U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 30, 1995

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: Okay.

HALE IRWIN: Doing a good job so far. The objective today was trying to get myself back into the position in the game, if you wish, for the weekend and I think I have done that. It was a relatively quiet start, although there seems to be an awful lot of activity. I am not hitting the driver the way I really need too; so each tee shot is a voyage into the unknown. As I say that, I only missed one fairway today, so on one hand, I am not hitting it very solidly, but on the other hand, I am keeping it in the fairway and as they say, if you can keep it in the fairway in an Open type golf course under these conditions, then you are more apt to have a chance for a good score. So I can't be upset with keeping the ball in play, but if I can get the timing straightened out, get a little bit of swing thought going towards the weekend, I think I will be in good shape.

HALE IRWIN: I did birdie the third hole. Hitting a 5-iron to within three feet of the hole. I bogeyed 4 from -- 3-putted for the second day in the row; I bogeyed that. I birdied 6, par 5, wedging from about 72 yards, wedging it to within 60 of the hole making that for a birdie. 8, 3-wood off the tee, hit a pitching edge to a within, oh, probably eight feet of the hole making that for a birdie. 9 shot with third shot pitching wedge two and a half feet from the hole. 11, I made about a 25-foot putt for a birdie.

HALE IRWIN: Just -- I hit a sand wedge. It was the third shot I had laid up with a two drive. Driver, 2-iron; wedge just short. Do you want save pars?

HALE IRWIN: Okay. I saved par at 13 after hitting a 5-iron left. Had a nice pitch there to 3 feet; made that. 16, I birdied after hitting a 3-wood into the left rough; quite a difficult lie; got it up in the green; actually made a pretty good shot; made about 30-foot putt for birdie. Did miss the green at 17 to the right again pitching it quite close, and then I drove it into the rough on 18, really just kind of hacked it out to the fairway and missed a 10 foot par-putt for my bogey. Yesterday, I had one birdie; one bogie today; at least I had 6 birdies; 2 bogies, more like what I think you need to -- what I need to have over the weekend to keep in this thing and keep my name up on the board.

HALE IRWIN: 112.

HALE IRWIN: Any time would be wonderful, but the first senior win, it would be -- winning this tournament, would be special at any time; I think, for any of us. But this being the first one would -- that would give it a little extra taste to the cherry, I guess. It would be a nice way to kick off the winning campaign on the Senior Tour. I am still kind of new at this whole senior idea. I feel like I am too young to be playing out here with these guys; unfortunately, I am not. But all and all I have been very pleased with my start with the Senior Tour and both tournaments I have had a chance to win and maybe the third time is the charm. Certainly, we will see over the weekend.

HALE IRWIN: Oh, the conditions of the greens is night and day between how they are putting now versus putting in the afternoon. As the traffic gets greater on the greens, they get bumpier. When you are playing in the afternoon, they are just not as good. Actually, a couple of putts today that actually rolled like a real green, so I think that is the biggest difference. I didn't -- I didn't play that much better today. I just putted a little better, and I think the conditions of the green allowed that confidence. But there are still some pretty good bumps out there, and even -- we were only the, what, 7th group out this morning, so it is going to be difficult and as the sun comes up and dries out, I suppose those spike marks get firmer. It could get interesting.

HALE IRWIN: I am hitting off center. I am hitting a lot of little shots low of the club or maybe in the neck. Just not real solidly hit shots, not far off, mind you. If they were far off, I would be far off, but I am not comfortable, let us put it that way. The swing -- It is nice to drive the ball well because then you get into the flow of the hole. And I am just not quite comfortable off the tee; I am really fighting it, but at least I fought a winning battle today.

HALE IRWIN: I think so. I think driving is always the key to success in a difficult golf course with heavy rough. You just have to put the ball in the fairway.

HALE IRWIN: Yeah, I am going to play more senior events. The question is how many regular Tour events I am going to play. That, I am not certain of. The expectations that others have in no way affects me. It is what expectations I have on myself. You know, if I could get Bob Murphy over here to roll over and get arthritis where he couldn't play, it would be a lot easier to beat him. But there are some great players out here. You cannot expect to come right out here and win. Yes, the likelihood if you -- not the likelihood, the chances of you winning are greater out here of any player winning, generally, coming off the regular Tour just because you don't have to play against as many players. But you have got, Bob, for instance, who didn't play for a long time, and with the arthritis he has had, you got Larry Laoretti, Jim Albus and Jim Colbert; you got a lot of guys that didn't really play the regular Tour. If they did, not very much. There are stars out here. It is not as if once you are 50, you cannot play. Many of these players can still play and play very well. I don't think you can expect to win every week, as you said. I expect good results for myself, but I hardly think winning every week is going to be in the expectations.

