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CNN Live Sunday

Who Will Win U.S. Open?

Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: It's down to the wire for golf's greatest hoping to hit pay dirt on the green just outside Chicago. On the line the U.S. Open Championship title.
CNN's Josie Karp is monitoring the action from Olympia Fields. So, we're seeing now that Mr. Furyk is what, 11 under, Josie?

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: He was 11 under when he made the turn but he's more than halfway through now and he's at 10 under par. That's where he started the day. If he finishes strong, there's a still a chance that he could set the U.S. Open all time scoring record.

We had a record in round one when Tom Watson was the co-leader. At 53 years old, he was the oldest man after round one to have a share of the lead. Today, Watson was fighting it out for 30th or 31st place but it was hard to tell that if you followed him around at all.

Everyone became very aware of the fact that Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, is suffering from ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease and it made this week a very special week for them.

It was 21 years ago that Tom Watson won his only U.S. Open title and this week, even though he and Bruce weren't going for a championship, they still felt a very deep satisfaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE EDWARDS, WATSON'S CADDY: This will be my last U.S. Open and when you look around you think of the (unintelligible) 21 years ago today and I'm grateful at how lucky I've really been. That was the feeling not, oh woe is me, how lucky I've been.

TOM WATSON, U.S. OPEN CONTENDER: There are a lot of memories about the open. I think first and foremost are the feelings and emotions that we had on the first day when I shot 65, we meaning Bruce and I. The magical moments of leading the U.S. Open which caused really an outpouring of emotion from not only each other but from people around us, the players, the galleries, people from TV, you people. It's been heartwarming.

EDWARDS: If someone said to me you know we can do this all over again and you're going to get ALS down the road, will you do it? I'd say you bet every time.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KARP: In addition to the joy that these two men said they felt having this rare opportunity because of Bruce's condition and because of Tom Watson's age, they both said that the thing that they thought was most important is that they were able to spread the word to so many people who otherwise wouldn't have known anything about ALS, and they hope that because of that, even if it's too late to save the life of Bruce Edwards because they don't know how long he has to live, they're hoping that some good will come out of this because of the awareness -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: Josie Karp, joining us from Olympia Fields, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: It's down to the wire for golf's greatest hoping to hit pay dirt on the green just outside Chicago. On the line the U.S. Open Championship title.
CNN's Josie Karp is monitoring the action from Olympia Fields. So, we're seeing now that Mr. Furyk is what, 11 under, Josie?

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: He was 11 under when he made the turn but he's more than halfway through now and he's at 10 under par. That's where he started the day. If he finishes strong, there's a still a chance that he could set the U.S. Open all time scoring record.

We had a record in round one when Tom Watson was the co-leader. At 53 years old, he was the oldest man after round one to have a share of the lead. Today, Watson was fighting it out for 30th or 31st place but it was hard to tell that if you followed him around at all.

Everyone became very aware of the fact that Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, is suffering from ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease and it made this week a very special week for them.

It was 21 years ago that Tom Watson won his only U.S. Open title and this week, even though he and Bruce weren't going for a championship, they still felt a very deep satisfaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE EDWARDS, WATSON'S CADDY: This will be my last U.S. Open and when you look around you think of the (unintelligible) 21 years ago today and I'm grateful at how lucky I've really been. That was the feeling not, oh woe is me, how lucky I've been.

TOM WATSON, U.S. OPEN CONTENDER: There are a lot of memories about the open. I think first and foremost are the feelings and emotions that we had on the first day when I shot 65, we meaning Bruce and I. The magical moments of leading the U.S. Open which caused really an outpouring of emotion from not only each other but from people around us, the players, the galleries, people from TV, you people. It's been heartwarming.

EDWARDS: If someone said to me you know we can do this all over again and you're going to get ALS down the road, will you do it? I'd say you bet every time.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KARP: In addition to the joy that these two men said they felt having this rare opportunity because of Bruce's condition and because of Tom Watson's age, they both said that the thing that they thought was most important is that they were able to spread the word to so many people who otherwise wouldn't have known anything about ALS, and they hope that because of that, even if it's too late to save the life of Bruce Edwards because they don't know how long he has to live, they're hoping that some good will come out of this because of the awareness -- Andrea.

KOPPEL: Josie Karp, joining us from Olympia Fields, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com