U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 11, 1997

Nick Faldo

NICK FALDO: I think it was entitled "Leadbetter Does Washington." It's a hell of a movie. Yes, it's an HBO special that we're doing, late night special. Actually, that's normal. As you know, he likes to work with a camera to, you know, check things out, slow the swing down so he gets a good look at it, you know. If you're swinging well, it's hopefully only very minor things that are, you know, can be tweaked to make things a little bit better or, you know, minute changes so, you know, things are going well. He's helped me. We're just trying to get a little better. The reason he's touching my body is we're trying to get a better left knee position. My left knee sort of goes too far towards the right. So, basically I'm trying to keep it same location and even let it come up a little bit, which helps me.

LES UNGER: So you then retire to some room where you can analyze the video together and try to work on it?

NICK FALDO: Yeah, we do that all the time. You know, that's a standard practice. I hit a dozen balls. They film me from four different angles. We go back and look at it. It's a much, much quicker way. I get the feedback. I can say right. We can go back and work on that. So, gone are the days of hitting a thousand balls to make a little change. You hit a dozen balls now and you can start changing things right away.

LES UNGER: Talk a little bit about Congressional, if you will.

NICK FALDO: It's just a very good, long, solid, honest, you know, it's all-in-front-of-you golf course. I mean, there's no -- you know, there's no surprises. There's no trick holes. It's a good, solid golf course. It's a good blend. There's some, as we know, very long holes. There's 6 and 10 and a few other holes are very long. There's no real letups. There's no easy holes. Even the short ones have very -- you know, tighter pins, so it's going to demand a lot of good -- just good, solid play for the whole week. It's as simple as that.

LES UNGER: We'll take questions, please.

Q. Nick, you were obviously disappointed with your finish last Sunday. A lot of good came out of last week, didn't it?

NICK FALDO: Yeah, you know, I putted an awful lot better. It was good to get in that position, you know, made mistakes coming in this week, didn't feel as good. That's why we've been working on the leg. It's as simple as that. As the pressure gets on, it accentuates any faults. You know, we were able to go straight to work on that. You know, called Lead straight away Sunday night and said, Let's get out there Monday and get working on it correctly straight-away. So, I've been doing that, and it feels, you know -- I feel that's, you know, I've made some improvements there, that's going to, you know, be good for this week.

Q. Anyway, you called Dave Sunday night, he didn't come here early?

NICK FALDO: Who's that?

Q. David Leadbetter.

NICK FALDO: He was already here.

Q. Oh, he was here?

NICK FALDO: Oh, yeah, he was here. I was trying to track him down and just get him out there.

Q. How does this golf course fit your game and your game fit this golf course?

NICK FALDO: Well, it's a demanding driving golf course. You know, we all know about the rough. The rough is very severe. It's very consistent, so, if you drive in that, you know, it's getting down to the stage, there's very few lucky spots or thin spots where you might be able to go for the green. But, generally, you know, you're going to have to be playing out and hitting in from wherever, you know, 1800 yards for the shot. You know, I'm happy with the golf course. It suits the way I play. It's a, you know, I think it definitely -- favors this style of golf course, so I'm more than happy with it.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about 6 and 10. They're converted par 5s. I know yesterday Greg said that if the situation wasn't right, he might even lay up on 6. Does a converted par 5 maybe get a player to -- force a player to take a risk that he wouldn't normally take?

NICK FALDO: Well, they're obviously shorter, so they're within the full -- personally, I think 6 would have looked a nice par 5 if we'd gone back, whatever, because the front right pins would have been a great pin for, you know, a third shot. And then in the back corner, I know I was trying to hit a 3-iron in the back corner yesterday and you're landing on a down slope, so it's not really a par 4 hole. It should have been a, you know, just in range -- I mean, it's a great two-shot par 5. I mean, 10 is okay. 10's, from the tee we are playing, it looks like a normal, tough 4. But, as I said, 6, I think, would have been -- they could have kept the same.

