CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

July 26, 1997

Jeff Maggert

JEFF MAGGERT: General comments about the round?

JEFF MAGGERT: You know, obviously I played well. I hit every fairway today and missed one green, and when you do that and make a few putts on top of it, you're going to shoot a pretty good number. I'm very pleased with the way I played. A lot more solid than I did on Thursday and Friday, so... Again, everything feels really good. I'm in control of what I'm doing out there. And I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. If I can just go out and play solid golf and shoot a good score, I think I can win this thing.

JEFF MAGGERT: I would have to say winning. It's been a long time since I've won. It's been since '93. I've played an awful lot of good golf in the last three-and-a-half years, and been short quite a few times. So I'm ready to get back in the winner's circle. And I'm really trying to focus on that, because I know if I do that, then the Ryder Cup list will kind of take care of itself. Certainly it is very important for me to make The Ryder Cup team as well. But right now I'm just trying to stay focused on winning the golf tournament.

JEFF MAGGERT: It's always good to start off good. I just hit a lot of good shots today, and I hit some couple good shots on the first two holes. Made a nice putt on the first hole from about 20 feet, so that was a good sign. Kind have been struggling with my putter the first few days, so it was good to make a nice, long putt on the first hole to give my confidence a boost. Then I hit it pretty close on number two. Two is kind of a short hole. Had about an 80-yard lob wedge shot in there about ten feet and made that.

JEFF MAGGERT: No. I came out to be pretty aggressive. The greens are soft. I planned on shooting at a lot of flags today. You know, and I hit the ball well with my irons, and made a few putts and that's why I shot a good store.

JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah. Because the longer you go without winning, you know, you kind of keep secondguessing yourself that you're not doing something right. But, you know, I feel like I'm doing everything right, so I'm just going to keep doing it, and if I keep playing the way -- like I did today and the first two days, you know, I should be able to get some wins here.

JEFF MAGGERT: Sometimes it is. You know, it works both ways. You know, I've lost a couple -- or one tournament this year to Ernie Els and he just outplayed me. I played a good solid week at Westchester, and he just played a little bit better. I've lost some other tournaments that way. And I've lost some tournaments where I played poorly on the weekends. So, you know, you just try to get yourself in a position -- every time you're playing well you just try to get yourself out there in a position to win the golf tournament. And, you know, I've done that a number of times, and I've only come away with one victory. So, you know, hopefully I'll get a few more here shortly.

JEFF MAGGERT: The U.S. Open earlier this year was pretty disappointing. The majors are always the tournaments you want to win. And you know you don't get very many opportunities to win major championships. You can have a great career and you might only have a chance to win, you know, if you're lucky a dozen times over a, you know, 15 or 20 year career to get a chance like that. So you've got to make the most of it when those opportunities come. And, you know, to let that one kind of slip by was disappointing. But there was three other guys there that were playing awfully good golf.

JEFF MAGGERT: Bellerive I think that was only my second year on tour. Was that '92? '92 or '93, I can't remember. That was my first major where I had, you know, a chance to win, you know. I had the lead I think on Sunday, you know, near the back nine there. So it was a good learning experience. You know, I think I finished 5th or 6th that week. But it was you -- that was kind of the first test to kind of learn, you know, what it takes to win in majors. And since then I've put myself in the position a few times. And certainly this year at the U.S. Open was the best opportunity that I've had.

JEFF MAGGERT: My favorite part of the book is what are I always refer to as illustrations about the way you grip the golf club. You know, that's -- for everyone that starts the game, gripping the club is the most awkward thing to do in the beginning. And that's just what I modeled my grip after. And that's kind of the first foundation of playing well is a good grip. At least that's the way I was kind of brought up to learn the game. But there's no secret in that book to learn how to play well. That's inside everyone's head that plays this game. And that's what it takes to be successful at this level. It's a battle in between your ears. And the guys that can do that better than the rest of them are the guys that win the most tournaments.

JEFF MAGGERT: Normally I don't play a week after a major tournament. But this year I had a couple tournaments that I like to play. I hadn't played here in six years, so I wanted to come back and play. I played my rookie year here, and I remember I liked the course pretty well. But the tournament never seemed to fit into my schedule. About six weeks ago I added this tournament to my schedule. Probably a little bit of that was The Ryder Cup and a little bit was I just want to come back and play here again.

JEFF MAGGERT: No, I just need to play steady golf, be aggressive and try to make birdies. Obviously some guys came up from the pack today. Tom had a nice round. And a few others had some good rounds. So, you know, as you can see, you know, Wayne didn't play that poorly. I think he shot even par today. But a lot of guys caught up to him. And I was fortunate enough to get ahead of him. But I have to go out and shoot under par tomorrow, and in my own mind I have to do that to give myself a chance to win. And if I play solid golf the way I have the last three days, you know, I should be pretty tough to beat.

JEFF MAGGERT: There's always pressure, you know, when you're winning and have a chance to win. That's the idea why we're all out here. And, you know, it's self-inflicted pressure. But, you know, that's what makes it fun to battle that and conquer it and win.

JEFF MAGGERT: I have my family here tonight, so I think that's an advantage. My kids flew up on Thursday. I hadn't seen them in about two weeks. I left early for the British Open, so they kind of were wanting to come out to the tournament. So it was good for them to come in and good to have them around. Keeps me relaxed. And I think it will help me for tomorrow too.

JEFF MAGGERT: Not really. You know, tomorrow the thought is to win. To win. That's always the thought when you get in this position. The Ryder Cup kind of comes in when you're not winning and, you know, you have a chance to finish in the top ten because you know the top ten is giving you points. You know, you think about it a lot more when you're, you know, eighth or ninth place. But, you know, at least when I have a chance to win and I'm in the lead, I'm pretty focused on that.

JEFF MAGGERT: Six birdies no bogeys. Birdied the first two, 20 footer on 1 and about ten footer on 2. Birdied seventh hole from about six feet. And birdied 13?

JEFF MAGGERT: Birdied 13. That's par -- is that 13? The par five, yeah. Just hit a wedge close, tapped in birdie. I birdied 15. I hit driver there to go for the green. And just hit it in kind of a good spot. I had an easy chip up the hill. And made about a four, five, six footer there. Then made a nice putt on 18, about 18 footer there.

JEFF MAGGERT: No problems today. That's a good thing to have. I hit every fairway. The fairways are generous here, they're wide quite wide; you know, 20 to 40 yards wide. So if you're driving it anywhere halfway decent, you're going to hit a lot of fairways. I drove the ball really well today, hit every fairway. And the only green I missed I just tugged a wedge a little bit left on 12 and just missed the green by about two steps. So, you know, when you hit 17 greens and every fairway, you know, you're going to -- even if you're putting bad you're going to shoot pretty good. So fortunately I putted pretty well today.

JEFF MAGGERT: I like the 13th. I've always liked it. I remember that that was the hole that stuck out in my mind from six years ago. Just kind of a good par five. It's, you know, got a lot of gamble to it. If you hit a good tee shot, you can go for the green. And the penalties are severe if you don't hit good shots. So it's probably my favorite. And I like the 15th hole too. Everybody likes a hole where you can drive it on the green. I don't care who you are. If you're a 30 handicap or a pro, it's always fun to drive it on the green on a par four.