KEMPER OPEN

June 4, 1998

Tommy Armour III

TOMMY ARMOUR: It was a good, solid round. I shot four under. I had an easier day than I've been having the last month or so.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Just the last hole, hole number nine.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I did switch irons a month ago. Then I got a brand new set that I was using back in play this morning. I hadn't even hit them or anything, I played with those.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Huh?

TOMMY ARMOUR: Armour 845 to Armour oversized 845. But I played the first part here oversized.

TOMMY ARMOUR: The 12th hole, it's one of the holes you've just got to drive in the fairway and not on the green. I mean, actually I hit in the hazard today. But, I mean I was just sort of in it, I wasn't really in the water. I just hit a 6-iron on the green. So, it's a hole you have to, I think, kind of attack a little bit with a tee shot, and then with the second shot you just play the hole on the green. Because if you hit a 1-iron off there or something like that, playing real defensive and don't hit it too well, you're going to be long-iron shooting at the water. If you drive it way down, shoot it away from the water and back into the green.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I never said it wasn't great.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I saw some 7 unders or whatever. I was 4 under. You don't make too many trips to the press room for your shots back in the first round.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I drove it well, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots where I wanted them and made some putts. It wasn't really -- I mean, there's no secret to it. I mean, the guys that are on the leaderboard had good tee shots, good irons, many putts.

TOMMY ARMOUR: This is always a fairly tough golf course. The scores show that over the years. So, I mean -- and, you know, it's not in tip-top shape where I think Avenel would like, but, I mean...

TOMMY ARMOUR: No, the greens were as good as I've seen them in the last few years. So, I mean, I've had no problems with anything. But the course is -- it's a tough golf course, as far as -- especially when you get a little breeze blowing, because you have a lot of elevated shots where you're changing elevations, and so you have to think about what you're doing.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I'm glad he withdrew. I'm sad for having -- he always adds a lot to a tournament. And, well, here I am.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Pardon me?

TOMMY ARMOUR: Normally?

TOMMY ARMOUR: Playing golf. I was coming here. I was a second alternate, so I wasn't really worried about getting in. Second alternate, Wednesday afternoon, I'm not worried.

TOMMY ARMOUR: That tournament, we haven't finished that yet.

TOMMY ARMOUR: That's the longest tournament ever. We're finishing that after the PGA.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I think I'm somewhere in the top 40th. That's pretty good golf.

TOMMY ARMOUR: It's -- I mean, you've got to play it. It wasn't -- I mean, I just pulled my shot a little bit and it up bounced on a pitch. I mean, it's -- I mean, it's -- I don't think it's that hard of a hole to finish on. It's an 8-iron.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I'm the first guy in in the afternoon.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Oh, I see.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I mean, it's a tough golf course. You have to have a lot of good shots and you have to play well. So, I mean, and it's a little, I guess, sort of breezy.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I didn't look that hard to see if the seed heads were there.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No. I mean, I just kind of looked at what's there and trying to pick a line and hit it on.

TOMMY ARMOUR: The wind changed while we were on the golf course. Because when I teed off, number 10 was downwind. And so I played 10 and 11 kind of downwind and 12. And then the wind -- 10, 11, 12, and the wind was starting to change a little bit. By the time I got to 18, it was into the wind. And then right as we went through there, right after 18 had changed because we got over here. Number 1 was kind of into the wind. It was -- it changed directions a little bit.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No, not really. I played this course a lot, played the tournament a lot, and I made some money here. I mean, I feel comfortable here.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I haven't had to do too many this year. But I knew I was going to play in the tournament.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Ben told me that if something happened and I wasn't, he got two of his exemptions back from the tour school, so I knew I was going to play in the tournament. I wasn't really concerned about that, whether I was going to play or not. Like I said, if it had been Wednesday afternoon and I wasn't playing, I would have been concerned. But when I called Monday, midday, I was in the tournament, so...

TOMMY ARMOUR: I mean, it's sort of the way it is at the moment, so you've just got to deal with it. I mean, it's not -- it's better than not being an alternate and not being in the tournament.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Like I've told a lot of friends of mine, even when I wasn't playing my best, I never really considered it a struggle because, I mean, I have a lot of friends, you know, through different levels of life and different ages and stuff, and you see some of them really struggling. So, I mean, I've never really considered it a struggle to play golf every year. So I've never really considered it a struggle. I mean, obviously I haven't played as well some years as I'd like. And actually, this year is the first year I've been back with the Tommy Armour Golf Company. It's the first time in six years. And we have some new equipment, and that's -- I've started using that. It's really been nice. And a new (inaudible) driver. The combination of them, it's been -- that's the first time I've used Titleist ever in my career. All those three things put together really turned out some nice things for me this year.

TOMMY ARMOUR: No. Just basically -- I did that a long time ago. So, I mean, nothing is out of the ordinary as far as that goes. I feel strong and good; as good as I felt the last four or five years. I felt really strong, healthy. So -- and I've been fortunate that I haven't really been injured. So it's been good.

TOMMY ARMOUR: 15 I had a driver, 5-iron about five inches.

TOMMY ARMOUR: 2, I hit a driver 4-iron pitch and wedge about 2 feet. And then on 4 I hit a 1-iron wedge about 15 feet. Then the next hole I had a driver, sand wedge about 8 feet. And then 6 I had a driver 7-iron sand wedge about 3 -- about 6 feet.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I knew somebody had a double eagle. You could hear by the cheer it wasn't an eagle. I never had one. Love to make one.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Any day. Next Tuesday would be nice.

TOMMY ARMOUR: I had an 8-iron left of the green and pitched it up about 10 feet and missed it. Actually, I hit a good steep putt right in front of me for about the same line. It hooked right in the hole. And I hit mine down there and just broke right. So, that's the way it goes.

TOMMY ARMOUR: 2 is -- 2, you have to actually, at about 125 yards from that green to 155 to 160 from the green is not very good. So you have to get it down further at about 100 yards to 85 yards where the fairways are pretty good.

TOMMY ARMOUR: Just on number 6, I had kind of a --

TOMMY ARMOUR: No, it was with the sand wedge. But I hit a nice shot in. Other than that, I mean it's not -- even the zoysia that's really not so good still (inaudible) a little bit.

LEE PATTERSON: Thank you. I appreciate your time.