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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 5, 2007

Ron Vlosich

KOHLER, WISCONSIN

CRAIG SMITH: Ron Vlosich at minus three for the first round of this championship. 69.

Q. Can you talk about your day briefly a 3-under. You got to be pretty pleased with that right out of the gate?

RON VLOSICH: Very pleased. Drove the ball pretty well today except for a couple errant drives, so I was in good position most of the day. And I was able to get the ball fairly close to the hole for some good birdie tries. That's for sure.

Q. You're a retired pro out, this is your first time playing the U.S. Senior Open, and you're right near the top. What has the experience been like?

RON VLOSICH: It's fantastic, it really is. It's quite a wonderful experience. It really is.
It's a pleasure to play in a tournament like this. That's for sure.

Q. What did you think of the wind? The wind apparently not as bad as it has been?

RON VLOSICH: It kind of gusts a little bit. It's definitely a factor. You get out on some of the holes more open, it's definitely -- you got to work the ball into it or to control your ball. And it gets real interesting because of the wind. That's for sure.

Q. What do you think of this layout, the layout out here? Do you think it's fair? Obviously a 3-under you would probably say yes?

RON VLOSICH: Yeah, I think that if you can keep it in the fairway obviously you can attack it a little bit better, but it's pretty intimidating visually off the tee. You look at it, and you see Lake Michigan out there, and you can see a lot of trouble. So you really got to stay -- keep the picture show in the fairway and on the greens, you know, with your visualization. That's for sure.

Q. Playing in your group the amateur/dentist from Brookfield. What was the experience like playing with him? Just a thrill for him to be playing in the group with you guys?

RON VLOSICH: Yeah, he's a great guy and hung in there a long time. He had a couple errant shots that kind of got him but had a lot of fans out there cheering him on. So that was fun, yeah. Just a really super guy.

Q. Did he volunteer any dental work in the future?
RON VLOSICH: No, you know, I didn't know he was a dentist actually. I didn't know that.

Q. Birdie, birdie, eagle to pick up your round in a hurry?
RON VLOSICH: Yeah, that was fun.

Q. How did that happen? Just walk through those holes if you would.
RON VLOSICH: It was 14, 15 and 16?

Q. Yeah.

RON VLOSICH: 14 I hit a knock-down driver there, and I just kind of hit a sand wedge about six feet there and made the putt.
Then on the next hole it was down wind, so I was able to hit it across the bunkers there. I hit my gap wedge up, oh, just past the hole, almost hit the hole, I think. We couldn't see from back there. And I had maybe a 15-footer and I made it. So got the two birdies in a row.
Then I hit a good drive on the par-5, 16, where it was kind of a cross wind, a little helping, and right in the middle of the fairway. And then as we stood there for a little bit waiting for the group to clear, the wind turned back around a little bit. I think I had 233 to the pin and had a little help from the wind. I turned around and ended up hitting a 5-iron in there about 20, 25 feet. And made the putt. So that was a nice run. That was a great run, actually.

Q. Did you get to see your name on the scoreboard in the last couple holes?
RON VLOSICH: I did see it over there. That's pretty cool.

Q. Was that a thrill?
RON VLOSICH: Oh, yeah, that's neat. That was pretty cool.

Q. There was at least two other eagles on No. 16. I think you got the third one today. What is it about that hole that you are seeing that the golfers are going to be able to shoot well and get a good score there?

RON VLOSICH: I think you got a little help from the wind and it shortens it up. You get a little right-to-left tumble and get a little bit of roll off your drive. So you can land it short of the green and kind of let it release with the right-to-left wind, so you can actually hit further back and roll it up and everything kind of funnels to that back left pin. If you got enough energy on your ball it will just kind of funnel to the back. So I think that's part of it, obviously, is where that pin was, if you can get the right weight there.

Q. Did you find something in your practice round that gave you confidence as you came out here this morning?

RON VLOSICH: Not really. I didn't play extremely well in the practice rounds. I was struggling with getting used to the distance control with my irons and in particular from Denver area, the ball goes so darn far that it's hard to get used to the visual. So I got a little more honed into on today's round with my irons, which helped a lot.
I hit some balls last night and I started hitting it a little bit more solid and so I was encouraged last night that my ball flight was, I had brought it down and was hitting it real square so the ball wasn't being affected much in the in the wind. Because if you mishit it a little bit or get it up it starts fluttering out here with this wind and it's gone. So you really got to trap it and hit it nice and solid.

Q. Did your 69 surprise you, based upon what you said about your practice rounds?

RON VLOSICH: I wasn't sure what was going to happen today, to be honest with you. I knew if I could, I knew I could put a good score up if I could put the ball in the fairway with the driver.
So once I kept the ball in the fairway, it just kind of flowed a little bit easier and just took it one shot at a time, obviously, as you don't try to get too far ahead of yourself.

Q. Does the course live up to its billing as a tough course?
RON VLOSICH: It's a very tough course, extremely tough, I think.

Q. What's harder the stock market or Whistling Straits?
RON VLOSICH: Oh, Whistling Straits for sure. It's an intimidating place. It really is. Beautiful place, but a very great track.

Q. You played in the U.S. Open a number of years ago.
RON VLOSICH: Yeah.

Q. Anything from that experience that you recall?

RON VLOSICH: Yeah, it brought back some memories. I got to play in the '82 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach that Watson chipped in on and won. And I played in the '89 PGA at that Payne Stewart won down the road here. So it brought back a lot of memories of those two tournaments, that's for sure. I didn't play, I think I missed the cut, I did miss the cut in both those. So I didn't play too well. But that was back when I was actually had a job and was working too, so you're just trying to wait, balance both those. So I get a little more time to play golf now that I'm not in the golf business any more and I think hopefully it will pay off a little bit.

End of FastScripts

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