well. And I have just been working on staying comfortable. A lot of mental things during the round and I think they are starting to kick in because I'm being more relaxed and playing into these conditions and had a chance to win in one of the later groups, so, I can handle it a little better now.

TOM BYRUM: I would say probably after -- on No. 5.

Is that the par three?

TOM BYRUM: Along par three, I made birdie and then after I hit my T-shot on par five, when I was walking out there, I was starting to get relaxed again. About then, somewhere in that time frame.

TOM BYRUM: You know, those later times you see some good scores come in early and maybe you are not in the position you were in when you started. I think it is the fact that you are behind already. You know, and need to catch up maybe and you put a little pressure on yourself to get back to where you are. You have 18 holes and they may have been one or two to finish up their rounds and you have a lot more holes and chances coming up. It's hard to look at that. You look at end results, the scores. There are some difficulties distractions that I try and work on and stay away from the traps.

TOM BYRUM: No, I told them that. I had met him and I was on the staff and I would -- I practice at Shady Oaks for probably six years or so when he was up there and see him probably every day. But as far as a protege, I wouldn't call myself like that. I try to be like him at times and I finally figured out he was him and I'm me and we're totally different and he did instill a good practice in me as far as motivating me. He saw me and might make a comment or something like that. As far as coming out there and hitting balls every day and telling me how to play and dragging me through a lot of things we weren't that close. I think Venturi was at that time.

TOM BYRUM: I thought like I said on TV I thought about it today and that's true, you know. What he would do and try to, you know, because like I said, I have been trying to stay more focused and I just try and think about what he was think of in these situations and try and be more like that. Just because he has kind of in the media here and in our minds and things like that, that's why I thought about him today. Otherwise, his passing, having been recently, I probably wouldn't be thinking about Ben Hogan when I was playing, but he was on my mind and I just try to do a little more like him and stay focused.

TOM BYRUM: Just, you know, you want to be a champion you have to think like a champion. You can't be thinking stupid things out there. You can't be intimidated by other players even though they may have been better. You have to believe in yourself and I think he would be telling me that if he would be right there, but I think anybody that would, you know, emanate or desired to be like Ben Hogan, he wouldn't be thinking the same thinking just, you know, it is just something like I said he is on our minds and maybe because he is -- those kind of thoughts, we use that.

TOM BYRUM: What?

TOM BYRUM: I don't know what I was thinking. I work on other things besides, you know, that was just something else because like I said, it's fresh and here and recent.

TOM BYRUM: An Odyssey. I don't know what kind of -- it is. I don't know the number or anything. It looks like --

TOM BYRUM: Do you know what the Ping B-60 putter used to look like?

TOM BYRUM: That's the one.

TOM BYRUM: Pardon.

TOM BYRUM: I didn't play there.

TOM BYRUM: This year?

TOM BYRUM: I was second this year.

TOM BYRUM: Because I wasn't putting good with it. It's one of those -- you just -- we have a lot of putters. There are guys out there giving them to you. They see you miss a few putts and guys standing there and say you want to try this putter. Sure. Would you mind telling me how this feels and once in a while you'll catch one that feels pretty good.

TOM BYRUM: Probably three or four.

TOM BYRUM: The weather.

TOM BYRUM: I would have to say it was positive. It was a great day.

TOM BYRUM: It felt like maybe you were going to shoot a better score today and maybe you weren't going to make as many mistakes, you can play like more aggressive. I think your approach has to be fairly patient on this golf course. You have to get some chances you have to take advantage of them. You have to drive the fairway to get some chances. It's tough. A lot of water out there. Those kinds of thing.

TOM BYRUM: Well, the Hogan Company. I used to be and at that time he was still.

TOM BYRUM: Well, what would you call him at that time? He had an office right in the factory. If I went down there, I would stop in and say hi.

TOM BYRUM: My focus, I'm going to just hit the fairway on the first tee and go from there. If I get ahead of that, I'm not doing my job. That's all I can say so... Hopefully, I can relax and get into that same frame of mind and feel that I had on the -- back in most of the front nine after that.

TOM BYRUM: I wouldn't say it's easier because you get some expectation. After you had a good round, you think you are going out and having another good round where this game isn't like that, you know, you might have one, but you can't go out there and think it's going to happen again. It might and it might not. That's golf, you can't predict. It's hard for me. I don't understand how guys are going to predict what they are going to shoot. If they do that, I'm impressed.

TOM BYRUM: Bogedied four. Drove it bad. Drove right off the tee and chipped out. Flipped out the putt for par though. 15 feet or so. And hit a 3-iron probably 12, 15 feet passed the pin and birdied there. Six, I hit a wedge about four, five feet and made it. No. 9 I hit a pitching wedge about four or five feet. Made that. 11, hit a 9-iron about 20 feet. And 16, I hit a 6-iron about three feet.

TOM BYRUM: Did a skip 12 being the par five?

TOM BYRUM: Yeah, I did birdie there didn't I? I forgot that hole. I hit -- what did I hit there? I think I hit an 8-iron about 15 feet or so.

TOM BYRUM: Okay thanks. I hope to see you tomorrow.