U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 23, 1998

Hugh Baiocchi

HUGH BAIOCCHI: (laughs) Well, yeah, it is a great tournament and any Major you play even in the Senior level ranks is quite special. I mean, I am only just delighted to be at here at all, never mind playing major tournaments, it is a privilege for me to be on the Senior Tour. I like this tournament. I enjoy it very much. I enjoyed Olympic Fields last year. This is a great golf course. Pleasure to play, but it is a very tough course. By the end of the week I might have changed my mind, but right now, I think it is a wonderful course.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: Certainly was. Yes, 5 birdies and 5 bogeys. The birdies obviously were the highlight. I made some really nice putts. I hit a lot of good shots. But bogeys on this golf it is inevitable because the rough is really fearsome, if you miss from the tee or your approach to the green, you are going to be struggling to make a par and at times you are going to battle to make a bogey even. So to keep the bogeys off the score card is going to be really difficult this week.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: Sure. The third hole I hit a drive, good drive and 6-iron and holed -- I hit a -- holed a huge putt, it was about a 25-footer, breaking three foot right-to-left. So it was a huge putt to make. 7, I hit a drive and then -- drive and 7-iron behind the hole, again, the same sort of distance 25-foot, and I made that putt. 8, very good drive, I hit a sand wedge to the green, but I hit a terrible second shot actually spun back off the green. It wasn't on the cut itself, again, the pin was towards the front. So again, I suppose, it was a 20-footer which I made there. Actually 3-putted 9 - two of the best shots I hit the whole day. 5-iron, 10 foot behind the hole, 3-putted it. 10, hit a 60 degree lob wedge to three foot and made that. 17, I hit a driver, 3-wood my L-wedge to eight foot and holed that.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: I got up-and-down from the trap at 16, I hit a poor birdie shot, caught the trap on the right and got it -- I hit a pretty good tee shot -- trap shot. It came out 2, 3 foot from the hole, but it was a good up-and-down because even the traps are not easy to get out of on this golf course.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: Bogeys, the fifth I hit a pretty good tee shot, 7-iron to the green, pulled it into the rough left and I had no chance of getting up-and-down. I was only kind of -- I suppose 15 yards from the hole, but I couldn't get it up-and-down. 9, hit 2 really nice shots behind the hole and I hit a terrible first putt; missed the putt, 10 foot, behind the hole. I think I was 12-foot past the other side after my first putt. 13, I drove it just in the rough left, hit a bad second with a 6-iron short left in the rough and pitched it short and 2-putted from there. 15, I hit a very good drive, good 3-iron to, I suppose, 45 feet, but I 3-putted. I whacked the first one way past, then 3-putted that green. 18, I hit a good drive in the fairway, had a 4-iron to the green and pulled it left into the rough and pitched and took 2-putts. Every time you miss the fairway or the green, you are looking at bogey unless you do something miraculous.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: 10 fairways and 10 greens. 10 of each. Which is not terribly good, I guess, 10 -- is 18 on there? No, they have only got 8 here. 18 isn't on this one. I hit the fairway at 18 as well which makes 11 fairways and 10 greens.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: I think par is going to be a heck of a score. Just looking at the scoreboard right now, I noticed I was playing 18, I was the only guy - the only player in red numbers. I subsequently finished at even, but it is only going to become more difficult. The wind is going to kick up. This morning when we went out it was -- there was a little moisture on the greens which made them a little slower for putting. But -- they are drying out by the minute so they are becoming quicker and more difficult. So, the guys who played late with the wind and the drying conditions are going to have, I think, a tougher time unless obviously somebody just gets really hot which is possible. Obviously, you can do it because the greens are superb. They roll beautifully. It is just one tough golf course. There is no let-up. I hit so many long irons to the par 4s so it is a long golf course.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: How bad is the golf course?

HUGH BAIOCCHI: Well, I obviously enjoyed the day. I had a good day so didn't -- it is not bad playing the golf course. Thing about it is if you do hit loose shots, you are going to be severely punished because that kikuyu rough is really -- I mean in South Africa this stuff, I think is indigenous to South Africa, this kikuyu, we have it there, but I never seen it grow to this extent. Looks as though it has been cultivated and watered and cultivated very, very heavy. In South Africa we would probably smoke that stuff. It is really a tough golf course. I like the design. The fairways are fairly generous, so, it takes -- if you hit good tee shots, you are going to be playing from the fairway each time which at least gives you an opportunity to get to the green. But if you do miss the fairways, then you just have no chance. If you miss the green, then you have to really battle. There will be -- and a lot of guys by the end of the week will be really brutalized by this golf course. I enjoy it. I might not say that at the end of the week but right now I think it is a wonderful golf course.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: I would think so. As we came off 18 I noticed that the wind is kicking up a little. For example, 15, I hit, for me, a pretty good tee shot. I was hitting a 3-iron into the green. Those holes back into the wind are going to play really long and the premium is on hitting straight long irons which is not easy for anybody to do. If you are hitting 7s and 8s and wedges to greens, you can get them on the green, but if you are hitting a 3- or 2-iron, it is not difficult to miss a green. And, as I say, from there you are going to be struggling to make par.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: On the SENIOR TOUR, I was not very pleasantly surprised when I came out here. They set up the courses a lot more -- or tougher than I actually expected when I came out here. Obviously this is a major so the course is very, very difficult. We don't play rough anything like this week to week. We would run out of golf balls if we did. But the pins -- I think the pins were set in very fair positions. There was an opportunity -- there was a way of getting to all of them if you hit the right shot. Just that the rough makes the golf course. That obviously has been the talking point of amongst guys all week the fact that if you get into the rough, you just are in real trouble. You have got to stay out of the rough at all costs.

HUGH BAIOCCHI: Thank you very much.