U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2003

Woody Austin

WOODY AUSTIN: I made the mistake of hitting a couple shots where you're not supposed to and then I pressed and then a made a couple mental mistakes and I buried it in a couple bunkers and the next thing you know -- I three-putted four times, and it adds up. But today after the three-putt on the first hole I settled myself down. I just put the ball exactly where I was supposed to put it on the greens. I didn't make any downhill slideers. I put the ball below the hole and I had so many chances all day.

Q. On 7, 8 and 9, your three finishing holes, I know you did on the last one, but was there a legitimate birdie chance?

WOODY AUSTIN: Not really. We played what we thought was a smart shot on 7 and hit it just to the middle of the green. If I would have hit one more club I feel like it would have gone over the green. I wasn't trying to get it close on 7. No. 8 I thought I flagged it and No. 9 I thought I flagged it. Unfortunately on No. 8 it was long and No. 9 was short. 9, if the slope is not there, 9 is a legitimate birdie putt. No. 8 I thought I made. I almost made it from 25, 30 feet on 8.

Q. How far were you on 7?

WOODY AUSTIN: Probably 30 feet.

Q. You needed one more for the --

WOODY AUSTIN: I had no idea, honestly no clue whatsoever. I was simply going through my mode of trying to get back in the game. I was trying to get back in the tournament. When I got it -- when I birdied 5 to get it back to red numbers, I felt like okay, if I can make one or two more and get in there and get within five shots of Jim's number, I felt like I'd be at least back in the tournament, which was a lot better than I felt walking off 10 green.

Q. As an excitable guy, a guy that tends to get frustrated pretty quickly, would you consider yourself a good U.S. Open type player?

WOODY AUSTIN: I think this is definitely my best venue, the harder the better, because I feel like it's not a putting contest to a point as far as making a lot of birdies. Obviously it's a putting contest because the greens are pretty slopey or whatever and if you don't put the ball in the right spot like I did yesterday, you have a lot of putts. I like the fact that even par can be a good score when it's playing tough, and when it's that way, I guess since my personality is so sporadic, to me it's easier for me to stay in the fight, easier for me to understand being one over than to have to be five under. So if I'm one over and I know I'm in the game, it's a lot easier than being one under and still being six shots back.

Q. (Inaudible).

WOODY AUSTIN: No, I was tied for third with nine to play at Oakland Hills my first U.S. Open. I just enjoy a really good test of golf because I consider myself a great ball striker, not a great scorer or putter, which is evident in my nine years, but give me a tough test and I feel like I can stay out there longer than with a putting contest.

Q. You had your woes with the eyes and you put that behind you. Are you able yourself to be less hard on yourself or the better you play the harder you are?

WOODY AUSTIN: I don't think my personality is ever going to change, so I don't think the year is going to dictate whether or not I'm supposedly too hard or not. I don't ever consider myself too hard. If I wasn't as hard as I am on myself I'd have never made it after working in the bank for eight years. I would have given up. If I wasn't hard on myself I would have given up. I don't consider myself too hard. That's just my personality, that's my makeup, and that's what gets me going and pushes me to go forward. If I was passive and allowed people to say, well, you're not supposed to get so upset, if I was that way then I would have never continued to improve. I'm self-taught, I learned the game the wrong way as compared to a country club or a teacher or whatever. I didn't grow up on a driving range, I had no driving range to hit balls. The only way I learned how to play golf was to walk to the first tee and say can I play with you guys, and I played golf. That was the only way I learned how to play the game, so I had to push myself and motivate myself to go forward. That's just who I am. Like I tried to tell you, I don't know, I think a couple years ago, if you go do your job and you're getting no more than 50 percent out of your job, are you going to be happy? You know, it's a different realm, but if I'm getting 50 percent out of my ability and I'm supposed to be okay with that, I don't understand that. I haven't even got 50 percent the last six years. The last six years haven't even been 50. If that's being harsh on myself, then that's being harsh.

