U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2002

Nick Faldo

RAND JERRIS: Nick, a 4-under par 66, the lowest round of the championship at this point, as well as your lowest round in a U.S. Open. Talk about the playing conditions this morning, how you found the golf course.

NICK FALDO: Well, obviously I think the fact there was no rain, and a nice day, the ball was stopping wherever we hit it on the greens. That gives us something to go for. That gives us a bit of confidence that if we try to cut some corners the ball is going to stay there. I'm obviously very pleased with the way I played. I played so consistent, missed one fairway, that was because I ended up a yard short, trying to get over the corner at 12. And I'm credited with missing three greens, but two of those were on the edge, so I'm calling that one missed green, in my books. So I'm obviously, on this golf course, very pleased with that.

RAND JERRIS: Walk us through the birdies and bogeys, please.

NICK FALDO: Sure. Third hole, I blasted a 5-iron down there and made a 25-footer.

6, I hit a 5-wood off the tee, and then a 7-iron to about 8 feet.

11, I hit a drive and a 7-iron, made a really good, about 18-foot putt, three foot of break.

I bogeyed 12, just because I didn't reach the fairway. I wedged it out, wedged it on, 2-putts.

Then the par-5, I hit a sand wedge in to about 20 feet left of the hole, but made that putt.

I hit an 8-iron down the next, 14, to about 8 feet again.

15, I knocked it on, I 3-putted, was on the front edge.

17, hit a 4-iron to about 15 feet behind the hole. So that was it.

Q. Nick, I assume you really didn't watch the score board today, you were basically in your own zone, and played worry-free golf. And sometimes that might be the best golf to play, given your position in the tournament?

NICK FALDO: Exactly, 6 over I'm out of it, I know I'm having a good day, and the better it is, the more I'm going to move forward, simple as that. I glanced, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. I just put my head down and keep hitting as many good shots as possible.

Q. Under the circumstances given the venue and the course, and the difficulty of the course, how far back do you have to go before you have a ball-striking round like this one?

NICK FALDO: That was as good as my heyday, that really was. I hit so many solid shots, that was as good as ten years ago, or maybe -- as good as Augusta when I won, it might be, somewhere around there, maybe a bit more. I played well at Riviera, something like that. A good five or six years, sure, yeah.

Q. Would you say it's encouraging or discouraging that finally more than a handful of golfers have been able to put up good scores out here?

NICK FALDO: Well, because of the rain, because of the softer greens, that's really it. As I said, it gives them a confidence boost. I was firing a 3-wood into a couple of greens, and at least you know it's going to stay there, for us that makes the target an awful lot bigger.

Q. What would you have been doing this week if you hadn't gotten the exemption?

NICK FALDO: Good question. Where would I have been? Actually I probably would -- I planned to go to Florida and train, build my delicate body up even bigger and stronger, more press-ups.

Q. You talk about your heyday and whatnot, and the way you played at Augusta. After Augusta, things went down a little bit. Did you think you would get back to playing the way you did today, and particularly on a major championship?

NICK FALDO: No, I've had my negatives. A couple of years ago I was really down with my game and I've slowly clawed things back, very slowly; not as quickly as I wanted. But this year things have come along well, thanks to help from some friends, all involved in technically, physically, mentally getting me back on track. I've pieced a lot of little things together, and it's turned things around.

Q. You've never been one to bang on about the difficulty of the course. And you've said you've got to get on with it. How much of your playing well this week are due to you being a wise old bird.

NICK FALDO: I think I'm not -- I've come in here all to gain, nothing to lose, I come to play, do the best I can. If it's good, it's good, if it's not, it's not. It's already been a good week. Someone said they wanted to build a golf course around the world, so it's already been a good week for me.

Q. Not to look too far ahead but Muirfield is coming for the Open Championship next month, how encouraging is this?

NICK FALDO: This has given me a good boost. As I said, if I hadn't made it here, I was planning to practice and train, but to come here and play and have a great day like this, this is really good for me. I'm going to play as well as I can tomorrow. But this has given me a nice lift for Muirfield, if I keep working on the things I've been doing the last month, then it will be nice to think that I could -- if the wind blows the right way for me, you never know.

