U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 2000

Hale Irwin

HALE IRWIN: There is room for more in my house. I am very pleased with the results. Obviously, I think more pleased that I had set out -- not with a game plan, because game plans, they sort of come and go, and they float around there. But I think I did pretty much what I wanted to do early: Get off to a good solid start. Little did I anticipate that Bruce would bogey the first, but that was -- if there was a turning point, it had to be at the first hole, simply because he is just too good a player to ever -- no one could ever predict that he would make 6 there, particularly with a good drive. So from there on, it was, you know: Keep going; keep doing my thing; keep trying to hit the ball close. And my irons were once again right on the beam, and a lot of short birdie putts. And I never really felt like I was going to beat myself, which is part of the equation. If you are in that kind of position to have a chance to win, you certainly don't want to go beat yourself. You want your opponent or opponents to do that. I just did not do it and just kept on a real steady stream of good iron shots.

HALE IRWIN: You keep handing me this thing, and I cannot read it. I will put it down there. The first hole, I drove it in the right rough, not particularly an auspicious start. Hit 4-iron out there, and I am 123 yards from the hole. And I hit a 9-iron -- just a short little 9-iron to within about six feet of the hole. And I made mine after Bruce had missed his, so there was the quick 2-shot swing. I played the second hole nicely, with a drive and a 6-iron to within about twelve feet of the hole, and lipped that one out. 3, I got away with a bad iron. The way they cut the fairways out there, you get some lies that are sort of into the grain, some not -- are down grain, and I had a real tough into-the-grain shot, and I didn't want to hit it heavy. So I tried to pick it a little bit, and I picked it real badly. But I did get it up there near the hole. I 2-putted it from the edge of the green. Made a great shot at the 4th. Just a little 6-iron up real high, and hit on the ridge behind the hole and rolled down about six feet from the hole; made that for birdie. Bruce missed his -- comparable length. So there, again, was kind of a big turn. Hit a good drive and a great 8-iron -- excuse me, 9-iron at the 5th hole, so within about four feet; made that for birdie. The par 5, and a good drive and poor lay-up; laid it up over into the right rough. But I drew a good lie from there, I hit a 9-iron to, I suppose about seven feet. Bruce and I were just inches apart. He made his, and I made mine. So it kind of kept my momentum going. We both made tremendous 2-putts at the 7th hole from the right edge, sort of up and over and down and -- you know, after I had hit my putt, I felt like I got the upperhand here. And, gosh, if he didn't knock it down there almost as close as I did .... 8th hole, I hit a good shot about ten feet; missed that, 2-putted 9 for a par. 10, I played well - missing about a 15-foot birdie putt. About the same length at 11, I missed. These are not easy putts, by the way, so I am not unhappy missing these. Just gives you an idea of how close they were. 12, I did birdie. I hit a 3-wood off the tee and a 3-iron lay-up. A 9-iron third shot to within about six feet of the hole; making that. 2-putted, lipped one out at 13 for birdie. Thought I made that one and didn't. Now I am thinking with a two-shot lead, if I can just get one of these down here pretty quickly, it will make it that much more difficult. But I just couldn't get it down. Bruce made a fabulous par at 14. I thought I might go 3-up there, but, gosh, he stiffed that third shot. Now I am just off the green to the right with a pretty delicate pitch shot. I pitched it about four feet from the hole. Made that for a par. Then I missed a very difficult 6-footer. If there are difficult 6-footers, I had one at the 15th hole. At 16, hit another good iron right behind the hole about ten feet. Another difficult putt, however, it is down the hill; missed that. But at 17, I hit a 7-iron. I hit it a little bit too easy. But it just cleared the bunker and rolled up there on the putting surface about ten feet from the hole, and I did make that. So that gave me the 3-shot lead that I was looking for earlier. And so I played the last hole a little less aggressively than I might ordinarily. Hit 4-wood off the tee, 5-iron second shot. 2-putted for a 4.

HALE IRWIN: By the way, those of you that came out there and watched, thank you for coming. I know you were walking and you were walking.

HALE IRWIN: I guess my eyes may have gotten this big. I tried to disguise it by pulling my cap down. I was shocked. I don't know. What did Bruce say? I mean, I don't know what his thinking was. I just felt like he was so far away that awfully early in the day with a two-shot lead to try that shot. It just brought trouble into play. Unless you could -- I think he felt like he could knock it on the green or knock it very close.

