Category: Professionals

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Team USA

PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka is looking for the Three-peat: “I feel very comfortable around the lead in the big events.”

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 08: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays a shot from the third tee as Justin Rose of England looks on during the third round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 08, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

JOHN DEVER: Good evening, welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. We are pleased to be joined by two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka. Brooks posted a third-round 69. He is 7-under for the championship, two shots off the lead.

Brooks, kind of held serve today more than anything, but you’re still in a really good position going into the last day. Maybe talk about your play and your outlook.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I thought I played a lot better than my score reflected. Really made one bad swing. But I left it in a good spot and just hit a poor chip. The other ones I was in the semi a lot, and I think sometimes in the semi, it can come out without spin or it can come with spin, and if you’re going to do that in the wind, it’s kind of tough to judge.

Maybe took a little bit too aggressive of lines on those out of the semi, but I just missed them in the worst spot possible, but they were good shots, so I felt like I played really well, putted really well, and the driver I hit great. It’s just sometimes they didn’t move with the wind, hit them too good.

Q. How big were those last couple birdies and can you carry some momentum from late today into tomorrow?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I think so. 16 was nice. I thought that was probably the toughest putt I had all day just because that wind, you’re kind of right there in that open area and the wind is pumping off the right. It was kind of a weird read where I felt like if you started it on the right edge, it would stay, but if you didn’t, it could snap. So to make that I thought was big and maybe just a little bit of a confidence boost in the putting for the last two holes. 17 I thought I made, and 18 just hit a good shot.

Nice to walk away with a birdie there and carry it over to tomorrow.

Q. There’s a few guys around you with one major, you’ve obviously got more. Was the second one harder to win?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, if you look at the top of the leaderboard, I’d say yes.

Q. What makes that difficult to make the second one?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I think expectations. I think — I guess it does become difficult if you think you’ve played good enough to win multiple ones. But you’ve just got to keep putting yourself there. I’m doing a good job of that. But the second one definitely is a little bit tougher, I think, as you can see from the top of the leaderboard.

Q. You’ve won majors from out front and from having to come back in the final round. How confident are you in your ability to get this done tomorrow?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I’m playing good so I like my chances. Just put the ball in the fairway a few more times and not in the semi. That would be all right, just not short-side myself. If I can do that tomorrow and not short-side myself, I’ll have a good chance.

Q. Given that you’ve won a few of these now, four of them, how different is your confidence now being in this position versus a few years ago, I guess the difference between those two?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s just a comfort level. I feel very comfortable around the lead in the big events.

Obviously we don’t have fans here, which I think plays a little bit — makes it a little different when they’re hooting and hollering, which it can be fun if they’re cheering for you, but if they’re against you it’s not so much fun. It’s going to feel completely different than any one we’ve ever played. I’m looking forward to it tomorrow. It should be a fun shootout.

Q. Just a quick update on how was the hip today?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s good. It’s fine. I told you it released the knot.

Q. It’s a bit of a reversal, last year you had the lead, DJ was the one coming for you. How do you feel about the reverse situation there?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I like my chances. When I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalized. I don’t know, he’s only won one. I’m playing good. I don’t know, we’ll see.

Q. You mentioned how it was different without fans at the majors. I’m curious playing ahead of the final group tomorrow how that will be different for you knowing that you won’t hear roars around the course?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, there’s probably about, I don’t know, 10 or 12 leaderboards around, so I’ll be able to see. All you’ve got to do is look up or look to your left or right and you’ll see something and figure it out.

Q. You talked about the birdies late; how much of a difference on this course and these conditions in a major is it being two back versus say four back?

BROOKS KOEPKA: To be honest with you, on this golf course I feel like anywhere from 4-under has a chance. I think that’s realistic. You can get off to 3-, 4-under very quickly through seven, depending on what they do if they move the tee up, it could be four or five, and then if you play 8 and 9 well and birdie 10, I mean, you’ve got a realistic chance right there.

It all depends what the weather does tomorrow, but any of those guys at 4-under I think reasonably have a good chance.

JOHN DEVER: Brooks, thanks so much. Have a good evening.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team USA

PGA Championship leader Dustin Johnson is looking for his second major title

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 08: Dustin Johnson of the United States plays a shot from the 15th tee during the third round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 08, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Pleased to be joined by Dustin Johnson, who just is joining us after posting a 65, 5-under par today. He is 9-under par for the championship and is currently at the top of the leaderboard.

Eight birdies today on what probably would not be described as a vulnerable golf course. What part of your game was clicking? Tell us a little bit about that.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I putted really well. That was key. But I hit a lot of good shots to give myself some good looks because the flags are tucked. The greens are firm and fast. So I did hit a lot of quality iron shots.

Tomorrow I think I need to go — I definitely need to hit some more fairways, because it’s really tough playing this golf course from the rough. Obviously the bunkers, too, are very tough. A couple — had a few nice up-and-downs out of the bunkers, but also a few poor ones.

Q. You are here in a major championship again and you’ve been in contention many times, but this time, obviously no roars. A lot of people are within a few shots of you. What are you going to do tomorrow about looking at scoreboards, kind of trying to figure out what is going on as the day unfolds?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I’m going to try my best not to do that. All I can do is go out and play my game and shoot the best number I can. I’m going to just try and go out and shoot as low as I can tomorrow just like I did today. You know, just take what the golf course gives me and just keep on going because, you know, it doesn’t really matter what other guys are doing. All I can control is myself.

Q. Curious, you get that double-bogey on 9. What are your thoughts going to 10 tee knowing the back nine has really been difficult this week?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I should have never hit it in the left bunker, is what I was thinking. I knew it was a bad spot. I actually went down a club not to get there, and I misjudged the lie a little bit. I didn’t think it was going to come out very good, and it came out way better than I thought it was, and I hit it in the one spot I didn’t want to hit it in. It’s just one of those things.

The golf course is tough. You’re going to make a score — obviously a bogey would have been a lot nicer, but I knew I was playing good. I was putting good. I just needed to keep on going and put it behind me.

Q. We’re hearing reports: Did you lose your yardage book?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did. I think — it’s got to be in the bottom of my bag but I didn’t want to take all my clubs out on the golf course. But AJ had an extra one, so we were fine.

Q. Following up on that, when did you realize you couldn’t find it, and what’s the difference, I guess, between the two books?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Nothing. I just used a regular yardage book. I use it more so I can get the yardages out of the fairway and where the flag is. But my brother had an extra one, so it was perfect.

JOHN DEVER: Thank goodness for brothers.

Q. Just to be clear, he had an extra one from this golf course, though, right?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, it was from last week, but it worked out well. (Laughter.)

Q. Wanted to ask you, you’ve had a number of chances going into the final round of a major. What’s the difference in how you look at the opportunity tomorrow compared with when you were younger, when you had a chance at either Pebble, Whistling or St. George’s or any number of other ones?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, those, I was definitely younger. I have been out here awhile now. I’ve been in contention a lot, and I’ve got it done a lot of times. Tomorrow, it’s no different. I need to be out — I’m going to have to play good golf if I want to win. It’s simple; I’ve got to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. If I can do that tomorrow, I’m going to have a good chance coming down the stretch on the back nine.

Q. Is it almost better that there’s about a billion people within two shots of the lead, instead of one or two?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, it really doesn’t matter. I feel like I have a chance no matter where I am on the leaderboard starting tomorrow. Obviously the guys, they still have quite a few holes to play, the guys behind us.

I’m going to be in a good position no matter what, and you know, tomorrow I’m just going to have to go out and do what I did today. Just get it done.

