BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2002

Sandy Lyle

STEWART McDOUGAL: Sandy Lyle. Sandy, nice score. You were here 10 years ago. You finished in the top 12.

SANDY LYLE: I finished better than the top 12. You never know. Obviously the conditions are a lot easier at the moment, as we speak. The wind was almost nonexistent this morning, other than being colder. The course is open for low scores today, I would have said, especially early in the morning. And obviously 3 under, 4 under is a good round, because there are a lot of tight tee shots in places and the rough to contend with. The greens have been a little slow at the moment. Unfortunately, I thought they would have been quick by today's standards. Of course, if it gets very windy in the afternoon, the greens might be almost unplayable, it can dry out so quick. At the moment, theyy're medium pace, I would have said.

Q. Sandy, you said coming you haven't been in this place so often. Do you remember when (inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: The last Open I was in I was in here. Maybe even last year I might have done a little bit, at Lytham, I think. I had about 11 birdies in the first two days, so I was obviously having a few chances. The round today went pretty good. I was off to a very good start. Two under after three holes and really could have almost made birdie on the 1st hole, with a good 5-iron from about 200 yards, put it to within 10 or 12 feet of the hole and I missed the putt, but left it about an inch short from going right in the middle. So that was very encouraging. And I bang, bang two birdies, a 9-iron into about a foot from the hole on the 2nd. That was pretty good. And then an 8-iron into about 12 feet behind the hole and made a good putt there. That was a really good start. And then it got a little fuzzy for a while. And then on the 7th -- I really didn't -- well, on both the Par 3 holes I missed the green and made two bogeys on them.

On the 4th hole, I missed the green to the right with a 4-iron, a delicate chip shot. There was a bank in the way. I got it within 5 feet, missed the putt.

And then the 7th hole could have gotten real messy. I missed the green with a 7-iron on the left side. I wasn't in the bunker, but I was on the grass but with a downhill lie, virtually no green to play to get it close, so I decided to thin the chip and it went right across the green to the bunker on the other side and I couldn't even get to the ball from a normal stance so I had to stand outside the bunker on my knees with the ball kind of four feet below me. I don't know how I did it, but I got it out to within about 10 feet from probably 25 yards and holed the putt for a four, so that was a very bogey, you could say.

I played the first nine in 36, and then coming back, nine, I played 32. A birdie at No. 11, 9-iron to about 3 feet there. The then the last three holes, I bogeyed another Par 3, the 13th. I went just off the back of the green. It was a good shot. I was on fringe, and I nearly holed it. Went past three to four feet, and missed the return coming back. It was a little frustrating. The Par 3s hurt me today a little bit.

I birdied 16, a 6-iron into about 12 feet. Just off the green on the left by about a foot on 17th. Two shots with a 3-wood second shot. Driver, 3-wood, and then two-putted from about 25 yards.

And then the grand finale, the last hole, 3-iron and 6-iron into about four feet from 200 yards. That's the way to finish the hole. I was very happy to make birdie on 18. Any time you make par or birdie 18, that's a nice way to finish.

Q. Is this your best opening round ever --(inaudible) -- the third round in '87 when the weather was so poor?

SANDY LYLE: It's the one that's been most talked about. I have had a lot of pleasure from it over the years. I remember the wind was probably 35 miles an hour or something. It was almost too strong to even be playing out there because of the ball oscillating on the greens. So I would say, of all the Opens I've played that would be the top as far as controlling the golf ball in those conditions.

Q. When you teed off at Loch Lomond, did you feel confident -- (inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: Well, I do. I always pick something from Loch Lomond. It wasn't really from playing extremely bad shots or a snap hook out of bounds or a bad decision, it was basically silly little shots from just around the greens that often you would make par from most times and unfortunately I didn't play them very well. It takes four to get down from 15 feet, it's not good in any pro standards and that's what happened at Loch Lomond. To take heart from that, I played the course pretty good during the week, but I didn't get the scores I justified.

Q. (Inaudible)

SANDY LYLE: I played the hole before, No. 6, I rifled a 7-iron right on the pin and I had a good chance of making birdie there. I tried to say to myself just keep it right of the pin, and then knock it left of the pin, when you want to be right of the pin, which is sort of a mind bender, then obviously it was going to be in trouble because the pin is left and all the bunker is left, you have no green to play. It could get very nasty. And I made it a lot worse than it really was. It was a chip shot. I could have maybe landed it into the face of the bunker, a little three-foot face, and then killed the pace and let it drop over the top, but if that doesn't come off, it could roll back into the bunker and maybe even plug or be up the face. I took the risk of just playing it on the green, but I wasn't expecting to thin it at the time.

