	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 29, 2011

Olin Browne

TOLEDO, OHIO

Q. Having fun yet?
OLIN BROWNE: Yeah, it's a fun place to play. Really good, really good.

Q. How much different was today than yesterday in terms of not just the score?
OLIN BROWNE: The course is playing totally differently. It's playing a lot longer. Greens are really soft. Pins are in entirely different locations. They're much tighter to the corner of the greens and the edges. So an errant shot yesterday would leave you a 15-, 18 footer, and today it might leave you a 35-foot chip shot. So today's totally different.
The course, I thought, held up great. Even though the fairways were softer, they didn't hold a lot of water. I don't know how much rain we got earlier. The greens were quite soft. But I thought the course was set up significantly more difficult today.

Q. How tough is it to make that adjustment from one day to the next?
OLIN BROWNE: Well, you know, you get used to that kind of thing. I mean, if you make the adjustment, you're likely to have a decent day. If you don't, you're likely to struggle. There are days when you manage to do it, and there are other days where you don't.
Today I was able to get some birdies early, which made up for my errant 7th hole or whatever hole it was, and I just -- I didn't play as well as I did yesterday, but I managed to shake it in under par and that's a good thing.

Q. On 14 you had your shot, went over the creek to the right-hand side, was that a deliberate shot? Are you aiming for that spot?
OLIN BROWNE: Is that a serious question?

Q. It is.
OLIN BROWNE: No, I was not. I really thought I could hook it around the corner. I had a really good lie. It's in the shade of those trees, the rough was not that bad there. I really just pushed it a fraction. I was trying to hook it so hard that I dropped the club underneath and pushed it a little bit. I really got a good break there.
You know, I had a really good look at par and hit one of my best putts today, it just didn't happen to go in. I got away with one there, maybe.

Q. What was your single coolest shot today?
OLIN BROWNE: Single coolest shot today, it wasn't like yesterday. I hit a really good second shot into 16. 16 sets up -- it's a tough hole. They moved the tee up today, and it's an even better tee shot. Now the water is in play on the right, the rough is in play on the left. You really have to force yourself to squeeze it up there.
I had a perfect number and hit a beautiful cut 4-iron in there. It's a semi-blind green and so forth, but I executed that shot as well as I could have hoped. Then I hit a really nice 6-iron from 185 on 17, which got me back to under par for the day. So those two shots, I would say.

Q. What were your clubs on the birdies?
OLIN BROWNE: Driver, 6-iron on 17, and I hit a driver and a sand wedge on 18. I guess the putt on 17 was maybe five, five and a half feet and on 18 it was maybe 6 feet.

Q. Did you expect 9-under to be the lead?
OLIN BROWNE: I didn't know what to expect. I hadn't played here before. I wasn't here for the PGAs and I wasn't 50 in '03. I know this is a chop buster of a golf course. It's just a really, really cool layout. I love the way the holes are framed. I love how the greens are set up. You know, you hit the middle of a green and you probably won't have more than 20 feet on any shot or any putt. I really like this old style. I'm a big fan of Donald Ross, and I think this golf course is great.

Q. Does this week remind you of a U.S. Open? Are there enough similarities that it feels like an Open for you?
OLIN BROWNE: I mean, it does. I think in recent years there's been a philosophical evolution at USGA with their course set-up, and I think it continues here. It's not one foot off the back cut and rough up to your earlobes and the whole thing. I think the courses are set up to let players play, and I think we as players really appreciate that.
It also brings, you know, a little bit of a take-a-risk when on 14; you take a risk if you get off the fairway and you think you can hit a shot instead of just hacking it out.
I made double today on 7 because I hit it under a tree and I had nothing. That was a problem. But other than that, you know, I didn't drive it as well as I did yesterday. I had a couple of shots out of the long stuff, and that one in particular I got away with.
You can play some shots, but it also, if you're going to hit a quality shot, give yourself an opportunity to make 3 on one of those tough par-4s, you better hit it in the fairway, otherwise it's a fluke.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297