CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

July 29, 1999

Tom Scherrer

TOM SCHERRER: Obviously, very happy. I think the key to my round was I drove it in the fairway pretty much the whole day. I missed two fairways, one of which I made a birdie from the rough. The other, I made a bogey. I made a few putts. Hit it pretty close. Could have been a little better. Obviously, very thrilled.

TOM SCHERRER: Hit a great drive down the middle. Probably one of the toughest holes out here. Hit a 6-iron probably eight or ten feet and rolled that right in the heart. What a great way to start. I was a little nervous starting on that hole. Next hole, I hit an 8-iron again, maybe a little closer, maybe six feet and knocked that right in. Getting off to a great start like that, everything just kind of -- you just relax a little bit and let it happen.

TOM SCHERRER: Dogleg-left. Hit a great drive. Pitching wedge to about maybe 15 feet. Knocked that right in the heart. Actually missed a makeable birdie putt on the par 5 right before that. Missed about a 6-footer. So I was happy to get it -- you know, kind of get it right back on the next one. And then the short hole, laid up. Thought that was a pretty smart play. And then hit a sand wedge, about 12, 15 feet and knocked that right in. And then 16, the par 3, I missed maybe a 12-footer. Hit a good putt. Hit a good putt. And then 17 is when I missed fairway left with 3-wood. Had a decent lie in the rough, but I was more concerned to be over the water, and, you know, maybe make a 4 or 5 from over the green. Didn't want to make a 6 by hitting it short in the water. And sure enough, 18, backed it up with a birdie with a 7-iron about 12 feet and right behind the hole and knocked that one right in; so I was real happy to get back that one that I lost on 17. Birdied No. 2. No. 2, hit a 3-wood off the tee. And hit it a little further than I thought. I had about 67 yards to the front pin, which is a little too close for me, and fortunately I hit a great shot in there probably six or seven feet and knocked that right in. At that point, I knew that if I can just stay calm, this could be a great day.

TOM SCHERRER: I have a hard time remembering. Dogleg-right. Okay. Again, that's a tough driving hole. I hit a great drive right down the heart of the fairway. Played away from that to the back left pin. Hit a 7-iron maybe 18 or 20 feet and just happened to roll that in; so I was really pleased with that birdie. I didn't want to get too aggressive and miss it on the short side. I said: I'll just take a 20-footer. And sometimes you make them, and today they went in. So I was really pleased with that.

TOM SCHERRER: I missed the fairway there to the right. Probably the worst shot I hit all day. Caught a great lie. Hit an opening. Laid up with a 5-iron and hit a middle wedge about 12 feet right behind the hole. So pretty fortunate to get a good lie in the rough after a mediocre drive.

TOM SCHERRER: No. I actually made a good up-and-down on No. 9. I just kind of shortsighted myself and it rolled off the green and hit a nice little pitch. It wasn't too hard, but under the circumstances --

TOM SCHERRER: Two and a half feet. Close enough where I didn't really have to worry. But if I had that chip shot on Tuesday, I wouldn't think twice. But it's a little hairy needing it to par -- to get a share, so far, of the lead.

TOM SCHERRER: Could be my lowest, I think. I hit a 65 -- this could be my lowest. I've had a number of 65s. Yeah, I'm sure this is.

TOM SCHERRER: Not really. You know, that's one of the things I work on is trying to be patient, trying to be relaxed. Not to get too high strung. And a little too aggressive and make kind of a silly bogey. I really tried to walk a little slower and fortunately, it paid off.

TOM SCHERRER: Yeah. I'm one of those guys I look at the leaderboard. My name doesn't get up there enough; so when it does, like to see it every chance I get.

TOM SCHERRER: My caddie and I, we had a long talk about that.

TOM SCHERRER: Yeah, today on the course. I just picked up the Golf World. And as far as I know, I'm sure no one would boycott. And I think just the question is how much money does it actually generate. Certainly, it's 10s of millions of dollars. I think that would be a nice reward for the players. A little bonus.

TOM SCHERRER: Well, certainly not millions. You know, they should get a little piece.

TOM SCHERRER: Yeah, 50. I think -- it's hard to say. The guys that are making the team don't really need the money too much.

TOM SCHERRER: Sure. I think that would be great. We all have charities that we support in our hometowns. I could think of a number of charities that I'd like to give a donation to. You know, that's the question. You know, how much do they raise, and I think that would be a nice gesture.

TOM SCHERRER: Just the whole thing. He wanted to know if caddies got paid. And I said, well, if I ever got to the Ryder Cup and I didn't get paid I'm not paying you either.

TOM SCHERRER: Exactly.

TOM SCHERRER: Jim Springer.

TOM SCHERRER: No. No relation. (Laughter.)

TOM SCHERRER: No relation.

TOM SCHERRER: Pretty much. The greens, playing toward the end of the first wave, the greens normally would get a little bumpy, but they were so perfect that I didn't see too much of a difference between my 1st hole and my last, which thankfully -- yeah, the course is perfect.

TOM SCHERRER: I live in Orlando now. It was getting pretty hot on my last few holes. Beautiful this morning at 9 o'clock. I think the guys that are fit, are in shape, certainly are going to have an advantage as the week goes on.

TOM SCHERRER: Is it? Yeah. I guess I didn't play last week, but I guess it was really hot there. So this may feel a little cooler than what the guys had last week.

TOM SCHERRER: No. He wore long pants, only because he has like two or three khaki-colored shorts. So he's going to save it for the afternoon time tomorrow.