Q. You’re looking for your second major title. A lot of guys who are in the thick of this are looking for their first. How much can you use that to your advantage?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, yeah, I definitely have experience in this situation that definitely will help tomorrow. I’ve been in the hunt a bunch of times in a major. I’ve got one major, so having that experience is definitely going to be beneficial tomorrow.

You know, but it’s one of those things. Still going to have to go out and play really good golf. This is a tough golf course. Greens are getting really firm. They are fast. So I think the wind is going to blow again tomorrow, so it’s going to play difficult.

I look forward to the challenge, and you know, I will definitely be relying on a lot of that experience that I have.

Q. You’ve been asked a little about the back nine, which has been giving most players trouble. Looks like you shot 31 on the back. Curious your take on how much of a role that will play tomorrow and how difficult that can be, and specifically, 16, 17 and 18 to have a short par 4, windy par 3 and obviously the closing hole. What do you think of that stretch?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, the whole golf course is tough. I mean, you’ve got to put your ball in position, but yeah, obviously depending where they set the tees up tomorrow on 16 and the flag, it could be a hole where you could possibly make a two if you need to, or you know, but on 17, again, it’s a par 3. It’s not too long, but you still have got to hit a quality golf shot if you want to get it close to the hole. That green, it sits out there in the wind all day, it’s really firm. Obviously 18 is just a really good hole. You have to hit a really good tee shot into the fairway there if you want to give yourself any chance.

JOHN DEVER: Thank you, sir.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team Ireland

PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy after his second round

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 07: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks to the 18th green during the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 07, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Pleased to be joined by Rory McIlroy, who posted a second round 69. He is 1-under here at the 36-hole mark.

Rory, a lot of birdies today. One unfortunate hole. Overall how was your round today?

RORY McILROY: You know, better. I got off to the perfect start birdieing the first hole, and I hit some loose shots after that on 3, on 4, on 5, a bad drive. I think what turned it around, I hit a good drive on 7 and made birdie from there, and then made birdie on 8 and 9, the two toughest holes on the course. That gave me a nice little bit of momentum going into the back nine.

Then, you know, played the 10th hole well, and was feeling good, 3-under through 11, and then that 7 just sort of stopped me in my tracks a bit. From there, when you’re 3-under par, especially with the way the leaderboard is looking, you’re thinking, okay, get another couple and you’re right into this tournament going into the weekend and all of a sudden you make triple and you’re like, I just need to be here for the weekend. It went from thinking I’m right on the cusp of getting into contention to just making the cut.

I was happy how I responded after that 7 and made a birdie coming in and played pretty solid, and that’s all I could really ask of myself after that.

Q. On No. 3, your ball was stepped on?

RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. And you placed it and it was too good; you elected to place it down?

RORY McILROY: Yeah.

Q. What was your thinking there?

RORY McILROY: I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable. I placed it, and the rule is try to replicate the lie. No one really knew what the lie was, but if everyone is going around looking for it, it obviously wasn’t too good. So I placed it, I was like, that just doesn’t look right to me. So I just placed it down a little bit and sort of — yeah.

You know, at the end of the day, golf is a game of integrity and I never try to get away with anything out there. I’d rather be on the wrong end of the rules rather than on the right end because as golfers, that’s just what we believe.

Yeah, I would have felt pretty wrong if I had of taken a lie that was maybe a little better than what it was previously.

Q. I know 7 is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth, but that birdie run, does that give you confidence going into the weekend knowing you can flip it around that quickly?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, that was nice, especially the holes that I did birdie. 8 and 9, especially, I hit a really nice 4-iron into the 8th hole, and to make it through there is really good, and to birdie 9, as well, two really tough holes. I took care of the easier holes on the course. The first hole, you know, I birdied one of the par 5s, birdied 16 coming in.

So there is birdies out there, but as you saw on 12, you know, danger isn’t that far away, but it was nice to see some birdies because even last week at Memphis, there was a lot of pars, a lot of sort of not really getting on runs, and it was nice to get on a little run like that today.

Q. How bad was that lie on 12, and then from there what happened?

RORY McILROY: It wasn’t that — it didn’t look that bad. I’ve had worse this week, and been able to hit better shots from them.

So it was okay. If anything, I really tried to get on my left side with those shots, and usually the bad one squeezes right rather than goes left on me. So I’ve had a couple this week that have sort of squeezed out to the right, so I was maybe just guarding against that and clubface just turned over.

But that wasn’t really the problem. I mean, I guess taking 4 from over the back of that green, that was the real — that’s unacceptable, really, and that was really the cause of the 7.

But out of position off the tee. You miss — I’ve missed that fairway the last two days in a row and I’ve paid for it. I’ve played it in 4-over par.

Q. You’ve played with Tiger many times now. Is it a little easier to deal with without the commotion?

RORY McILROY: 100 percent. (Laughter.) It’s like, it’s so much easier.

Yeah, I’m happy to be drawn with him every week until fans come back.

But yeah, like you can see, even the 12th hole, the tee box there alongside the road, Tiger gets on the tee and everyone goes crazy and you have to wait for them to settle down. The fact that we don’t have to deal with that and the fact that he doesn’t have to deal with that every week is sort of nice.

But not saying — I still want crowds to come back and fans. It’s much better to play in front of them. But it does make it easier.

Q. Cameron Champ said earlier that he believed that Tony Finau was by far the longest driver on Tour. Wondering your take on the 10 or 12 statistically longest drivers went out to a range and really bashed away, who do you think is the longest?

RORY McILROY: I think it would be between Cameron and Tony. They have very easy speed. Even Cameron, I mean, Cameron has such easy speed. He doesn’t look like he even swings hard at it and the ball speed is up in the 190s. I think it’s between those two guys for sure.

I think there’s a couple guys on the Korn Ferry that might compete with them I’ve heard, but from who I’ve seen and who I’ve played with, I think that the two guys that have the most potential to hit it the furthest are Tony and Cameron.

Q. Given three decorated players in that group, all having their own travails, you, Justin and Tiger, what was the conversation like among you guys about how difficult, cold, windy and not as easy as maybe three great players like you could play at Harding Park?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, once Tiger and I got our tee shots off 18, I just gave him a look like, phew, glad that’s almost done.

It was tough out there. We all didn’t really have our best. We were grinding just to be here for the weekend. But thankfully all three of us made it to the weekend and we all have an opportunity to go out tomorrow and post a low one and get ourselves back in the tournament.

Source: ASAP Sports

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Team USA

Tiger Woods still believes he has a chance to win the PGA Championship

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 07: Tiger Woods of the United States plays a shot on the fourth hole during the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 07, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Q. Thoughts on the day and what a battle it is out there?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you know, I drove it great today. That’s one of the things I wanted to clean up from yesterday. I didn’t do as good a job yesterday of driving the ball as I needed to. Today was different. I drove it great. Missed a few irons on the short side. Didn’t get up-and-down.

And I really struggled with getting the speed of the greens today. They looked faster than what they were putting. They were firm coming into the greens, but they weren’t putting as fast as they looked, and then as the day wore on, they got a little more fuzzy and got even slower, and I struggled even a little bit more hitting the putts hard enough.

Q. Some guys were saying the putting green didn’t quite match up —

TIGER WOODS: Oh, they haven’t all week. The putting green is faster than the golf course. It’s been like that all week. Again, but some of the pins were up on crests so you’re putting into the grain early and then you go past the hole, and it’s downgrain. I didn’t want to make the mistake of blowing it past on a few of those holes and I left them short and on the low side.

