U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2000

Bobby Clampett

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I hit a 5-wood off the first tee, a 7-iron about 4 feet below the hole, and made it for 3. I hit a driver on 2. Pushed it a little bit, went down the edge of the fairway, and actually kicked left, which it's not supposed to do; right back into the fairway. I hit a 5-iron about 20 feet past the hole; 2-putted. Hit a 3-wood and 9-iron -- about 35 feet, and 2-putted. Hit 5-wood, L-wedge on 4 about 12 feet below the hole and missed it. And then 5, cut 5-iron about two and a half feet, and made that. 6, drove it in the fairway, 3-wood. I pulled it a little bit, just left of the green. Pitched it by about 15 feet and missed it. 7, sand wedge about 20 feet and lipped it out. 8, 3-wood, 8-iron about 20 feet and almost made it. 9, I hit driver, 5-iron about 25 feet behind the hole, and somehow it went in. 10, I hit driver, 5-iron about 10 feet behind the hole, and that one went in. 4-under after 10. Missed my first fairway and first green at 11. Had to pitch out; hit sand wedge from 93 yards about 7 feet behind the hole, and made that for par. Hit 4-iron in the front bunker at 12. I hit it out about 6 feet and made that for par. Driver in the right rough on 13. 8-iron about two and a half feet, pulled it, and had a 5 1/2 footer coming back and made that. 14, driver and a 3-iron; pulled it a little bit in the left rough; sand wedge over the green, and got it up-and-down. 15, driver in the right rough, sand wedge on the green, and 2-putted. 16, 3-wood in the right rough, 9-iron in the left bunker; hit it by about 12 feet and missed it. 17, I hit the best shot of the day, 5-wood about 12 feet behind the hole, and had a real good putt, but didn't make it. 18, I hit driver, just in the right rough, 7-iron, back in the fairway, 9-iron; misjudged the wind a little bit, spun back to the front fringe, and 2-putted from about 40 feet.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Les, I had absolutely no expectation today, at all. This is purely, as I've said before, it's been a gift from God just even being here and playing in this Championship. And then to play as well as I did today, especially the first ten holes, it was almost like playing golf in heaven -- hitting every fairway and every green for the first ten holes, and being 4-under par at a National Open.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Yeah, when I made the putt at 9, I was fighting back the tears all through the front 9. And when I made the putt at 9, that I hit too hard and was going to go probably 10 feet past the hole, and it went right in the middle, and I just looked up at heaven and just thank God for that, because it was just -- it was unbelievable. My eyes just swelled up with tears. It's hard to describe that kind of emotion. It was amazing.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I think it was such a clear demonstration of divine intervention, for one. I think having played this golf course 200 times and dreaming of playing in the U.S. Open, playing here in '82, and having had some of those experiences, having been in the hunt and kind of reliving that, the struggle that I've had with my golf game that everybody knows about, that I never met anybody's expectations, nor my own in my own golf game, and then suddenly to be hitting shots like that, that I hit on the front 9 today, that was -- they were some of the best golf shots I've ever hit, and especially under those circumstances.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Well, I've only played one tournament in the last 21 months. I basically retired from the Tour in the fall of '95, when I went to work for CBS on a full-time basis. It's been a long time. I've only played one round at Pebble Beach in the last five years before this week.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: That's my mistake that I make, I start hitting that right shot. And I haven't quite got that worked out. I've got a clue where it's coming from, and I just kept trying to get back into that groove where I was, because I wasn't hitting that right shot there early on. But just trying to get back and thinking -- I've said this on the air many, many times before: I don't care what the circumstance is; I don't care whether you're in the lead; I don't care whether you're behind. The only three things that matter most when you're playing the game of golf, it's execution, execution, and execution. Nothing else matters. And so I was just trying to get back and understand where those were coming from and try to get back in the groove. And I'm going to go hit a few balls and try to hit some shots. Like the shot I hit at 17 today, after several right shots in a row. And then to hit that shot I hit at 17 was so much fun.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I don't know how to answer that. I love playing golf. I always have loved playing golf, whether it's in a National Open Championship or The Masters, or whether it's the country club. I enjoy pleasing people, fans that come out to watch golf. And that was an example of trying to please the fans. That's it. End of statement.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I still have no expectations, to be honest with you, because I don't know -- my swing is not tested. And I know that I have to play my A-plus game to have any chance of being in contention here. Winning is not something you can control. I can't control what the other 155 guys are doing in the field. I can only control what I'm doing. I'm just going to keep trying to do the things that I've been doing and improve and hit fairways and greens and 1-putt.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: The last couple of years, I've been a once-a-month golfer. I have a driving range in my yard at home, it's for sale. I've got a nice piece of property, a nice house, and it's on the market. We were supposed to move into our new house today. As you can see, we're here, we're not there. What was the question?

