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THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 23, 2011Tom WatsonSURREY, ENGLAND TOM WATSON: I played a really solid front nine and I 3-putted ten and I birdied 12 and 13 which are two good, solid birdies, and then I played a little scruffy, hit a couple of bad tee balls at 16 and 18 that cost me a bogey at 18. Made a wonderful par at 16. But I played -- overall, I played a very good round of golf. 69 is a good score out there. I wish -- you never like to end on a bogey but that's the game. Q. How challenging are those last seven holes playing today? The scoring is a little better today. TOM WATSON: Yeah, you hit those, from 12, 13, 14, and then 16, you've got four really difficult par 4s right there. If you manage to play those under par, you've done your job for the day. Q. 61 years of age, still brilliantly competitive, what is the secret to the longevity? TOM WATSON: Well, I'm still playing without too much pain and I guess that's the main thing. At our age, all kind of things start to settle in. I give all the credit to Mom and Dad, great genes. They were pretty flexible all the way through their later ages in life, and so far, so good for me. Q. How do you feel about your position in this championship now? TOM WATSON: Well, I wish it were a little bit lower. A couple mistakes, the 3-putt on 10, knocked it close and 3-putted and then hit two bad drives at 16 and 18, a little loose there. But I gave a little bit away there. Those two shots -- two shots right there would have made a lot of difference. Q. Two rounds in a row, sub-70 around Walton Heath, you must be pleased with that. TOM WATSON: I played a very good round of golf today with the exception of three swings, and actually, one was a putt and a couple of drivers, but I played very, very well. I was very happy about the way I started out today. I started out 3-under par after the first six holes, and could have been a little bit more under par. I had five lip-outs in a row starting at 7. And it could have been a little bit lower score today. Q. What do you think of your chances then tomorrow? Are you a little bit too far back or do you think if you get that putter going you could really apply some pressure? TOM WATSON: Well, if I'm six or seven shots back, that's going to be pretty far back to make much of a charge. But unless the conditions get bad, and then anything can happen with this golf course and this heather. Q. But are you enjoying the week? Crowds have been giving you a great reception? TOM WATSON: Yeah, we have wonderful crowds here at Walton Heath. The golf course is in fine stead as you say over here, and even with the rain, it's still playing pretty tough. It's a tough stretch of golf starting at 12; 12, 13, and -- 12, 13, 14 and then 16. We have four really tough, tough par 4s in a row. Q. You threw me last week -- you quite rightly said, when I said to you, what's the real par, and you said, oh, it is 70 and that's what's on the card but then you said something about bogey golf? TOM WATSON: You remember bogey golf on the scorecard? No, bogey golf, if you played bogey golf, you played the golf course in the estimation of those people who designed the golf course, you played a good round of golf. But what it did, it took the long par 4s, and it turned them into par 5s, basically. And you would have -- there might be three or four of those holes on the golf course that instead of a par 4, the bogey par on the card would say five and so bogey golf would be 75 or 76, rather than a 72. And that was bogey golf. Q. So that's what you were talking about? TOM WATSON: Yeah, well, there were certain holes that were like 8 and there were some holes that were really tough. Q. On Saturday -- TOM WATSON: Yeah, you had some really tough holes that were bogey holes. 4 was a bogey hole all week. 15 played that way, and I think 8 played pretty tough, too. So you had three bogey holes in the golf course. Q. Must have been nice today to play your first round in -- TOM WATSON: Without any wind or any rain. We were fortunate today. We had a good day yesterday, though, too. Q. You were unlucky with the lip-outs? TOM WATSON: Yeah, I had five lip-outs in a row, one was a 3-putt, but I still lipped-out. But things could have been a little bit better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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