Q. Can you still win here?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

Q. Is it the type of course you can see some big swings on the weekend?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, absolutely. This golf course is — with the dots for tomorrow, they’ve got them in some tough spots. Tomorrow I’m going off early and hopefully I can get it going, drive the ball like I did today, hit my irons a little bit more crisp and be a little bit more aggressive on the putts.

Q. Will a big key be just the speeds, getting that early and getting into a rhythm?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, as I said, for me they looked faster than they were putting. That’s always the toughest combination I’ve always found, making that adjustment. You give it a run, but it just — it’s just not rolling out. Early in the round I had a couple putts that were downwind and the wind was blowing the putts a little bit. J.T. got affected a couple times today with the wind gusts, and I did on one hole pretty badly. Again, if I can get myself in position where like I did today off the tee, I think I can have a really good weekend.

Source: ASAP Sports

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Team USA

PGA Tour: 2015 Players Champion Rickie Fowler Speaks to Media Prior to 2020 Edition

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Rickie Fowler of the United States reacts to his putt on the 11th green during the first round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

2015 Players Champion Rickie Fowler answers questions from the media prior to making start his 11th start at the 2020 Players Championship.

PGA Tour: Rickie Fowler speaks with the media ahead of 2020 Players Championship

DOUG MILNE: We would like to welcome Rickie Fowler, 2015 PLAYERS champion to the interview room here. Thanks for joining us for a few minutes, making your 11th start in THE PLAYERS Championship this week, obviously with some success, so with that said, just some thoughts on being back here at TPC Sawgrass this week.

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it’s obviously always great to be back here at TPC. It’s a special place being that I’ve had a win here in 2015 and some other good finishes, but this is the arguably the strongest field that we play against, it’s our tournament, and it’s been interesting to get to see the course in March versus May. So it’s quite a bit different, but looking forward to the week as all the other players, and this is definitely one that we always look forward to being here.

DOUG MILNE: You’ve obviously enjoyed the success on the course. Diabolical is a word that’s used often to describe the course. How have you been able to kind of tame that to where it kind of caters to your game somewhat?

RICKIE FOWLER: The golf course, if you look at it properly, it’s fairly straightforward; hit it in the fairway, hit it on the green, wear out the fairways and greens. But there’s a lot of other things that come into play: Plenty of water, a lot of bunkers, a lot of funky little ones. And honestly, I’m not happy unless there’s sand in my pants.

DOUG MILNE: Okay. Open it up to questions.

Q. How did you celebrate Sunday night after you won? And secondly, no one’s ever defended here; why do you think it’s so difficult to win here as a defending champion?
RICKIE FOWLER: So Sunday after we won, as you guys know, obviously there’s some media stops and I think we went and did the post-tournament show with the Golf Channel or Golf Central. By that time it was — we had probably been a couple hours in, I think there was a stop in the clubhouse and the staff had tacos waiting for us in the locker room, so that was a nice way to kind of round it out. Had a drink and then we hung out there for maybe an hour and hopped in the car, headed south, and I was on set at a shoot at 6:30 the next morning. So not a whole lot of celebrating, a couple hours of sleep and a long day the next day. But all worth it.

To me, why it’s tough to defend here, it’s a golf course that doesn’t necessarily fit any one style of player. I saw something that was posted not long ago of kind of the recent past champions here and what guys did well from whether it was driving the ball, approach, putting, scrambling, and there was nothing really that stood out as one thing between all players. Some guys hit more irons off tee, some guys hit a lot of drivers, some guys putted well, but there’s not one particular thing that was necessarily common between all of them. This golf course isn’t necessarily long so it doesn’t necessarily benefit a bomber of the golf ball, and to me at the end of the day it’s whoever has the most control and kind of keeps it simple, fairways and greens. Like I said, there’s not really one thing that stands out, so I think everyone in the field, it doesn’t really weed anyone out.

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Q. You started working with John Tillery, so what led a California kid to land on the Georgia boy, John Tillery, over all the other coaches out there, and how quickly did he put you on the metronome?
RICKIE FOWLER: The metronome was definitely brought up the first time I saw him, and I’m someone that’s terrible with any sort of timing, whether how it’s related to music and dancing. That’s not something I put in my — it’s very low on my list of what I’m good at. So bringing timing and a metronome into the swing and being, trying to be somewhat symmetrical on both sides of the ball has been a little bit of an adjustment, something that’s been very beneficial. And now it’s just the kind of connection really through Kiz and spending a lot of time around him over the last few years and had been around JT a bit with him being around Kiz obviously. So he’s just someone that’s easy to be around, love his outlook on the game, the swing. I mean he’s — as all of us are, we’re golf nerds, but he’s a big golf nerd and a big swing nerd, so we have had a lot of fun together and he’s someone that’s just fun and easy to be around and hang out with.

Q. There seems to be a lot of growing abundance of caution regarding the coronavirus and all that with cancellations and postponements of events all over the country. But it’s largely business as usual out here this week. As a player, do you have more concern maybe about signing autographs, about interacting with the galleries this week other than maybe you normally have, and are you conscious of that more so than usual?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I would say probably taking a little bit more precaution than normal. But over the years I think I’ve gone — I’ve become more and more kind of cautious of how I’ve interacted as far as high-fives or maybe any kind of — yeah high five to fist bump, anything that goes on throughout the round. Early in my career I felt like there was a lot more of that, which led to — not saying it was a direct reflection of it, but sick more often. So for me, usually try not to do anything really on course at all, and then with the autograph area setup, it’s really where I’ll kind of direct all signing to and that way I am really in control of how it’s done and I can kind of hang in one spot, and I mean, I’ve always signed with my own pens and stuff like that, so it’s not necessarily a change, but you’re still having contact, whether you use people’s Sharpies or pens, you’re still getting their stuff.

But if I can do it after the round or when I’m done with my practice or whatever it may be, I can go ahead and sign and then if there’s hand sanitizer to be able to go to the restroom and wash up afterwards. Nothing really more than normal, but just maybe a little bit more precautious (sic).

Q. This is an Olympic year. You are obviously a proud Olympian with the tattoo and everything, but describe just preparing your game for having six marquee tests of golf from THE PLAYERS all the way through the Olympics. And with this being the first test, how are you going to approach those six the rest of the year?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, with how the new season’s laid out, I mean, you used to look at Augusta obviously the start of it and then May to August kind of from PLAYERS through our playoffs, that was really the main chunk of the season. But now it almost seems like it doesn’t really stop, so through the fall is kind of the time that you look to maybe take some time off or work on the game, however that is, whether that’s away from tournament golf or playing some events.

Then you start with THE PLAYERS and now it’s a little bit longer of an extended — big events that are a little bit more spread out. So I wouldn’t say necessarily that you’re trying to peak in the summer or anything like that, you got to be on top of your game a lot more often for an extended period of time. So it hasn’t necessarily changed it. Obviously every time you’re teeing it up you’re going out there to play your best and you’re playing tournaments to go win.

I think the biggest change was THE PLAYERS being switched from May to March. It plays differently here with that two-month difference, and then with the PGA going to May, with some of the tournaments being further north we could get some interesting weather or potential cold weather, but for me you still look at the majors and THE PLAYERS as those are the ones that you’re setting your schedule around.

There’s only a handful of guys that get to go to the Olympics. I’m still on the outside looking in. I got to take care of business to have a chance to be there, but it’s something I highly recommend for guys to go do and girls on the women’s side. It’s a special experience and hopefully with everything going on that it’s still going to be able to go on in Tokyo this summer.

