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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 2004

Jeff Maggert

SHINNECOCK HILLS, NEW YORK

MODERATOR: Jeff Maggert, 2 under par today. When you start off here just go through the birdies and bogeys.

JEFF MAGGERT: I just played a real steady round today. Obviously being first off this morning was a little bit of an advantage. I didn't know if we were going to be able to see there the first couple holes with the fog, but it just lifted just enough. The golf course probably played a little softer the first couple hours this morning, and I hit the ball extremely well in my practice rounds, and I just had a lot of confidence coming into this morning and just felt like if I could drive the ball well today and put it in the fairway that I was going to be able to shoot under par this morning.

Q. (Inaudible).

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I don't think it's there for the taking. Obviously there's a few scores under par this morning, which is kind of what I expected, but the golf course is still playing very difficult.

The greens are extremely firm, the pin placements are difficult, so if you don't hit the ball well, you're not going to shoot a good score, and the golf course will play a little bit more difficult as the week goes on, so it's nice to get off to a good start early.

Q. (Inaudible).

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, most major tournaments the scores always seem to be a little bit lower the first couple rounds. As the week goes on the golf course is going to get a little bit firmer. Early in the week they're probably putting a little bit more water on it than they normally would just to make sure everything doesn't die, and then by Sunday everything pretty much is dead and it becomes very difficult.

But this is a very difficult golf course. I don't remember the firmness and the speed of the fairways being quite so quick. In the past, in 95, I thought the fairways played a little bit slower, so it's very difficult to hit the ball in the fairway. You've got to really drive the ball well, and if you do that, you can take advantage of the course.

The par 5s were playing a little bit shorter than normal this morning, so just take advantage of the holes that you can and just try to eliminate the mistakes is a key.

Q. Given that the best scores we're seeing are 2- and 3-under, does that put you in a good mindset for the rest of the week?

JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah, it's such a long way to Sunday, but I was really enthusiastic about the way I hit the ball in the practice rounds. I really thought my game was really, really solid and steady. I just thought my game was ready to tackle any type of conditions we might see, and actually Tuesday when we played, the wind blew pretty hard and the golf course played very, very difficult on Tuesday, and certainly if we would have saw that kind of wind this morning, par would have been a very good score. But with the right winds today, guys were being able to make a few birdies out there. Hopefully you can get around without too many bogeys.

Q. (Inaudible).

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I don't know why I've played so well in a lot of the major championships. Certainly the U.S. Open has been one of my favorites, but the only thing I can say is driving the ball in the fairway is probably the strongest part of my game, and it always has been, and I feel like I think I know my way around this golf course fairly well, so I eliminate most of the mistakes.

A lot of pars are good on a U.S. Open golf course, and I try not to put too much pressure on myself and try and make five or six birdies in a round; you try to take two or three birdies if you can get them and eliminate the bogeys.

Q. Did you strike the ball as well today as you did in the practice round?

JEFF MAGGERT: I don't feel like I did. I felt like I was a little loose at times, but overall, a couple drives I got a little sloppy on, but other than that I played pretty well. I hit my iron shots really well. Probably the only couple bad iron shots I hit were because I misclubbed and was overswinging a little bit, but I just hit the ball very steady, and I didn't make a ton of putts but I made a few when I needed them, and I made a nice little putt from off the green on the 8th hole to save par, and that was kind of a nice little boost to get me in.

Q. You're one of about a dozen guys to have played here in '86. Does that seem like a lifetime ago?

JEFF MAGGERT: Yes, it does. You're not supposed to mention that. Everybody knows how old I am now. '86 was actually my very first pro tournament until I qualified as an amateur and turned pro right before this tournament in '86 when I got out of college. It's been a long time, a lot of good times since then, but I didn't fare so well at the golf course that year. I just remember the first day being really, really difficult.

Q. Can you just take a moment and walk us through club selection and birdies and bogeys?

JEFF MAGGERT: The first birdie was on No. 11, the par 3, and I hit 8-iron just behind the hole about -- it was probably seven or eight feet.

Next birdie on 13, a little sand wedge in there about seven or eight feet.

Then I bogeyed the par 3, 17, just missed the green short and didn't get it up-and-down.

Then birdied 1 with -- I had a short club in there, a sand wedge, again, made about a four- or five-footer there.

The other birdie was on the par 5. I two-putted just from short of the green in the fringe.

One more bogey in there somewhere. Oh, the 3rd hole, just kind of -- it was one of the holes I kind of underclubbed myself and hit kind of a poor shot and three-putted from about 30 feet.

End of FastScripts.

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