U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 6, 2006

Bruce Lietzke

CRAIG SMITH: 1 under par, including an eagle, Bruce Lietzke.

Q. (Inaudible.)

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yeah, my day really consisted of three, I can only think of three really good iron shots. My birdies today and I'm trying to remember. If you got my score sheet there. I hit an iron shot in there about four feet from the hole. Made that for birdie after bogeying the first hole from the rough.

So I made a four foot birdie putt.

I made a 2 foot eagle putt on 7 with a 4 iron, second shot. A good tee shot and 4 iron second shot that landed two feet from the hole.

I birdied the 15th hole, is that it? Yeah, I hit it two feet there, for a birdie there. And so the rest of the day I was either working for pars, which I had to do a few times, or putting for birdies and not making any of them. Didn't make anything outside of four feet.

I made one par putt that was about five feet. So really it was just three real sharp irons that helped me get under par. Otherwise, if those aren't there, then I would be with a big group of guys that are 2, 3, 4 over par. And they were really, obviously, really good shots, and those are the only putts I really got to go in today.

The rest of the time I didn't miss any real short putts, but I had lots of 14, 16, 20 footers, some of them makeable, some of them I was trying to 2 putt. But the ones I got in were four feet, two feet, and two feet.

Q. There were a lot of holes, especially like nine, where the pin placement seemed incredibly difficult to get at from the fairway. But could you even get close on the green?

BRUCE LIETZKE: There are times there are times that you're not even trying to hit the ball two feet. There are times you're happy to be 20 or 25 feet away. You want to be putting from the correct angle, mostly putting uphill if you can.

Most of the time today, mainly because the wind wasn't just howling, I went at most pins. But you're right, nine was a real tough, tough pin. There were several that were right on top of the crowns of some of the slopes here, and that's really one of the defenses this course has.

It's not a long golf course, so the USGA's going to have to kind of be on the borderline of crazy pin placements and ones that are real, real tough, but fair.

And those are the ones you really don't, you're not trying to hit the ball two feet. Because if you don't quite hit it far enough, it might spin 30 feet off the green. So, yeah, I'm real happy to have those close shots, and a lot of the time today I was just hitting at the middle of these greens.

Usually the size of these greens, if you're in the middle of the green you got some kind of a birdie chance, because these aren't big greens. I was just real fortunate that the birdie tries I had today, a couple of them, were just real, real close. Really good iron shots. And kind of probably lucky on the par 5 to squeeze the ball into a real tough left pin placement, and it was a left to right wind.

So it wasn't a shot I was very comfortable with. And to tell you the truth, it was a shot I was trying to hit into the middle of the green. I pulled it a little bit and pulled it two feet from the hole.

Q. Tell us about your club selection on the approach at 18. It looked like you changed clubs.

BRUCE LIETZKE: I did.

Q. Was that because of the wind?

BRUCE LIETZKE: That was wind. I got up there thinking that the wind was right to left only, and I had 165. And I was going to try and hold a 6 iron with my cut shot. And then I felt a gust of wind at my back out in the fairway, and then I looked at the flag at the green and it was going downwind. And so I switched to a 7 really quick, and I still flew the 7 all the way past the pin.

So a 6 iron would have if I would have hit it that particular time, probably would have air mailed the green. So that's an again, one of the defenses here is trying to figure out tricky winds, especially if they get to be 20, 25 miles an hour. And I'm not sure if they're calling for any kind of heavy winds this week, but the wind is going to make this golf course, hitting into those kind of targets, it's going to make you second guess a lot. Luckily, my second guess on that one was a good one.

Q. You got to feel great about coming in with a low number though.

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yeah, the U.S. Open, a 2006 U.S. Senior Open kind of golf courses are not my strength. I never have liked feeling pinned in, and that's really how you feel on this golf course. You can't miss the drive right, you can't miss it left, and I don't like those kind of golf courses.

I love the second shots; I love these kind of greens for hitting high fades into, because you got to stop the ball quick. So second shots I'm real happy with here, but I never have liked driving on U.S. Open courses that have a real severe rough. And this is about as tough as I've ever seen, so I'm it's easy to say, but I'm never comfortable off the tee.

