Jay Flemma interviews with Olin Browne and Shigeki Maruyama at the 2005 US Open at Pinehurst

I caught up with Olin Browne and Shigeki Maruyama out in the parking lot post round and they shared their thoughts on the setup at Pinehurst.

JF: Olin, did you have more trouble with the rough today or the pronounced swales and chipping areas around the green?

OB: Today I drove it poorly. Jay you know what the big problem is when you're in the rough here? You usually have a tough angle to the green or possibly an angle to the hole you have not practiced and you can't get comfortable with your line.

JF: Did the firmer greens and tricky pin placements compound the problem?

OB: Absolutely. Good point. If you're coming in from a tough angle, its tough to fire at the pin. Also in some places the lies are dusty.

In his general press interview earlier, Browne noted that "I had a great ball striking day yesterday and a poor ball striking day today." Browne is a surprise co-leader with two time winner and defending champion Retief Goosen at -2, along with Pepperdine grad and former california state amateur Jason Gore. Gore participated in one previous Open in 1998 at Olympic Club. He missed the cut. Gore had three Nationwide Tour victories. He played on the PGA Tour in 2001 and 2003 entering 30 tourneys each year. He made 12 cuts each year and his best finishes were 18th at the 2001 Las vegas Classic and 20th at the 2003 Sony Open and Greater milwaukee Open.

Shigeki also answered questions about hitting into the deadly "blue areas."

Shigeki: I marked my yardage book pre-tournament with areas around the greens to aviod. I only fired at three pins on both days...10, 17 and 18. i did a good job of staying away from the dangerous areas."

JF: can you list some excellent courses in Asia that are public access that Americans should play when visiting.

Shigeki: I like Taiheiyo Gotemba and Phoenix Country Club. Also any course by Jack Nicklaus is nice. I actually don't get to play much golf in Japan except for tournaments. Many of the best courses are private.