Q. Regarding your grouping yesterday JT talked about the fine line between getting serious, and as he said, yukking it up when you’re with friends. How do you look at it playing in a group; is it more fun with close friends?
RICKIE FOWLER: It is for me. I mean, there’s definitely going to be more interaction with the guys that you’re closer to or closer with. Maybe a little bit of trash talk, just between us for fun and what we would normally do. But within reason. And to me, I mean, playing with your buddies, your close friends, it’s always kind of pushed me to play my best. Not that that comes out every time that you play against your buddies, but your close friends are the ones that you want to lose to the least amount, so you want to go beat them up, and it would be nice to have bragging rights over them each day and it would be fun to kind of push each other through the weekend as well.

Q. This is a question from a fan in China. You’ve had some great moments on the 17th, and what’s your strategy and mindset on the island green here this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: Island green, yeah, I’ve been fortunate, I’ve made a lot of good swings there and had a lot of success on 17. But trying to keep it as simple as possible there. Obviously my caddie Joe and I, we pick a line and a specific target of exactly where we’re trying to land the ball. Really getting committed to that, making sure we go through our normal process, setup, and when we’re over the ball it’s just focusing on making a good swing and hitting that number. Easier said than done, but no, it’s a fun hole. Luckily it’s not very long, but when it does play back into the wind, which is possible this time of year but I don’t think we’re going to get much of that this week, it’s a fairly simple shot. It’s just when you get out of your routine or you kind of have like a little mental hiccup, that’s when the problems happen. But the more that you can kind of stay with what you normally do and stay precise on where you’re trying to hit your shot, usually good things happen.

Q. A little off topic here, but just looking at the last three or four years of Masters, guys who have almost won it or finished second, it’s a real who’s-who list of guys on TOUR. I’m wondering how you process 2018 between being proud of the close that you had to have there to get that close and then maybe recounting I let a shot get away here or there. Just how did you process finishing second that year?
RICKIE FOWLER: I thought it was great week, especially coming off of some of the Sundays I had there prior to that, being around or having a chance and not necessarily playing a good front nine or just having a bad Sunday as a whole. I did a really good job of just managing my way through the front nine, not necessarily playing my best golf, making sure I was still in the tournament and not taking myself completely out of it. And then I did a really good job on the back nine, had a few missed opportunities, but executed the shots and drove the ball well and put myself in a position where I had a chance. So I was happy with it. Yeah, one shot short and something you can go back on, and there’s a number of tournaments where you’re a shot or a few shots back of who ends up winning on Sunday, and you can always, well, what if this went in or if I just made this putt, but there’s nothing you can do to change that. You can only learn from it and try and limit those mistakes, if they were mistakes. Sometimes you hit a good putt and they just don’t go in, it might have been a misread.

But for me it was more just how I handled everything that day and through the back nine, like I said, executed, and like you can learn from the little mistakes that were made, but to me I didn’t make mistakes. I missed some opportunities on the greens. 17 I thought I hit it in there close and I missed my landing spot by about two yards to that right pin, and no, that’s where you want to be on Sundays, and we put ourselves in that position and had a chance to do it, and Patrick played well.

Q. I also have Masters question. Tiger’s win last year was one of the biggest moments in sports in 2019. Will the spectre of that victory still sort of hang over this year’s Masters, at least at the beginning when people are arriving? I mean, does it have that kind of permanence that even a year later it will still be in people’s minds?
RICKIE FOWLER: That’s going to be in people’s minds forever. Tiger’s had the biggest impact on our sport with that stage kind of set by guys like Jack, Arnie, Greg Norman, and some others that came before him. But for him to do what he did, to come back after being away from the game for a few years and potentially in a spot where he may not be able to play competitively again, to come back and win at East Lake and to go win the Masters, like I said, from a position where people thought he may not even play competitive rounds again, it’s very impressive. So that’s going to be around forever.

Once the tournament gets going, it’s about 2020, but 2019 is definitely part of history.

Q. When you won in 2015 you gained three strokes off the tee. In the last three years you’ve lost strokes off the tee every year. Do you have an idea of why, and has your strategy changed at all off the tee for this year?
RICKIE FOWLER: I didn’t drive it as well the last couple years here. Yeah, when I won in 2015 I was, I mean any club I was hitting off the tee, because you’re not always hitting driver here, I was hitting everything very tight lines, knew where it was going, I was very much in control. I mean, definitely shows when I was able to pull driver on 18 multiple times and I was swinging very freely. So it wasn’t like I was guiding it or trying to control, it was just kind of letting things happen, and it was point and shoot and just commit to it.

So that’s a lot more of where I feel like I am this year coming in. I know it hasn’t been the greatest start to the season for me, but definitely been heading the right way and trending. So with working on a lot of the new stuff with JT, I love where we’re at and where we’re heading, so we’re heading the right direction. Like I said, I feel like I’m much more in a spot where I know where it’s going, and that’s something that can be very beneficial around this place.

Q. I’m curious, a lot of players we’re now hearing battling injuries, Brooks, Justin, wrist injuries, knee injuries. What do you feel is contributing to that, and how do you balance that between working out, practicing, your schedule, and is there anything in particular fitness-wise that you do just to protect the long term of your game?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, ultimately you want to be out here playing healthy when you do play. I mean, I think a lot of injuries can come from almost playing too much. Doing anything at a high level and high speed, you’re putting a lot of stress on your body, so the time management of that, of playing the right amount, not playing too much, but also not playing too little where you’re not ready to play when you do play. I think there’s almost — there’s too many playing opportunities. There’s not really an off season where guys either get to go work on the game, rest if they may be in a spot where they need to work on a part of the body or an injury. For me, off weeks when I’m at home is when I do most of my working out. I’ll be in the gym lifting weights probably five days a week, doing therapy every day, and on the road it’s therapy every day and I’ll try and get in a workout or two early in the week, if I can, if time permits, but I’m also not wanting to push the body and be fatigued come Thursday.

So this afternoon I’ll probably do some sort of movement, just to make sure the body’s firing and good to go and then get some more therapy after that. But, yeah, like I mentioned the first part, it’s the time management side of it and making sure that you’re playing the right amount to where you’re also able to recover and then work out to make sure you’re staying in a consistent spot with your body strength-wise and movement, so that you’re not seeing the body kind of taper the wrong direction through the season.

So it’s personal, kind of a personal balance for everyone. Everyone’s going to be different, whether it’s how hard they push in the gym or maybe not at all. Yeah, you’ve got to find out what works best for you.

Q. You go way back with Kevin Dougherty who’s been so close the last couple years. Can you kind of reflect on how you met him and growing up with him and what qualities in Kevin that stand out to you?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I’ve known Kevin for a long time. We both grew up in Murrieta back home, played a lot of golf with him. When we were both juniors, I believe he was four or five years behind me. So at one point he was a lot shorter and smaller than me. Now he’s 6’2″ and he’s spent a lot of time in the gym and is very strong and hits the ball a lot further than me now, where I used to be able to hit a 4-iron past him. So it’s been really fun to see him grow and be somewhat of a big brother to him.

He’s someone that has basically turned himself into a real professional golfer. As a junior he wasn’t necessarily someone that was looked at as one of the great juniors or anything like that, but he kept working really hard to get himself to the next level and he’s continued to do that. He worked hard through high school, gave himself a chance to go to Oklahoma State and get to play there and kept working there and just kept getting better and better. So which is, I think, somewhat — it’s not something you see all the time. A lot of times you see the guys that are talented and towards the top of each level, those are the ones that move on, and some don’t make it, some do, but it’s rare to see someone just go out and outwork and put the time in.

