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SENIOR BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 26, 2006

Mark James

TURNBERRY, SCOTLAND

STEVEN FRANKLIN: Welcome back to Britain for The Senior British Open Championship. Does returning to Turnberry make this an extra special week?

MARK JAMES: Yes, it is great to come back home for the biggest senior event on the European Seniors Tour. It is nice to see my friends on the European Seniors Tour and to come back to a course like this is brilliant. I have played here over the years, most recently in 1994 and played well in The Open.

Q. Yes, you were tied fourth in 1994. Do you take good memories out with you on the course?

MARK JAMES: I take good memories from that but I've equally bad ones from '86 and '77. But the course is more like it was in '94. I don't really like links courses when they narrow the fairways too much and grow the rough three feet high - that's not links golf. The minute the greens become bigger targets than the fairways then it is problem. Above all you need to hit the ball solidly. When you are trying to pitch it 20 yards short to get it into the green, if you mis-hit it and land it 25 yards short, then it doesn't go anywhere, so you are always going to miss the green. It sounds strange, because you think it will run up, but it tends not to.

Q. Are the changes to the course substantial when compared to '94?

MARK JAMES: I can't really remember the course from '94. I remember the basic layout but I wouldn't know what bunkers are new. But I think the changes they are planning for the tenth sound fantastic, moving the tee and cutting the fairway near the beach, because the tee shot is nothing special at the moment. Overall the course doesn't seem to play much different than in '94.

Q. You have challenged in the last two Major Championships in America. Is there some frustration that you didn't manage to finish better?

MARK JAMES: There is a bit of frustration because I should have done better in both. I putted badly in both events, which was the main reason, but in the last round of the US Senior Open I was in good shape but then played badly as well. I played great in Detroit, hit the ball really well and was never in any trouble all week, but I was just two-putting every hole virtually.

Q. How does your putting feel this week?

MARK JAMES: I have a different putter out but it doesn't feel great to be honest. I am better on slower greens so I have got half a chance. I putted great earlier in the season so this is bizarre. I putted well for two years out in the States, but these things happen.

Q. Do you think more and more Americans will come over to this Championship?

MARK JAMES: I think there will always be guys who think the tour over there is so good that they will think it is too much trouble with the jet-lag, but there will always be some players who will want to come to have the chance to play links golf and to come to a country they have not seen much of.

Q. The European challenge faded at The Open last week and it has been some while since a European has won this event. How do you rate the European prospects this week?

MARK JAMES: A European can certainly win this. Some good players have come over but they can still win, though I am not sure they should win. I think the course is better for us than Aberdeen or even Portrush. It is a fairer test.

Q. How dry is this course compared to Hoylake?

MARK JAMES: This is greener but harder. There is less depth of turf on this course than Hoylake. You could get the club under the ball and put more spin on the ball at Hoylake, but these greens are better. The pace is more consistent and it is a truer surface than it was on Hoylake's greens. This sand is better also. Hoylake's sand was light and fluffy, but this is really good sand.

Q. What did you make of the European challenge last week, especially with the Ryder Cup coming up?

The challenge fizzled out. I thought the course would have suited us, but it would have been better for us with a bit of wind. I couldn't really see any reason for it. I don't think our guys were hitting the wrong shots or the wrong clubs, but I do know I think they need to sit down and examine the way they are playing links golf. I know we have great players who are doing well on the American tour, so it's not as if they are not good enough. It just seems we are not great at links golf even though we grew up in the country. It may be that links golf requires you to hit high shots quite often, and that is what Hoylake demanded.

Q. Have you had any rounds with Hale Irwin this year to make any observations on him? Hale has not won this year?

MARK JAMES: I have just played 18 holes with him. I am certainly not writing Hale off and I doubt he is writing himself off. I know he may not have been as good as he would have liked to be this year but he was like that for a while last year and then, boom-boom, he was back in business. He's like Watson in that they have such good all round games. That's the key, to have no weak spots. I have a glaring week spot on the greens, which is what I am trying to sort out.

End of FastScripts.

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