Player Diary: John Harris

John Harris, the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion and member of four Walker Cup teams, is playing in his first U.S. Senior Open. After shooting a 4-over 75 in the first round, he shared his thoughts with www.ussenioropen.com:

Coming into this week I wasn't sure exactly how I would play, as this is only my second event as a professional. Last week, in my first event on the Senior PGA Tour, the State Farm Senior Classic, I shot 77-74-70 and finished tied for 63rd.

Today, I expected to play a little better after the 70 in the final round last week. My game plan coming in was to play even on the 10th through 18th holes and try to take advantage on the front nine.

My round started on the 10th and everything was going as planned through the first six holes as I hit 4-out-of-4 fairways off the tee and 3-out-of-6 greens. When I missed a green I got up and down for par.

The problems started on the 16th, my seventh hole. I three-putted and that was the start of my putting woes for the rest of the day. I missed the fairway and green on the difficult 18th and made the turn at 2-over par after going bogey-par-bogey.

While I made a couple of mistakes on the back side and didn't have a very good day with my putter, the front nine -- my second nine -- was worse. I ended up driving it poorly on the easier side and made three bogeys in a row between the fourth and sixth holes that just compounded my frustration.

The heat was not a factor for me today, but I was literally beat before I got to the greens.

Looking back I think I was a little cautious on some of the holes. I hope that tomorrow I will be a little more comfortable with the surroundings and my game.

I like the golf course, but haven't had too many low scores since the changes. Back when I played it in the Mid-Am in 1995 I shot the course record, 67 in the first round of stroke play. It is definitely a golf course that sets up for my game pretty well.