U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 15, 2001

J.L. Lewis

J.L. LEWIS: I struck the ball real well early in the first round this morning, and I was fortunate to make some mid to long range putts. And then I kind of held on at the end. So I'm just happy to be playing well and it's really nice to make some long putts on these greens, they're tough.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, not really. I played well, I struck the ball well enough to get -- give myself opportunities, and I was just fortunate to make them. I've had several weeks where I've struck the ball this well and haven't made this many putts. Today I made a lot of putts, that's why I'm here.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I think the Open in '96 at Oakland Hills I was in pretty good shape the last round there. And I don't remember what I finished, 25 or 30th or something like that, but I made the cut in that one. And then -- I'm trying to remember if I've made any other cuts in majors? I don't know. I don't think I have. This is my -- I think this is my 6th major. I played in -- yeah, I made the cut in the PGA, also, in Chicago. And I think I finished 20 something there, 21st or something. But I played in some PGA's as a club pro. I played here in one, and one in Inverness, and I missed the cut in both of those. But that was probably six or seven years ago.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I don't think it really matters. This golf course is very demanding, and you have to play one shot at a time. Leads and that sort of thing probably aren't going to matter until late on Sunday. If you've got a lead with two or three holes to go, then maybe that's going to matter. But right now I don't think anybody is going to benefit themselves by looking at the leaderboard and trying to figure out what they're going to do. You've got to play one shot at a time. This golf course is demanding, and there's really not any letup in it. So that's what I'm going to try to do.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, it's obviously a major, and it's important, but it is a golf tournament, right? I didn't mean to downplay it or discount it or anything. But it is a golf tournament. It's a big one, but it's a golf tournament.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, it falls up there high, obviously. It's a major, so it's one of the four best golf tournaments that there is. And there's a couple of others on the Tour that rank up there pretty high, too. The TPC and Memorial, which I didn't get in. So, yeah, it's important. But, man, I'd just like to win any of them. To play well in any of them is good.

J.L. LEWIS: No, not the last couple of weeks. He's getting ready to go to college in about six or eight months, so he's studying.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I hit it in the water hazard and had to go back on my line and drop, keeping that point between me and the hole, yeah.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I played out here in '89 and then worked from '90 until '94. And then I've played since '95. And it was a good experience working, but I wish that I would have played during those years. I didn't really have the opportunity to play, so I didn't, but it's just good to be here now. Forest Creek.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, we've known each other for a long time, probably about 20 years, since college. He was at UT, and I was at Southwest Texas State. So we played at some of the college tournaments and practiced at the same facilities. We've known each other for a long time. We were having fun out there. He played great, I thought.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, in the case of this course, this course has a lot to do with it, because you have to strike the ball well to have a chance. And then -- even if you strike the ball well, you better strike it in a position where you can have a putt at it, because if you get above the hole you're basically lagging everything. So the golf course has a lot to do with it, and obviously there's pressure to play well, too, because it is a major. So it's both.

J.L. LEWIS: No, no.

J.L. LEWIS: Yes, I am. And Lewis, my father's side of the family, I'm about the 6th or 7th John in a row. And they're Welsh, and they didn't get middle names until my dad, they just got initials. And so everybody's name was John. We also had an uncle named John. So my mother -- they wanted to name me John, but she decided J.L. was it. So that's how I got the initials.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, you know, the first -- I don't know where I made birdie. I birdied 8, and that putt was a speed putt. Any time you're downhill with the slope in these greens, basically you're picking a spot high that you're just trying to roll the ball over and get the correct speed. And if you can get committed to the line it really helps. That one was just a good speed putt.

J.L. LEWIS: It was about 12 feet, I think. I don't know, where did I make the next birdie? 10 was a short putt. But it was only about four feet long, but it broke a cup. So that's the way these greens are, though. It's kind of you just have to feel your way around and hopefully you get the right line and speed. And then I think the best putt of the day was on 10 the second time around, the one that I was just trying to get it close, and it kind of creeped in there. So anyhow, that was fun. And the one on 18 was a good putt, too. That was another one I was just trying to put it up above the hole and hopefully get the speed right.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I know it's possible, because of that. I think it really helps to at least win once at some point. But that's a totally different situation there, because the golf course was not nearly this demanding. To win here, I'm going to have to play each shot to the best of my ability and hopefully I won't make too many mistakes, and I'll be here on Sunday.

J.L. LEWIS: I won in the playoff, 19 under par on a course that about half the holes you hit in the inside of 150 yards to the green. And it's small, hunched up greens. But it was a fairly short golf course, and it was real hot. A lot of guys were going down with heat exhaustion, and I just kind of hung in there. And Mike Brisky is the guy I ended up in the playoff with.

J.L. LEWIS: I would say I find it more surprising that he's nine strokes behind. Obviously, he didn't play well today, but, you know what, with the way he plays, he's never out of it. He's always got a chance.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I expected to strike the ball well. I don't think I expected to make as many putts as I made today. But I've been striking it well all year. I think this is 13 out of 16 cuts I've made. And so I've been hanging around 25th to 35th. Early in the year I did not strike the ball well and my putting stats, I was first in total putts per round for about the first 10 or 12 weeks on the Tour. And so I made a few changes and I've started striking the ball better, and my putting has actually dropped off, but this week it kind of picked back up.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, you know, I just kept having success off the Tour. I was playing good in the Section, the Southern Texas Section, and playing good in like the National Club Pros, and the National Assistants Tournament. And I was just playing with guys that were on the Tour that I thought that I could compete with. And my ability level was, I felt like, pretty good. And I had the desire to do it. And I just, the last few years, I've gotten with an instructor, Bill Moretti, he's really helped me. The mechanics of my golf swing have gotten better. So it's become easier for me to produce more consistent shots. And that's kind of been it.

J.L. LEWIS: Well, he played awfully well. I'm not aware of -- I wasn't even aware of what the record was or any of that. You play in a tournament like this, it really doesn't do you any good to think about anything except what you're trying to do. Everybody's nervous, but it's just not going to help you any. So that's kind of the way I look at it. I'm trying to produce the best golf shots I can, and not be overly concerned with other stuff that's going on. This golf course is very demanding, and you have to stay in the present and play each shot the best you can. That's about all you can do here.