U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 31, 2008

R.W. Eaks

FULLAUDIOINTERVIEW

Q. Talk about your round today.

R. W. EAKS: You know, I didn't play very well today. I had a couple bad drives, cost me a couple bogeys. I think I made one putt over four feet maybe all day, but it's not because of the greens or anything. It's because of me. I just didn't putt well.</ p>

Q. How long was that one on 18?

R. W. EAKS: It was about 14 feet. I only missed it by six inches. That was pretty good for me.

Q. Would you say you had several opportunities?

R. W. EAKS: I had a lot of opportunities today. I got up- and-down a little bit, but I don't know. It wasn't bad. I'm just happy I got a round of 18 holes and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Was it tense with the local support from the gallery?

R. W. EAKS: Didn't have much to clap for today, but I was glad to see everybody. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a while, so it worked out nice.

Q. How were the greens? Were they faster than they were earlier in the week?

R. W. EAKS: I don't think so. I think they slowed them down a little bit. I think they're going to be a little tough this afternoon. But they're in fine shape, especially for being 95, 96 degrees. They're great.

Q. Is there any score you have in mind after playing a round, that you think a 72 score will be up there?

R. W. EAKS: I have no idea. I don't know what they'll do to the golf course. They had some real nice pins out there today. They could make it a lot harder or easier. Depends on what they want to do.

Q. Which holes were the toughest out there?

R. W. EAKS: I think 10 was a pretty tough hole today, pretty tough pin placement on the back right of the green. It's hard to get to.

A lot of the pins coming in were pretty tough because they were a little downwind, and the greens were getting a little firm. But shoot, they were all hard for me today. I think 10 was probably the hardest hole today.

Q. How tricky was it to follow the rule with the shrine and the five based on the pin placements? Were there some holes were that was just a very tricky prospect?

R. W. EAKS: Yeah, maybe some of the pins on the young corners or maybe it falls off or maybe it doesn't go at the shrine or anything, but I was chipping so much today that I didn't have any chance to read the shrine.

Q. R. W., birdies at three and four to -2. Did you feel like you had a little something going after 4?

R. W. EAKS: Yeah. I had a good chance to birdie the fifth hole, and I just got a little tired out there about seven or eight, but that's going to go with the territory with me. But yeah, 72 is not bad. You know, it's within striking distance.

We got three days left. You never know what's going to happen.

Q. I asked you the other day about those braces. Have you already gotten a little bit of impact from that?

R. W. EAKS: It's going to take a while, because when you put them on, you don't feel anything. So yeah, I'm just trying to think positive about it that they're just going to work.

Q. Are the knees bothering you, especially after a few days of playing?

R. W. EAKS: They're a little tender, you know. Not like I got ran over by a Mack truck or anything, but they're just a little tender.

Q. Did you feel the wind picking up there after you teed off, and if so, about what hole?

R. W. EAKS: I think it picked up on us about 13. It's swirling a little bit out there today, especially when it got a little windier. I think it's supposed to get windy this afternoon, I think, if I remember right. But you know, that'll help the guys on the downwind holes. The into-the-wind holes will be a little tougher, but I think somebody is going to shoot low this afternoon.

Q. When you said nice pins today, challenging nice?

R. W. EAKS: They were on the green, you know.

Actually they were in pretty flat spots. I think they were pretty fair, but they were on the corners, which makes it hard on this golf course, because you know, the rough is pretty deep around the greens and you got the bunkers there, but I think all in all they did a great job today setting up the course.

Q. Did you do anything special last night with being back in town?

R. W. EAKS: No, I had a sinus headache last night, and we went back to the room and I just kind of took a little medication and crashed.

Q. Drive through Patty Jewett?

R. W. EAKS: Oh, yeah. You kidding me? I went back past my old stomping grounds where I used to live and went to Patty Jewett and just drove around a while, and saw the sights.

Q. With Mark Wiebe coming back down, did you guys have a chance to chat a little bit?

R. W. EAKS: We've known each other since, I'm going to guess, 1978 maybe, you know, so we've chatted about all we can. (Laughs).

Q. Is there a little camaraderie with the Colorado guys? There's like nine of you out here.

R. W. EAKS: I think so. We're all pretty proud of Colorado. I think a couple of them are playing pretty well. I think Hallberg is playing well. So it's just nice to be back.

Q. You talked about a little bit of fatigue. Is the heat part of that?

R. W. EAKS: Shoot, no. This is like springtime for me. I mean it's 112, 114 at home. This is nothing. Yeah, this is refreshing.

Q. Looked like Mark missed a lot of fairways.

R. W. EAKS: Only at the end. He hit it pretty good today until the end. I think maybe he got a little tired, too.

But you know, the fairways are firming up and the angles are a little different than what we played the practice rounds, so I think that's probably why.

Q. Are you looking forward to the afternoon tee time, because you said seems like things were getting better as you went on. Does that have to do with being in the morning or the afternoon or is that just getting used to things?

R. W. EAKS: I don't think so. I think the ball goes a little further in the afternoon, so you feel like you might have a little advantage to the golf course, and if I feel like I can hit a little further than somebody else, I get pretty excited.

Q. Thank you.