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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 7, 2006

Morris Hatalsky

HUTCHINSON, KANSAS

RAND JERRIS: Morris Hatalsky, tied for second in the championship. Minus three today, five birdies, two bogeys.

Q. You made those bogeys before you made the birdies to get to two over, and here you are.

MORRIS HATALSKY: That's right. I bogeyed 12 and 13. Just carelessness there as far as a 3 putt and hitting from the fairway and just knocking it over the green on a back pin.

And actually, the key probably that jump started me was the next hole. I drove it in the rough, I caught a reasonable lie, and I hit this shot that just barely cleared the bunker. Went about nine, ten feet past and I made it.

And that actually settled me down. And from that point forward I made a lot of good swings and made some good putts out there.

I've been playing well this year, so I this is nothing surprising as far as playing well. It's just been a bit inconsistent this year, but overall I've been looking forward to this championship very much.

Q. Could you give us the details on your birdies, clubs and such?

MORRIS HATALSKY: Let's see, started on the back side and let's see, first birdie was on 14? Let's see. 14, hit a pitching wedge about nine feet and made that.

Made a birdied 17. Hit a two shot up there. I had a hitting out of the rough and 17's an interesting hole because you can go for that green, but if you miss it, it's so severe that it's a very difficult up and down there.

And I hit a I decided to try to hit it up there as far as I can, because I really don't think you want to spin the ball too much into that green. So I hit a sand wedge. I was about 40 yards from the pin, 45 yards. Knocked it, hit it about 20 feet past and made that. It was a nice putt down the hill there.

Then 3, I hit had about 108 to the pin. Hit a sand wedge, which is the wind's the wind was blowing pretty strongly there. I hit it about seven feet and made that.

Hit a 7 iron into 4. That was to about 15 feet, 16 feet away, and made a nice putt there.

Then made a couple of nice up and downs on 5 and 6, which kept the momentum going. Momentum's such a key, especially in a U.S. Open, because of how penal the golf is out here.

So I felt those were like birdies in a way, when you're getting it up and down there.

And then I drove it in the bunker on 7 and just had to I hit a sand wedge out and made a nice pitch about 15 feet away and I made that.

Then I made a nice up and down on 8. And that's the way it ended. Then nine I hit a driver, 6 iron about 25 feet above the pin and 2 putted.

Q. You have a lot of experience. But even a guy with your experience, do you get a little bit unnerved after a couple bogeys and an errant tee shot or do you just collect yourself or what goes on?

MORRIS HATALSKY: The mistakes are magnified when you're playing a U.S. Open golf course. So you just have to accept the bumps and the bruises that you're going to get out there. Just be patient with your game and you just hope that it comes to you. Because you cannot force it on this type of golf course. In fact, the golf course played significantly different from yesterday to today.

Yesterday morning it was light winds; it was light winds yesterday. The wind blew today and it dried the golf course up, especially around the greens.

So those undulations and everything are coming into play significantly more.

Q. Could you tell that right off the bat from the first hole, or did it take several holes until you found that out?

MORRIS HATALSKY: No, you could tell that right off the bat. You could tell it, the way the ball was releasing.

Q. You've contended in this before a few years ago, I think 2002, 2003. Going into the weekend, what's your philosophy? Is it patience, or do you have to get a little bit more aggressive?

MORRIS HATALSKY: Well, we're only at the halfway point, so there's no golf tournament to be won right now. It's just to continue what I've been doing and just hopefully keep hitting fairways, keep hitting greens. And if you hit your misses, don't miss it in the wrong spot and make putts. You got to make the putts.

Q. You said you were a little inconsistent this year, a bit inconsistent this year. What has been the crux of that? Has it been one thing or another? One week one thing and the next week another?

MORRIS HATALSKY: In some regards it's been that way. It's mostly been with the putter this week I'm hitting good, solid putts, and so I am feeling good about that.

Q. 8 and 9 have played so tough in this tournament, and you get to 3 under and you still have 8 and 9 left. You had to be thrilled to get pars on both of those.

MORRIS HATALSKY: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because of the length of the holes, you just got to drive it in the fairway. That's just the key to this golf course. I really enjoy this golf course because it's all about controlling your golf ball.

There's absolutely no advantage at all to hitting it long here. And even if you're a long hitter, you hit the shorter clubs, but it's still controlling your distances off the tee, because of the some of the doglegs and the diagonal designs of the fairways. So it's really about controlling the distances of your golf ball. I really like it here.

Q. What do you think the key is going to be to end up in the final group on Sunday?

MORRIS HATALSKY: Play good. I don't know what it's going to be like. We don't know what how the wind is going to blow tomorrow. If the the wind direction and everything like that. I just think that the scores have been consistent as far as what the golf course is yielding to the players.

So I would say more of the same and you'll probably be in the hunt, but you never know. Somebody can come from out of the pack. The golf course could possibly yield a really good score, so you really don't know.

Q. The leaders today started in the afternoon. As well as you, they kind of went the other way than you did. Do you think it would be an advantage or disadvantage starting in the afternoon later on?

MORRIS HATALSKY: I don't know if it's an advantage or disadvantage. I think it has more to do with the fact that I'm playing in the afternoon means I'm playing well, so I feel good about that.

End of FastScripts.

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