U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 27, 2003

Fuzzy Zoeller

FUZZY ZOELLER: Make it sweet. How is everybody today? What a great day for golf. You had to control the weather. Nellis, (ph) you had no control. Get the hell out of here.

Q. You almost played a hellatious up-and-down round of golf. I didn't know you like to dig up the pin position on 15?

FUZZY ZOELLER: You know, Tom, you can't complain about the pins; the pins are difficult. There is not a lot of pin placements out there especially when the greens rolling the way they are out there. It's difficult. I'm sure there is more difficult pins on these greens but they can't use them because of the speed of the greens.

I will be honest with you; the speed is still there. Yes, they were a little soft there today but there were a few putts that we had out there today. I had been at Augusta when it's been at it's fastest, but these greens are just a little bit faster. So it's tough. It's tough to get the ball close to the hole, is what the key is.

Q. You weren't hitting greens and still making pars?

FUZZY ZOELLER: I was hit more greens than I did yesterday. Didn't I?

Q. I don't know according to the sheet, whatever?

FUZZY ZOELLER: I don't know, but I mean I did. Really I felt like I played better today than I did yesterday. Even par; I'm very, very happy. You will hear no complaint out of me. If somebody walked up to me and said, "Sunday afternoon you would be at even par, would you be happy?" Hell, yeah, at a U.S. Open. I guarantee it. I don't really think they're going any good. They played very, very good golf. Tommy has played very well for two days, being at 4-under. Bruce is coming in, he is at 3. But 4-under par for two days on this golf course is outstanding.

Q. Are there any opportunities out there on the course that you wish you would have taken advantage of a little bit better?

FUZZY ZOELLER: Yes. I don't want to see my score for God's sake. Show me somebody that shot under par. What the hell you doing? What was that again, I'm sorry?

Q. Any places out on the course in particular that you felt like were real missed opportunities for you; something that you would like have had back, had the chance to do it again?

FUZZY ZOELLER: No, no. You never go backwards. That's typical press; you always want to go backwards and think of stuff that happened about eight years ago, but we don't look backwards; we look forward. No. I will be honest with you; I got just about all I can get out of the round. And I am very, very happy with 71. Can you bleep some of that stuff for me. It's like the Bob and Tom show. You do bleeps every once in a while. I was pulling the same there. No, I don't look backwards. You go with what happens, you take your number.

Like I say, even par is nothing wrong, you can't complain with even par on a U.S. Open course and this is one damn tough golf course, I will tell you that.

Q. How long was the chip-in on 16; was that 40 feet, 45?

FUZZY ZOELLER: Yes, probably about 30 feet. It was downhill. I caught a pretty decent lie. I caught it where the guys were walking off, kind of trampled the grass a little bit, but I caught it just perfect. And when I hit it, I said I got my 4, I'm going to get the hell out of here and I will be very, very happy with 4 and then all of a sudden with the speed of the greens it kept rolling, rolling, rolling. I kind of sound like Rawhide going, "rolling, rolling, rolling," and it dropped right in the hole. But it was a freak of nature when I make something like that. I read all of the golf magazines. I know how to hit them; sometimes I don't come off.

Q. Mr. Zoeller --

FUZZY ZOELLER: You can call me Fuzzy; Mr. Zoeller sounds great.

Q. Can you go over your birdies and bogeys for us?

FUZZY ZOELLER: I'm assuming my birdies are circled; aren't they?

No. 1, I hit it in the rough, rough; and I caught a very good lie in the left rough there with a 3-wood off the tee. And I hit an 8-iron to about 25 feet behind the hole. And it was a very fast putt. Somehow it never found the hole; I can't explain it. I was lagging and it went right in the hole. Sometimes those things happen.

No. 6, a par-3 I chipped up probably about 15 feet behind the hole. Not a very good chip. I had a missed club. But I was the guinea pig as I call it. I was guessing on what club to hit. Because yesterday the front of the green was so hard anything that hit 20 yards short of the green bounced right up, so I was playing for that bounce and I got -- I didn't get the bounce. That's all I'm going to tell you. So I chipped up and missed the putt there.

No. 8, I made a miraculous birdie on No. 8. I hit a driver and I chipped a wedge out of the right rough just short of the creek and I hit a 5-iron to about two inches. And I was trying to do -- I told the little score keepers that were following us, I was trying anyway I could to make 5 and get the hell out and go to the next hole. They asked me what I was thinking on 8? I said I was trying to make a 5, trying to figure out a way to get a putt for a par and get out. And I just happened to hit a very nice 5-iron. It rolled right up and it hit the ridge and then almost went into a 3.

Now, if would you have asked me about that I couldn't have explained that 3 because nobody would have believed it anyway. A 4 was a hell of a score there.

13, I hit it in the right bunker. I hit a 3-iron in the right bunker and blasted out to six feet for a birdie.

15, I hit in the left trees. I was trying to get a cut 3-wood off there and I hit a pulled hook 3-wood. Then I hit a 7-iron down to about 25 yards short of the green. I had a nice position.

Now I know what you are supposed to do on those type holes: Keep below the hole and I was trying everything I could do to do that but my ball rolled up about three and a half feet beyond the hole and my next swing came from about eight feet below the hole and I 3-putted for my 6.

And on 17, I left myself with a very long shot which shocked me. A 4-wood to have tee, a 4-iron off the to the green to the right bunker. I blasted out short of the hole which is fine because I'm uphill putting. I missed about a 10-footer for a par. Other than that that was the round.

It was kind of fun. I enjoyed it. This is one difficult golf course, I'm telling you. The USGA has it set up very difficult for us. Have a good evening. We will see you all tomorrow.

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