An interview with:
BRUCE LIETZKE

BRUCE LIETZKE: I feel like Bruce Springsteen right here; this is pretty cool. I never done this right here. I'm the other Bruce.

Yes, yes; it was great. It was a good day and my best hole of the day was my opening bogey. I made about a 12- or 15-foot downhill, lightening fast putt for that bogey. The putt probably would have gone 6, 8, 10 feet past the hole if it hadn't gone in and I was looking at either making double or triple my first hole. I was all over the place. I made this downhill slick 12-footer and that was my key hole. A double or triple to opening hole and I -- my ship could have been headed to the bottom of the sea real quick. I actually made a great bogey and it turned out to be the highlight of the day. I made several birdies after that, but that key putt on the first hole kept me going in the right direction. In fact, I know it did.

Q. But even that was a roller coaster from then on?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yes, I didn't hit many fairways today, it's a very awkward golf course for me. I played with Gil Morgan. Me and Gil did not have a driver the entire day. I hit two drivers today and shouldn't have hit one of them.

The driver is the best club in my bag. So I feel pretty fortunate to be up here and I don't particularly like my chances of being able to win this golf tournament when my best club in my bag is not going to be used. I feel lucky to be up here. My iron play was good and I made some great birdie putts today. I'm going to struggle an awful lot to leave my best club in the bag.

Q. Can you go over your birdies?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yes, bogeyed the first hole. Again made about a 12-footer for that bogey. I came back with a birdie the second hole from about eight feet. My second shot was with an 8-iron. My next bogey came on the fourth hole. Boy, I don't know what the fourth hole was.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yes, I missed the fairway with my tee shot. I had a 4-iron to the green that I couldn't get there and left it short of the green in the heavy rough, chipped way past the hole 18 feet and 2-putted for a bogey there. I bogeyed the sixth hole, the par-3. I hit a 3-iron just over the green just into the back fringe. I used the putter from the fringe but 3-putted from that area. It was actually a putt from the fringe and then two more putts for a bogey on the seventh hole.

And then my next birdie didn't come until the 13th hole. I hit a driver and a 2-iron on the green pin-high, 25 feet to the right of the pin, 2-putted for a birdie there.

I bogeyed the very next hole because -- I don't remember -- I don't remember the 14th hole.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Just before I forget the bogies, real quick, that was 13. I would have been coming back.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BRUCE LIETZKE: I came up short of the green on my second shot with an -- again, a tee shot in the rough. Second shot came up short of the green, wedged out of the heavy rough to  -- actually to the back fringe, I was not even on the green in 3 and putted through the fringe again to about six inches and tapped that in for bogey.

I birdied No. 15. My second shot was with a 6-iron. And I made a putt of about 20 feet there on 16. I'm sorry  -- on 15. And 16 hit it into the first cut of the rough. I hit a 9-iron to 22 feet, made that for birdie on 16.

18, I hit a 2-iron off the tee and a pitching wedge to one foot and made that for a closing birdie.

Q. How far away was that?

BRUCE LIETZKE: 104.

Q. I think you missed a birdie at No.  7?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yes, I missed a birdie at No.  7.

Q. Par-4 in the very back corner over the creek?

BRUCE LIETZKE: A driver -- a tee shot. Yes, in the fairway, second shot with a 7-iron and made about a 15-footer for birdie on 7.

Q. 15-footer to that green is a pretty good putt?

BRUCE LIETZKE: Yes, several of them, you know, really, 15 feet or longer on any of these putts and I made three putts outside of 15 feet. I just called it luck. Some people could call it skill. I call it luck when you make any sizable putts on these greens. I was lucky to putt from a lot of the good spots today. A lot of 2-putts from 15 to 20 feet. A lot of the putts that I made were from the correct side from below the hole and I was still lucky to make them.

Q. Playing in the U.S. Open they say par is a good score. You had eight of them; 10 non-pars; would this be a goofy Open round?

BRUCE LIETZKE: No, I had goofy; that was not goofy. It's just a real strategy golf course when you don't just grab a driver and wail away at it. So you really do have to think your way around the golf course and there is a lot of opportunities to make mistakes out there, not only if you don't hit the ball straight which is typical of a U.S. Open but now you can really miss clubs off of the tee several times, and so there is an awful lot of strategy involved, and I never seen a pro go 18 holes without hitting a driver, and I saw it today, and he has me thinking that that might be the way -- I might carry the driver out there just to have a casual water relief because it's the longest club in my bag.

You really do have to think your way around this golf course. It can all change if and when the rain comes. The strategy today just flies out the window if you have got soft, wet fairways tomorrow.

Q. It could bring the driver back out there?

BRUCE LIETZKE: It could. Even in practice rounds I was only hitting about four drivers. But yes, if it does get really wet it does probably bring the driver out on a few more holes; I would be all for that. I'm all for bringing the driver out.

Q. The last guy that did that here was John Daly; he didn't have a wood in his bag, nothing but irons?

BRUCE LIETZKE: This is where he did that? I can see why, I remember reading those headlines; I can see now why. Actually, I got a long putter so if I need casual water relief I already got the long club. I could leave the driver behind and carry a couple of extra woods. I think Gil Morgan had 5-woods in his bag today. He did carry his driver but I have seen more utility clubs and fairway woods and 7-woods and 9-woods this week than any tournament that I have ever seen.

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