THE MODERATOR: Ladies and
gentlemen, we are very pleased to welcome 2012 U.S. Senior Open Champion Roger
Chapman to the Media Center. Roger shot
4 under 66 in the final round of the championship. He finished 10 under for the U.S. Senior
Open.
In May, Roger won the Senior PGA
championship.
This is getting to be a habit with
you, huh? Talk about what it feels like
to win back‑to‑back majors.
ROGER CHAPMAN: Well, it hasn't sunk in yet, but very, very
special. I believe there are only three
other guys that have done a double with the U.S. PGA and the U.S. Open. And to be in Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and
Hale Irwin's footsteps is a true honor.
THE MODERATOR: Let's quickly go over your card, and then
we'll open up to questions. You birdied
No. 2.
ROGER CHAPMAN: Yes.
Had a 20 degree rescue off the tee, hit a 9 iron to three feet and holed
that. Pars all the way around until the
8th hole.
I hit 3 wood off the tee, wedged it
to about 15 feet. Had a pretty much
straight downhill putt to hole that.
THE MODERATOR: 11.
ROGER CHAPMAN: 11, really good drive. Pitched again past the hole, but it was a
pretty straight putt. All I had to do
was get it moving, and it rolled into the hole.
Fourteen, good drive down the left‑hand
side. Again, above the hole. So another ten‑foot downhill.
And then 17, I hit my career shot, 5
iron to within six inches. So I thought,
after that, the worst you could do was be in the playoff. It was pretty special, that shot.
THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up to questions.
Q.
Roger, when you're 4 back beginning play today, Bernhard Langer up there
on top, did you have a number in mind?
Were you surprised how quickly he came back in the field?
ROGER CHAPMAN: I felt if I could get to double digits, you might
have a sniff because it was quite breezy out there at times.
I looked back on the scoreboard at
the 2nd green, the 3rd green, and Bernhard had dropped two in the first
two. I don't know whether he made it the
first two holes, bogey, bogey, or double.
So all of a sudden he's back to 8, and I'm 7. So I thought, wow, it's game on.
There was a whole bunch of
guys. John Huston was up there, Fred
Funk was making a move. So it was going
to turn out to be a really good afternoon's golf.
Q.
Roger, first of all, when do you buy the house in Michigan?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Very soon.
Q.
Congratulations.
ROGER CHAPMAN: Thank you.
Q.
Also, what was your shot on 18 from the rough? I saw a little fist pump. What iron was that? What was your distance?
ROGER CHAPMAN: That was a 6 iron. I had 181 to the front off the tee shot, and
pitch was on 37. So 218.
It was just in a slight flying line
downhill, and I thought anywhere on the green, and it was a bonus to get over
like the second hump and to be within some 25 feet. It was another really good golf shot.
Q.
Roger, when things got tight there on the back nine, how much were you
able to draw on experience with the PGA?
ROGER CHAPMAN: It was a huge amount. I just kept saying to myself, look, you've
done this before. I was actually
surprised and enjoying it because I was in the mix again, which was good.
I wanted to prove to myself and to
other people that Benton Harbor wasn't a one‑off event. That was in the back of my mind also.
I have to say I was enjoying it
because I knew that I was swinging the club nicely. I was hitting crisp iron shots. So it was good fun.
Q.
You said it's an honor to join those legends of the game, pulling off
this feat. Could you just expound on
that, just kind of where you've come from, where a year ago a lot of people
didn't know your name, and now anybody following golf does.
ROGER CHAPMAN: It's been a huge and fast rise. Basically, I was sort of a journeyman pro on
the European Tour. 25 years, one
victory. Loads of seconds, but I was
always the journeyman.
I can't put my finger on why I won
at Benton Harbor and why I won here. I'm
just more confident in my golf swing.
Been working with my coach, Gavin Christie. We've been working on, obviously, things, and
he basically says I'm not high maintenance.
You just got to hit the ball as late as possible. That's all he says to me.
To be in the company of such great
golfers ‑‑ Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin and Gary Player ‑‑ is a huge,
huge honor.
Q.
Great tournament this week and seven weeks ago, Roger. After 16 with that bogey, what was your
thought process? What did you use on 17?
ROGER CHAPMAN: I pretty much thought ‑‑ I'd gone back
to 9, and I thought, well, if I finish par, par, I thought the worst would be a
playoff. So my caddie Kevin, we just
concentrated on finishing 3, 4, and somebody would have to make either a birdie
at 17 or a birdie at 18 to get into a playoff.