But if I'm in the fairway, I've got a good chance at hitting a decent iron shot. And I just need to make a few more putts. I hit good putts today, and the ones outside of four feet I just didn't make. But yeah, I don't I wouldn't put myself in the top 20 of coming into this tournament as being a favorite.

There's a lot of guys that love this kind of tight fairways, and I can go down the list of the real straight drivers on this TOUR. I'm not one of the real straight drivers. But if I can put it in the fairway, then I feel like I can shoot a good score. I did for the most part today.

I drove it in the rough on the first hole, and maybe only one other time the rest of the day. And so I stayed away from most of the bogeys because of that.

Q. Number of putts. Do you have any idea?

BRUCE LIETZKE: I have no idea.

Q. The guy that was with you said that you came close several times.

BRUCE LIETZKE: I did. I hit really good putts. I had it all around the lip. My speed was good, lag putting was good. But, again, my putts today that went in the hole that meant anything was a four foot birdie putt and two, two footers.

Q. You mentioned the wind and the fact that you like to hit the ball high. How difficult is it going to be for people to hit it like that to try it find these greens, maybe especially downwind on holes like 7 which will likely play down wind in the wind?

BRUCE LIETZKE: That's the genius of this golf course. And it's probably a reason a lot of us really enjoy playing golf courses like this. It's taken the emphasis away from power. There's a lot of strategy off the tee. You don't just grab a driver on this golf course. I hit I think I only hit about four drivers all day. It can be a 3 wood. Now the wind is switching. It's been north for two days and it's trying to come back out of the south, and it's a real strategic kind of golf course, especially off the tee, and we kind of like that.

I don't really care too much for golf courses where you just blindly grab a driver for every par 4 and par 5. You got to think your way around this golf course. So it's why it's still one of migrate, it's one of the greatest courses I think in the world.

Q. Having won this before, can you talk about the marathon affect. It's only day one, but talk about the grind and what it's like to golf four rounds and post a good score?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yeah, you know, we have well, especially now that I've been playing the Champions Tour for about five years now I'm beginning to say I'm conditioned to play three day tournaments. I played 26 years on the PGA TOUR and it took me awhile to go from four day tournaments to three day, and now I'm thinking three days, I'm about ready to go home. So this is a long week, especially under these kind of conditions.

But that's one of the challenges. It's also one of the rewards. When you win a big tournament like this, you remember that grind, you remember the pressure you were under and it gives you that special feeling.

Q. Have you figured out a strategy for off the tee yet?

BRUCE LIETZKE: No, because it's a very reactionary kind of thing. You got to figure out what the wind is doing, especially because it's starting to turn 180 degrees from our practice rounds. 18 was almost into the wind the last couple of days, and now it's starting to be downwind and crosswind.

So, no, I don't think there is any strategy. You got to it's going to play a lot different each day. I played in the morning today, there was still moisture on the ground. It will be hot and dry at 1:30, whatever time I play tomorrow, so, no, I don't think strategies play into the hands, especially because we weren't able to develop a strategy at least with a south wind, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Now, some of the guys played Monday and they might have seen a south wind. But I was really having to work hard, had the yardage book out a lot today. Changing clubs just like I did on 18 and several other times. Several times today I hit tee shots with different clubs than I hit the last two practice rounds. So it's I don't personally think there's any kind of a set strategy, you're going to have to just react to what the conditions are each day. My reactions today were pretty good and I got under par. But you got to still think your way around the next three rounds.

Q. Do you feel pretty fortunate to be an honorary member of a golf course like this?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yeah, I'm real lucky to have played this golf course probably more than anybody else in the field. And I'm a Kansas boy to start with, and so it feels great to come back to your home state. It's pretty cool to have, I think, one of the all time greatest golf courses in the world just down from my back door in Wichita where I you lived until I was nine.

Not many people know about it and, you know, that's okay by me. You see that small parking lot out there, this golf course is never crowded and that's a fun way to play.

End of FastScripts.