Q. Generally speaking, what were you hitting off the tee?

WOODY AUSTIN: A lot of drivers for me. I like to hit my driver off the ground and work it, so I just knock a little grass tee out there and kind of work my driver. There's not really a lot of layback holes for me. There's a couple, but predominantly I'm hitting a lot of drivers.

Q. Would you like to see it a little bit tougher?

WOODY AUSTIN: Absolutely. I wasn't it as hard as it can possibly be.

Q. Given the conditions --

WOODY AUSTIN: Hopefully this weather will hold off. The fairways are rolling out, which is good. The greens are starting to get a little firmer. If the golf course gets firm, then that will be just fine. I think that's the only defense -- only the wind. I hope the wind would show up like it was in the practice rounds. That would be great. Like I said, weather and difficulty of the golf course will make it a lot easier to make up ground than it will perfect conditions. I'm not somebody who makes -- obviously today I played a great round of golf, but I'm not one to think that you're going to shoot 64 very often, especially in a U.S. Open, so for me to make up ground I need it to be a tough test where 1-under makes up ground, and the only way that's going to happen is if the golf course gets tougher and the weather comes. I hope it does get really tough.

Q. You were down on the Buy.com or whatever they call it these days, Nationwide. What was your expectation for the rest of your career?

WOODY AUSTIN: Unfortunately at that point I was just trying to get back, and I knew -- I was just trying to get my consistency back after the problems I was having. It's not my kind of golf down there, either. You've got to shoot 20 some under every week back then. They're playing tougher golf courses now, but I'll never forget I shot 19-under twice and didn't win.

Q. (Inaudible).

WOODY AUSTIN: I've been back there a few times. The last time I worked was two weeks before I won Q-school in 1994. I did work at the bank two weeks before I won Q-school, so everybody thought that was pretty funny. I live in the Midwest, so I never get back there to work.

Q. They want you to go through your round. If you could just run through the birdies and bogeys.

WOODY AUSTIN: Should I start on 10?

Q. Wherever you started is fine.

WOODY AUSTIN: Well, I started on 10. I hit it in the right bunker and hit it to the tee and three-putted from probably 30 feet. No. 11, I hit a good shot, had about a 20-footer. 12, I hit a beautiful 8-iron to about -- I guess about 10 feet on 12 and made that for birdie to get it back to even. 13, I hit a pitching wedge to about ten feet right below the hole so I was right where I needed to be below the hole there. 15, the par 3, I hit an 8-iron to about eight to ten feet, and again, somehow I kept it below the hole so I had a perfect straight up-the-hill putt. Made an awesome putt on 16 for par. That was my first hiccup as far as hitting a bad shot. No. 1, I had it just in front of the green and I thought I chipped it in and it lipped out and I made about a two-footer. No. 3, I hit a 9-iron, again, right directly below the hole. I had about a six, eight-footer straight uphill. 5, again, I hit another 8-iron. Again, it was right below the hole straight up the hill, probably 12, 15 feet, and then 6 was -- I hit a bad drive over in those left bunkers, hacked it out and had a 9-iron in for my third shot and hit a really good shot to about eight feet above and left of the hole. That was the tickly one, and knocked it in.

Q. Can you enjoy the 64 since it's probably going to be the low round of the day or do you have to look immediately to tomorrow?

WOODY AUSTIN: I'll enjoy it but I'm still -- I'm going to look towards the weekend. When I came out here today, I was hoping to get to the weekend. I felt like yesterday when I finished my round, three-putted for double on the last hole, I felt like I threw the tournament away. I was coming here for the first time in probably eight years feeling like I had a chance to win a U.S. Open, and to do what I did yesterday, I was about as down as I had been all year, and I felt like I threw away the tournament. Now I feel like I've been given a second chance. Five shots is still a pretty good amount with a lot of people in front of you, but in a U.S. Open five shots is not insurmountable. Not only did I get myself back to the weekend, if I shoot maybe even par or a couple under, I have a good shot at the tournament. I have to do what I did today, not make mistakes and hit the ball where I'm supposed to.

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