U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 30, 2000

Tom Kite

TOM KITE: Yes, that was a good song. There is no question, especially sitting here looking at these stats -- just sticks out like a sore thumb how much better I played today than yesterday. Especially off the tee. Yesterday, I just kept driving it in the rough all day long, was struggling with it. And today, I drove it in the fairway and had some opportunities. That was the big key today. And yesterday I was fighting just trying to make pars on a lot of holes. And today I had some opportunities to make some birdies, and that was the big difference.

TOM KITE: Actually, the golf course is drying out nicely. We never took a drop for any casual water throughout the day. You could see some puddles, but most of them were on the perimeter of the golf course. I would be surprised if there were any drops for casual water at all throughout the day. Obviously, the greens were holding. You could throw it right at the pin. But, boy, what pin placements they put on us today. Especially on the back nine, there were some dandies. And if it's any -- if that is indicative of what we are going to be seeing the next couple of days, we are in for a long, tough battle. The greens will be drying out with all this rain. You know the rough is growing, and I doubt if we are going to see any mowers anywhere close to that -- anywhere close to the golf course. It is going to be more and more difficult as the week goes on.

TOM KITE: Yeah. I knew the pin placements were going to be tough. These greens are difficult anyway; and as we talked about earlier in the week that, you know, a foot or two one way or the other can really make a huge difference in a pin placement. There were a number of them today that were just that one or two feet closer to the edge than what you'd like to see. You are right, with the low scores we saw yesterday, you know that with the USGA and their mentality, they are not going to want to see that many low scores. Unfortunately, they can't do much about the weather. That is the one thing that has held them back, because, believe me, prior to the rain on Wednesday afternoon, I was really thinking the scores were going to be quite high on this golf course. It is a wonderful golf course, and those greens are fantastic, and great pin placement all over them. I thought the scores were going to be quite high, and you could just see what the weather has done. As they try to get the scores higher and higher, you know we are going to be seeing some very difficult pins the next couple of days.

TOM KITE: 15 is wonderful. I mean, it is on the right-hand side -- wonderful, now that I don't have to play it anymore today and all those other guys have to play it. It is on the right-hand side. You'd be hard-pressed to call it a ledge but it is a little slope. There is kind of a flat area or flatter area over on the right-hand side, still has a lot of slope to it. But they have it right on the edge of that. And when we came through there, there had been no birdies. Very difficult pin to get to, because if you throw it past the pin, you have got an unbelievably fast putt coming down the green; and if you just leave it just as soft as they are, if you leave it just a yard short of the pin, it is going to come spinning back. And Gil Morgan had one that landed well up into the green -- well short of the pin, but well up into the green -- spun back off the green, and he chipped it up there, and it got about three feet from the hole. Then it started rolling back, and he ended up having an 8-footer. So you are having some balls that are doing some U-turns on you. When you start seeing that, it is a little scary. That was a dandy one there.

TOM KITE: I am feeling very good, especially with Bruce already finished. Obviously, Hubert has an opportunity to lower the lead as maybe a couple of other guys this afternoon -- Jack in particular. But I don't think the low scores are going to go much lower than where Bruce is. I would really anticipate him being in the lead after 36 holes. So four shots back with 36 holes to go, if that remains, and that is a nice position to be in, especially since there won't be that many players between Bruce and myself.

TOM KITE: I watched the leaderboard all day today. I really tried pay attention it to. I knew that I had to do something after the way I played yesterday, after playing so poorly. I knew I had to come out and shoot a good score. I start off pretty quickly, made some birdies early on in the round, and I was pleased. Then, of course, Bruce was, I think, three or four groups behind me; and all of a sudden, I look up there and he is 2-under right off the bat too. So like, I was playing well, but I wasn't gaining anything. So I had to keep chugging along and keep making those birdies. And fortunately, I did. Those last two on 17 and 18 were really nice.

TOM KITE: Okay. First hole was just a routine par: Middle of the green, 2-putt from 20 feet or 25 feet. Next hole was playing downwind, 9-iron on my second shot about eight feet; made that for birdie. Routine par -- actually not routine. The only fairway I missed all day was on No. 3. Drove it through the fairway there in the right rough; got it on the green. I had -- only had 120 yards, but I hit an 8-iron about as hard as I can hit, just so it can clear the water. I got it on the green; 2-putted. Birdied the next hole, 8-iron about four feet; made that. Then birdied No. 7. Hit 7-iron, and I hung it just a little bit to the right. Stayed on the right-hand side of the green; made about a 20-footer for birdie there. Then birdied No. 10. Hit driver off the tee, hit sand wedge about 12 feet, and made that. Then birdied 17 and 18. Hit 7-iron on 17, probably twelve feet. And hit 3-wood on my drive on 18, and an iron from 180 yards, probably -- maybe just outside 15 feet; made that.

TOM KITE: Hale and Tom ended up tying. They shot 12-over. I shot 13-over. I think Eichelberger was -- you might check it out -- 16- or 17-over for the tournament. They finished -- what, I think I finished 32nd -- they finished 29th or 30th?

TOM KITE: 27th. Okay.

TOM KITE: Really good. I have been really pleased with how I have been striking the ball from tee-to-green all year. I changed putters a couple of weeks ago before the tournament in Chicago at Kemper Lakes. Changed putters, went to a mallet head putter. I seem to be able to line this up a little bit better than the Bulls-eyes I was using. I was struggling with my assignment. I tend to line the blade up left and then push out on it, and that was -- I was missing lot of putts to the right. This putter I seem to line up a little bit better, so I am making some putts. So you put the good ball-striking that I have been having with the improved putting and, you know, scores go down. You score lower with 1-putts than 2-putts.

TOM KITE: That was the main thing. Believe me, last night was not a very restful night for me. I was tossing and turning all night, because I came in here with such high expectations, because I really have been playing well. And I love the way I was striking the ball -- all the practice rounds I was really hitting the ball very, very well. And then to go out and, as I look at this sheet, I hit 50% of the fairways yesterday. And you can't do that in an Open Championship. For me to be playing as well as I was and to then to do that was very disappointing. I was tossing and turning all night long trying to figure out what was going on. Fortunately, the good swings came back, and I was able to keep it in most of the fairways today.

TOM KITE: Not really. The funny thing, I was going to the driving range after I finished my round yesterday, and just as I got there, that is when they blew the siren. So I didn't even get to hit any practice balls after the round yesterday to figure it out. Maybe that is the secret -- not to just hit any practice balls. Become a Bruce Lietzke, and never hit practice balls again. That will get everybody thinking, won't it?

TOM KITE: Eventually, you just kind of doze off. It is terrible when you wake up in the middle of night, you got all these things going on in your mind like: "God, how did I drive it so poorly and score so poorly?" And: "How did those guys shoot so low?" All those things just are running through your mind.

TOM KITE: The game is the same. The standards may be a little bit higher, but all the problems that everybody else has we have too. It is just, you know, in championships.

TOM KITE: No, I don't do that. Through the years I have found that I am such a poor predicter of scores that I don't even try to do that anymore. I would go in and sometimes I would say that even par would be a great score on -- well, like here, I am anticipating this golf course being a pretty hard golf course. Of course, it changed a little bit with the weather that we had, but I would have never believed that, 30 people that broke par yesterday? Not in my wildest dreams would I think that this golf course would play that easy. It is really a nice golf course, a wonderful challenge, and I was shocked at that. So I don't do that. I just knew I had to get on my horses. I had to get going. I didn't anticipate Bruce and Hubert and Hale and all those other guys that had great scores, I don't anticipate them backing up.

TOM KITE: Thank you.