April 19, 2004

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Kevin Long, the 2001 Honoree trying to win his first Open Championship wire-to-wire, made his first step backward last weekend in Charleston, SC with several double-bogeys on the front and back nines where he shot 93 and 91 strokes. His poor rounds makes news only because he continues to struggle each season.

But Hevy Joesph believes his problems are purely mental and is now expecting the tide to turn.  "All my game is geared to warming up for the 2004 Spackler," said Hevy on Friday before returning home to Virginia Beach.

"If you put your game on a level of one to 10 and you get there only five, it will be dragged down to three by all the pressure on you," he said.  "So you need to go there on a level of 10 if you can. That's what I'm working to."

"Taking a break was great because it enabled me to sit back and look at what I'd done over four years. But I also got into a comfort zone and it's been difficult to get focused this year," he said.

"Now I've recognized all this, I have half a chance of turning things around. It's not going to work unless I want it to, though. I want it to."