It’s been fun to watch, and very proud of what he’s been able to do, and we stay in touch quite a bit, and if we’re not talking I’m always watching and seeing what he’s doing. So it’s been nice to see him be close early this year and to start to play a little bit better and, yeah, I feel like he’s someone that he’s a fighter, and like I said, he’s going to outwork his way and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out here with us soon.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team UK

PGA Tour: Last Week’s Winner Tyrell Hatton Speaks With The Media Prior to Making Fourth Start at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Tyrrell Hatton of England smiles during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Tyrrell Hatton speaks with the media before the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

PGA Tour: Tyrell Hatton recaps maiden tour victory celebration and previews The Players Championship

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Tyrrell Hatton into the interview room. He is making his fourth career start at THE PLAYERS Championship, and he’s coming off his first PGA TOUR victory last week at Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tyrrell, first of all, if we can get some comments on being back here at PLAYERS.

TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, it’s obviously good to be back. Unfortunately it’s a tournament that I haven’t done too well at in the past, but I’m hoping that changes this week. Obviously nice week last week and a few days to recover before we get going tomorrow.

JOHN BUSH: Talk a little bit about getting the win last week, extremely tough conditions there at Bay Hill. Just talk about finally stepping into the winner’s circle on the TOUR.

TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, obviously extremely tough week. You know what they say about the rough, that’s where the four-leaf clovers are. So I was in there a lot and it was kind to me.

JOHN BUSH: Let’s go right into questions.

Q. You said that you weren’t sure you would be right until Wednesday with the celebrating that was planned. Was it all that you had hoped for, and what did you do exactly?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, I’m still feeling — I’m still quite tired, to be honest. But I was cuddling the toilet by 5:00 in the morning, so it was a good night.

Q. And then just real quickly, I don’t know how I can follow that, but so obviously that was extremely difficult golf. This place is known for being pretty difficult golf. What do you think a 12-handicapper would shoot in tournament conditions on this course?
TYRELL HATTON: 12-handicapper. I don’t think that they — they wouldn’t break 90. I think they would probably — I would like to think they might break 100, but if the crowds are out there, there’s a different type of pressure that they wouldn’t normally be used to, so it would be a long day.

Q. What was the celebration like on Sunday night? Who was there? Can you say how many glasses of red you had? But also probably more importantly, what’s been the reception since your victory? What’s the text messages and all that sort of stuff you received?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, I’ve had a lot of messages, which has been really nice. The guys obviously out on TOUR, everyone’s kind of stopped and said congratulations, which is nice. Sunday night celebration, there was a lot of red wine and then unfortunately I think the finisher was the drinking the vodka and tequila out of the bottle, which never kind of ends well. And, yeah, I fell victim of that, definitely.

Q. Can you describe your emotions coming down the stretch last week?
TYRELL HATTON: Just obviously a little bit nervous, like anyone would be, but I was just trying to do the best I could, try and — the only bit I can control is obviously myself and try to not kind of make any mistakes. Although I was trying my best down 16 to make a few of those. No, just trying to keep calm. Obviously I’ve won in Europe before, so obviously I know I can get over the line and thankfully it just kind of worked out for me last week and it was my time.

Q. Are there any text messages or congratulatory things that particularly meant something for you that you can share with us?
TYRELL HATTON: Honestly, I’ve still got around a hundred unopened WhatsApp messages. The reception has been incredible, so it’s just — I just really appreciate the amount of people that have kind of messaged me to say well done, and I know for like my family and stuff, it was quite nail-biting to watch, it was difficult to watch, but yeah, I don’t know.

Q. Has the Ryder Cup captain been in touch, and is it too early to know how your schedule will alter because of this victory?
TYRELL HATTON: Well, like I say, I’ve still got a hundred WhatsApp messages unopened, so I haven’t — I don’t know exactly like who has messaged in that sense. But my schedule at the moment isn’t, hasn’t changed, that’s something that me and my manager, Danny, we are yet to kind of sit down and talk about, but obviously I would like to be on the Ryder Cup team in September and I’ve had a good start to the points race again, which is nice, and hopefully I can kind of continue pushing on this year and make that team.

Q. Can you please specify the surgery that you had and why you needed it, as well as why you think your body responded so well and so quickly to it?
TYRELL HATTON: Well it was keyhole surgery in my right wrist, and the initial injury was back in 2017 when I fell over at the Masters during the par-3 tournament. It was canceled due to a storm that came through. I just slipped on the pine straw, and over time the wrist just got progressively worse with a build-up of kind of scar tissue and my range of movement was nonexistent and I just had basically a lot of pain kind of coming in to try and make contact with the golf ball, especially with the wedges because you naturally come into the ground a little bit steeper so there was more sort of, it was anything in that kind of movement that was uncomfortable. I had had three steroid injections in 18 months. They all lasted sort of pain-free between four and five-and-a-half months. But obviously that’s not kind of sustainable to just keep having injections. So we decided that the time was to properly fix it would be to have surgery.

The surgery obviously went well but the recovery time was much longer than we had all hoped for. I mean, initially we thought it would be four weeks and I would be back kind of hitting balls again. I was hoping to start my season in mid January, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and I wasn’t even hitting chip shots by then. So obviously these kind of things you can’t rush, and Mexico was a great place for me to start my season because I was guaranteed a full tournament week. There’s no pressure, no cut, you just kind of play and see how the body feels and it was absolutely fine. I had no issues, which is nice, because the first event back you’re not quite sure how it could go.

Q. You mentioned Sunday at Bay Hill that you were pretty nervous over that final putt, that your putter was shaking little bit. And I’m wondering, I know it’s only been a few days, but what you have learned, what your takeaway has been, not only for your game but about yourself, given that tough test on the back nine Sunday that you’ll be bringing to THE PLAYERS this week?
TYRELL HATTON: Well I think throughout the whole week at Bay Hill I managed myself pretty well, which is always one of the hardest things for me. So that was obviously something that I would like to continue, and obviously I’m human so I’m going to make mistakes along the way, and yeah, there’s probably going to be weeks where I’ll have some blowups but hopefully that’s kind of few and far between. So, yeah, hopefully I can kind of stay cool, and I’ve got my dad out with me this week, so to have him there to kind of get back on point with my swing, because playing in those kind of conditions where you’re constantly trying to flight the ball and your weight’s in a different place than it normally would be, it can kind of knock your swing out. So it’s good to have my dad here, and hopefully we can have another good week here.

Q. This may be because I’m American, but I’ve never seen your name spelled the way it is in the first name with two R’s, and I was wondering if there’s a story behind that at all and my apologies if you’ve been asked this three thousand times before.
TYRELL HATTON: Well, it’s my granddad’s middle name is kind of where it comes from. My parents that play golf, they like the liked the film Caddyshack and obviously the guy was, I think was it Ty, I think, so that’s how they kind of got my name. But in terms of the spelling, over here it would be normally Ty-rell, wouldn’t it? But I ain’t no Ty-rell, so yeah.

Q. Why do you feel like you were able to learn from your past trips here to THE PLAYERS Championship that you feel like you can build on for this week?
TYRELL HATTON: Well, this week’s not normally been a good tournament for me. I actually had, I mean last year it was kind of typical me, where I was one shot away from like one shot outside the cut line with five holes to go and I had a blowup, snapped my 3-wood and basically started hitting shots on the run, and I think we missed the cut by five or something like that.

So it kind of just goes back to making sure can I kind of control myself, and that’s normally the first step to me having a decent week.