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Preparation? You know, Ken Venturi and I were having fun over dinners this year. And Kenny, as you know, is president of the -- or captain of the Presidents Cup team. And I told Kenny: "What do I need to do to make your Presidents Cup team this year?" And he said: "Win the Open." I said: "Okay. If I win the Open this year, can I be on your Presidents Cup team?" And he said: "Yes." He said: "If you win the Open, you're on my team." I said: "Okay. That's my dream. That's what I'm heading for. I'm going to play one tournament this year, and let's see if we can get into it." I went through the local qualifier, and being the alternate and then getting in up at the regional; bogeying 2 the first three holes and shooting 10-under after that. I told Kenny that night, I called him up and said: "Kenny, the dream is still alive." He was so excited, Jim Nantz was with him. Jim Nantz was walking around today. It was so much fun seeing him out there. The dream is still alive. Who knows? We'll keep plugging away.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I'm not even close to there. I'm not even anywhere in that realm of thinking right now. I've got -- I've got my mindset on trying to do as well as I can in this Championship, and we'll see.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I think it was '95 AT&T or something like that.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: That's interesting you would say that. This bracelet is the same bracelet that Payne wore. It says WWJD. It stands for What Would Jesus Do. And at the -- Payne and I had breakfast together at the Memorial last year. And it was kind of a time that we hadn't spent much time together for many years. But we sat down, and it was really an intimate time we had together there. And I asked him, I said -- it was the first week he was wearing his bracelet. And I asked him to share his story. So he shared the story of his son, Aaron, giving it to him. Then he turned around to me, and he looked at me, and he said: "How come you're not wearing one?" And only as Payne could say to you, when he said words like that, it's penetrating. And I said, you know: "I love God; I believe in Jesus. There's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't wear that." And at the Memorial that I went to, I made a pledge that I would begin wearing one, and I haven't taken it off since.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I think one of the things that's helped me is watching Tiger Woods so much. The guy is so good, I'm fascinated by him. I love watching him. I try to stay out of his way and just -- I love watching him. Perhaps in a way -- I know just the experience of having played on the PGA TOUR for what, 16 years or however long I played, and being still in golf and doing television, you have an appreciation of what the level you need to execute shots in order to compete. And I think from that aspect, that helps me in knowing what level I need to try to get my game to. I think I'm more realistic about analyzing shots and analyzing my game than I used to be.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I will always operate under the principles of the Golfing Machine, because the Golfing Machine is simply the book that describes the laws that govern the golf swing. That's not to mention that -- I think the Golfing Machine is really -- it's the alphabet. And when you get playing golf, you become a writer. And just knowing the alphabet is important if you're a writer. But you have to take it to the next level, too, and play it. And I think that's where I am with the Golfing Machine.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: My best major was right here in '82, U.S. Open, when I finished third.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: I've always had a dream of playing the Senior Tour. I just celebrated my 40th birthday, so I've got a ways to go. And for me, I wasn't playing -- I knew my game wasn't at a level that was going to dictate being able to compete. Then you put in family priorities and the need to be a dad and husband, as well, you throw all those things in, and it just didn't make sense for me to compete. And certainly when CBS offered me the opportunity to work for them, it was a great opportunity for me and one I'm very thankful for.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: It's better. The changes that I've made, I'm able to hit -- I've said this before earlier in the week -- I'm able to hit shots I've never been able to hit before. But I've been working hard on my game for two weeks now, so I'm a once-a-month golfer, and suddenly to work hard on my game for two weeks, nothing feels comfortable after two weeks.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Life is made of dreams, and there's been a lot of dreams that have happened on the golf course. I think back to Ben Crenshaw at the '95 Masters, watching Ben that back nine, the things that happened, you can't describe it outside divine intervention. Watching Johnny win here at the AT&T, those are the first two things that come to mind. But you've got to dream.

BOBBY CLAMPETT: Well, I don't think it's any secret, I never reached the level of golf that I thought I could play. I was always very disappointed in the progress I was making with my golf swing and game. So I think other people's expectations of me were a lot higher than any level I had achieved. That's -- but I honestly believe that things happen for a reason, and there's been a lot of good that's come out of that.

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