|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 7, 2007Tom WatsonKOHLER, WISCONSIN Q. How about the greens? Were the greens starting to get quicker?  Q. You said yesterday you wanted some testy winds. I guess this is -- TOM WATSON: Well, the testy winds, they got the best of me a few times today, with shots like at No. 1 and No. 6. I knocked it right over the green both occasions. And I made bogey there. No. 12, the par-3, knocked it right over the green there. Again, I hit shots the way I meant to, but it was poorly judged. So the course got me today as far as my judgment was concerned. Q. Did you feel comfortable when you said you still haven't figured this thing out? TOM WATSON: No, I haven't figured this thing out yet. I just hope that I'm the last man standing when we finish the 18th hole tomorrow. Q. Could you talk about your attitude, I think three bogeys in four holes, you make the turn, and part of your greatness I'm sure is that steely determination. What was going through your mind as you went to 10, made a birdie right away and then played a great back nine in 2-under? TOM WATSON: I said I got to play a good back side. And I started off with a birdie at 10. And I hit a really good drive at 11, didn't make birdie there, in fact I pitched it over the green there. And kind of struggled to make par there. I made a great shot at the 15th hole, the par-4. I knocked it in the fairway bunker to the right and I, on the up slope, and I had I hit a 4-iron on the green and I had a birdie putt from about 25 feet. That was the shot that made me feel good about the back side. I hit it, I hit a really good shot at 17. I hit a 2 hybrid Adams, the Idea. Just flushed it, just boom, right at the hole. And I had a good birdie opportunity, I misread the putt. And 18 I got if up-and-down, fortunately, and after a bad tee ball. My driving has not been the best this week. That's been, that's kept me kind of on the swimming upstream in a pretty strong current. But I fortunately, I've been able to do it pretty well so far. Q. Watching Loren and what he was going through on 17, you had a long wait. But were you empathizing with him? TOM WATSON: I was looking at Lake Michigan. A beautiful lake. I knew he was in a hard place there. I don't know exactly what the problem was, but when he bent over to identify his ball I knew it was buried pretty deep in that pimple. Q. On these conditions, are you cognizant of what everybody else is doing on the course or are you just trying to keep your head down? TOM WATSON: I'm looking at the board and you can judge kind of how it goes, the downwind holes the guys are making some birdies and the into the wind holes, the last few holes, they're struggling. Q. That would have been like match play there, your first tee ball off 17 was very critical. It was a good strike and really set a tone there coming in. TOM WATSON: Well, I hit it, I had hit a good shot there. But I hit the same club off 18 and I flared it out to the right in the rough. So that's the same guy, hitting the same club. So. But I -- no, it's the golf course is a very difficult golf course and the flag sticks were in the very tough positions today. I claimed over there that Mr. Kohler must have set them today. He didn't like the scores yesterday being so low, so he must have set them today. So I -- but they were a lot tougher today for the cut or before the cut. And you add the wind to that and it's a heck of a difficult test of golf. Q. You wanted testy conditions yesterday, was this what you wanted? TOM WATSON: Yeah, it was definitely a test. This is what I wanted. And this is what I got. And fortunately, I struggled through with a 1-over par round. Q. Three runner-ups, can you compare where you were in 54 holes in those events versus where you are now? Do you like your setup better, you got a three shot lead after all that happened today you're right back where you started the day? TOM WATSON: Yeah, I'm in the tournament. If I play a good round tomorrow, I should win the tournament. Unless somebody really goes out and shoots a no brainer, which can happen on this Tour, it happens all the time. You look at Allen Doyle, when he shot, he went from nine shots back, you know, so it's -- anything can happen. I've been around this game for 36 years now and it's, nothing surprises me any more about what happens. I just hope that I can go and keep the ball, as I said, keep the ball in play a little bit better tomorrow and judge the shots a little bit better tomorrow. I didn't judge, my judgment was not right today. Q. The headlines are saying that, "It's elementary, Watson", you probably seen that in papers over the years, obviously it's not that easy, but someone such as yourself, I don't think it's surprising to have a great golfer in this position going into the final round of a tournament such as this on this golf course. Could you talk about the experience factor and perhaps how that comes into play? TOM WATSON: Well, it's difficult conditions. I've usually pretty well shown, in the difficult conditions, because you say to people, why do you play well at the British Open, well, when you have to kind of use your feel and use your imagination, use your short game, every part of your game. Rather than just, what's the yardage, hit the yardage, stop it. I've been pretty good at that over my career. So the conditions here were kind of like that today. And so I'm, I hope that -- reportedly they're supposed to be about the same tomorrow. The same wind tomorrow, maybe a little bit hotter. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|