U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2001

Mark Brooks

MARK BROOKS: I don't know if I would say demoralizing. We kind of started in the match play mode. And you expect guys to get it up-and-down and make putts, and he kind of did every one of them those first, whatever, six holes. And then -- yeah, it certainly could have been different those first six holes. I hit a bad tee shot on, I guess 7, 9 and 10, and that was kind of the big deal. And he makes two birdies in that stretch, and gets the big lead and I couldn't put any pressure on him.

MARK BROOKS: No, I really walked up there, I didn't see the ball, I got up around there, I figured it was going to be on the hardpan where all the people had been walking, and it was not in a good place.

MARK BROOKS: I was hoping to hack it and have it come out low and hooking, and get it up in front of the green somehow. I actually hit a good third shot, it just didn't fly like I thought it would. And lucky that ball didn't roll down the hill. But again he didn't have to make the putt, and he made that one at 9 and made another one at 10. And I hit another bad tee shot at 10. Played what I thought was a good third shot at 10, and had it spin off the green. The conditions were definitely different out there today. It certainly wasn't because it was overcast. It played easier. I mean -- if I had had shots -- if I had lies, I could have played towards the greens, I could have made a lot more pars than where I did from where I drove it.

MARK BROOKS: No, I felt good out there today. I really never got overly nervous or anything. It was just one of those deals. He almost holes it from the bunker on 1. And makes the par on 2 out of the 7th fairway, and put it in the bunker on 3 and makes par. You know, what do you say? Great playing. Great up-and-down. He got up-and-down better on Saturday when he shot 69 than he did today. And that's what it takes to win an Open.

MARK BROOKS: I didn't think about it. Everybody says Colonial is such a great course for me. Yeah, I know it, but it was Hogan's Alley. And he kind of hit a cut.

MARK BROOKS: Well, I felt it was more downwind and yesterday it got a lot -- I hit a 4-wood yesterday and got it further down there than I probably thought it could have. In hindsight, that's where I would have changed, I would have gotten more aggressive earlier. And certainly at 7. And I'm not saying I would hit driver on 9. That was, again, not a great break. Unless you're stymied over there, you can always have a chance to run it up on the green. And that's the way it goes.

MARK BROOKS: I felt fine. I hit a great putt at 6. Conservative or safe, I played the play that most guys were playing into that green this week. With the greens as hard as they were, nobody was firing at those left pins. I saw the white of the hole and the ball went by on the edge. You never know in a deal like this. That could be the big turnaround. That thing goes in from 40 feet and he misses his, now you have a two or three shot lead. But it didn't work out that way.

MARK BROOKS: Yeah, it probably helps not having a bunch of people on the greens in front of you. I actually saw a spike mark on 14. I wonder who came out, maybe the ghost of Southern Hills played in front of us. Who could have possibly have been on these greens with spikes on. But it didn't affect the putt.

MARK BROOKS: I really felt like I was pretty much under control all day. Yes, it was a little deflating energy-wise after he birdied 9 and 10. He hit good shots, I won't call them perfect, and I'm not taking anything away from him. But birdied 10 out of the rough to a front pin, and it doesn't happen very often in an Open. He hit great shots and guessed right. He made a lot of putts on the back 9 that were small, but in the end they were big, those five, six footers.

MARK BROOKS: Not really. I figured he'd be ready to go. He didn't get off to a great start, but he did the same thing he did the last time we played together, hanging in there, making pars, and it proved to be enough.

MARK BROOKS: I just never could get anything to happen. I hit a bad bunker shot on 13, kind of in between clubs out on the fairway, trying to make something happen, and just kind of never did. There was another place he could have had a little issue, his third shot on 13 out of the first cut, and he hit a great shot. But a lot of it is guessing, and he guessed right on most of them.

MARK BROOKS: No.

MARK BROOKS: It wasn't as weird as maybe you'd think. I mean two caddies, and we play two-somes a lot, so it's not that odd. You've got leaderboards, all the officials and cameras. The cameras are maybe different. But those guys are pros, they stay out of the way.

MARK BROOKS: Not a lot. I think the wind was blowing too hard to talk much. He's not real talkative. And I'm probably accused of not being real talkative, either. But I tried to be respectful. And he hit a lot of great shots.

MARK BROOKS: Probably. I've got to go home, first. I've got a five-hour drive, so we'll see how I feel in the morning.

MARK BROOKS: Yes. That would be fair. And again, I was glad I made the little putt on the last hole. I know it didn't mean a darn thing, but that's been kind of what's missing was making some putts. And right there I didn't play great today, it could have been 76 or something pretty easy, and I made enough of those little testy putts to keep it a decent score.

MARK BROOKS: I've played with him a few times. He's one of those foreign guys (laughter.)

MARK BROOKS: I guess.