U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 26, 1997

John Bland

JOHN BLAND: Where do you want me to start?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

JOHN BLAND: No.