June 21, 2003

ASHTABULA, OH — What if?  What if seems to be the common phrase used about Chad Long after last weekend debacle at Thunder Hill.  What if Chad played the practice round?  What if Chad would have been in bed before 3am on Thursday morning?  What if the tournament was 72 holes?  And of course, what if Chad would have made the 4 foot putt on Hole #18?

Those type of thoughts will haunt every player throughout the summer and winter as each player will begin to think, what if that would have happened to me?  With 350 days left until the next Open Championship, maybe Chad will have some answers this winter.

Chad placed 2nd in the Open with 110 points behind Tom Fowble with 112.  Chad started with a very quiet 28 points before turning in a few Tiger Woods scorecards as he continued to move up the leaderboard and make his move.  Chad scored 36 points in Round 2 as he climbed the leaderboard and hit an amazing 46 points in his final round.

"I played real well this weekend.  The plane, target line and my repeating swing just seemed to work each day and my Saturday back nine was truely remarkable", said Chad Long.  "Fowble gets too many points and I just could not catch him down the stretch."  Chad did mention one thing before leaving the player news conference.  "Fowble really sucks at putting."