FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 1997

Bob Charles

BOB CHARLES: What's leading? I have no idea.

BOB CHARLES: That's a nice position to be in. I won't lose any sleep overnight about that, will I? Maybe the 9-unders will.

BOB CHARLES: Okay. Well, yeah. It was kind of not a brilliant shot-making round, but I kept the ball in play and had no bogeys, three birdies. And so I was playing my usual defensive, negative-type golf, just aiming, trying to get it on the fairway, trying to get it on the green, trying to get down and 2-putt, which seemed to pay off fairly well today. The only occasion I got into trouble was on the 2nd hole where I had to pitch out and hit a very good -- nearly holed my wedge there to save par. Where were my three birdies? They were on the 3rd hole, where I wedged it into six feet. 17, where I hit a 7-iron into about ten feet. And 17 where I hit a sand wedge into eight feet.

BOB CHARLES: Oh, I always watch the board. Why wouldn't one? Yeah. I watch the board in all directions, up-and-down, sideways, left-to-right. You name it, I watch the board. Doesn't everybody? It's nice to be in contention for the tournament. Obviously I'll have to shoot a low round tomorrow. Just hope my long game, which wasn't that wonderful today -- didn't hit any really crisp iron shots into the green, but maybe tomorrow that will happen. But I'm surprised, actually, that 8-under is just within one or two shots of the lead. I thought the scoring would be a little better because conditions are ideal. The par 5s are reachable. Even I can reach or get close to with good tee shots. Today I didn't hit good tee shots, I had to struggle on three of the five pars, with errant tee shots. If you're driving it well, the course really is only about a 70 par. You know, I think the scoring isn't indicative of the challenge that the course presents. I understand Jack got to 11. Of course, I didn't see that on the board at all because we were playing when 9-under was leading, on the boards that I saw. He bogeyed, what, I guess 10, 11, 12, is that correct?

BOB CHARLES: Which shows you how demanding the golf course is, that you hit errant shots and you pay the penalty. So, as I say, this is the reason why I play very defensive, negative-type golf. Hitting 3-woods off the tee, just trying to keep the ball in play on the fairways as much as possible. Who knows whether that kind of golf will see me through one more day.