Former Badger Among Leaders at U.S. Golf Open
June 17, 2004 | Men's Golf
Former Badger golfer David Roesch was the early morning leader after his first round at the 104th U.S. Golf Open at Shinnecock Hills in Long Island in New York. Roesch had five birdies and three bogies to post a two-under-par 68 and tie for third on the 6,996-yard course. With half the field still playing, Jay Hass and Shiqeki Maruyama are tied for the lead with a 66.
Roesch lettered in golf from 1994-97 at the University of Wisconsin and was the team MVP in 1997. Presently a member of the Hooters Tour, the Menomonee Falls, Wis., native played in the U.S. Amateur Pubic Links in 1996 and 1997. He won the Wisconsin State Match Play Championship in 1996 and 1997, and won the Wisconsin Ray Fischer Championship in 1997.
In professional events, he won the NGA/Hooters Tournament in Shelby, N.C., in 2002. This is the fifth time Roesch has tried to qualify for the Open and his first time making it through the qualifying round.
The following edited transcript was taken from the usopen.com site after Roesch finished his round Thursday. Logon on to the U.S. Open site for continuous updates and scoring at usopen.com.
MODERATOR: Joining us now is Mr. Roesch at 2 under for the championship.
Q. You were pretty emotional when you qualified. When was it like when you realized you were leading the U.S. Open'
DAVID ROESCH: Actually I was more emotional when I qualified for the Open just for the fact that I hadn't been playing that well, and now I get to go play in the U.S. Open. I think when I first left St. Louis there and realized I had qualified, I pretty much was breaking down into tears for about an hour or so.
This is something different. I don't know if it's hit me yet, so I don't know if I want to wake up or not.
Q Where does this rank on your thrill list '
DAVID ROESCH: This is about as high as it gets. The only other thing I've really done is won a Hooters event, a couple amateur events in Wisconsin. I don't even know if I'm still leading the Open, am I' Well, I'm just happy to be in at 2 under.
Q. (Inaudible).
DAVID ROESCH: Actually, I mean, I was saying on 11 there I hit the pin and somebody said I got robbed, said it should have gone in the hole. Maybe I should be one better now, I don't know. There I hit a great shot and the next hole a really great putt, and I think the par 4 then, I was in a difficulty actually in the fairway, just tried to make sure I got it on the green and put a good stroke on it and made that putt.
Then I birdied 15 to get it to 4. Actually 16 I had probably 242 to the front and we were actually trying to hit it in the left bunker, then we would have had more room hitting a bunker shot, and I kind of mis-hit it and little bit and hit it in the right bunker. I had a chance to get it to 5-under if I hit it in the left bunker.
I hit a good shot on 17 and three-putted there. It did like a 360 and came back at me.
I played well. I drove the ball well and putted well, and I'm just extremely excited right now.
Q. (Inaudible).
DAVID ROESCH: You know what, on the first tee, I mean, I haven't felt like that in a long time where you're standing on the tee and the hands are getting -- you get a little shake in there. Probably guys don't get them out here, but you get the first tee jitters. It's a little more than anticipated, but I hit it right down the middle, it was a great tee shot. I got a little bit of jitters coming in there when I looked at the leaderboard and saw my name up there, even though I was at 2-under, but I looked over there, and yeah, some emotions started to come in and I kind of calmed myself down and took some deep breaths. I said we've got to putt, let's try to hit a good putt and go from there. That's the biggest thing for me. I have to control my emotions. Most of these guys are used to this.
Q. What other careers were you anticipating pursuing '
DAVID ROESCH: Well, it's funny, I worked for Taylor Made this winter down in port St. Louis they have the winter tournament series for the club pros. I was actually running a launch monitors and building drivers for the club pros for the month of January. I have friends at Taylor Made and I was actually thinking about going to work for the company or getting a job as an assistant.
Q. What changed your mind'
DAVID ROESCH: Well, when my wife and I, we got married last year, and we talked about it, and I didn't play that well last year, and it was a tough decision for us, should we play one more year, give it another shot or just pursue other avenues, other careers, and we came down to it, we sat down and said let's play another year.
This was actually going to be my last year playing if I didn't move up. Granted, this probably changes some things. If I can shoot 2 under the first round of the U.S. Open, I don't think it's a fluke. It's not like I was holing wedge shots or anything. I drove the ball straight and that's normally what I do, and I made some nice putts. Best field in the world and probably one of the toughest courses in the world and I played well. This definitely changes things.
