U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 11, 2002

Jose Maria Olazabal

RAND JERRIS: We are joined today by Jose Maria Olazabal. He is making his 14th appearance in the United States Open.

You have seven Top-10 finishes on the Tour this year. What's been the difference in your game this year?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, especially at the start of the season, the driving was much better. That was the key for me. That's why the scoring was better. I was able to hit more greens and attack the flags.

Well, it's been like that up to the Masters, pretty much. After that, I went back to Europe, played a few tournaments over there and the situation is not a very comfortable one at the moment. But I've been working with Butch yesterday, working on pretty much the same things, and tried to get it fixed by Thursday.

RAND JERRIS: Talk about your game as it sets up for a U.S. Open course.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, this is a typical setup for a U.S. Open course. Obviously the course is tough, it's long. The rough is very severe. The greens are quick.

Condition-wise, the golf course is in excellent condition. We know it's all about the U.S. Open, you need to drive the ball straight off the tee and have a sharp short game. That's the way it's going to be this week. The winner will have to play great golf, and it's as simple as that.

Q. This is the first time that the U.S. Open has gone to a two-tee start. Do you think that the players starting on 10 each day might be at a disadvantage, the fact that they are starting on a really difficult stretch of the course?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, it's not the most comfortable start, put it that way. You can start, I guess, on the toughest stretch of holes, 10, 11, 12, in a row. It's not going to be easy starting, teeing off at the 10th. But everybody is going to have to do that.

We do that every week, use both tees. This being the first time for the U.S. Open, it's a little bit different. It makes it even a little bit more special or more difficult because that stretch of holes, are really tough. But that's a matter everyone is going to have to do that. It's the first two days, and after that, everything will go back to normal.

Q. This is the first time that a U.S. Open has been played on a truly public course, a course where players can come and play for $30 a round. Do you think that perhaps this might help in terms of the popularity of golf, opening it to the masses, where say, Augusta National, very few people ever get to go on that course, let alone play it, but here 30,000 rounds are played every year and now it's hosting a major championship?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think the game of golf in this country is doing very well. It's very popular. More and more people play the game of golf.

Obviously, it's really nice to see the U.S. Open being played at a public golf course. But I don't think that is going to make much of a change to the game itself. I think the game is very healthy. It's very popular. In that sense, I think it's going to stay like that for many years. It doesn't matter if it's going to be played on a public golf course or not.

Q. Following up on the 10th tee start, if you are starting on 1 and playing well and getting yourself into the round, it seems to me it would be easier to play 10, 11 and 12 when you arrive at them, rather than starting at them.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, that's what I said. But the thing is that everybody is going to start one of the first two rounds on 10, so it's going to be the same for everybody in that sense.

But as I said, I agree, that's what I was trying to say. But at the same time, it's the same for everybody. You would rather tee off No. 1, or at least play a few holes before getting to the 10th tee, that's for sure.

As I said, every one of us is going to tee one day off 10 and we'll try to do the best of it.

Q. How does this Major differ from the other three in terms of the mental test that it is?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think it is pretty much the same, to be honest. The setup is typical U.S. Open. Fairways are not very wide. The rough is very thick, very lush, very severe. And the greens, especially on the back nine, they do have more slopes on the back nine. The front nine are okay, but on the back nine you do have some things that are quite severe, like 15 I think is the most severe green on the back nine. And the speed on the greens is quick.

Mentally, it's going to be tough. It's going to be a great test. It's going to test our nerves, our patience, our demeanor. It's typical U.S. Open.

Q. Do you almost have to come into this week expecting that things are going to be a little unfair at times; that you are going to get a bad break at times, do you expect that?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I don't expect that. I don't expect that either this week or any week of the U.S. Open. What I'm saying is that most of the times we play a U.S. Open, the conditions are extremely severe. You might just miss the fairway by a yard or two and all you have to do is just take the sand wedge and chip it out. But that's the U.S. Open. It's going to be the same for everybody.

Q. How much do you figure it will be before a European wins this thing, and why do you figure it's been taking so long; it's been 32 years now?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I don't have the answer for that question.