Q. Gambling is becoming much more normalized in sports, especially golf now. I’m wondering if you’re aware of your odds each week and if you’re aware of your odds this week.
TYRELL HATTON: To be honest, I have no idea with my odds in terms of golf tournaments. I don’t mind putting bets on the football back home, but obviously we are — we’re not allowed to do any betting or anything like that in golf, and yeah, so sort of I’ve got no interest in that kind of thing. It makes no difference to how I go about my week, but I can tell you that I’m not very good at betting the on the football. I’m quite good at losing money each Saturday.

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Q. You said you were playing Xbox and drinking red wine during your time off. Do you have a particular go-to Xbox game?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, Call of Duty. So I’m actually devastated that the new War Zone game’s come out. It was released yesterday, and I’m not going to get to play it for another few weeks. So that’s cut me deep.

JOHN BUSH: Tyrrell, we appreciate your time. Congratulations once again on getting the win last week. Best of luck this week.

TYRELL HATTON: Thank you.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka Talks Course Record at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Brooks Koepka of the United States chips to the 16th green during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka speaks with the media prior to the 2020 Players Championship, an event that he has yet to capture victory at but does have the course record in his name

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka talks with the media and previews 2020 Players Championship

AMANDA HERRINGTON: We would like to welcome Brooks Koepka to the interview room here at THE PLAYERS Championship. Brooks, when we look at the course record at this course, your name’s on it, had success here. Thoughts going into the week.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, hopefully it’s a good week. Obviously I’m going I’m not playing that good, so hopefully can right this ship and figure out how to get the ball in the hole, score a little better. Everything seems to kind of be piecing together piece by piece, and good memories of this place, I like it, played it a lot growing up. In college we would sneak over here a couple times a year, so hopefully that can bring out some good mojo.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Open it up to questions.

Q. It was reported that you went to go see Butch. I’m wondering when you decided it was time for a fresh set of eyes. I know you said that you still have the same coaches and stuff, but what prompted the decision to fly out there?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It was something that Claude’s always going to be my coach, Pete’s always going to be my short game coach. I had spoken with them on Saturday, I think I made a phone call to Claude and it’s one of those things I felt like I just I had so much going on in my head, so many swing thoughts and needed to clear the slate, and the Harmons are family to me, and so we flew out Sunday, went and saw Butch Monday, and got in yesterday afternoon.

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Q. That was the first time ever taking a lesson from him?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, Butch has seen me swing it a million times, he knows — I’ve seen him at Floridian a million times and he’s stood there when I’m hitting balls with Claude and he’s stood there at the Ryder Cup. It’s one of those things where I just needed a different set of eyes, maybe something might click, because I was failing.

Claude was giving me, telling me the same things he’s said for five years, the three keys that we have just worked on, and for some reason I just couldn’t do it. That’s on me. It’s not on Claude, it’s not Claude’s fault, it’s not Pete’s fault, it’s not anybody’s fault except my own, and the fact that I couldn’t do it, I just needed a fresh set of eyes just to look at it and see if he saw anything out of the ordinary. And the beauty of it is Butch has seen it so many times. So it was good for me to go out there. I had Claude’s blessing. I called Claude, I told Pete, and they were all behind it.

Q. Certainly every professional athlete has had ups and downs in their careers; what was the difference in this one? Was it confidence? Why were you just feeling different with this downturn?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I wouldn’t — it wasn’t that I was feeling different, I just couldn’t match everything everybody was telling me to do. You go through feelings where sometimes they say release the club or hold it off, whatever it might be, and it’s fairly simple but right now for whatever reason it just felt difficult, I couldn’t do it. That’s me being aware of where the club face is or being aware where my path is, where I’m set up, different things like that, but that’s all on me.

Q. Wondering, for somebody who has accomplished so much already in golf, how difficult is it for you to make changes like that, which are I’m assuming incredibly significant.
BROOKS KOEPKA: Not really, it’s pretty fundamental stuff, I just wasn’t doing it, to put it very bluntly. You fall into bad habits, yes, and sometimes you just got to work your way out of them. What Butch said, I mean he saw it in four swings, I think, and told me a couple things and I had planned on being out there all day Tuesday and except he told me to fly home, fly out here, or well, not fly home, fly here, and get out here and practice, because he felt like everything was on the right track and now it’s our job to make sure that it progresses and it progresses nicely with Claude.

Q. Your record here, obviously you’ve had some good mojo here. Oftentimes it just takes one good round or two to kind of snap things out of it. What would a good day tomorrow do for you, do you think, in terms of just kind of —
BROOKS KOEPKA: It just takes one shot. It’s there sometimes right now and then it’s still — I still resort back to the old habits, old things. It’s getting close, I’ve said that for weeks and weeks, but now it’s just getting more consistent. I felt I had something to build on, I putted a lot better Saturday, and then Sunday I definitely putted better. Other than a little hiccup there on 1, which was just me lapsing in concentration.

But I’m progressing, and every year we’re in this slump — we had a little bit of a team meeting, my whole team yesterday for about an hour, hour and a half, just trying to go over everything and make sure everybody’s on the same page and knows what we’re at, what we’re trying to accomplish, and a lot of that is on my shoulders. I haven’t done maybe the best job of doing everything I need to do.

Q. How much has the knee had an impact on this, or is it more the layoff from the knee that the three months away or so?
BROOKS KOEPKA: My knee’s fine. My knee’s exactly where it should be. It’s just a matter of execution, taking care of what I need to take care of. It has nothing to do with my knee. It’s all me not being able to do what Claude’s told me to do, what Pete’s told me to do, Jeff on the putting. That’s me, whether it’s lack of concentration, focus, decisiveness, whatever it might be, that’s all on my shoulders, it has nothing to do with anybody else.

Q. Do you know what it is? Is it lack of focus, concentration?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, that’s kind of what we were going over yesterday. Making sure we’re a little bit more decisive. I think maybe it has been a little bit of lack of concentration, because I go into a major, and a perfect example is 6 at Honda. You pull one in there off the tee, which in a major I never would, I would be so scared of hitting it in the water I would hit it to the right, make sure the miss is to the right. And then we drop one and then I hit it in the water again where I would never make sure that miss is left on any of those holes.

My misses right now are in the worse possible places. I’ve short-sided myself, I’ve put it where it’s very penalizing. When you’re playing good, you hit things and your misses are in the correct spots. And even if you’re playing bad, you need to make sure that you choose the right shot shape, the shot where you want to miss it and things like that.

I think that’s — I see the shot in my mind and I just haven’t executed and when you’re on that’s perfectly fine, but sometimes when you’re off you need to understand that center of the greens are good and that’s where you want to be.

Q. Do you think if the TOUR pulled you aside and whispered into your ear, this is a major this week, do you think it would help?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It doesn’t matter. I try my ass off in every tournament. It’s just, I take it up a notch, I don’t know, it’s very hard to explain. I think someone said this yesterday in the meeting, that I have a hard time accepting that I’m going to make mistakes in a regular TOUR event, but in a major I seem to know that I’m going to make mistakes and I just want to minimize those. I think that was kind of perfectly said. I try to be too perfect out here a lot of times and try to never miss a golf shot, try to win it with my iron play, my driving, when a lot of the times it’s not how you win.

Q. On a lighter note, you just had your feature in GQ; you’re a pretty fashionable guy. A couple things that have gotten some attention lately had EVR’s joggers, you had Adam Scott rocking pleated pants, and I’m curious if Nike came to you with either one of those, would you be willing to say yes to pleated pants or joggers?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, Nike’s already come with joggers. They did that.

Q. You’ve worn them?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’ve worn them, yeah. Not in a tournament but they were the first ones to do them out here.

Q. Have you ever turned down any apparel that Nike put in front of you?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No.

Q. What about pleated pants; would you turn those down?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, those are in right now.

