U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 1, 2000

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: Well, it is. I think we had the similar conditions as to the first round -- ideal weather. The big difference I can see is that the -- some of the hole locations today were a little bit on the dicey side; whereas, I don't think they were so bad on Thursday. But a very similar day -- beautiful weather, beautiful playing conditions. The soft conditions that have been caused by Thursday's rain are still out there. And you give these guys good fairways, good greens, and soft conditions, you are going to see something. I don't know what the weather forecast is tomorrow, but if a little breeze came up, it would sure make it interesting. It is already interesting. I don't want to say it is not. But it would put a little bit more teeth in the golf course, because the scoring round now is, I think, extremely low for this golf course and this Championship.

HALE IRWIN: Oh, no. I just think it tells what a superb, conditioned golf course we are playing. Fairways are simply wonderful, and the greens are -- if we hadn't had the rain, then I think you'd see much higher scoring. It's just that they are so receptive to shots, you are seeing balls spin back. You can actually stand in the fairway, fly the ball up there. I think if they were firm, we would have our hands full.

HALE IRWIN: Not really. I think Bruce is going to go out and play his usual great game. He has been the guy that has been on top and doing the thing that we all had hoped to do. The difference may be that I have been in that position before, and this is the first time Bruce has. I am sure he is going to be reminded many times: How do you feel? What are you going to do tonight? And those are questions you never know until you have been there. To him, this is sort of unknown territory. I am delighted to be only two back, rather than what could have been three or four. So I think I am in a great position. I don't have the weight of the world, so to speak, on my shoulders like he does. Although I would trade him positions. (laughter).

HALE IRWIN: Well, in his case, he may be hanging like wallpaper.

HALE IRWIN: What I found for me is the adrenaline that you get when you play this kind of a Championship, and when you have got the lead, for me, it doesn't go away. He may be able to sit aside and have a great night's sleep, and I was never that. I sort of had to keep -- let it go, keep it running. And the crash came to me after. I was not one of those people that just says, "Oh, I don't look at the leaderboard; no, I had a good night's sleep; and oh, yeah, I don't think about it." Far from it. I think I did think about it, and I still think about it. But my goodness, that is the fun of it all. I want to experience it all. I am sure he is in his way. He has got many well-wishers and many people that are, again, they are going to say: "Hey, Bruce, we are pulling for you." They are going to remind him time and time again. It is something you can't avoid. And whether you handle it or not, it is going to be up to him.

HALE IRWIN: Well, it was -- the attendance was great. The people have been very, very supportive. It is really great to see. The fun part, again, it is a Senior Championship. But it is good to see so many young people out there. You have got the young bitty guys, girls, and all the way up to -- the age differential is wonderful. And they are all excited to see the golf, and they are very receptive. So that part of the environment is terrific. The golf course has been wonderful. I don't think we could have asked for a better golf course. It has been in superb condition. All and all, it has been a wonderful week. The only thing I can say is that there has been phenomenal scoring. There really has. Even in light of the rough -- it is not the easiest rough to play out of. Far from it. It is difficult. Some of the hole locations are very difficult to get to. But you go back to that rain we had Thursday evening, and that really softened things up.

HALE IRWIN: I am not going to bite on that. It is not head-to-head, because there is something that Tom Kite has to say about it. Allen Doyle is not so far back. There is still a number of guys that can win this tournament. I go out, and I am thinking -- I don't think you will find any player that is in this chair -- I can't control what he does nor -- I can only control my game. But I will try to play the kind of game I played today. Getting back to my -- the thing that makes my game tick, I have not been doing very well. A little session I had yesterday on the practice range, a little overnight thinking about what I wanted to accomplish today -- finally got going, and that is what I will try to do. That is the only -- only thing I can do to maybe influence Bruce -- it is just to continue playing well. We will see how that -- I don't consider it necessarily head-to-head. If that happens, it will come down to the last few holes. And that is just too far out.

