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THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY ROLEXJuly 26, 2013Mark O'MearaSOUTHPORT, ENGLAND Q. Out in 31, back in 37, a good day's work. MARK O'MEARA: Well, it's never fun to bogey the last hole. I bogeyed it yesterday. I thought I hit a good tee shot ended up in the bunker. Today I had a good 3‑wood and 4‑iron and just pulled it left. Overall I played a lot better to be honest. I played really well on the front nine, solid 3‑under on the front and nice birdie at 11 to get to 4‑under. When you bogey 12 which was not playing that difficult today, I kind of fatted a 7‑iron, was not a very good shot and didn't get it up‑and‑down and 3‑putted from the front edge on 13 so back‑to‑back bogeys. I just kind of hung in there, hit some good shots and look forward to the weekend. At least I put myself back in a position to where if I play well tomorrow, I'll have a chance on Sunday. Q. You played all four weeks at last week's Open; how does this challenge compare to that one? MARK O'MEARA: I think Royal Birkdale, it's always difficult to compare all links courses, but Royal Birkdale in my opinion is a much more difficult driving golf course than Muirfield and the greens are smaller, tighter areas coming into it. Putting them heads‑up, I personally think this golf course is harder. Q.  And you were awarded Honorary Membership for your great achievement here. MARK O'MEARA: That was quite an honour the other evening. Jonathan Seal, the Club Captain, presented me with a tie and Honorary Membership here at Royal Birkdale. To have the success that I've had here at this links course has just been tremendous. I remember back in '87, and playing with Ian Baker‑Finch in'91 in the final group of The Open Championship, watched him play a superb round and hoist the Claret Jug, and seven years later there I was. So to me, I feel like I'm a really blessed guy to have had all the great opportunities at Royal Birkdale. Q. I take it that was a pleasing round by and large? MARK O'MEARA: Yes, it is. Yesterday's round, disappointing, I hit a lady on the second hole, and that's never fun when you hit a spectator out there. I felt awful and bogeyed 2 and bogeyed 3 and bogeyed 4. I wanted to be anywhere but on a golf course at that point. I just tried to battle through yesterday's round. I made some key par putts on the back side. 4‑over was not a great score but relative to what the conditions were like yesterday, it was reasonable and the way I felt and the way I played, it was eastbound better. I came out today and hit the ball a lot better, 3‑under on the front side. The wind was not as severe today as it was yesterday. Q. Were you in touch with the lady afterwards, as well? MARK O'MEARA: Yeah, I found out that she's doing okay. She had some stitches. But I brought a Masters flag that I travel with, a couple different Masters flags and I'm going to sign it to her this afternoon and make sure I call her and get in touch with her and get her the flag. Certainly, like I said, it's never fun to hit a spectator and to hurt someone else. It's not any player's intention to do something like that but realising a little golf ball‑‑ and I've been hit myself several times and I've been wounded several times, about and it's part of the game, but I want to make sure she's okay. Q. You're back in the mix now. MARK O'MEARA: Well, at least I'm in touch. I think if I come out tomorrow and I play a good solid round at least it will put me closer to the leaders, because you never know what's going to happen this afternoon. The golf course is very tough, very demanding and it's an unbelievable driving course. You've got to be very accurate with your iron play into the greens, because it's well bunkers and the greens are very small. And then you've got to make the putts. It's as simple as that. And today I putted a little bit better and wished I could have finished a little bit better but I'm pleased with 2‑under and not a bad score for two days. It's just an incredibly challenging golf course, and if the wind kicks up on the weekend, you'll see the scores go the other direction. Right now, 3‑ , 4‑under might leading at the end of the day, but if I'm three or four back, that's okay; if I play well Saturday and Sunday, I'll have a chance. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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