Player Diary: John Harris

John Harris, 1993 U.S. Amateur champion, turned professional recently and is playing in his first U.S. Senior Open. He shot a 2-over-par 73 in the third round for a championship total 8-over 221. He talked with www.ussenioropen.com about his round:

This was a pretty easy day. The golf course was easy with little wind and the pins were fair. Despite the good scoring conditions, and while I hit the ball well, I just didn't get much out of it.

Two bad drives left cost me on the 6th and 17th holes. Going 3 over par on those two holes was pretty much why I was over par. Coming out today I fully expected to shoot 3 or 4 under and shot 2 over, so I am very disappointed in the way I scored.

On the other holes I hit the ball better, but just couldn't get anything to go, as my score reflects. I am just not playing with much confidence and I gave away a lot of shots out there, which you can't do.

Today was steadier than the last two days. Outside of the two bad drives I hit good shots, but didn't take advantage. My scoring wasn't very good today and that disappointed me because Friday my scoring was better. I hit shots better today, I know I can score, I know I can putt so that will come in the future.

My new putter didn't make much of a difference, mostly because it was still me using it. It was a different look and I hit some good putts today. I had it in the hole a couple of times and it spun out, but I felt like I had some potential today to be better and maybe tomorrow will be better yet.

I will say that I feel like I am moving in the right direction with my game. There were certainly fewer poor shots today, but it's also easier to free wheel on Saturday. The golf course was right there for the taking and I just didn't do it. It's a learning process and it is getting better, but it is getting better at a slower pace than I would like. I am still optimistic and looking forward to tomorrow.

I still believe I can put a good round together out here so I will work some more on my game today and try to get a more positive attitude and play a little more aggressively Sunday.

Gaining confidence is not easy - but what choice do you have? You have to play with confidence and trust you can hit the shots and try to hit them and go from there.

It is a learning process, but you can't force it.