HALE IRWIN: That is pretty early.

HALE IRWIN: But you got to commit yourself to an awfully hard swing. And boy, that chute in there is very, very narrow. So I like the pressure he put on me. I was a bit surprised. But you know, I think sometimes you have to go with some gut instincts. That is what they were. It didn't work this time; it may next time. But I dare say, I bet if he was in the same position, he won't do it again.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I think you spell it: E-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e - you have to underline it, and you have to be there. You don't go train for it; you don't go practice it. You don't go buy some at the store. It's immeasurable. It is a quantity it is hard to define. Only way you get experience is to be there and to make mistakes. I have made my share of them. But you learn from those mistakes, you just hope you are not too old to learn. In this case, Bruce I think made a tactical error there at the first hole, but he didn't play badly today. Outside of that I think he played with. We both hit some squirrelly shots. But he didn't play the kind of game that he has been playing but my goodnecessary, the golf course wasn't playing that easy either. I just played exceptionally well the last two days. Without my play, he is the winner. He didn't play badly, it is just that one mistake. Those can kill you.

HALE IRWIN: Well, 1998 I start out with a 77 on the first round, so was sort of like way, way back there, so what I needed to do in 1998 was to get myself together and quit beating myself and just really forget about what scores I had to shoot, but just don't play the kind of game I had been playing. And just literally close the curtain and just get tunnel vision and play. There were so many people ahead of me in 1998 and it just does -- as each hole kept going, I kept passing a few, passing a few, passing a few; then it got down to-I remember talking to Raymond Floyd, we were walking down the 15th hole at Riviera or 14th hole I said: Raymond, we better be making some birdies. Sure enough, I am the guy that made the birdies at 16 and 18. So a little different mindset than this one where the only thing that was really going to affect, I think, Bruce or myself is if one of us went out and beat ourselves, just kind of got lost in the shuffle in the beginning and neither one of us did. I think -- he just made the error at the first hole, but outside of that he played well. I just had -- I got the 2-shot swing real quickly; now it is matter of: Okay, keep my game going, keep my pressure going, and see if he can match that. If I can keep it up, then I will feel very good coming into the last nine. All I have said is give me a chance to win going into the last nine holes.

HALE IRWIN: Well, it was -- I really kind of avoided looking at the scoreboard because I didn't want to get caught up in what the other players were doing because I was still trying to do my thing, but I think after the three birdies in a row at 4, 5 and 6, then I snuck a peak at the scoreboard to see what Kite and maybe some of the other players were doing and they were sort of holding their own. So then it became between Bruce and I. Because I had been in that position where you think all I have to do is beat this guy and here comes somebody from around the corner. So I didn't want to get caught there. But no one was making that kind of move. I wasn't hearing any of the roars up ahead of us that would indicate some low scores or birdies being made, so then it really kind of became a shot-for-shot thing with Bruce.

HALE IRWIN: Oh, no. Don't need to do that. Don't I have just a terrific stare? Menacing, isn't it? No, not at all.

HALE IRWIN: Am I supposed to?

HALE IRWIN: Conventional wisdom -- so those that say that may not be so conventionally wise (inaudible) if we are going to attach numbers to -- I don't buy it. I think there is certainly a time period that you may be less effective than you were before, but if somebody is going to tell me at the age of 55 you are not going to play golf anymore, I am going to go -- I just don't buy into that.

HALE IRWIN: I am glad to be there, absolutely. First of all, I want to be the United States Senior Open Champion first and foremost, but secondly, continue playing in the U.S. Opens and I am very proud of that. USGA Championships have been the hallmark of my whole career so why not continue it.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I think there is certainly a difference, just the obvious difference of format. The four rounds versus the normal three. The golf courses are prepared in a fashion that is more difficult than you might find in a normal Tour event. I think the game itself is featured more than the players are featured and I think that is important. I think keeping the game intact and keeping the integrity of the game going and walking and not having carts and -- all sorts of things, you know, there is 30 some odd tournaments that are three-day events and regular -- like you mentioned regular events, there is just a handful of the special events. That is what I like to get myself ready to play and I look forward to playing in those. I think my game rises to that level.

