MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen,
Jeff Sluman shot a 71 today and is 2 under par for the Championship.
JEFF SLUMAN: How is everybody? Phil, you feeling okay?
Q.
Feeling great.
JEFF SLUMAN: All right.
That's what I like to hear. No
problem. For you, anything. The world.
Q.
Plus 1 today. What was the
difference in ‑‑ other than the score, was there a difference in how you
struck the ball? Less putts rolled in?
JEFF SLUMAN: I hit a lot of good putts that I only made
one birdie. So obviously, I just didn't
make anything, but I had a lot of nice putts.
Frankly, I was just happy to play.
My back's in pretty bad shape.
Not hitting a shot after today's round and started really spasming up
and that.
Frankly, like I said, I was just
glad to finish. I was somewhat surprised
I was able to make 18 holes, and I'll be surprised when I make 18 tomorrow, the
way I feel right now. But that's the way
it goes.
Q.
Back been bothering you for the week?
JEFF SLUMAN: This is brand new. Never had an issue ever with this part of my ‑‑
upper left part of my back. But they
said I probably can't hurt it anymore, but it doesn't feel very good when
you're playing, I can tell you.
Q.
Yesterday you talked about how much reconnaissance you had to do in the
practice rounds. With trying to fight
the hurt that you have, did you still get some more information about the golf
course today?
JEFF SLUMAN: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And they did a wonderful job, I thought, on
setup.
You kind of look and see where some
of the pins are after two days, you're thinking, gee, I'm thinking like the
USGA. I got them all in the same spots,
we thought, and then they're thinking the same way.
But, obviously, you got to hit them
there, and then you got to make the putts.
But there's so much break involved.
You rarely get a straight putt out here.
And when you do, you really have this feeling, I got to make this one
because there's so many sleepers out there.
I played with Tom today, Lehman, and
he just played marvelously. Shot ‑‑
I think he bogeyed the last hole for 66.
He could have shot 62 or 63 easy.
He played that solid. He plays
like that the next two days, he can start the engraving.
But it was just ‑‑ it was fun
to watch him because he really just put the ball in the proper spot, drove it
beautifully, just had his ball under control all day. And that's what it takes out here.
I was a little sketchy again today,
but hopefully, I'll feel a little better tomorrow and put it in the fairway a
little more often.
Q.
Nobody seems to be running away.
There's nobody shooting 64s out there.
I mean, Tommy ‑‑
JEFF SLUMAN: 64 is a pretty good number.
Q.
Nobody is putting those together.
Seems like everybody is kind of bunched.
JEFF SLUMAN: Yeah, the golf course is, like I said, very
tricky. You can hit two quality shots
and still make bogey out there, and it's getting pretty firm and fast. The wind's coming up. So it's going to present a lot of problems in
the afternoon, as it did for us yesterday afternoon. The golf course got pretty firm, and you got
to really adjust quickly.
If it takes you two or three holes,
you can make two or three bogeys before you realize the golf course has really
turned hard and fast. So you work with
your caddie on things like that, and you got to stay patient.
Q.
How do you feel with the uncertainty of your back now?
JEFF SLUMAN: Not much I can do about it. Go into the trailer for a couple hours of ice
and whatever they prescribe, and probably the best thing for me is obviously
not to hit a single shot afterwards.
And it felt pretty good for the
first 10, 12 holes. Then just got
fatigued and tired and started getting a little dodgy out there. But hopefully, tomorrow I can get loose and
make it through the day.
Q.
Something that just came up this week?
JEFF SLUMAN: Yeah, just this week. Maybe all the travel back and forth, you
know.
Q.
We'll let you get off your feet.
JEFF SLUMAN: All right, thanks.