Q. What does Chase need to do with his game to get out here?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I don’t know. I haven’t been around him playing too much as of late. It’s all about opportunity. I think the hardest part is getting here. It’s easier to stay here than it is to get out here, for sure. He tried Europe, and I won’t say he didn’t like it, but he wanted to make the transition over here and missed — well, I guess got conditional status on Korn Ferry, and there are times when I’m out here and I’m like I know he can play out here. But at the same time he’s got to wait for his opportunity, take advantage of it when he can and that’s — I mean there are guys that deserve to be out here that aren’t out here, just plain and simple. It’s all about the timing and when they have, if they timed it up right.

Q. Does he have a good eye for your swing and vice versa?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I can’t tell anybody. Everybody loves to ask, like amateurs, like what am I doing, and I know how to hit it, I don’t know how to coach. But, yeah, I mean, I’ve watched him hit balls so much, I know pretty much how he lines up, how he sets up, and I can see things like that, but he’s played fine. I think a lot of times it’s his expectations and, look, I don’t envy him at all, he’s in a very tough spot and a lot of times I really feel bad for him being the younger brother and then having me. I really do feel bad for him. It’s not fun.

If he ever steps in an interview room like this, 90 percent of his questions are about me, they’re not about him. So I feel real bad for him a lot of the times, and sometimes as a family it’s about picking him up a little bit and make being sure that he has got the confidence, he’s got what he needs to be successful and not always hear about me. You even hear it when he goes to a golf course, a lot of times the only questions he gets asked are about me, and I give him a lot of credit, I couldn’t be in those shoes.

Q. Do you feel like you’re relatively receptive to a lot of this stuff? Are you too hardheaded at times?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Too what?

Q. To the changes that you’ve been talking about, even before when people would tell you things, do you feel like you soak them in or do you feel like you didn’t process them the right way?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s funny, we talked about this last night in our meeting. I think if you would have — what’s made me successful is I don’t listen to anybody. I listen to my coach, my team, everybody inside. I’ll do what they ask, I’ll do what’s needed and I don’t tinker. I don’t tinker with clubs, I don’t make changes on anything and then all of a sudden I kind of veered off the path of all right, well, let’s try this, I think this is going to make me better, when it got me to world No. 1, it got me four majors, seven wins out here. Why am I changing that?

I think I’ve always laughed because you see guys do it before you. They make changes right when they get to the top to improve and the intent behind it is really good, but at the same time a lot of these things are what makes me successful, what makes me tick. And that’s what I’m trying to go back to right now is make it very fundamental, very simple and keep the main thing the main thing. Keep those three points I worked on with Claude for five years and that’s the only thing we have ever worked on and that’s what we’re going to.

Q. The other thing, one thing that Butch seems to be very good at is not only looking at your swing and making comments but making you think better and feel better about where you’re going. Did you feel like he helped you somewhat mentally in that just time, that little time you had with him this week?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It was good. It was nice to get out there and go see him. Obviously I hadn’t seen him in, it’s been awhile, since he’s not out here. But every time I’m around Butch I enjoy it, you get a nice laugh and, yeah, I think that’s one of Butch’s — yes, he’s a great golf coach, but at the same time he’s a great motivator, big team guy when he’s standing there. So that was nice to see. But at the same time, so was Claude and so was Pete.

I’ve got, I think, the best team around me. And those guys do the same thing. I think it’s in the Harmons’ blood for a little bit of motivation and confidence and that’s probably the reason why Claude stays with me at our house. Every time we get a house he stays with me, and it’s definitely in their DNA.

Q. There are a few holes during the whole calendar of the year that can be so decisive on winning or losing, like 17 and 18 here. Can you describe these holes and what makes them so special, especially in a, let’s say, pressure situation on the final day, for example?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, I’m probably not the guy to ask about 17. I think I’ve probably played it the worst out of anybody probably the last five years. But I mean, yeah, you just got to pick your shot, be decisive about it and obviously hit the green on 17 and you’re going to have a good chance the way it’s kind of broken up in those three little quarters. Then 18, we usually play with 3-iron, 3-wood, somewhere out there on the right and then try and let my ball striking take over and be successful that way.

Q. There’s so many big events cancelled throughout the world. European Tour has cancelled due to this coronavirus. Have you thought a single second about maybe not attending here or how did you guys handle this whole situation at the moment?
BROOKS KOEPKA: This is the TOUR’s biggest event. I’m not going to skip it.

Q. Can I ask you a little bit more about what Butch was asking you to do or what he was seeing in your swing? And I’ll say this based on some things that Paul Marchand, who works with Fred Couples, told me about Fred’s swing many years ago. This could be 25 years ago, and he said all golfers get tendencies and they tend to go back into some tendency that they had and it’s important to have a coach who has an eye who understand that swing, and what he told me was he said for instance Fred is very limber and for him that’s a problem. He gets too loose and then his shots will spray or his timing gets off or something. So with you was Butch trying to get you back to something that you had done in the past correctly?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. Yeah, it’s —

Q. Was he just in his language was able to —
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, golf’s just a — we could see it on video and what I was trying to do and didn’t know how to get there. There’s a few things that were wrong and the two things he told me were what same thing Claude’s been telling me but just in a different way and it clicked or it felt better. I can see it in the film now when we’re on the driving range or on the golf course like today, the positions it’s in is a million times better. I’m pleased with it. It goes through your whole golf bag, your whole swing, all your tendencies go through your whole golf bag.

Obviously I’m a fader of the golf ball. You can see it probably in my putting; my putting is not exactly the perfect stroke, but at the same time I come over it a little bit and it’s just like my golf swing. And when you get bad tendencies they seem to go all the way through your putting, and that’s why I’ve struggled so much.

So everything is, it’s gone throughout the bag and I think that it’s taken from what Claude and Pete and Butch have said and it’s — I’m on the right track. I think I just needed a little bit of reassurance for myself like — listen, Claude knows my swing as good as anybody, but I needed a little bit of reassurance for myself that I was making the right choices and that’s — and, you know —

Q. Butch has a great eye.
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, he does, he’s got a great eye and at the same time so does Claude. To have — it was important to me for me to get Claude’s blessing to go out there because if I didn’t I don’t know what I would have done.

Q. On a hypothetical, if it ever reached a point where there were, where there were no fans on the golf course, which I’m sure you probably experienced on the Challenge Tour I would imagine, what would be the upside and downside to that?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I don’t really know if there would be an upside to that. It’s kind of fun playing in front of fans. You can hear the “ohhh” when you miss it, you know, you hear the cheer when you make it. It kind of gets you a little bit pumped up. It gets you excited and you really feel like you did something. I mean we’ve played a couple events, a couple rounds I should say with no fans, and it’s — we talk about it as players when we’re out there during that round, it’s very weird, it’s awkward. You don’t have that momentum, you don’t have, I guess, the momentum of the fans or the cheering and it’s kind of hard to get excited, especially sometimes when you can’t see where the flag is and you don’t know if it’s 15 feet or it’s tight. It’s a lot easier when there are fans there.

Q. Have you had a chance to play Michael Jordan’s new golf course?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I have not, no. No. I’ve stuck with Medalist. I’ve been at Medalist for awhile practicing and at the Floridian just practicing. I haven’t — if he wants to give me a membership, yeah, I’ll go out.

