CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 29, 2001

Joe Ogilvie

JOE OGILVIE: Yes. I think there's eight guys right now.

JOE OGILVIE: Got off to a great start. Started off on No. 10. Good drive and then made a 7-iron from about 176. So that's always nice to start with an eagle. Then I think I was 4-under after 4. Maybe a couple bogeys on the next couple holes. I seem to be playing one of the easiest holes, No. 15 very poorly. I've hit it in the water both days. Then I got readjusted, I guess. Birdied 18. Birdied No. 3. Birdied No. 7 and 8. I just played pretty well. I'm working very hard on my game. I actually switched balls this week. I've been criticizing the Pro V for about a month and a half and I switched back to the Pro V this week. For whatever reason, I could not control my distances and it just didn't fit me, and now all of the sudden I'm swinging the ball on every shot with the driver and the 3-wood. And every time I get a chance to swing it -- I mean, it's a joke how that ball is right now. Maybe I'm just swinging better; that always helps. But it feels good to finally be playing well again after a pretty terrible year so far.

JOE OGILVIE: The wind has totally changed. Yesterday on No. 1, I think I had 90 yards to the front. I hit a sand wedge. Now I hit a 5-iron. That's two totally different deals. I still reached No. 13, which I'm -- probably not a whole lot of people are reaching 13, but it played a whole lot different today. The greens are really starting to -- the fairways are really starting to dry out, and I think the greens will start drying out, as well, which is going to lead to -- 8-under was leading today and now it's still leading, so I guess the scores have certainly come up a little bit, but I think they will continue to go higher. Curtis Strange said yesterday on the air that he thought 20-under will win, but now it looks probably closer to 14-, 15-under.

JOE OGILVIE: Yeah, it's funny because I worked very hard in the off-season. I worked very hard on my short game and really wanted to start the year well. That didn't materialize. It's been a very, very frustrating year, so -- thus far. But I saw my teacher, David Hunter, in Columbus, Ohio during the U.S. Open Qualifier. But I felt I started to swing the golf club properly and he made unbelievable changes. I noticed last week in Westchester, I made a lot of birdies -- made a lot of dumb mistakes, as well. And Westchester, if you can make a lot of birdies, you are swinging pretty well. I think I missed maybe two or three fairways for two days and that was pretty good. I think I'm swinging pretty well right now. So it's -- there's been a lot of work up into -- to start to play well, but it's been frustrating.

JOE OGILVIE: 100%. You know, Titleist is going to deny, the other ball manufacturers say it works. I've got to tell you, it works. I'm hitting the ball longer. I was playing with the Professional on Tuesday, and on No. 13, case in point, the exact same wind, except today was stronger, I had 236 yards to the front and into the wind, that's not a good yardage for me. I can't hit it 236 into the wind because it seems like it is playing -- the ball is not going as far in the air, for whatever reason, I don't know why. A lot of guys that I'm seeing, they are coming up short on a lot of shots especially into the wind. And I put the Pro V in play. Yesterday I had 187 to the front. Today I had 218 to the front, and that was into a much harder breeze today than it was on Tuesday. I mean, that's allowed me to get to a par 5 in two, which I could not get to the day before.

JOE OGILVIE: For me, I don't know what my driving distance is, but I'm -- it's kind of ridiculous when these ball manufacturers say, pick up an extra 15 yards, because I think they have been saying that since 1990. So I should be about 150 yards longer than I was in 1990. (Laughter.) Literally, if you seam it, it will go further.

JOE OGILVIE: Yeah.

JOE OGILVIE: Yeah. It's pretty good. USGA tested it and they said it goes three and a half yards further. But, they tested it on a swing that goes 108 miles an hour with a launch angle that amateurs have. We don't have that same launch angle. It's helped. On into-the-wind holes, I've got a club to two clubs shorter, and that makes a difference for me. But I can tell you, I really didn't like that ball when I was swinging poorly, as you know.

JOE OGILVIE: Well, I was fortunate. You make a shot on 10 -- that kind of -- that's kind of luck. I mean, if the ball goes in the hole from 170 yards , I can't say that I played the right break. And I made a couple good putts. I made about a 20-footer on No. 7, which is my 16th hole and about a 25-footer on No. 8, my 17th hole. That helped. It was nice to see the ball going in the hole. You know, this kind of golf course, you can make some birdies. You can make a lot of birdies, but it can also -- if you're not real careful, the greens, they are getting faster and faster and faster, and some of the slopes, they get tricky and the ball can get away from you and you can make some bogeys out here as well. Started on 10. Driver, 7-iron, in the hole. It was good. 12, good drive. 9-iron to about 12 feet. Made that. Driver, 3-wood. I think I only had 235 to the pin or something like that. Hit it on the green. 2-putt. Next one, I made bogey. I hit a good drive. I hit a 9-iron straight into the wind. I hit -- came up just a little bit short on the fringe. My divot was right in front of my ball, so I could not putt it, unfortunately. Managed to blade an 8-iron down there about 12 feet and placed that. Duck hooked -- wasn't quite a duck hook on my next shot, but put the driver left in the water. Chipped up to about 12 feet and placed that. Then I played two solid holes in a row, and then 18, I hit a good drive. Had about 90 yards to the front. Somewhere right in there. Hit sand wedge. I was in between sand wedge and lob-wedge. Hit the sand wedge to about seven, eight feet. Next hole, No. 3, I made birdie. I hit driver -- this is another good example of the Pro V. In the practice round on Monday, I hit a driver, same exact wind, a little bit more in -- I hit a good driver and hit a fairly decent 7-iron in. Today, I hit a very good driver and hit a 9-iron in to about two feet, foot and a half.