FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 11, 1998

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: Well, really pretty well-played day, other than two holes, 16 very nice holes. A lot of good chances; a lot of birdie opportunities. And, the momentum I was creating on the front 9, I just couldn't get going on the back and just two poor shots cost me a couple of shots on the back 9. But Gil played well. The trap was certainly to match shot-for-shot with Gil and let someone sneak in behind us and that is just about what happened with Bob Murphy's great round. Just shows, you can't worry about someone else's game. You just have to play your own. I got my game established quite early with some early birdies, but just couldn't -- I just couldn't keep it going. Again, my putting is a little shy of what it needs to be. But, boy, I am sure hitting a lot of quality golf shots.

HALE IRWIN: First hole I hit 8-iron just about holed it. Went right over the cup, two feet from the hole making that for opening birdie. Second hole, I hit not a particularly good 7-iron to the green; made about 40-foot putt for birdie. 3, I hit 2-iron right in front of the green, had a very easy pitch shot; knocked it past the hole about six feet, missed that putt. But I hit a great tee shot at 4 with a 5-iron, about -- woops, my protection (aiming toy water pistol at audience). 4, made birdie from about seven feet. 7, I knocked it on the green in two and 2-putted from about 18 feet for a birdie. And, all the others were pars 'til I got to 13 where I made about a 7-foot putt for birdie. Missed a relatively short putt at 14 -- at 15.

HALE IRWIN: About eight feet.

HALE IRWIN: 14 was the 8-footer. I hit a 3-wood off the tee and 5-iron second shot. But really the round sort of came apart with two bad 4-woods. 16, 4-wood off the tee which I pulled into the left rough and then hit a poor second and poor pitch and two putts. But 17, I tried -- I was going to lay-up off the tee because I just felt like you'd have to hit a perfect drive off the tee; I thought: "Why not? Let's go for it." And I just hit probably the best drive I have hit all week. Had only 203 yards from the front fringe; pulled a 4-wood - just a silly shot, hit it in the water and ended up making a 6. So had two bogeys at 16 and 17. I birdied 18 hitting a 3-wood and 6-iron to about seven feet for birdie. So, again, well-played day, just a shot here and shot there, kind of keeping me from getting over that hump and putt here and putt there. That is really the only difference between now -- between what I have been doing so well and what I am doing right now. I am not unhappy - just sort of unhappy with the way I finished. Just a little loose there at the end.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I want to play with that. If I am playing with somebody that is playing that well and I can keep up with that, then you know you are playing well. I think certainly Gil and I are feeding off of one another. But, again, you can't think about that so much. You really do have to play your game. What I am more concerned about is seeing the other players, where they are hitting it, what clubs they are hitting, seeing the ball flight. That is what I say, but you can't get too absorbed in his score as much as getting absorbed with where the ball is landing and running. That is what you have got to pay attention to. In this case, we are seeing that there can be some low scores shot out here. And each day that is happening, someone from the pack can come up -- you really have to -- you have to be doing decent from your position, but don't play someone else's.

HALE IRWIN: What is that? Just protection. Gil has been playing awfully well lately; so much I thought I would cool him off a little.

HALE IRWIN: Just happened, kind of like one of those shootouts in the old west. How they happen, somebody had a bad card trick, I don't know.

HALE IRWIN: They just appeared. They just -- they were just there.

HALE IRWIN: That is my story and I am sticking with it. You can aim that way and shoot that way. What do you think? Kind of fun. I got something to entertain me for the rest of the evening. Doesn't take much. (laughter).

HALE IRWIN: You are all a bunch of vegetables anyway, so might as well water them.

HALE IRWIN: Sure. But aware of it is one thing and worrying about it is another. I think there was a lot of times during the course of the day where Gil or myself had a chance to go in front and. It was just sort of that -- it came down to who was going to make the last mistake and it was mine. Neither Gil nor I, I think, played badly at all. I just made one more mistake than he and that is where we find ourselves today.

HALE IRWIN: Oh, yeah, -- this is not the easiest of golf courses to play without a bogey. In Gil's case, it is a 3-putt. In that sense, you might say it was kind of a silly 3-putt. But there are awfully some difficult shots that we did get through with. In my case it was the bad shots that hurt me. That having been said, the trick is not to do it again tomorrow.

HALE IRWIN: Who knows? Most of the tournaments that I have seen are generally lost rather than won. But this course is producing enough low scores where, indeed, you might see some scores shot that would win, that is, if the course plays tomorrow as it did today. There is the opportunity at 17 - if you want to take the gamble as I did today - with a good drive, I mean, I just could not have placed that, could not have walked the ball down there in a better position. I missed that, so that is a bit of a gamble. If I had laid up off the tee, I just played and gone for the 5, but I felt like that was the time to be aggressive and it was. It worked. I am just having a little bit of a problem carrying through with that momentum. I am getting it, but I am just not carrying through with it. Today was kind of round that could have been -- I felt like 64, 63, certainly 65. 67, I am happy with - don't get me wrong - but it was setting up to that be that kind of round, especially with all those early birdies.

HALE IRWIN: I don't know. It was only 2 or 3 off the front edge, so back it up. It was quite a long one for me. Might as well hit a 5-iron off the tee -- it was probably 300 plus. Almost have to be. I don't know how long the hole is. Tell you the truth.

HALE IRWIN: Yeah, it was 300 plus. Pretty close to that. Okay?