Q. Nick, there's been a lot of talk about the attention, the crowd, the gallery that Tiger's received here and other tournaments. Obviously, you played with him at The Masters. Any anecdotes or anything unusual about the crowd or the accommodation other players have to make that are playing with him because of the excessive noise or the stampeding or whatever?

NICK FALDO: No. No problem at all.

Q. Nick, if you have to win one more title, or only one more title, would it be a U.S. Open, and why is it the one you want most?

NICK FALDO: Well, yeah, obviously, this is, you know, one of two I don't have, and those are very, you know, as long as I feel I've got, you know, competitive, these are the two tournaments I want to win more. I mean, it's as simple as that. And, here we are at the U.S. Open. So, this is obviously -- this is the one to concentrate on.

Q. Nick, could you talk about finishing on a par 3 and just your thoughts on that hole.

NICK FALDO: Well, I think it's a great hole. I mean, especially 17 before it, I think it will -- there's an awful lot of permutations in your state of position, since you're on the 72nd hole, you know, if you're leading or by how many or if you're trailing or whatever or whatever you need, it's going to create a -- it's a big-decision shot. I mean, if they put the pin down the left side, you know, really it's -- you know, you'll be playing -- you still have to hit a great shot. I played a 4-iron yesterday, so it's not as if it's a little, you know, an easy 9-iron across the water. It's just hitting it in the middle of the green is a hell of a shot. So, I think you're going to see that's really the play. But unless you needed a 2 to tie, I mean, then your big decision is whether to go for it or whether you could trust making a 25-foot putt across from the middle of the green. So I think it would be interesting.

Q. How do you feel about finishing on the par 3? I mean, just another hole?

NICK FALDO: I'm very happy with it. It's a great hole.

Q. Nick, do you feel that people are making too much of the length of this golf course? I mean, how is it going to differ from other U.S. Opens? People really are making a big deal about this.

NICK FALDO: Well, I think it's the longest, isn't it? There's a few holes -- I've played -- as it's slowly drying out now, it's getting better, but, you know, I played in practice and we've got the third hole -- sorry, the second hole was a wood, a 3-wood, you've got the third, I hit a driver -- hit a driver r 3-irons or 4-irons into that one. We all know about 6. I mean, driving a 3-iron has been my shortest club I've hit at that. You've got two monster par 5s. 10th hole, shortest I've hit there is a 3-iron so far. That's before you get to the tough part. Then the run in, I mean, they've got 480 17th hole. I mean, it's long. It's not -- you know, normally there's -- you know, you're in the 6-iron, 4-iron, 3-iron range a lot on this golf course, more than anywhere else. So, I think we're justified by saying it's long.

Q. Is everyone going to have to make an adjustment here, every player on the field?

NICK FALDO: Well, not really. You can't make an adjustment. You can't do any more than hit a solid tee shot and play it. You can't say, oh, I'll hit it 40 yards over this week. I mean, you've just got to -- but the way the golf course is designed, it's very fair. The long irons you can feed in from the front of the green, you're going to be happy 20 feet under the hole. That's what you're trying to do. This is going to be a, you know, just keep the ball in the right position week.

Q. You've been in the situation before, similar to Tiger this year. People have speculated about the Grand Slam. You had a year in '90 when you won two of them. Is it realistic and is it fair to a player to talk about that?

NICK FALDO: Well, it's realistic because it's all possible. As we obviously must know, it's pretty difficult because nobody has done it, so -- but it's as simple as that. It's possible. Obviously the pressure of -- the pressure of just getting your game timed right to win one major is pretty impressive, you know; two, you've got to get your game absolutely spots on. Everybody else is going to be affected for a four-month spell. You know, as we all know, it's a pretty difficult feeling. As the pressure goes with the media, if anybody does start getting closer, you know, I'm sure the media will be pretty intense. That could upset you, as well. So, it's probably making it more difficult as time goes by. I told you we would wear them out.

LES UNGER: You're sure? Okay. Nick, thank you.

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