We can go back to the Masters and why do we do so well over there. No explanations for that. The U.S. Open might have been more difficult because of the setup of the golf course. For many years, the Masters, the setup at the Masters has been more similar to the golf courses that we play in Europe. Meaning that there was no rough over there. For many years in Europe, we haven't played American-type of golf courses like we do at U.S. Open, with the same conditions, narrow fairways, high rough. More and more often we are playing those golf courses and I think it's just going to be a matter of time. I think that we do have the quality of players that are able to win this tournament. But for whatever reason, we just came short. I think it's just a matter of time.

Q. As opposed to a private club, a lot of people have played this Black Course, and the galleries are so close, New York fans are outspoken; have they given you advice as you go around, maybe telling you how to hit a shot here on some of the holes? How is the play with the gallery; so many people have been out here and played this place?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I'm sure they have played the golf course many times but I don't think they have played it in these conditions, so I don't think they really know what they are facing.

Most probably if somebody plays the golf course next Monday they will realize what we have to go through when we play the U.S. Open.

The galleries have been really very warm, very close, very cheerful. In that sense, they are great galleries.

Q. Do you think it's important to take the week off before the Open, or do you think it's better to play in an event?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, it depends. Some players take the week before off. Some others don't. It depends on how your game is. If you feel you are comfortable on how you are swinging the club, it might be a good idea to take the week off. A major event takes a lot out of you, and if you come rested to the tournament, that's a good point.

But on the other hand, if you think that you need to work on your game, I think it's good to play the week before, especially on the golf course like last week, very similar conditions to the U.S. Open. Small greens, narrow fairways, quite severe rough; so if you play one under those conditions, it boosts your confidence to play the U.S. Open. So, it can go both ways. Most of all, it depends on how you are swinging the club.

Q. You talked about your driving. Are you driving it well enough right now to win here, and do you feel confident that you can win?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I've been struggling, to be honest, the last three or four weeks, with my driver. As I said, I spent a whole day yesterday with Butch working on the swing a little bit. I am a little better today but I am not feeling as comfortable as I was early in the season. So that is something that I will have to work on today and tomorrow and see if I can get it right by Thursday.

Q. Have you ever won a tournament when you entered it not playing that well?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yes, I have. Like the Masters. I missed the week before and I won the Masters the week after, and I wasn't playing well at all the week before. For whatever reason, I managed to win that tournament.

Obviously, it's a different golf course. I know Masters, the golf course, Augusta really well. It's a different situation here this week.

Q. A lot has been made this week about the fact that Tiger has never won on a par-70 course. He's 0-for-8; the two par 5s don't play to his advantage. However, this is a course where the par 4s are long; do you think that this par-70 jinx for Tiger is not really going to come into play being that it is such a long course?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I think yes, for Tiger. But every long hitter, they have a great advantage on this golf course. To hit the ball long is going to be crucial on this golf course because you need the short irons to those greens.

As you said, there is a lot of long par 4s here. In order to stop the ball on those greens, you're going to need to hit shorter irons onto the green, and I think that's why the long hitters will have an advantage this week. They do have an advantage every week, obviously. But this golf course, being so long, even though they have only two par 5s, both par 5s are reachable, if the wind is not into you, obviously.

But out of those two par 5s, I guess No. 4, it's crucial to hit a high, a really high shot onto that green, and that's something that only long hitters will be able to do.

I hit two drivers yesterday and today and I had a 3-wood, I couldn't go for the green. If I go for the green, I end up in the trees behind. Others might be hitting 2-iron, 3-iron, hitting it up in the air, they are not going to be able to stop. That is not an advantage there.

I think this golf course suits the long hitters really well.

RAND JERRIS: A lot is being made in this country about the Open coming to a public golf course for the first time. There are public golf courses in Spain?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: We do have very few. We just started to get a few public golf courses back in Spain. That is something that we have been really trying hard, not just myself, but before me, Seve and all of the other Spanish professionals, we are taking the first few steps.

But I can promise you that our public golf courses don't look as good as this one. (Laughs).

RAND JERRIS: Thank you very much for your time and we wish you luck this week.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Thank you.

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