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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2004

Jeff Maggert

SHINNECOCK HILLS, NEW YORK

RAND JERRIS: It's a pleasure to welcome Jeff Maggert to the interview area. Jeff, let's go through the club selection of birdies and bogeys.

JEFF MAGGERT: Birdied 5, I was on the green with a 4-iron and two shots, two-putted for birdie there.

No. 9 was a pitching wedge to about ten feet.

No. 11 was a 9-iron to about a foot and a half.

And 16 was a chip with a sand wedge to about ten feet.

RAND JERRIS: Talk about the playing conditions out there today. Did the rain soften things up a little bit?

JEFF MAGGERT: I thought the golf course played a little bit softer. I expected maybe a little bit firmer conditions this afternoon, but certainly towards the end of my round, the wind did pick up a little bit. The golf course dried out a little bit.

Q. You're playing well and certainly in contention. How many in the field right now, how wide open do you think it is?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I think with a little bit softer conditions today and obviously there's still a lot of guys in contention to win the golf tournament, I don't know how many people are under par, but certainly anybody that's within six or seven shots of the lead still has an excellent opportunity to play well on the weekend and have a chance to win. The golf course is only going to play more difficult probably the next two days if we get a little bit more wind. I don't know if we'll see as many scores as we've seen under par the first two rounds.

Q. What was your mind set going into a round where you could attack the golf course a little more?

JEFF MAGGERT: I didn't feel like you could really attack this type of golf course. If you play well and have an opportunity to shoot a low score -- if you shoot at the pins on every hole and don't hit good golf shots you're going to pay for it. I've tried to take a little bit more conservative approach and accepted a 10 or 15 foot putt for a birdie as opposed to trying to shoot at pins and land them three or four feet. The way the greens are and the slopes off the sides of the greens and the pin placements near the edges, if you're off a little bit, you're really going to pay for it and make bogeys.

I hit the ball extremely well, hit the ball in the fairway and gave myself a lot of opportunities to putt for birdies.

Q. You're often portrayed by us as being a consistent, steady, accurate, maybe deliberate type player. Is that an accurate portrayal, and are there opportunities on this course where you can maybe take a risk on certain holes where there's a chance to really take a risk at birdie?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I do play very consistent, solid golf, and there are some holes that you can take advantage.

But I think it's all set up by how you drive the golf ball. If you drive the ball well and put yourself on the left side of the fairway when the pin is on the right side, things like that can leave you a little bit more aggressive approach to shoot at some of the pins.

But like any U.S. Open golf course, whether you drive the ball in the fairway is the most important thing you can do, even though the rough hasn't been as penalizing here as it has been in in some past Opens. If you are in the rough it's very difficult to stop the ball on the green and the ball has a chance to run off the sides or into the bunkers. Being in the fairway is so important.

I hit the ball extremely well, like I said, played a bit more conservative and really had some difficult holes where I struggled to make bogey. It's just been very steady golf. I hit the ball extremely well in my practice rounds, had a lot of confidence going into the tournament. I had a good round here in '95 on Sunday and certainly was thinking about that this week and feel like I can really play well on this golf course if I hit the ball well.

Q. Does this seem like the chance to go get the big one, and if so -- (inaudible).

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, being patient is very important to win this golf tournament. There's two rounds to go, and the golf course is going to play extremely difficult over the next two days. I've put myself in a position where I really wanted to be and really needed to be to have a chance to win on Sunday. Certainly the style of the golf course that I'm playing right now has enabled me to make some birdies on this golf course, and I feel like if I hit the ball well over the next two days, there's still a lot of birdies out there that I can have.

It looks like Phil is playing extremely well and Shigeki is playing a good round this afternoon, and I expect a lot of those guys to play tough this weekend. I don't think you can have the mindset that you can shoot par golf the next two days and win. I think I need to play conservative but also play with the mindset that I need to make a few birdies out there to have a chance.

Q. To what do you credit your steady play, not only in this tournament but previously?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, throughout my career, driving the ball has been one of my strong points, and putting the ball in the fairway is so important on a U.S. Open golf course. When I'm hitting the ball well, I'm hitting a lot of fairways, and as a result I've had a lot of good chances at U.S. Opens to play well. I've always played at the more difficult golf courses a little bit better. I'm sure that's due to the fact that I do keep the ball in play and feel like I think my way around and set up the golf course extremely well and give myself opportunities to shoot a good score.

RAND JERRIS: Thanks very much for your time. We wish you luck this weekend.

JEFF MAGGERT: Thank you, appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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