U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 20, 1998

Lee Janzen

LEE JANZEN: Well, the whole course is drier. The fairways were much tougher to hit today, and part of that was because they're firmer, and the other was because the wind blew harder today than the other days. I don't know if anybody will agree with me. But I'm looking here, I missed 7 or 8 fairways, and six of them were only in the short rough, and only one went in the deep rough. And three bogeys on the front side were caused by that, by running out of the fairway on good shots. And then I was able to play the other holes okay. But it's just that much tougher to hit the fairway, which means it's that much tougher to get to the hole and that much tougher to score.

LEE JANZEN: Hit better shots, I guess. If the fairways are this firm tomorrow, I have to hit a different club off the 4th tee, and maybe hitting a different club off the second tee, or hitting different shots, either trying to draw the ball in the left-to-right holes, or fade the ball more on the right-to-left holes, but the rough is getting easier to hit out of. It probably hasn't had any water in a few days, it's getting trampled down. The greens are firmer. But it's a tough a chore to get the ball on the green anywhere near the hole.

LEE JANZEN: First hole today I hit a drive right down the middle, landed on that side slope, kicked into the short rough. From there I hit a 4-iron, carried the left bunker and then kicked to the left into a deep rough. I then hit it short in the semi rough and chipped it about six feet and missed it. Bogey. You just want bogeys and birdies? The second hole I had a good save hit it in the high rough, wedged out in the middle of the fairway into a divot. And hit it for about 80 yards. And that was a good save. Fifth hole I hit a 4-wood that rolled into the short rough, a 4-iron into the front semi rough, just short of the green, and my chip was well short, 20 something feet short, two putts for bogey. The 9 hole, 3-wood, rolled into the short rough on the left. I pulled a 6-iron left of the green and from there I hit it about six feet and 2-putted. The 10th hole I hit a driver and a sand wedge about a foot. Sand wedge from a hundred yards. The 12th hole I hit a 3-wood and 9-iron about a foot and a half. The 14th hole I hit a 3-wood and a 5-iron in the right bunker, blasted out to about six feet and 2-putted for bogey. 15th hole I hit a 7-iron about 25 feet long and made that for birdie. Then 17 I hit a perfect drive on the right side of the fairway in the edge of a divot, and I hit what I thought was a really good 3-iron from about 205, right in the middle of the green, and went over the green, and I hit it in the semi rough from there, and chipped it in and missed it and made a double.

LEE JANZEN: You can't fall asleep. A slight miscue, you can end up with a shot you can't recover from. I felt like I was mentally in every shot today, and yet still four bogeys and a double, and there's not much different I could have done. I hit good shots, the ball rolled out of the fairway six times today, three times cost me a bogey and 17 I hit all good shots and made a double. That's what it's like at the U.S. Open. You've got to just keep plugging away, you can't let it bother you.

LEE JANZEN: I think it is a par-5, plain and simple, even from the tee we're playing it. I hit as good a drive as I could, and had 205 to the pin. And I 3-putted back to it, it would be very difficult to reach in two. The green, hit a short wedge shot, it's hard to get the ball close enough. In THE TOUR Championship, it was -- it's not an easy hole. It's an extremely hard hole as a par-4. Because it's playing like a par-5.

LEE JANZEN: Much control of my -- I misunderstood that. My fate?

LEE JANZEN: Personally, I really felt like I hit the ball great today, much greater than yesterday. And yesterday I was able to score pretty well. I hit the ball in the deep rough and made birdies yesterday, and today I hit the ball in the short rough and made bogeys. It was much tougher today to get the ball in the fairway, and it was very tough to get the ball near the hole. The greens are firmer. I don't know if it plays any firmer tomorrow, it probably is going to be luck to get the ball anywhere near the hole. I would water the fairways a little bit, because they tilt so much, the only way to hit them is they have to be somewhat able to receive the ball into the fairway, and if they water the greens a little bit, they'd certainly putt better.

LEE JANZEN: I think it's just part of the U.S. Open. They're just demanding that you hit excellent shots. And really good shots are usually still pretty good, but anything marginal seems to be penalized. We're not used to that, we don't play under those conditions every week, we think when we hit a good shot we should be rewarded. The guy that plays the best this week and perseveres overall the elements is going to get their name on the trophy. They're trying to find out a true champion, the guy who over comes everything, not just hitting good shots.

LEE JANZEN: The weather is different, it was hot there, it was cool here, that course is flat, this is on the side of the hill. The greens are big there, they're small here. Lots of dog legs here, but the fairways tilt. There it was just straightforward, and the rough was very playable at Baltusrol where you could knock it on the green. The rough is more severe here, but seems to be getting easier as the week goes on.

LEE JANZEN: Well, if I was going to describe my year, I would say I'm very close to having a great year, but it hasn't happened. I had a chance to win THE PLAYERS Championship. I made the tournament -- I felt like that was my tournament to win. The Houston Open, didn't win. The Kemper Open I just played terrible on Saturday. But there's been a number of tournaments I've been at least in the top-10 going into Sunday and blown it. I certainly could have done better than I had, and would have been great if I won one tournament. I feel if I could win one tournament it would go from playing good to a great year. I went over the bridge and made a mistake that I won't make again. They told me to go to Harrison, I said I'll turn around and turn right on Bryant, and there are no signs, and it's the on ramp to the Bay Bridge. If anybody is from downtown around here, and been on Bryant from Main Street, they would agree with me, there are no signs. So I went across the bridge. There was a wreck coming the other way, we had to sit in traffic for 45 minutes, lost a hubcap. It was a great adventure.

LEE JANZEN: Did anybody get a chance to play Monday when the tournament is over? You would find out. Just like I said today, if you hit a marginal shot it's going to kick in the rough. And from there you've got to hack it out. And then you've got some sort of shot to the green that's not going to receive anything less than a perfect shot. And of course if you're above the hole 2-putting is very tough, not to mention you probably won't sleep great tonight. You'd probably get a little sleep. But sleeping on the lead is first of all you've got history that you're staring at, putting your name on the trophy. Talking about having to shoot par the last day to win the tournament. There's so many things going through your mind when you have to go out and shoot par your last day to win a major. Leading the tournament is a lot better than chasing the guy. But I think the rest of us will have a better night's sleep than he will.