Q. (Inaudible)

SANDY LYLE: That would be a pretty good tee there, and even the next hole I made a good par there. I had a lousy 2-iron left into the heavy rough. All I could do was chip it with a 9-iron and then up and down from about 70 yards, holing it from about five feet for the par. There was a good opportunity there. So I've got like bogey -- bogey, par there, on those two holes, and it could have easily been double bogey, bogey. I didn't make a birdie at the 9th hole, from just short of the green on the right-hand side. So there was a good opportunity there. You fancy your chances getting up and down from just near the green. There's been ups and downs but, all in all, with a good finish, that's as good as I can hope for today.

Q. What kind of action are you expecting from the home fans? How significant is it to play in Scotland?

SANDY LYLE: There was still quite a lot out there at 7:00, and I know it's very early for most of the fans to get there. You have got Tiger Woods not too far behind me. They've been a good following. As long as I keep making the birdies, they'll make plenty of noise.

Q. Is this the most consistent and enjoyable golf -- (inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: At the moment it feels really nice, yes. I'm hitting the ball well and playing strong on finishing holes when you need to. The 18th hole, when you're calling for a good tee shot and you're calling for a good second shot and pulling that off, those help your momentum and confidence over the week.

Q. Your confidence allows you to have a bad hole and still be strong?

SANDY LYLE: Definitely.

Q. Do you normally like such early starts?

SANDY LYLE: I wouldn't like it on Sunday. I wouldn't mind a late starting time on Sunday. I think you need to have at least one early round on a links course before the breeze gets up. The breeze is getting up a bit more now, not much. It's still warm. It could have been very cold and windy and wet, and that's not much fun, but this is fine.

Q. So you were rubbing your hands when you saw the tee off time -- (inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: It was like playing a practice round, we played and just kept going. The guys in front played quickly, Des and Peter Baker. We never caught up with them that much. It's as nice a round as you could have. The U.S. Open you're taking 5 hours and 40 minutes and it's steaming hot, and this was very pleasurable, less tiring on the old brain as well, and body.

Q. What do you think your hopes are of winning another Open --(inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: My hopes are, I just want to keep doing what I'm doing and that's putting red numbers on the board. Whatever it takes, if it's a Par-3 championship, anything for a win would be very nice. It would be a great bonus this year to win the Open. But there is a long way to go yet. There are three more rounds and there are a lot of hungry golfers out there. And the way this course is playing, it's an open Open. There's a lot of irons off the tees and this is not going to be the key point around here, it's rolling your ball on the greens. Someone like Paul Laurie could prove us all wrong, he's very capable of winning out there. He has got a tremendous putting action. I played with him a couple of time now at the links championship last year, and I saw an exhibition of putting I will always remember. I played with him just recently and his putting was really really sound, and he's very straight off the tee. He likes the wind and he's a links-type player. He could be a very strong contender this week.

Q. Head-to-head on Sunday?

SANDY LYLE: Head-to-head on Sunday, yes.

Q. (Inaudible)?

SANDY LYLE: I probably wouldn't have been seeing the fairway sometimes. It's hard to explain really, how your brain can be annoying to you sometimes. I can understand really how Seve is feeling now. He just doesn't know what part of the golf course he's going to play when he goes out there. I do now. The way I'm feeling I'm swinging the golf club, the confidence is there, the direction is good. So you look at every course you play in a different light. If I played here two years ago I would have said a 74 might be -- you know, a 72 would be a very good round. 74 was probably on the card, because I just wouldn't hit the ball in the fairway enough times, which means too much pressure on trying to get the ball on the green on the next shot. If I did get one low round, it would be more like luck, where now if I have a bad day, it's 71, 72, and I should have shot 67.

Q. Did you come close to the sort of Woods circus out there, the gallery and the marshals and everything?

SANDY LYLE: No, I don't think I was close. I was looking over at the 3rd hole and it was 20 deep on both sides of the fairways. No, I couldn't quite cope with that, maybe by Sunday it might be a bit different.

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