U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 26, 1998

Raymond Floyd

RAYMOND FLOYD: I think it is a story, Les. You can't win anything with a birdie-a-round, that is what I did the last two days. It seemed like when I hit a good shot or hit a good putt, I didn't get rewarded. As a matter of fact, my two best golf shots today -- well, not my two best, I think the 8-iron at 16 and 9-iron at 15 and the 6-iron at 14, all those there were good shots. They never left the flag. But at the 5th hole, I hit a shot that just was all over the flag and the wind kicked up just as -- on about the pinnacle of the ball and it knocked it down short of the green. I ended up making a bogey. The identical things happened at the 14th hole with the ball going right at the flag. Those are the kind of things that make a difference. To take two of my best shots and turn them around and make bogey from them and then take all of my good shots and not make any birdies with them, I think that is the story in itself. Overall, I am proud of what I did and the way I endured because when you are not making birdies and you are not getting rewarded and all of a sudden that becomes a burden, it is hard to keep carrying on. But, as I have said in here each and every day, I kept my patience. I kept playing the way I felt I needed to. I knew I was going to miss some shots and I did. But I kept plugging along and I think it boils down to Hale is the best senior player out here. He showed the world that. He did what he needed to do. He played beautifully all day. But, to come in there and birdie 16 and 18 like he did - and you saw it as well - he got robbed at the 17th. I don't know how that ball didn't go in. My hat is off to him and it is a tribute. I have never seen a Tour dominated the way he has done in the last two years and it is incredible. There is a lot of talent out here.

RAYMOND FLOYD: I birdied the first hole. I hit a driver and a 4-iron, just it hit on the green and went through in the kikuyu. I made a pretty good pitch back about, oh, I'd say I made a 7-foot foot, made the birdie there. I bogeyed the 3rd. I drove in the rough. I had a fairly decent lie and put it out in the front bunker. And then made a horrible bunker shot and left it in the kikuyu on the downslope of the bunker. And made a great little pitch there to save bogey. The 5th, I hit a 3-wood off the tee. I hit an 8-iron that just never left the flag and I am standing there thinking it might be in the hole. In fact, I said, "Go in", and it came up about three yards short of the green. I felt like I hit a really good pitch and it went by about six, maybe -- six feet I think. Then I hit a pure putt. So there is a bogey with four good shots. I bogeyed 10. I hit a 5-wood off the tee and I hit a sand wedge that I just didn't get to the hole. I don't know if it was wind. I was trying to put the ball high and get back into the back quadrant of the green. When I hit the shot. I thought it was up, but it was short and I put it in the bunker and best you can do out of that bunker is probably 15 feet and I 2-putted for bogey. And then at the 13th -- I said 14th with a good shot. But, I meant 13. 13, I hit a 3-wood a beautiful 3-wood there and felt like I had a perfect yardage and took an 8-iron that never left the flag. And, again, right at its peak, I could feel the wind blow very hard and the ball hung and got in the fringe and it got in the fringe where I couldn't even putt it. There were two sprinkler heads there, so I had to pitch it through the kikuyu and we all know when you let it tumble or try to pitch into that kikuyu, it might stop. I hit what I felt was the right kind of shot and it went through about probably eight feet and I hit a pure little putt there and I missed that. That was -- that is birdie and bogeys.

RAYMOND FLOYD: I will be honest, I don't remember. The 86 Open, to say how I felt, I am sorry, I don't recall that. I know that it was at a time in my career that I -- that I, at 44 years old, I had been written off a dozen or so times and I kind of felt like I remember having the conversation with Maria that: Hey, this could be the last ticket, we better take advantage of it. But, I sleep well whether -- I don't have trouble sleeping whether I am -- I never have, fortunately. So anything like that, that is about all I can say to that.

RAYMOND FLOYD: I would say that it is an advantage. But as I said yesterday, I don't think that you can get caught up in playing the individual that you are playing with. You must do your thing and you have got -- this golf course is the winner this week and you have got to beat it. So you have got to handle that case. However, Hale, being the best player in the field, you feel that he is the guy that is probably going to give it a charge at the end. His record dictates that. So I was more comfortable -- I think I'd rather have him there, watching it, rather than to hear the great big roars coming from in front of me.

RAYMOND FLOYD: I couldn't tell you if there were 10,000 people here or 100. A player, I think, is probably the worst person to ask. I don't have a clue how many people came.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Yeah, I feel pretty good. That hill, after that -- after your tee shot at 18 and coming up to the top of that hill in that heat, you have to -- I think you saw Hale take plenty of time before he played his shot -- that is a heck of a climb up there in that heat. Then coming up to this clubhouse, but now I am fine. My recooperative powers keep seemed to kick-in. I am okay now. But that is a pretty big trek in the heat.

RAYMOND FLOYD: No, I hit a bad second shot - was a hanging lie. You'd rather be down in the right side of that fairway because the green sits in that back pin, you are kind of -- where I was you had to go across the hill and my angle was bad, plus I am on a hangy lie. I need to hook the ball. I just didn't execute. I didn't hit the shot I needed to play. It was -- plus you have got the overall terrain going away from you. That makes the ball drop off of that, too. So I had didn't execute there.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, I think you have heard it the whole week, but I think the golf course was set up masterfully for an Open Championship. It is what it is all about. I have played a lot of U.S. Opens. I don't know how many, but they are all set up where you have to have every aspect of your game in order or you are not going to accomplish much. That is not just hitting the ball and not just putting the ball. There is a lot more to this game than -- I think then most people ever think about. But there is a lot to the game. There is strategy and the mental psyche and the way you approach it and the U.S. Open, it takes all of that. You have got to have everything together to do well. I think this course taxed you to the fullest when -- what did Hale shoot, 1-over or even par? 1-over for the tournament? Nobody was even or under par. I mean, that is incredible that the golf course withstood and it extracted from the field, but I think we all expected that coming in here. I think that is the way it should be; especially on the SENIOR TOUR, it is such -- I don't want to get into that that -- sorry.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Probably all of the above. And a hell of a player to win -- he has won three Opens and he has won this Open - heck of a player. But Hale has a game that really suits U.S. Open conditions. He is a fantastic mental competitor. He knows how to play. He knows how to manage his game. And he is straight. And that is what it takes. You have got to drive your ball in the fairway. There aren't too many crooked drivers that win a US Open.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Thank you, Les. Thanks, guys.