We chose the club 5 iron, just a
little sort of holed it into the breeze a bit, and it just pitched on the
upslope perfectly and just rolled up to within six inches. I have to say that was my best shot ever
played.
Q.
Roger, can you expound a little bit about winning twice in the state of
Michigan? Is it more than a
coincidence? You did it on two really
completely different courses.
ROGER CHAPMAN: I can't put my finger on it. It's just everybody involved in both
tournaments have been fantastic, all the volunteers. They just make you feel so welcome.
It's almost like coming home to
Scotland with the Scottish feel to the clubhouse and the golf course here. As I said, everybody's just been so wonderful
and supportive and helpful. The people
can't do enough for you. They've been
wonderful people.
Q.
Had you been here before May?
ROGER CHAPMAN: No.
No, never been to Michigan.
Q.
And did anybody put that Pure Michigan thing in your head, or did you
just see it watching commercials?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Just saw it watching TV. Just came to me when I finished on 18. Somebody said you like Michigan? Just Pure Michigan. Just came to me. Switching the light bulb on.
No, it's a terrific place, love it.
THE MODERATOR: The advertising seems to be working.
Q.
This is a little off the beaten path, but I read somewhere where you
were a European Tour rules official.
ROGER CHAPMAN: I quit the main tour end of 2006, and
obviously, I wanted to play senior golf.
So I had sort of three years to wait.
The European Tour approached me
early on and said would you like to do some refereeing on the Senior Tour. I turned them down once, couldn't get the
sort of company days that I wanted to do going, and David Gallo from the
European Tour asked me again. I thought,
well, I'll have a go and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Very boring sitting on a buggy for
13 hours a day, but the good part of it was doing course setup. Really enjoyed doing the tees and
greens. I learned a lot. And to watch from the outside of the ropes
all your mates playing inside the ropes was hard to take. So three years went quite slowly.
THE MODERATOR: To that point, are there lessons that others
can take from your success late in your career?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Yeah, I think so. With golf, we're very, very lucky to have a
Senior Tour at 50. We're very lucky to
play competitive golf until we're ‑‑ I don't know. If we keep ourselves fit, to 60, 65, whereas
no other sport you could compete against all the guys you compete against as a
20‑year‑old. You can't do that in any
other sport. So golf, we're very lucky
and privileged to play this wonderful game.
Q.
You were in Benton Harbor by yourself, but you had your wife here this
week. How special is that to have her
here for this?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Wonderful.
She's been my rock for 26 years.
We went out together, and after 17 days, I asked her to marry me. So you know how special she is.
It's wonderful that she was here.
Q.
What's her name?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Cathy with a C.
Q.
Roger, did you know much about Wilfred Reid who designed this course?
ROGER CHAPMAN: No, but I like his work. I got to the course Tuesday and just liked
the look of the field. If you look out
on the 1st fairway and see the humps and hillocks, it just reminds you of
Scotland.
With the Scottish theme, I think
he's done a wonderful job. The course
layout was excellent. The holes were in
the right place today. So I want to
thank whoever cut the holes today. Thank
you.
Q.
Cathy, C‑a‑t‑h‑y?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Yes.
Q.
When you were walking off 18, were those tears or sweat or both you were
wiping away from your cheeks?
ROGER CHAPMAN: They were tears. It's so nice that she was here. She missed the first one. We never knew that there would be one so
quickly. We never knew there would be
another one. So it was very special that
she was there. She and the boys. I haven't had a chance to ring the boys at
home yet, C.J. and Tom. I'm sure they'll
be cracking into something.
Q.
Not sure if you're aware of this, but you were very, very consistent in
all your rounds, very little separated you in your fairways, your greens, even
your scores. Is that typical of your
game? Is that something you strived to
do in this championship was to maintain that consistency throughout?
ROGER CHAPMAN: I mean, to win any championship, whether it
be a Champions Tour event or a major, Senior major, you have to have that
consistency.
In the past, I was quite good at
three rounds but not finishing off. So
to play three good rounds, the first three rounds, and then to come out on the
last day and shoot 66 shows that the consistency and the ball striking and the
short game is beginning to take fruition.
Just really looking forward to Turnberry right now.
ROGER CHAPMAN: Thank you.