U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 6, 2006

D.A. Weibring

RAND JERRIS: We are now joined by D.A. Weibring. A round of 68, 2 under par for the championship.

Q. How about an assessment of your game, the course, and where you stand.

D.A. WEIBRING: Well, I love the golf course. It just has a great feel. I heard about this golf course for a long time. I never had a chance to get up here.

You need to keep the ball in the fairway; the rough is pretty nasty. I was fortunate on the front side; I had a couple lies that I could play. But we had pretty good conditions. The breeze would lay down, pick up and blow pretty good; I guess that's pretty typical.

But I got off to a good solid start. My first four holes had good birdie chances. Anywhere from 10 feet to 12 feet, I guess. I didn't make any. But I got to have to a good, steady start.

Then saved par from the front fringe at five. And then 6, hit a pitching wedge just behind the hole at 6 and made probably a 15 footer coming down the hill. But it was a good second shot. I left it where I had to and I made a nice kind of a curve link putt coming down the hill.

7, I hit driver, 6 iron into the middle of the green and 3 putted from about 25 or 30 feet.

8, I hit a good tee shot that went over the hill and just in the apron rough. The short intermediate cut and played a good 9 iron behind the hole and hit a downhill putt that you have to be careful with and I rolled that in from probably that same distance, 15 to 17 feet or so.

9, I drove it just in the edge of the apron rough again. Didn't catch a very good lie for only being in the short stuff and left it short of the green and with a back plateau pin, pitched it past the hole and made bogey there.

10, 2 putted.

11, I made par from the right rough. I drove it in the right rough and left it short of the green and pitched it up a foot away and made par.

Made a mistake on 12. Hit a utility club off the tee and then I was in between 9 iron and pitching wedge and pulled it a little bit and it hit on the left side of the crown of the green and rolled down to the left. I pitched it back to about 8 or 10 feet and hit a really good putt that caught the left edge. So I you made bogey there.

Good tee shot, good iron into 13. 3 putted from about 20 feet.

Made a good little three or four footer for my second putt.

14, hit a good tee shot. Hit a sand wedge. That one hopped the pin and wound up three feet. I made it for birdie.

2 putted from the fringe at the next par 3 up the hill there. Decided to hit 3 wood off the tee. I still think it was the right club, but I pushed it into the right rough and left myself way back and kind of beat a pitching wedge out of there and wedged it up there. I had about a 15 footer and made bogey there. Wasn't happy with that.

But I played a good tee shot at 17, hit a hybrid club in there that landed just on the front of the green and then rolled off the right corner. Caught a reasonable lie there. I think everybody in the whole field would have been on that right side there. Pitched it about six feet, I'm going to guess, and made it for birdie.

And 18, I had about a 15 footer down the hill there, and after I saw Buddy's ball go slipping by the hole I nursed mine a little short. So overall I played a good solid round. Drove the ball well, played some good iron shots, hit some good putts. I would like to keep doing the same the rest of the week.

Q. There hasn't been a whole lot of mention about 12, and it's not a long hole. But it is unique because it is guarded by the only two trees on the whole golf course.

D.A. WEIBRING: There's a couple over there on 15.

Q. What's your assessment of that hole?

D.A. WEIBRING: Well, it's a very unique hole. It's a position hole. I understand they're going to use the down tees maybe one day. I hit a tee shot off of that tee the other day that was not much room really to fit it in there.

But the green is very undulating and it kind of falls away on both sides. So you have to play up the middle of the green. I was in between clubs and probably should have taken the lesser club there, because if I come up just short of the green I'm okay there.

But it's a sneaky little short hole for sure.

Q. Coming off last year and the way you finished, how determined are you to do well maybe perhaps win it the year?

D.A. WEIBRING: Well, I take last year as a positive. Maybe others don't. But I did bogey the last two holes to, when I was in position to win. But I played good shots the last couple holes. Golf's that way sometimes. As long as you make a commitment and you try to play the shot that you're hoping to play, and you hit it reasonably like you're trying to, that's all you can expect. And that's really what happened the last couple holes.

When I went back and looked at the entire round, there were other guy, obviously, who had chances. But starting the entire back nine, I really drove the ball and put the ball on the green right where you would want to put it. I just didn't hole a putt. And you got to make some putts. I don't care if they're for par, birdie, or bogey to win. And I just didn't hole any on the back side.

But I am excited about coming to the U.S. Open, and I've been fifth and second the last two years. I love the golf course. I haven't played as well the year. I had a couple injuries, situations there, and a little under the weather a couple times. So my play has been a little bit up and down. But I feel like I shot 65 Sunday at Kansas City and I got better every day, and so I've been kind of pointing for these few weeks and see if I can keep going.

Q. A couple rounds of 3 under par the morning. Did that surprise you or was scoring conditions about what you thought they would be?

D.A. WEIBRING: No. I think the golf course will give up a few good scores, but I think it can take it away. I think you can go out and play a really good round of golf here and shoot 73 or 74. I think that if you put it in the wrong spots the ball roles off in the wrong positions.

If you asked me who I thought would win, I thought anywhere from even par to six under in that gap. It's all up to the wind and how firm the greens get. So no, I'm not surprised. There's some good scores under par. There's some good players in the field, and that is a great championship.

And so great golf courses bring good play. I think we're going to have some of that.

Q. You mentioned the wind. I think the wind today was a little bit different direction from what we had in the last two practice rounds. Did that make you think a little bit more about club selection?

D.A. WEIBRING: It did. It was different on Monday, then it changed on Tuesday. I didn't play Wednesday, and it was kind of in between today. My caddie, Troy Martin, he went to school down the road at Kansas Wesleyan, and he's played here 10 or 12 times and knows the golf course pretty well. I'm all ears for him. To hear what he has to say. So. It's good to have him.

End of FastScripts.