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THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 22, 2011

Lee Rinker

SURREY, ENGLAND

Q. Fantastic round today. And you're tying the lead in the Senior Open.
LEE RINKER: Yeah, it's kind of -- it's unexpected. But it's been a lot of fun.

Q. Now, you're, I suppose, the less well known of the Rinkers. You have a famous golfing family. Your brother Larry and sister also played on the LPGA TOUR. What's it like for you now coming out and competing against all these great champions?
LEE RINKER: It's been really fun. This year's been -- it's been fantastic. It's been about 10 years since I've played full time. I've obviously played a lot of golf but not on this level.
So it's been -- it's been great. I know most of the guys. I played on TOUR with them for quite a bit. But it's a real challenge. I mean, the guys still work hard at it. They're still obviously very, very talented players. And it's been a lot of fun.

Q. How thrilled were you when you knew that you were going to be in this championship to come over here?
LEE RINKER: I was watching it, trust me. He can attest to that. Two weeks ago before the cutoff I was looking at it and I was right on the bubble. Then I happened to have a -- finished top 10 in the tournament in New York, which I knew I was going to be in after I did that. So I was very excited about coming over.

Q. And how much golf have you played in the United Kingdom?
LEE RINKER: I've played on a couple of PGA Cup teams over here, which is like the Ryder Cup but for club pros. And I've gone over played a lot in Scotland. Never played in England. One of the Cup teams was in Ireland.
So I played quite a bit, but I never was able to come over and play like the British Open, the regular British Open.

Q. What have you made of Walton Heath this week?
LEE RINKER: It's a great course. Obviously it's rained a lot. So it's not playing firm and fast, which is probably more to my liking, being an American.
But it's firming up a little bit. But it's a really good golf course. Really, really -- just every shot, it's very fair and very good.

Q. And how excited are you going into the final two rounds, the big weekend coming up, and you're right up there?
LEE RINKER: Well, we'll see. It's just a total dream to be in this position. And you dream of it your whole life having a chance to win something like this. So it's going to be a lot of fun the last few days.

Q. Talk about the round a little bit. You go through and you get unscathed without a bogey. Compare it to yesterday's round.
LEE RINKER: Yesterday's round, to be honest with you, I came out of the blocks playing extremely well. I just hit the ball beautifully. Birdied the first two holes and then the fourth hole, and really I made a double on 5, which was kind of dumb. It was just a simple bunker shot. I hit it out a little too hard and 3-putted from 15 feet.
Then I started making a lot more birdies again. And, I mean, I birdied seven of the first 11 holes. And anyway, but today, to be honest, the first couple of holes I didn't hardly hit a shot on the face.
And I hit a horrible drive -- I mis-hit my drive on 1. Hit a really bad iron shot. But it was on the back of the green. And I made par. And then the next one I didn't hit a very good drive. But it was in the fairway.
Anyway, kind of scraped it around and was able to hit some, had some good putts. I made some nice putts.
And then all of a sudden, about in the middle of the round, I started hitting the ball really well. And I hit a lot of really good, hit a lot of good iron shots there for about eight or nine holes and still kept making the putts.
And I got a little -- anytime you play well, you get a little lucky on, like the last hole I hit a bad drive to the right and I had a good lie, and today could knock it on the greens. I had a few good breaks today.

Q. In terms of being in this position, have you ever (inaudible), the magnitude of an event like this?
LEE RINKER: I finished second twice when I played on the TOUR. I played with Tiger Woods in '97. Finished second to him at the Byron Nelson. It's been a long time, obviously, since I've been in this position.
But my game's been -- it's been coming along this year. It's been getting a little bit better each week. And, hey, we'll see. You don't know until tomorrow how you end upholding up. But I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Being in this position, are you confident you can sort of keep it going because it's going to be a different field, the next couple of days?
LEE RINKER: Yes, it is. Obviously I played well the last few days. That gives you a little confidence. Who knows. I don't know. I don't know how it's going to be tomorrow. A lot depends on the -- the weather has been really good. I'm looking forward to it. I think if I can get off to a decent start, I'll hang in there.

Q. Are you surprising yourself the way you're playing?
LEE RINKER: Yeah, a little. A little.

Q. When you came into the tournament, were you thinking: This could be my week?
LEE RINKER: I played well the last five or six weeks. I've hit the ball nicely. Looking at the course, to be honest, it's been a real adventure coming over here. Renting a car and driving around, and by God's grace I found my hotel the first day. I don't even know how I did that.
And everything just -- you know, I've gotten lost I don't know how many times.

Q. When did you come over?
LEE RINKER: My flight got cancelled on Sunday. And I was supposed to get here on Sunday. My flight got cancelled out of Detroit. I didn't get here until Monday. I got here Monday morning. I came, played a practice round. I went to the hotel first, tried to freshen up a little bit. Then I got over here.
And I don't know, just driving on the left side of the road and all that, I'm pretty good with a stick, thank God. I've got it down now. I'm not venturing out. I just go from here to my hotel back. I don't mess around. I don't try to go anywhere.
One day I was going back to the hotel after the first practice round and I ended up on the M-25 and it's like forget it.

Q. Do you know why your flight was cancelled?
LEE RINKER: It was mechanical difficulty. And then the first day I got here, I mean, after I -- after that first round, I didn't wake up until 12:30 the next day. Anyway, so it's just been the first three days it was really interesting. To be honest with you, on Wednesday I just came out and I played and I hit a few balls and my caddie said: Are you going to play? I said, no, I'm tired, I'm just going to hit a few balls. I hit the ball pretty well in practicing. I said I'm not playing today, because I had to go at 7:10. And I slept until noon that day. So yesterday I had to get up at 5:00.

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