CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 23, 2002

Jonathan Kaye

TODD BUDNICK: Welcome, Jonathan Kaye. Final round even par 70 today, also runner-up. Jonathan, I guess let's start with some comments. I guess when Phil plays like he does today with 64, it's tough to compete with.

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah. I had plenty of opportunities though and just couldn't shake a putt in when I needed to. That was the difference.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's take some questions from out there.

Q. Jonathan, did you expect that last putt to break?

JONATHAN KAYE: I was hoping it would break. Actually, I didn't hit a very good putt. It hopped up in the air when I hit it, and I was trying to just hit it two balls outside the hole and feed it in there.

Q. Jonathan, with all the amphitheater of like 15, 16, 17 and you can see what Phil or Davis are doing up there, is it hard to keep your concentration of hearing a roar or a groan here and there?

JONATHAN KAYE: Actually, it's kind of fun not having to rely looking on a scoreboard. I was standing on the 16th tee and I saw Phil missed -- I don't know, looked like he probably 3-putted. I saw him hit it out of the bunker on 17 to the back edge or just over and he had a short putt too. I heard that.

You know, I had an opportunity right after that. I had just missed one on 15 and had a great, great look at it on 16, but left it short and that was it.

Q. Is it hard to keep your focus though, you see him 3-putt and think, bogey? Do you try to block out everything else and think, "This is what I have to do"?

JONATHAN KAYE: Maybe. I don't know. It didn't bother me at the time. It didn't bother me hitting the shot. Maybe putting.

Q. How far was the putt you mentioned on 16?

JONATHAN KAYE: 16, I had like a 10-footer straight up the hill, 12-footer. 6-footer on 15 and a 4-footer on 14.

Q. And maybe you were better off not using the putter like on 13?

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah. That was very nice. That was a big shoot for me. I had a full sand wedge in, and I knew it would probably spin back, but I'm glad it went in the hole because it was trucking. It would have gone off the green close to the water.

Q. Were you aware that it had --

JONATHAN KAYE: Oh, yeah. I would have liked to have hit it with less spin and hit the same shot but, you know, it was into the wind and it was a full shot, so I knew it was going to be coming back. I was just hoping I could hit it far enough past the hole so I could stop it before that ledge.

Q. What did you hit and how far out were you?

JONATHAN KAYE: I had 89 yards to the pin with some wind, and I hit a sand wedge.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through your other holes. You had the bogey on 5.

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah. Toe-whipped it right and chipped it up there about 10 feet and pulled the putt, bogey.

TODD BUDNICK: 7, birdie?

JONATHAN KAYE: 7, yeah. That was a good birdie. Hit a sand wedge from 121 down wind to about 12 feet and made it. That was I think the only putt I made today.

TODD BUDNICK: 9, bogey?

JONATHAN KAYE: 3-putt, 20 feet.

TODD BUDNICK: And the bogey on 14?

JONATHAN KAYE: Pin-high left, chipped it up there 4 feet, missed it.

TODD BUDNICK: It was your first time playing with the lead in competition, Jonathan. You were in it right till the end there. You have to be happy, obviously not thrilled with the outcome, but you performed admirably today.

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah, I hung in there. I'm a bit disappointed in my performance. Would like to change a few of my putts is the only thing I'd like to change.

Q. Were you surprised by how comfortable and confident you felt? Were you surprised by anything?

JONATHAN KAYE: Yeah. I mean, I was kind of surprised that I felt that comfortable out there. I wasn't real comfortable standing on the 1st tee, but once I hit that one down the middle, I was off and rolling and I felt at ease.

Q. John, what did you hit out of the bunker on 18?

JONATHAN KAYE: I wasn't actually in the bunker. I was between the bunkers. And I hit a 7-iron from 196 to the pin downwind.

TODD BUDNICK: Do we have anything else? All right. Thank you, Jonathan.

JONATHAN KAYE: Thank, guys.

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