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U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


June 27, 1997


John Bland


OLYMPIA FIELDS, ILLINOIS

LES UNGER: I just wanted to compliment you, you looked awfully comfortable up in the booth like maybe you would want to do some commentary down the line.

JOHN BLAND: I got off to a nice start today, parred the first two holes and birdied the 3rd. I was really feeling confident, and then all of a sudden, I made a double bogey. I drove it in the rough at the 4th hole and a double bogey jumped up and grabbed me, and I wasn't feeling too comfortable. On the very, very next hole, I hit a 3-wood off the tee and 8-iron straight to the hole, so that settled me down quite nicely. Then played through pretty good, but I birdied -- I 3-putted 9 and 10, hit it from the wrong parts of the green, you know. Long, long putts over slopes and everything. And all of a sudden, I stood at 2-over par and felt I hadn't done anything wrong. Then I birdied the par 5, then the next, the short hole, and I was back in it again. So, I played pretty solid.

LES UNGER: Do you feel that there will be a change in the golf course over the next two days or do you think it's pretty much settled in.

JOHN BLAND: Yeah, you know, I think it's getting more difficult. Today, I found the pin placements very, very tough again, and obviously, it's drying out with the heat that we have, and the greens are getting quicker, which I personally like, you know, the hole positions have been very, very difficult on certain holes, and you just have to be very careful out there. I put two balls on the wrong side of the green at 9 and 10 and walked out with 1-over very quickly.

LES UNGER: Do you like your position?

JOHN BLAND: Yeah, I think I'm one shot behind and it's a good position to be in. We know tomorrow is the make or break round. You have to be in there and see what you can do tomorrow.

Q. Can you take us through that strange stretch at 4 and 5 there. I mean, I know you said you hit your drive in the rough at 4, but what all happened after that and how far did you have for the shot at 5 there?

JOHN BLAND: Well, I had, you know, as I say, I just put my drive in the rough at 4, and I didn't play anything, I just knocked it back on the fairway and then got a bit aggressive with my third shot and just went over in the thick grass and walked off with a 6. But the next hole, I had 149 yards to the flag and hit a wonderful 8-iron. It was on 9 straight away. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it go in because the flag was behind the bunker, and I made two there. That sort of settled me down, you know.

Q. Can you just talk a little bit more about picking up the momentum after that point. Because the round in a Open event, you can unravel after a double bogey. How did you get your momentum going again?

JOHN BLAND: That's what happened. I birdied the 3rd and then made a double bogey at 6 and all of a sudden you're 1-over. You have a lot of tough holes out there. You sort of want to keep a few in credit type of thing. As I said, that sort of settled me down quite nicely, and I 3-putted 9 and 10. I wasn't really that upset because, as I say, they were very, very tough putts, but I know I was putting the ball quite well on the greens, and I had to be patient, which happened coming in.

Q. This is a rather unusual round for you. You're a fairly steady player. You're not going to make a lot of birdies and bogeys. This one kind of had everything in it.

JOHN BLAND: Yeah. You know, it was -- I was standing there thinking how well Dave Eichelberger hit it. All of a sudden, I'm getting birdie double -- eagle. After that, I settled down quite nicely and drove the ball very well. I got back into my routine like I did yesterday putting -- unfortunately, as I say, 9 and 10, I 3-putted, but I wasn't too upset because I felt I was reading the greens well. I knew I was going to get it in a couple birdies.

Q. Just a little bit more on the eagle. You've used the phrase "settled down" several times. Is it almost like you've got something in the bank now or you've got some margin for error when you make an eagle on an Open course?

JOHN BLAND: Yeah, I think it's -- it helps a hell of a lot, because, you know, you're obviously swinging the club well, and you have the right distance, and you're aiming at flag. You're sort of in a mode where you are attacking all the time, and which is a good thing. I've just been watching on television there and watched Charles Coody, he took a shot at 17. So it's always a good thing when you start hitting the flag or a few long putts and all that sort of thing.

Q. Just to finish the record, could you give me your approach iron and the length of putts on your birdies on 3, 13 and 14.

JOHN BLAND: 3, I hit it from about 6 feet with a 2-foot break. If I would have missed the hole, I would putted it off the green I think. As I say, I holed an 8-iron for my eagle which was 149 yards. Then my birdies at 13 was about 20 feet and at 14 was about 18 feet.

LES UNGER: Other questions? Other comments from you?

JOHN BLAND: No.

LES UNGER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts....

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