HALE IRWIN: It is the position, I think, we all try to get into. There is no prizes given for halfway lead and what you want to do, at least in my mind, you try to get yourself solidly in contention. I think that is the case. I don't believe anybody is going to run off and hide. Although, I think somebody probably 6 or 7, maybe even get to 8 under, I am not certain, but it is very likely that it could happen. But even if it does, we still have two days to play and there is a lot that happens. There is a lot of anxiety. There is a lot of attention and excitement and that can affect your golf and unless you have kind of been there a few times and know how that feels and what to expect, it is a difficult thing to deal with. But at the same time, even those that know how to don't always do it either, so there is no guarantees. The only guarantee is that yes, I am back in the thick of things; it's where I want to be. If I could have taken four 70s over the course of the week and I am back there 8 under in the clubhouse; make them shoot sort of on that schedule -- but it is a pretty impressive leaderboard; a lot of players up there that can win and play well. There is not anybody up there that is kind of a fluke that you say at end of the week, "Boy, was he lucky." I don't see that at all. I think it is going to be an exciting weekend.

HALE IRWIN: Well, the reception has been very positive. It is not as if they, nor myself are aliens. We have played a lot of golf together through the years and still play a lot of golf together. Even when I was not on the Senior Tour through Pro-Ams and seeing one another along the way. So we are still familiar with one another. We are still on speaking terms, if you want to call it that, but I think for the most part, it has been a very warm reception, a positive reception, and I think that the difference that I see and it is hard to tell this week so much, but in two weeks, it is hardly enough to make any real judgment, but there is a different intensity level and whether that is because there is just as many players or that the players that are there are more mature; take things in stride a bit more. But it is just a different feeling and I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe in another couple of weeks I can or maybe Bob can answer that as one of the players that have been out here longer. I don't find it to be an uneasy feeling. It is just a little bit different.

HALE IRWIN: Well, the two courses you mean Shinnecock or --.

HALE IRWIN: In general, they would be very much the same setup. Trying to compare Shinnecock with this one for this year, it is impossible. Comparing this course with any other courses, impossible because of the nature of the greens this week. But tee to green, it is very much of a USGA setup. The rough, the course plays a little bit shorter; I wouldn't think when The Open is here in'97 you will see some of the tees forward as you have seen them this week. You will probably see very much the same fairway widths, very much the same rough around the greens and the fairways. I would presume by then, the sand will have settled; you won't have this impossible sand to play out of. But I think it is very much the same setup. It is just unfortunate the greens have not come around. But in '97, I think a good comparison will be have they come around and if they have, you will see a longer golf course, greens probably faster, certainly firmer.

HALE IRWIN: Yes.

HALE IRWIN: Well, the question do I play against myself or the golf course or other players, and I think the best thing to do is always play the golf course. When you start playing other players, then you might fall into a situation where if you are just playing against them, then somebody might sneak around the backside and get way ahead of you. So I think you have to play the golf course at all times. For myself, I sort of play what I think my standard is, that always keeps me reaching because my standard is pretty lucid and you have got to play very well to get to that standard. And if I was just playing, let us say, Bob, for instance, and that would have been the right guy to play against today, but that might not give me my best results either. If you get caught up in -- unless we are playing like the last few holes the last day, and then you have got maybe a little bit of an opportunity to play the other player or players, but not this early in the week.

HALE IRWIN: I don't know. I need to decide here in a couple of hours whether I want to commit or not. My inclination is just to say yes, I am going to.

HALE IRWIN: Everybody goes with this seven in a row, eight in a row. That just petrifies me, but yes it would mean an awful lot in a row.

HALE IRWIN: Ford Seniors, I am scheduled to play in the British. Say scheduled to play in the British, I don't know what my schedule is. Honestly, I really don't. The Ford Seniors is the only tournament that I know I am playing in right now for this month July.

HALE IRWIN: Right now I don't know how much air will be left in the tires by then, but we will see.

HALE IRWIN: Not good; although I enjoy it. It hasn't been -- it is not the kind of golf course that has suited me well through the years. Two times or three times I played there, it is just -- I make the cut, but I feel like I am out there; I might as well be one of the course bushes as effective as I am.

HALE IRWIN: Thank you.