U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2008

Fred Funk

FULLAUDIOINTERVIEW

RAND JERRIS: It's a pleasure to welcome Fred Funk to the interview room again this afternoon. Fred, with a 1-under par round of 69, 6-under par for the championship.

The course looked like it was playing maybe several shots harder today than yesterday.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, I think it is. I think the pin placements are a lot more difficult. The greens are getting a little more speed to them. And it's just hard to hit on the proper side of the hole; you're on defense. Very tricky, very demanding, especially starting on 10, I knew it would be a tough start, because I think that's the meat of the golf course is 10 through 15, and obviously 17 is not very easy. I don't think 18 is very easy.

But you know, I got 3-over after eight holes, and really wasn't that frustrated because I felt like I was still playing pretty good and thought I could make some birdies; and I was hoping to get back to even par for the day, and I ended up getting to 1-under for the day. And so I was really pleased overall.

RAND JERRIS: Could I get you to walk through your birdies and bogeys on the card?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, on 11, I drove it in the rough on the right and had to lay-up. I actually made a great 2-putt from 60 feet for bogey.

12, the par 3, I hit a 4-iron, hit a pretty good shot and it just releases all the way to the back and I was just off the fringe in the first cut of rough. Thought I hit a pretty good chip, but it came up short and hit a good putt but missed it.

So I made bogey and I'm 2-over right out of the gate. I hit a couple good shots, and then I bogeyed 17 because I drove it in the rough. So 3-over pretty quick.

Then 18, I hit a 3-wood and a 9-iron to about four feet left of the hole, five feet, and made a nice little putt there.

Then I birdied 2. Really a nice putt there. I wasn't expecting to make birdie there from where I left myself. I had a 20-footer, and a 5-wood and a sand wedge up there.

3, I hit a driver 6-iron into the green and had it right below the hole on the front edge of the green and straight-in putt and missed it for eagle, but tapped in for birdie. So that got me back to even.

I 2-putted 9 and hit a 3-iron into the green and 2-putted for my last birdie. It was a pretty good finish.

RAND JERRIS: What was your distance with the 3-iron on 9?

FRED FUNK: It was like 220 to the front yardage-wise, and 230- something to the hole. I just hit a 3-iron, making sure I got up the on the green and long, just don't be short. I kind of miss- hit the 3-iron just enough to be perfect.

Q. Given the afternoon conditions, the way they are, and some of the pin placements, do you see a 67 out there possibly?

FRED FUNK: Well, a guy's got to play really good, and I think that you have to get off to a really good start on the front nine, and that's where you can get a little momentum going early. If a guy does tee off on the back nine and does somehow manage to get 1- or 2- under at the turn, I think he can get it low.

But it's tough. It's getting tougher out there. It's getting a little more toasty. And mainly the pin positions, I thought they were very fair yesterday, and today I think they are fair, other than about two or three of them. But they are a little dicey. You get on the wrong side of the hole, it's almost impossible to get a 2-putt.

Q. Pin placement at No. 8?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, 8 I think is a very tough pin. That green is super-fast coming down. Anything right of the hole or behind the hole, you get on the wrong tier there -- Ian Woosnam was straight behind the hole, but he had no shot. You're on the green and you have no chance of getting near the hole.

And No. 4 is going to be tough. The pin itself is actually on a little bit of a ridge, or a little bit of a slope on a ridge, and Peter, like Jac hit it four feet behind the hole and just tapped it and it went by four or five feet. Again, you just can't make your mistake long on some of these pins.

Q. When is the last time you played a course that had a bear walk across a couple fairways, and do you see that as an omen for the golfers at all?

FRED FUNK: Nicklaus isn't here, so I guess that's a substitute.

No, I never heard of such a thing. I heard the officials actually saying that the bear was up in the tree, but if the bear got back down, that they were going to tranquilize it and halt play, even to the point of halting play, because it would be pretty scary if it got a little panicky and some spectator or some of the golfers was too close. That wouldn't have been an issue if a caddie had got too close. (Laughter).

Q. Did you see it at all?

FRED FUNK: No, I never saw it.

Q. You talked yesterday about how difficult it was to get loose; was that not an issue today?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, that was strange, I loosened up really good this morning. I felt good when I woke up, and felt great on the range. I was ready to go after about ten balls, and then I was just hitting balls and having fun up there on the range and swinging as hard as I could and just having a ball with it. I hit my first tee shot on 10 and walking off the tee, my neck locked up, or my shoulder blades, whatever you want to call that back there.

I've had that spot happen to me before. Fortunately I could turn my neck to the left; I couldn't turn it to the right. I've had it where you can't swing or you can't go to the left, but I could look up. I got through it. It was fine. It got better as the day went on. I got treated on 1, 2 and 3. My wife got the PT out and she kind of saved me, running to the PT. So that was really good, because he helped me a lot. It got a little bit looser.

Hopefully I can get this thing to let go overnight so I won't have it tomorrow. Irony of it is that I felt so good on the range, and then I felt like crap on the whole back nine.

Q. Did you think that may have affected you, or you're not blaming that?

FRED FUNK: Well, I was hitting the ball kind of to the right, a little weak, right out of the gate with the driver. And then it wasn't too bad. Actually, 17 had hurt me. I tried to get it -- that's when it was the tightest I think. I tried to make a good swing on it, and I got to the top of the swing and it's like my body stopped and it lifted and I just batted the driver off the tee to the right into the rough, and you're dead on that hole unless you get up-and-down. I was in trouble after that shot.

Q. The tee shot on the ninth hole, your last hole, what happened there?

FRED FUNK: I just whiffed it. I was trying to really get one -- I just got a theory on that hole, because I don't think -- how do I explain this?

I've changed my whole idea, my caddie and I discussed it on all of these practice rounds on how to play it. Initially I thought if you miss it, miss it in the left rough, and my caddie says, you've got to be crazy. If you want to miss it, miss it in the right rough and then you can lay up and then you can see your lay-up or you have a lot better angle.

After two days in a row missing it in the practice rounds in the left rough and not being able to hit the lay-up area, I said, you're absolutely right. So now I just kind of aim at the middle and swing as hard as I can and if it goes it in the right rough, fine, but just don't be in that left rough. I swung hard and hit it on the bottom of my club and hit it on a good line and rolled out really good. It was a really good miss. I just came out of it a little too quick.

Why, how did you know that? See me let go of the club or was it on TV?

Q. Saw you let go of the club.

FRED FUNK: I didn't know whether you were out there or not. Anything else? We're good. Hope to see you guys, a lot more. (Laughter).