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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2005

Olin Browne

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

Q. Feel pretty good about the way things went today?

OLIN BROWNE: Yeah, still here. Still here hanging. Some people didn't think I was going to be hanging this late, but I'm hanging.

Q. How tough has it been to hang?

OLIN BROWNE: I played horribly today. The front nine was atrocious. But somehow scooped it around. And it seems it's a funny day, because my errant shots ended up in not a bad place, and my bad shots ended up in a horrible place. So it was kind of backwards. But like I say, I'm hanging.

Q. (Inaudible.)

OLIN BROWNE: Huge. I made double there yesterday. It looked like it was going to eek it's way right of the hole and it toppled in. That's the thing that gets you back in the game. I was struggling at that point. I made one falling in in the front lip on the hole before. And you've got to make something out here. They have to fall in by accident, even, that helped a lot.

Q. How aggressive is Retief in these conditions?

OLIN BROWNE: Well, you know, people talk about the big 5. That guy might be the most underrated of all of them. Everybody talks about how good Ernie and Tiger and Vijay are. But he goes about his business. When he hits a shot off the line, I'm trying to figure out how it happened, because it doesn't look like he made a bad swing. So he's got a perfect demeanor for this style of play, and he's proven that he's a great champion and somebody is going to have to golf his ball tomorrow to catch him.

Q. You've seem, from where we're looking, you seem the same, even keel, even demeanor?

OLIN BROWNE: This place gives you a stomach ache, and all you're doing is trying to hang in there long enough to get down the steps at the end of 18, you know what I'm saying, without throwing up on the way. This is the hardest golf course I've ever seen, and good shots end up in some horrible places.

I hit a really good shot on 3 today and I was toast. And then I hit a good bunker shot and then I hit a great putt. As my caddie said, I hit four good shots on that hole and made 5.

Q. You had a bird's eye view playing behind Gore. The crowds really responded. Is that fun to watch? And obviously you're focusing on what you're doing

OLIN BROWNE: Do you think he's buying them all a round after today? I think it's possible. Jason is Jason's a great guy. He's the story of The Open, you know, because here's a guy who is not even playing the Tour, he's playing Nationwide this year, and he's had success out there, but he qualified. He probably had to go to both stages, I don't know, he might have made the cut last year, I don't know, and here's a guy that nobody has ever heard of and yet they're digging his play. That's cool. I think that's great.

Q. Your demeanor yesterday was like I'll play like any other round, and Mark Hensby said the same thing yesterday. How amazing is it, you talk about wanting to puke out there, how amazing is it to get the guys out there to adapt their demeanor?

OLIN BROWNE: If they're telling you that they're lying to you. That's a fact. The only guy who's having a good time is the guy that taps in the last putt and gets the trophy. And then he's going to be wiped out for a week or two. We're all out here trying to do the same thing. And having fun with it and what we're supposed to be doing. So that's what we're all saying.

Q. So it's BS?

OLIN BROWNE: Maybe. I would say it is.

Q. (Inaudible.)

OLIN BROWNE: I played poor today, I want to play better tomorrow.

Q. If there's a feeling you can play poorly, and still put up a good score, is there a sense that I could not play my best and still score well? Could you maybe draw some positive from that and say, what could I do if I actually played well?

OLIN BROWNE: Absolutely. And I'm headed to the range right now. So hopefully I can find a groove that I hit some good shots that ended up in some bad spots, like the tee on 1, second shot on 2, tee shot on 3, second shot on 5, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so I guess more than playing poorly, what it is is that you end up in some spots that you don't get. How did my ball get here? What is going on? And then you've got Fred Ridley and Donald Driver in the group and you look at them cross eyed and say what are you guys doing here to us? They set up the course beautifully. If you hit a good shot you can play to your spots. And that's the mark of a fair setup.

I think what happened at Shinnecock last year, I think everybody regrets that. But I haven't seen that this week, although I sure felt that like on No. 3 on my second. Overall I felt the course is great and I can't wait to get here tomorrow.

Q. Guys are saying that I really feel like if I put up a red number and guys start to fall back, I'm not taking myself out of this?

OLIN BROWNE: That's right. That's a fact.

Q. Is there a red number on that golf course tomorrow?

OLIN BROWNE: Did anybody shoot under par today? There you go. It's there. And you know, you've got to get some breaks, some bounces, you have to make a couple of putts. But you have to play well, too. Nobody is fluking a red number. They might get a break or two, but they have to get a break to shoot it. It's there. Retief had a red number today, and except for a couple of errant tee shots he played really solidly. It's there. We'll see what happens.

Q. (Inaudible.)

OLIN BROWNE: The par 3 out here is easy. Next question?

I don't know. I made that no brainer on 6 and then hit a very nice shot into Retief hit a beautiful iron shot into 15 and I followed him up and he tapped in the putt. And it was just drafting at that point.

On 17 he hit another beautiful iron shot in there and hit it about 5, 6 feet and lipped it. And I happened to get mine to drop from 15 or 18 feet. But at some point you've got to get some things coming back to you.

Yesterday the course gave me some and took some back on No. 6. And today it took some away from me early, but gave me some back later in the day. So it worked out.

Q. You've been out here a long time. Have you pondered what a win here would mean?

OLIN BROWNE: You'd get lost, if you do that.

End of FastScripts.

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