HALE IRWIN: I think it -- it certainly was instrumental, I think, in some very aggressive play. When you see someone doing that, you say: "I got to take a chance or two." And I don't know how the other guys were thinking, but I am out there making quite a few birdies. I am really not catching up. But again, it's 18 holes. You got to keep going. And what looked like -- I might not catch up much at all, here it is only two shots now, and that can swing in one hole. So it is really not all that insurmountable. But going back again to a question about the nine birdies, I am just reminded in 1967 around this area Shawnee-on-the-Delaware, or the NCAA 9 birdies, hole-in-one, four bogeys, and four pars. So this was not all that different from that round. And it was in the same third round.

HALE IRWIN: I think the front nine doesn't have the 11th green; doesn't have the 15th and 16th greens. You have greens that are difficult to putt, but not -- you have three extremely difficult greens over here, and you have to be very cognizant of where you leave the ball. Today on the 11th hole, I hit what I thought was a very, very good tee shot. I am 20 feet under the hole, putting over the ridge, and ended up 3-putting. So could I play that hole better? No. But you don't have any of those holes on the front nine. So therein I think, lies the big difference, is that you got three greens of the nine, on the back nine, which are -- you have to be extremely careful. You take par every time and walk over to the next tee. That, I think, is the biggest difference.

HALE IRWIN: It is tight. But it is warmer. It feels much better. Plus, I was with Bruce last night hanging some wallpaper. I got a little tight. (laughter).

HALE IRWIN: Well, as I said yesterday, I think we just had so much rain Thursday that I can't see where it is going to dry out that much. It is not going to dry out to what we would hope Open conditions would be. Some, possibly. But I just can't see it. Still, fixing the pitch marks on the greens is still very, very soft. The balls are still holding quite nicely, so I don't know what they can do overnight, short of coming in with a blow torch and using some of the hole locations that might be extremely iffy. But it is still pretty soft. No standing water, I don't want to say that, but it is just soft.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I was thinking: Too mechanical. I just said: Throw the book of mechanics away, get back to some instinctive golf. Whatever happens is going to happen. But I am going to have to think about scoring instead of mechanics. You work on the mechanics on the practice tee, hopefully they will ingrain themselves by the time they get to the golf course, not try to carry those to the golf course. And it never works. But I just kind of -- I played the first two holes very mechanically, very poorly. And just said: I am going to turn it loose. I am going to think about where the ball needs to go and not necessarily how to get it there. If it gets there through hook or slice or top -- just get it there. And it kind of takes away the burden of putting one foot in front of the other. You can just sort of go play. Fortunately, I hit some good shots thereafter and built up a little steam, a little confidence, and it made a big difference.

HALE IRWIN: His -- my shot was lucky. His shot may have been good, but I was aiming to the middle of the green and pulled it. But that sort of -- I say it is lucky in one breath, and it is sort of not in another. I figure, aim at the middle of the green and try to hook it if you can. I pulled it. But essentially it was a hook. It ended up being in the same spot that I had hoped, but he hit a fantastic shot. I think I got an assist. I don't know it kissed off my ball, but I should get an assist off that. He hit a great shot. It is not too often you birdie that hole, period. Then you lose the honor. That is a real hole. That is one, I think, one of the harder holes out here.

HALE IRWIN: No. No. I won't take away the honor of a two. That is remarkable stuff.

HALE IRWIN: Bogey at the 2nd. Hitting it in the right rough. From there, I had a lie that I hit -- just chopped a 4-wood out over the back edge of the green. Hit a poor pitch; missed a 10-foot par-putt. I birdied 3, hitting an 8-iron to within six feet. Birdied 4, hitting a 6-iron to within five feet. Birdied 5, hitting a 7-iron to within seven feet. Birdied 6, a sand wedge from the left rough to within four feet. Birdied 8, hitting an 8-iron to within six feet. Birdied 9, hitting a 5-iron, and made about a 15-foot putt. As I mentioned, I 3-putted 11 from about 25 feet short, under the hole. I birdied 12 from about three feet. Birdied 13 from about a foot and a half. 16, I hit an 8-iron to within five feet; made that. I 3-putted 17, hitting a 6-iron out to the right, and putting it well past. That was it. Thank you, folks.