THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2013

Todd Hamilton

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: It feels good. I started out, played three events on the European Tour in the Middle East; made all the cuts, I thought it was going to be a pretty good year. Coming out of the winter months I practiced, not a lot of practice, but got out there and practiced so I wouldn't look too rusty and made the first three cuts over there, and thought I'd be pretty decent, but I haven't played very well since. Seen a lot of good things, but I offset that with a lot of bad things, and a little bit of mediocre stuff in between.

Q. Any reason why you think you've been struggling lately?
TODD HAMILTON: Confidence, you know, this game is a lot of confidence, any sport, really. You can watch a guy in the NBA one night, go 10-for-11, next night he's 1-for-15. So I've had a lot of 1-for-15's the last few years. So a lot of confidence. I played today with a new driver, Taylor Made's new driver that they debuted I think maybe this week, it's supposed to be for next year -- last week, sorry, and playing the Web.com, we don't get any information, we can't even get the black one that they had after the white one. And I had a new putter today. So I didn't really know what to expect. I hit a couple of drives early with the driver and made a few putts and kind of settled me down, and just tried to -- I didn't try to do a lot of stuff that I didn't feel comfortable doing.

Q. You talked about confidence, as you walked through the round you seemed to be getting more relaxed. Does the confidence build through a round over a period of time?
TODD HAMILTON: I think it does. I made a good putt on No. 9 to shoot even par. And I remember when I won in '04 the first round on 18, I made the same length putt to shoot even par. For some reason to say I shot even instead of 1-over, even though it's only one shot, which is really nothing, that meant a lot to me. And I think making that putt on 9 kind of gave me a little kick in the rear end. It was probably 25 to 30 feet.

Q. Are you practicing less as you get older? Are you still playing as much?
TODD HAMILTON: I'm still out there playing golf. My two boys are interested a little bit. They're kind of fair weather golfers. They play hockey. That's their main sport. But they don't play a lot until the weather gets real nice, and once their hockey kind of winds down. But I'm still out there playing, hitting balls to warm up and then practicing a lot after. Sometimes 27 or 36, still trying to find it.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: I enjoyed it. I do enjoy this style of golf. I think it takes a person that is very happy with not only their game, but themselves. You've got to be very confident and do stuff that you feel you can do, otherwise you try to chase the game. And on courses like this it is very difficult. As my caddie said, he said, we're walking down 9, I forget how we got on the subject, but he said if you can limit your bad scores to bogeys, it would only take you 10 to 15 minutes to get that back. But when you start making doubles and triples and higher, you might be fighting it for an hour, hour and a half to get it back.

Q. What do you think someone could shoot today?
TODD HAMILTON: If the wind stays like it is, it's really not too difficult. If somebody gets hot with their putter -- there are a few tough pins out there, not so much on slopes, but around the cup it's very firm and very brown. So they have to be careful on those few holes. If somebody gets hot, confident with their putter, 5 or 6-under, I think. The par-5s are -- 9 was into the wind, the other one, 5, is very reachable today with a mid iron, probably, maybe a short iron for the real long hitters, and then 17, guys probably hit 3-wood off the tee and still reach the green. So if you can take advantage of the par-5s and throw some other birdies in, and stay away from the high numbers, somebody is I think going to shoot a good score.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: I definitely thought my golfing career would have been better after that than it was. Looking back, though, I had done a lot of good things overseas at places that people probably wouldn't know that golf even exists. I played a lot in Japan, I played a lot in Asia. So when I won The Open I was kind of at the end. I think I was 38, so I was kind of at the end or close to the end of the decent career. I thought it was decent, I just didn't do it on the European Tour or U.S. Tour.

Q. How do you reflect on the last nine years?
TODD HAMILTON: Terrible. I try not to reflect on it. It's been trying, I guess. There's been days where I didn't want to play.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: Yeah, I think it's a club that over here you probably wouldn't need very much, because it's designed to get the ball in the air, and over here you don't really want that. But it's funny because most people use them now to replace a 2- or 3- or 4-iron. I used it as a 3-wood. Mine was a 17 degree, which is probably a 2-iron, maybe a strong 2-iron. But it was bent to 14 degrees. I used it as a 3-wood and I carried a 2-iron that week. So even though it was a rescue-style club, it really was in place of a 3-wood. And I don't think a lot of people realize that.

Q. What difference did it make to your wife winning this tournament? Do you get better tables in restaurants?
TODD HAMILTON: It's funny, I got asked that just a few minutes ago. I think I get recognized more over here than I do in my home country, which is kind of an oddity. I walk down the street, had dinner the other night, and I could hear -- we were sitting outside of a little fish and chips place. The owner knew who I was. Dino is his name. I don't remember the name of the place. But he says -- of course you're American, you stand out. You're either on vacation or playing in The Open Championship. And he looked at me and he said, "you play golf, don't you?" I said, "yes." And he couldn't think of my name. And I told him. And then he came over and wiped the table off for us outside.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: I have two boys, 15 and 10, that play golf, and I'd still like to be able to enjoy golf with them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a championship level, but I'd like to show them that I can still play good golf.

Q. I don't think people realize that about you, but you'll play golf anywhere, anytime, anyplace. You just love playing. I don't think people know that about you?
TODD HAMILTON: If people will play fast -- as long as they play fast, they can shoot 90 or a hundred. I like to play different golf courses. I just enjoy golf. Usually guys, when they take time off, they don't touch a club for weeks or four or five days. If I go one, maybe two days without doing it, then I start to get angry and tense up and I've just got to get out and play golf. Even if it's bad golf.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TODD HAMILTON: I think it will help. I think being 47 years old will help, too. I've traveled around the world, played a lot of golf, different conditions. And I think the age a lot with having done it before will definitely serve me well. .

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