Q. Last week at that little exhibition you gave, you said that you had come to grips with the fact that you probably could never be again what you once were. But given today's at least three rounds, do you now have some excitement that you could be what you were?

NICK FALDO: Yeah, flashback. That was quite a shot, really. So I'm pleased with all the things I'm doing well. It gives me a good boost. You never know. You never know what might be in store.

Q. With the course playing less difficult today, does that make it easier or more difficult for someone in the field to make a run at Tiger?

NICK FALDO: Of course it makes it easier, yeah. The guys can be aggressive, simple as that, because they're soft greens. If you get it on right side of them, do both, if you're aggressive and you leave it in the right place, you can shoot a good score.

Q. Go back to Muirfield for a moment. Why is it that the Muirfield course historically produces such truly great golfers?

NICK FALDO: It's the shot-making ability. Muirfield is our best course for -- you've really got to play the golf course, you've got to maneuver the ball well. You can't go and have one game plan, with the winds changing all the time; you have to study the golf course. And that's really how I did it. The second time my half shots were very much key. You've got to control your trajectory on a links course; if you can do that then you'll play well. If you're losing it, then you'll never see a win.

Q. How do you like Tiger's chances at Muirfield?

NICK FALDO: That's the great thing about Tiger, he's a bit like the tennis players. You've got to learn four different surfaces, indoor and clay are obviously massively different, and come from here, and go to Muirfield, if it should play the way it should play. He relishes that challenge, that's what a player of that caliber needs. As I said, he just relishes the challenge of having to do something different. He'll come up with a game plan, I'm sure, he's already thinking about it. Once he leaves here, he'll be thinking about running off the tee, whatever.

Q. They told me there this morning that it's rained every day in June there so far, would that lend itself --?

NICK FALDO: As I said, it's going to be stopping and scurrying back. Target golf. Just bring your American game. Don't worry, always something different at a links --.

Q. Have you had the opportunity to discuss the kind of horse you are with David Leadbetter?

NICK FALDO: The kind of horse? No, I haven't.

Q. How much would it speed the process here or anywhere to put a win in there?

NICK FALDO: Slightly, yeah. That would be quite something, yeah. So we'll just put our head down and go play tomorrow and see what happens.

Q. When you came in here before the tournament, you talked about looking at the course early in the week, and it didn't sound like you really thought it suited you all that well. Are you surprised at your performance, then?

NICK FALDO: Well, I am in a way. I'm surprised to -- I hope I can do it again, but if I don't, it was a hell of a day. I played really well. So as I said, it was a good lift. But, you're right, my game wasn't quite good enough for this golf course. At least I proved myself wrong.

Q. Assuming the conditions are approximate tomorrow to what they are today, what do you suppose the lowest conceivable number could be, score wise, what's doable --?

NICK FALDO: If everything went right -- as I said at the beginning of the week, I can't see how you're not going to get around this course without making two bogeys. So it all depends on if you can go crazy with the birdies, if you could make 8. I could have made it, if I made everything, I could have made a couple more. So if the weather is -- but, you know, I guarantee the pins will be a little tougher, and it's the last day. So I guess 66 again. Who knows, somebody might shoot 65.

Q. You had a really beautiful round, Nick. Was there anything before the play started or in the early first hole or two that set up the day for you?

NICK FALDO: Yeah, just I practiced very well. I came out and I thought about a couple of little things I wanted to work on my swing, and I hit the ball as planned down the range, and I stood up on the first tee and looked at the drive and I've been fading a lot of drives, I hit a couple of really good draws on the range. I thought let's trust it, and I ripped it down the first, and I think that was probably really key. I fired it down there. I hit two shots straight at the pin. Well, those first three holes, I just fired, whatever, fired perfect shots off. So I thought, well, just keep it going.

Q. Nick, there's going to be a story to that hat?

NICK FALDO: Well, it's the 25th anniversary of the "I Love New York" campaign. So they asked me if I'd wear it this week. So I said sure, simple as that.

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