U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2003

Fredrik Jacobson

Q. You came here as a qualifier. You find yourself going into the weekend four under par with two fantastic rounds. Have you exceeded your expectations here?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: Probably a little bit, but since it's the first time over here I didn't really know what it was going to be like and how difficult the course would be, but luckily I had a little bit of a good surprise coming here from what I've heard in Europe about the U.S. Open, and I think a lot of players would agree that the course is a bit more playable than it normally is. That's probably why the scoring is a little bit lower this time.

Q. Generally speaking, the USGA likes to put on the toughest of tournaments over here. Are you a bit surprised that it's not quite as tough as you would have imagined?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: Yeah, but at the same time I think it's tough enough and it still requires us to hit some fairways to get a good chance of making a few birdies out there. What I really like, though, is that the greens are really really pure and running as good as anything else. It's fantastic.

Q. A couple of wins on Tour this year. You're playing well. How important is it to come over to the United States? We know Jesper and Per-Ulrik and Gabriel Hjertstedt, but we in the States don't know your name yet. How important is it to come over here and make a good showing?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: It's very important because it's one of my main goals, to get in and play more here. I did try three years ago to qualify for the U.S. Tour and I got my way into the finals but missed by five shots there. I had a little bit of a bad experience that time, got into a car crash five days before the qualifying, so I struggled a bit with my health for a while after that, but I've been working on that a lot and I've been playing better and better in Europe, so I feel I want to come back and have another try to play more here. I would like to try to.

Q. Do you have the experience to be standing here on the podium on a Friday afternoon?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: Actually I have been up once on a Thursday at the British Open after the first round, but it's a bit better after two days. That's one more day, isn't it?

Q. Tell us about your round today. How did it go out there?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: In the beginning I wasn't playing great. I made a lot of saves and I tried to hang in there, and coming after the turn I started to give myself a lot of chances, and after a while they started to drop. A lucky bounce on the par 3 helped me for another birdie. I just got better and better, I think.

Q. (Inaudible).

FREDRIK JACOBSON: I think we were quite fortunate yesterday in the afternoon. It was nice as warm all evening and the wind wasn't too strong, so I think both these first two days it's been really good conditions.

Q. Presumably both Tuesday and Wednesday you played?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: I played the course on Monday and played it on Wednesday and just practiced a bit on Tuesday.

Q. There was wind from different directions from one day to the other. Do you find it's playing easier in the rounds since the mid-week?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: I don't think Wednesday was too bad, but Tuesday was just -- the weather wasn't very nice so I didn't really feel like going out and hitting too many shots in that wind as it was. I think I needed a little bit of rest, as well, too, to stay fresh all week.

Q. If the summer finally comes to Chicago and we get some sun on these greens and typical Chicago winds, do you think there are a lot of red numbers to be had out there or closer to par?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: If there's a lot of wind it's going to be quite difficult around there. I think we might struggle. We'll have to work hard to shoot par, I think.

Q. You got it in while the getting was good as far as getting some red numbers under your belt?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: Yeah, any red number you can get is good around this course, absolutely.

Q. Will you take us through your birdies and bogeys in today's round?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: All right, I started off the 10th tee, so at the 14th hole I was in a bit of trouble off the tee and hit it into the greenside bunker and never got my up-and-down.

Q. How long was the putt?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: Probably 12 feet. 16th hole, hit a great drive and had a 54-degree wedge into the green, hit it ten meters past the flag straight over the pin, managed to make the putt coming back down.

Q. Then the back nine?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: On the 3rd hole I hit a middle wedge, again, up to 12 feet. Then at the 4th I hit 7-iron up to 15 feet. Then at the 7th I hit 6-iron and got a lucky bounce, ended up two feet away.

Q. Any particular thing that happened during the round that got you going? Did that birdie on 16 get you going?

FREDRIK JACOBSON: I think that's the tougher nine, if anything, and if you can turn around par in these conditions -- I didn't feel like it was that much lost. Obviously you want to get a couple of birdies in as early as possible if you can and take advantage of the good weather, but turning in par I think I felt fine, and then you've got a few more chances on the other nine.

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