U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 23, 1998

John Grace

JOHN GRACE: I turned pro April of this year.

JOHN GRACE: Well, there was a lot of reasons. The SENIOR TOUR is there. It is a heckuva challenge to me. I have played golf all my life. And there is some gold at the end of the rainbow if you can do well. So I guess there is more than one reason. There is a lot of reasons.

JOHN GRACE: To be honest, I was surprised how difficult it played. The first hole I hit a 60 degree wedge and I could hear it hit the green and that was at 7:10 in the morning when the greens were at their softest. I birdied the hole, but the ball bounced about 15 feet from where the divot was. And the course was set up -- the greens were very, very fast and very firm. And the rough was very severe. It is -- I doubt it is much easier than a U.S. Open setup, frankly. I think one or two holes were set up a little shorter, but it was set up pretty long.

JOHN GRACE: Birdied 1 from about 12 feet. Birdied 13 from about 20 feet. That is it.

JOHN GRACE: I bogeyed 2, 4 and 11.

JOHN GRACE: Somebody is going to shoot in the 60s, no doubt about that. 67, -8 or -9, I would think. But I am going to tell you, it was set up very hard. It wasn't -- there won't be a lot of them, I wouldn't think.

JOHN GRACE: I hit it very, very straight today. I only had one drive that cost me a bogey. That was at No. 2. That was probably a big key to the rounds. Of course, I made the 5- and 6-footers, which you have got to do on these greens, you get 30 feet and it is hard to get within three feet of the hole.

JOHN GRACE: A little bit. The last 9 we had, yes. It was picking up slightly the last 9.

JOHN GRACE: I don't think I had any expectations. I was just trying to play every shot the best I could and I was hoping for a good round and I didn't know what a good round would be. Like I say, I was surprised the course was set up as hard as it was. I am very happy with the round, that is all I am going to say about that. I didn't really have an expectation about what would be a good round on the golf course. I don't usually think that way.

JOHN GRACE: I played Monday, Tuesday and ten holes Wednesday. I think the big advantage was having played in the National Amateur so many times, I had an idea. I knew what they would probably do this morning and they did it.

JOHN GRACE: Well, I was runner-up to Jerry Pate in the U.S. Amateur in 1974. I was semi-finalist in the Mid-Amateur in 1994. Quarterfinalist in the Mid-Amateur last year. And I finished -- I got to the third round I had beat Jay Sigel in the second round of the U.S. Amateur in 1981 and he won the next two U.S. Amateurs. We kid each other about that.

JOHN GRACE: 1966 at Merion Golf Club. I played in the Junior Amateur in 1964.

JOHN GRACE: Well, yes. You mean the rough?

JOHN GRACE: No. 2, the second hole. And I made a bogey. I had to chip out. Had no shot, just chip it out.

JOHN GRACE: Well, I won't say buried, but real bad. Bad enough to where I had to hit a wedge just to get back to the fairway.

JOHN GRACE: No problem.

JOHN GRACE: That, combined with firm greens, even if you have a good lie in it, you can hardly stop the ball on the green. That is a combination what that is really -- it is kind of a thing, you know, in USGA you haven't -- you don't necessarily play for birdie, sometimes not even for pars. You are playing to get the ball in the fairway, get it on the right side of the hole, 2-putt and go on. Par is an awfully good score.

JOHN GRACE: Yes.

JOHN GRACE: That is right. I think it was probably an advantage to play early. I didn't know if it was or not because it may have played a little longer, but the greens were really hard and firm at 7:00 this morning. I'd hate to think what they were going to be at 2 o'clock.

JOHN GRACE: April, yes.

JOHN GRACE: I had been planning this for about four, five years, and I had gotten out of a few things and right now I am still doing some residential development and I have, I guess you'd call him, a partner who is handling a lot of that for me. It is working out pretty good. But I have gotten out of several things -- I have gotten a little bit out of it and I have got some still doing a few things, but not as much. I am going to continue. I am not going to give up my day job yet. (laughs).

JOHN GRACE: No. No, I mean, you know, I don't know if anybody would ever say that about any round they have that it is a good a round as I can play. You know, golf -- as long as you can get to the hole, it can go in. But I have to say, it was a pretty good round for me. I am not disappointed in any way. It was a very good round because I had to -- looking back, it was tough. It was a tough golf course. I am not in any way complaining. I didn't really leave much out there. I 3-putted 11, bogeyed there. Actually mis-clubbed my third shot; left it on the front of the green and 3-putted. But the way the greens are, I am going to emphasize they are fast, tricky and firm and that is the way the USGA likes them. They have them that way this week.

JOHN GRACE: Long putts for saves. Well, I have made some 5-footers for saves. I made a bunch, I'd say maybe four, five. But I didn't make anything over -- I made -- the longest putt I made was a 20-footer at 13 for birdie. Where else did I birdie? One I birdied from 12, 15 feet - only two long putts I made. I really did well on the putts. You have to do well to score well, three to seven feet especially in USGA events. You will hit a good chip 30, 40 feet and you think it is next to the hole; before you look up it is seven feet by.

JOHN GRACE: I thought they were pretty quick. They really were. They were quick.

JOHN GRACE: The best part of my game today was probably because of concentration and my caddie and I were talking about that going down 18 I said: You know, these guys are -- I know are way over, I really didn't know what they were shooting in a way, but I just didn't -- it didn't bother me at all. It just didn't. I was really into my game today, so.

JOHN GRACE: I guess it is the first trip as a pro. That is right.

JOHN GRACE: Hope I am back again. Is that it?