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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 30, 2009

Dan Forsman

CARMEL, INDIANA

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the interview area, Dan Forsman. He is playing in his first Senior Open. Dan shot a 6-under, 66, after seven birdies, one bogey. Tell us what is going well for you out there?
DAN FORSMAN: Well, thank you, David, I drove the fairway on the 10th, 8 feet off the hole and made it, and that settles you down. You're edgy, you do your practicing and once they call you to the tee, it's for real, and you can feel the adrenaline, and I felt it today.
I was able to birdie the second hole, which was No. 11 for us, and I was 2-under early, and it settled me down, and I got into the flow. I had some good shots and had some opportunities for a couple of birdies right after that and missed them, but I made a couple of good saves well.
The golf course was ideal for scoring, the greens were soft and receptive. I'm not sure that will remain the case this afternoon, although I see some thunder clouds building, so there might be some moisture. If you're ever going to shoot a low round in a U.S. Senior Open, today would have been the day, I think. That doesn't mean there won't be great scores going forward, but today was perfect.

Q. You, Joey Sindelar and Greg Norman all share the distinction of having 25 putts in your first rounds. Was there anything that was going well for you today?
DAN FORSMAN: I've been shooting well, 25 putts is probably as low as I've had in a major in a while. Again, the greens were pretty receptive and as a result of that, they were not as fast perhaps as they will be. As soon as you get a south wind here, and they dry up, it's going to be a whole different golf course.
Right now it was benign, you could attack the flag, take a good aggressive roll at the putts and as a result if you got the momentum on your side you could shoot low.

Q. Dan, did the water fairways here make it seem a little less like a U.S. Open set-up?
DAN FORSMAN: Yeah, it's a good point. I played in a number of U.S. Opens, and there is quite a difference, and I know they talk about the graduated rough they have instituted in the U.S. Open, and I think that was something I hadn't seen in a while, because I haven't played in a U.S. Open in a couple years, but you have to be careful.
Pete Dye golf courses are pretty penal. You start putting water up against the edge of the greens, it's tough. The USGA, I have to commend them. They did a marvelous job. And I think I said to the guys earlier, this course will show it's teeth before it's over, and there may be under par scoring but how many under par, who could tell. It could come back to par.

Q. Dan, you working on anything new with your golf swing.
DAN FORSMAN: Not really, no. My fundamentals are basically the same. I suppose if I was to pinpoint what I have been trying to do is try to fight for my balance. I've had -- being 6-4 and gangly, I've got a lot of moving parts and as a result I tend to be sloppy at times and lose my balance.
But I know when I swing in balance, as I watch the British Open with Tom Watson making those marvelous swings on seaside links golf with the wind whistling through his hair and making those shots with perfect balance every time, I admired that, and I'm trying to work on that.

Q. Since you mentioned Watson. Were you inspired watching Tom? Does it make you feel like you're younger and you should work harder and maybe you can do that? What did you take away from that performance?
DAN FORSMAN: I took a number of things away from that performance. Number one, I'm a huge fan of Tom Watson, consummate gentleman, tremendous champion, encouraging when you play with him, one of those guys that people ask you who are the best players you've ever played with in a Major, he's in the top of the list, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Fuzzy Zoeller, guys that make an impression on you. I was devastated to see him lose it.
That would have been -- I thought one of the greatest tributes I heard was Gary Player saying it would be one of the greatest if not the greatest sporting accomplishments in his lifetime, and I thought that was great coming from Gary. Tom and Gary have had challenges once in a while, and we've all heard about that, but for Gary to say that was a great complement. Stewart Cink is a great player. He's been there a number of times. It's great to see him play well and to see the new blood come along, and Tom was the people's choice for all of us, I think.

Q. Of course you're going out and playing the course tomorrow, first time in the Open; correct?
DAN FORSMAN: Yes, sir.

Q. Your playing partners, does that affect you any? You have an amateur playing with you, use Greg for example, a couple of established golfers playing with him. Going into the second round, do you expect any differences tomorrow?
DAN FORSMAN: I expect the unexpected in golf. You never know what you're going to get. I hope to keep the momentum going like I got early today, and if I do that I will continue to play well. Now playing well may mean even par tomorrow because the course may be different with pins and tees, and such.
I didn't know this George Zahringer, but he's got credentials, found out a little bit about him in the fairways. He won the Mid-Amateur, runner up in the Senior Amateur, and he's played the Masters, all the while he's a banker, for Deutsche Bank, and my hats off to him. He can come out and he can compete. He shot 1-over; he could have done better. Gary Hallberg I've known for years, great to see him come back, and my sense is he will shoot well tomorrow. He played well with the exception of two holes, so it's been fun. I enjoy the pairings, great to be paired with -- anytime you're in a USGA Championship, you're thrilled to have a tee time.
THE MODERATOR: Dan, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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