U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 27, 2000

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: What kind of a mood I am in? I am sleepy right now. I think that trying to kind of continue the momentum that generated this spring seems to be working. I am not playing at the top of my game, but certainly I feel like I am going in that direction. But as is usually the case when you feel like you are playing well, you come across some obstacle, and that obstacle two weeks ago was the U.S. Open. And it puts you in your place real quickly, and you spend the following week or two trying to recover from the demands that that Championship has. And there are advantages, too, to have played a couple of weeks ago and come in here. The rough at Pebble certainly was of a major consequence to the players. If you got in it, it was a very formidable place to try and get out of. And I think that rough there probably was a little more difficult than it is here, but it was good -- I don't want to say practice -- but it was good preparation coming into this event. I don't want to say I use the U.S. Open as preparation for this tournament, but I think the preparation in terms of getting your mindset for the narrower fairways and the heavier rough is certainly beneficial. I think this is a very, very nice golf course. It has been prepared beautifully. The challenge will be, I think, for us to keep the ball in the fairway. The rough is substantial. These greens are going to be difficult to hit from the rough. And maybe there has been comment already, but I think you have to be particularly cognizant here where you leave the ball on these greens. You can have some putts that will be extremely difficult to 2-putt, much less 1-putt. Therefore, that is just going to demand good driving. So I think all and all we are going to have a golf course that is going to present a lot of challenge to us, and barring any terrible weather, which we hope we will escape, I think it will be a great championship. It is in great shape. I have been very pleased with the layout and the way it is playing. It is beautiful.

HALE IRWIN: I don't know if I came down. I tried to get back up. It was a busy week. I had some design business, and I did play in that Monday, Tuesday with my son over at a tournament in Salt Lake City, the Champions Challenge. Sort of like a father-and-son event. Then I was in four different cities the next two days on some design work, and tried to go home for a couple of days, and came in yesterday morning. So it has been kind of hectic; but I think for me, I had to separate sort of the U.S. Open from this tournament. To do that, I didn't -- other than those two days where I played, I didn't practice 'til I got here Monday. I take it back. I hit some balls Sunday, but it was very wet, and it wasn't a great practice session, so I really need to kind of get away from it. I have been trying to rest my back, which I hurt in my win in Atlanta, whenever that was, six weeks ago. That is the first time I have had any kind of rest for it, and it feels much better.

HALE IRWIN: I don't know how I did it. I feel like I sort of have gone from one nagging thing to another. It was -- my wrist has been bothering me for the last year and a half, and the first week it really didn't bother me was Atlanta. I felt like, boy, I can turn and get after it. I was -- I was swinging much better, hitting the ball well, was so happy it wasn't hurting. I got a little aggressive and started to get in a position that I hadn't been in a while. I strained a ligament down in my back, as it turns out. And so the problems that has created, it was really magnified at the Open when I am playing a lot and kind of standing on and moving around the 27 holes that I had - last of the first round and second round really got tight, got quite sore. That bothered me that day and the third round and -- I really kind of rested. And the rest I have had has been beneficial. It has really helped. Hasn't bothered me at all this week.

HALE IRWIN: Well, first of all, as I indicated earlier, you have to drive the ball well. And I think that is part of the game that is very important; has been one of my long suits. So hopefully, if I can continue driving the ball as I have of late, and improve my iron game some, then I will be -- I will be sort of prepared to start and just easing into it tomorrow and hopefully be ready by Thursday, but driving the ball is very important this week. There are a few blind shots out there that we might not ordinarily see. And this old style that we are seeing -- some of the holes out there now versus years ago -- I like some of the quirkiness of some of these holes. It is very enjoyable.

HALE IRWIN: I remember -- when you are from Colorado you hardly know where Pennsylvania is, whether it is eastern or western. Well, very favorable, obviously. I very much enjoyed playing back in this part of the world. We have played in the old days down in Philadelphia at the Whitemarsh Valley. Many holes -- not many, but some of the holes remind me of Whitemarsh Valley. You do go back a little bit to the NCAA, though, that is a long time ago.

HALE IRWIN: You were a kid then. You had hair then.

HALE IRWIN: You had a lot of hair then. Well, the thing I remember the most was my third round where I had -- let's see. I had four pars, four bogeys. That leaves ten holes. I had nine birdies and a hole-in-one in one round of golf. Next day, I came out, and I said here today, I think I was choking like a dog although I blamed it on the cold water was making my throat really tight, so I am going to stick to that story. I am just going to say that the cold water I was drinking was making my throat tight, but actually I think I was choking to death.

HALE IRWIN: 65, I believe it was.

HALE IRWIN: Yeah, but I won by two. Don't ask me, Jerry, I have no idea.

HALE IRWIN: Did I?

HALE IRWIN: I could have cruised that last day. (laughter) I just remember the 65. I can't remember what it was. It was -- I remember the last day played pretty difficult. I think we all shot fairly high that day. When you are out of Colorado and you hardly know anything about nothing, it was something.

HALE IRWIN: Sort of go in reverse, I think it is very important to us. Those of us that have had successful careers on the regular Tour are being able to continue; that is extremely gratifying and for those players that have had a second chance, I think they, too, look at it as an opportunity to go out and continue playing a game and making a living at it and enjoying some of the fruits of what they might not have enjoyed in years past. But I think at the beginning it was certainly a parade of stars. It was more like a parade, a show, exhibition, if you wish, and there were some great names that started this SENIOR TOUR. But the popularity of it grew very quickly and suddenly went from this little parade of stars to full-fledged tournaments and has grown in greater and greater stature. More and more players are coming off the regular Tour and coming to the SENIOR TOUR. We are seeing, I think, a good example this year of five players. We all talk about the two Toms, Andy North, Doug Tewell, I felt like Doug was going to have a banner year simply because he keeps the ball in play, in play, in play. We are seeing Larry Nelson continue that run and a Bruce Fleisher continuing what I think maybe some people thought would be maybe just a spike in the road, certainly not because he has got that game too. Very, very steady, very qualified and it has become very competitive. You just don't come out here and lolligag around. I think you are going to see players as proven as the U.S. Open. Four of the five seniors making the cut, not that making the cut is to hang your hat on, but there were a lot of younger players that didn't. So it just says I think a lot for the quality of play and what we see coming, the players that are going to be coming on to this Tour within the next three or four years is also very interesting. I think it will be great.

HALE IRWIN: No. Did I surprise you?

HALE IRWIN: No, I don't want to say I expected those things, but I have high hopes of doing those things. And I think for a lot of people it was sort of a shocker, but I -- I am capable of doing that. Unfortunately I was also capable of shooting some high scores. But that half of the draw in which I played, those scores were pretty high, you know, the guys that got sort of sandwiched in that time slot where the wind was blowing pretty good. It was a tough golf course in the times at which we played. With the fog and the wind coming up, it was not easy. And if any part of your game was weak, it was exposed in those elements, and I wasn't hitting the ball extremely crisply. But I did play fairly well that first nine and I played decently the last day. I putted well both days. Middle two rounds I didn't putt particularly well. But the thing that sort of sticks in my mind, I was told this yesterday was only two players shot in the 60s in two rounds, Tiger and myself. So say that as it be, you say, does it surprise me? No. What more than anything else, I was sort of disappointed with my middle two rounds more so than surprised that I shot in the 60s.