HALE IRWIN: Is that what it was? Really? Hot dog. We can eat hamburgers tonight. Forget the hot dogs. We got hamburgers. No, I really didn't. That is -- but I do think -- you see, it was not the money. When you say it is not the money, I don't want to say -- I don't -- I don't even think about that. It is playing for the championships. If you start thinking about how much money you are going to win or how much you lost or something then you are playing in the wrong direction. I think that is -- that is sort of what we are referring to with -- I think your question, Jerry, is the championships are important and if you play well and those become the important issues in your career, then the other things will follow. But no, I didn't. I think golf has come a long ways. The face of golf in today's game, just looking at the people out here, we had the little kids out there to the older people. We are getting a real cross-section on the SENIOR TOUR. We are seeing a real cross-section of people. They are not just the generic crowd. It is a much younger cross-section that we are seeing. I think the state of the game is in great shape. I think it is somewhat in part to Tiger, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson are putting on a great show. I think golf is just doing very, very well.

HALE IRWIN: I think it is. As you age and your priorities may or may not change; your direction may or may not change, but I think you go through some evaluation of where you have been; where you want to go and how much time you have to do the things that you want to do. Spending time with your family, and the other issues in one's life that are maybe a little more important than playing golf. But golf has always been part of me. It is part of the marrow of my bone, but that doesn't mean that I am going to play 25 or 30 events, you know, I am probably at the 20 or 21 level this year and next year maybe a few less. I am just sort of slowly weighing each year as they come. But I enjoy playing. There is nothing I enjoy more so than being out there having a chance. Going out and playing for 15th or 20th doesn't do much for me.

HALE IRWIN: I don't think it is just Bruce. I think Gil and I'd had a pretty good go of it last few years and Bruce last year. But the constant there is I am part of the equation so that quickens the step; keeps things lively and that is fun. If it was ever a point to where I didn't feel I could contribute and be a part of that and raise my own energy level, then I'd look at it differently.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I don't know if it was a conscious decision, whereas much as it was my game just sort of seemed to evolve or revolve, if you wish, around some of the harder golf courses. The reputation through the years is: He plays the harder golf courses better. You can probably take that story line and say okay that means U.S. Open; that means PGA; that means some of the bigger events. That is sort of where it sort of evolved. It wasn't necessarily a conscious decision a long time ago, but it has certainly become that. When you go through one and in '74 at Winged Foot we all staggered out of there feeling like we had all been run over and you see the benefits, not just the monetary benefits, but to your confidence, and to what you have done in the game, you have risen to the peak, at least that one week, and you want to do it again. There is a high to that that is unlike any other. Then that becomes the thing you strive for.

HALE IRWIN: I won't bet it against me. I never want to underestimate my opponent. I never, ever do that. But then again, I never want to underestimate my own abilities either. I think that is a balance that you have to find and especially with a guy like Bruce who has proven he can play. He is not any quick flash in the pan. He is a player and -- maybe this experience next time, you know, I would look to Bruce maybe two weeks from now at the Ford. He has got the game. Certainly has the game for it. And sometimes all he needs is that little boost in confidence, that little boost in experience, but I have had a good record in Match Play. I feel confident this was not necessarily Match Play, but it kind of was and I am not uncomfortable with that.

HALE IRWIN: I go back and -- my career has been defined by USGA Championships, three Opens and two U.S. Senior Opens, so very much a part of my life. Very much a part of my career. If there is a tournament to win on the SENIOR TOUR, this is it for me.

HALE IRWIN: Well, I think it really showed up at Winged Foot in 1974 simply because that was the first win. That was probably the most difficult golf course I have ever played where weather was not a problem. We had a week very much like what we had this week, fine weather, but, boy, was that course hard, but when you look at the size that I am, I am maybe shaped a little differently, but about the same size, I had to do something a little better. I had to focus better. I had to do something better than the next guy and I think that certainly carried over and I think it showed why I was winning at Harbour Town; why I was winning at Winged Foot and Pinehurst and those courses, I would maybe just not allow myself to back out of it and say well, I can't do this. I don't believe in that. There maybe times that I am not able to do it, but I don't believe that there is something that you know, realistic goals I think are very important. I want -- they are lofty goals, but I want to be able to always strive to reach those goals.

HALE IRWIN: Thank you.