U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 2, 2000

Tom Kite

TOM KITE: Obviously we knew that we were going to have to go low, and Hale seemed to be the only one that was able to put up the numbers early on. The front nine is the nine where you really have to do your scoring, because the greens are so much more difficult on the back nine. And, you know, Bruce and I both got off to a very slow start on the front nine. That really is the difference. Hale played well obviously on the front, and just hung on from that point on. Obviously, he was -- he is a great player. And we knew it was going -- he was going to be tough to beat. Bruce and I just weren't up to the task today.

TOM KITE: Yeah, I never seemed to have the speed today. I hit a lot of putts on the putting green this morning. Putting green seemed very, very fast. And then I got out on the golf course, and they weren't quite as fast or I didn't seem to have the speed. It was only on the back nine when I started getting the ball to the hole that I started hitting some putts. Looked like they had a chance to go in, but I was just short on a lot of putts that I felt like I hit pretty good putts on. 9 wasn't a bad stroke. It was just weak. It just needed some speed, and certainly that hurt. I left a birdie putt short on 7. Left a birdie putt just a little short on 5. Par-putt on 2; left just a little short. Just never quite had the speed on the front nine, and I don't know whether the putting green was that much faster or whether I just didn't adjust very well. But suffice to say, I didn't make anything on the front nine and very little on the back.

TOM KITE: Strategy stayed the same. I knew we were going to have to make a lot of birdies. We felt like with the greens as soft as they were, there were still going to be some good scores shot out there. Not that 69 is a bad score. But when you have got a guy that is shooting 5- or 6-under, you have got to try to match him. Hale would have been a tough man to beat, but it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if one of us could have put a little heat on him and put a little pressure on him and done something. Obviously, we weren't able to do that.

TOM KITE: Well, yeah. I mean, I needed to get something going. The bogey at 2 hurt, but I came right back with the birdie at 3. I felt okay at that point. I just knew that I needed to get going. And then when I didn't birdie 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 -- all having great opportunities -- I mean, those were the key holes in my round, the ones that caused the most frustration, because I had hit inside 15 feet on every one of those holes and was not able to convert. You got to make some of those if you are going to win.

TOM KITE: Well, you would think it would. Again, I think we are all very surprised at the way the scores went this week. Saucon Valley is a wonderful golf course, and it is just a shame that the rain came early in the week and softened up the golf course so much. It made it much easier to drive the ball in the fairway, and then obviously much easier to hold the greens. That is why the scores went down. But I certainly hope the USGA doesn't hold it against Saucon, because I think this is a wonderful test. And golly, the job they did here, you know -- the attendance that was out here -- I think this is a wonderful venue for the Senior Open. I hope they come back.