Q. You said after Honda with the issues with your putting then was just you hadn’t been out there a lot because of the knee, just with the layoff. Is that the root of all of this, do you think, as much as anything, was just not playing a lot and having those three months off?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I think it had a little bit to do with something. I think it’s only been 22 rounds since August. I mean, that’s six months that’s not really a lot of golf. That’s why I played last week just to get some rounds and it’s great to be hitting it on the range, but you need to have that competitive — understand when you’re trying to hit a shot under pressure what it does and the unfortunate thing is probably halfway through the season and I’m still trying to figure it out.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Patrick Reed Speaks With Media Prior to Making Seventh Start at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Patrick Reed of the United States plays a shot from a bunker during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and Masters champion Patrick Reed addresses the media prior to the start of The 2020 Players Championship about how his preparation differs for large scale tournaments.

PGA Tour: Patrick Reed talks to the media prior to making start at The Players Championship

NICK PARKER: We would like to welcome Patrick Reed to the interview room here at THE PLAYERS Championship. This is your seventh start coming in here at THE PLAYERS. Just talk about the challenge that awaits this week.

PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing is kind of getting used to the firmness and softness of the grounds. The greens yesterday were relatively soft, but today you had some more skip and bounce in them, but with the fairways being soft, you can kind of adjust your line a little bit more off tees. You’re hitting a couple longer clubs off the tee because you’re not worried about the ball rolling or running through. That being said, the longer club you hit, the easier it is to hit it in the rough, and that rough out here, even though it’s not very long, it’s really thick. So it’s a golf course that is going to take a lot of thinking, a lot of really quality ball striking and if you get out of position some good short game.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. You’re rarely among like the few favorites gambling-wise. I’m wondering if you pay attention to your odds whenever you play and if you take it as a sign of disrespect that you’re 35 to 1 this week when you win just as much as anybody out here?
PATRICK REED: I honestly don’t pay any attention to the gambling or any kind of odds. Does anyone know what my odds were at Augusta? How about 40 to 1? How about WGC?

Q. You were same thing, like 25, 30.
PATRICK REED: Okay. I like my odds then. Those are good odds. So no, I mean, I don’t. I don’t really ever focus to that because at the end of the day when you come out here you have fields on the PGA TOUR now are so deep and you have to play your A-game in order to win golf tournaments out here, especially at an event like this at THE PLAYERS where you have all the top players here playing, and when that happens you have to go out and you have to play really good golf from top to bottom.

So at the end of the day to me it’s just like any kind of during the March Madness or anything like that; when you start playing, all those odds go out the window. It all determines how you go out there and what you do when your name’s called.

The Players Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. Do you have events like THE PLAYERS or the majors circled on the calendar and does that affect your prep for those weeks at all going into it or maybe a couple weeks out?
PATRICK REED: Well I mean everyone — I mean, for me I circle — there’s nine events that I circle, all WGC’s, majors and THE PLAYERS. And with having those nine circled, I try to treat all nine of those the same. My prep work will be the exact same, everything kind of leading up into the event will kind of be the same, and at that point I know that I’m not going to get too amped or too excited compared from one to the other because once you start over-prepping or trying to take such a big moment and turn it even larger and start thinking of it that way, now all of a sudden mentally you’re not going to have it and you’re going to put more pressure on you than you really need when you’re out there trying to play.

Q. When you’re out there, talking about the mental game, is that something that you consciously think about, okay, this is what I want my mental strategy to be this week, I want to bear down or whatever, or is that something that comes naturally to you?
PATRICK REED: Now it comes naturally. It’s something as you grow up and as I was a junior golfer growing up I would always write down a game plan in my yardage book and how I’m going to play each hole. But then I get to that hole and if I made bogey on the last hole, I come up to the next one, if I’m supposed to hit 3-wood off the tee I would hit driver because I was like, oh, I got to get that shot back and so I would kind of veer off the game plan, and nine times out of ten it never really worked.

So I’ve really gotten used to now just kind of always sticking to the game plan. I always have usually two game plans on each hole. I have an aggressive one if I feel like I’m playing really well and then I have a more conservative one if I don’t feel like I’m swinging the way I’m supposed to be swinging.

But with having that, it just kind of allows me to stay in my own mental space to really just focus on the then and now and not really what happened a hole ago or a shot ago or what’s coming up. Instead I’m able to really focus on what I’m trying to do right then and there.

Q. When you made the top-five-player-in-the-world comment a few years ago, obviously it generated a lot of noise and attention. You’re now very close to actually that position and you’ve won significant events. Do you feel even now better placed that that’s exactly where you should be and where you’re headed, and what would that mean to you if you get there?
PATRICK REED: It would mean everything. Every golfer and every competitor that’s out here playing, they’re all trying to get to one spot and that’s to be the best player in the world. And all of us are working very hard to win golf tournaments to get to those positions, and the only way you get to top five, top one, or the best player in the world is by winning golf tournaments and winning big events.

The biggest thing is to not only are you trying to win those golf tournaments but you’re trying to turn those off weeks into top-25s, top-15, top-10s, and I think that’s the biggest thing is as we have been getting closer to the top five number, for me really it’s just continue to try to grow on the golf and continue to try and play better and more consistent because all of us when we’re on we’re on, we can go shoot some really low numbers. And it’s those days that you’re not — you don’t quite have it there that you need to kind of be able to turn a 3- or 4-over-par round into even or 1-under, and the top players in the world, that’s what they’re able to do. So that’s more kind of where we’re striving.

Q. When you win a tournament like the WGC, clearly it makes it more likely that you could qualify automatically for the Ryder Cup. Is that something you’ll think about? Will it register for you as a great bonus of having done that, and are you somebody who would maybe look at the standings throughout the year to see who is kind of it in it?
PATRICK REED: I think we all look at the standings. Every player does because there’s nothing like going to represent your country and playing for red, white and blue. And the biggest thing is the easiest way to do that is by giving yourself chances to win the big events and really giving yourself chances to win every tournament and to be able to cap off a WGC and hopefully to have a chance this week and to hopefully have a couple chances in the majors and maybe cap off a couple of those, I mean, that is how you qualify for the Ryder Cup and for the Presidents Cup, and because of that you just have to continue to grind and continue to work and try to get to that point because, you know, the only way to get to all your goals and to succeed on all these things is by one thing; it’s working really hard and playing great golf. If you do that, then everything else takes care of itself.

I think that’s kind of where I’ve always felt like I’ve been good at is never really looked too far ahead. Just try to look right stay in the present and try to improve each and every day, and I feel like that’s the reason why I’ve been getting a little bit more consistent and something that I’ve been really working hard on.

Q. You’ve come into a bit of heat this year. I’m just wondering, does the heckling bother you at all?
PATRICK REED: No.

Q. No?
PATRICK REED: No, I mean, I think the PGA TOUR has done a great job on the security and the fans. I feel like, as a whole, the fans have been pretty good. You’re always going to get a couple people here and there that are going to say something. That’s normal, any sport you play. For me when I get behind the ropes and I get inside those ropes it’s I have a job to do and that’s go out and play good golf and to have a chance to win on Sundays and to provide for my family and to go out and represent myself the best way I can, and I feel like I’ve been doing that.

Q. The 17th here, the island green is notorious, especially on the Friday afternoon. Are you worried at all that you’ll pass through there Friday and come under a bit of fire?
PATRICK REED: I mean, no, not really. For me the biggest thing on 17, it was today — Kessler, it’s the first time he’s actually hit the green. Normally he hits it in the water, so that means I cannot hit it in the water the next four days because if I do, if I hit in the water once, I won’t hear the end of it until next year. So I just got to go out there and I’ve always played that hole somewhat conservative, I’ve never really taken on too many of those flags. The front flag is obviously — you’re trying to fly it past and kind of bring it back down to it. And back flag you’re trying to hit to the middle of the green. That right flag being a drawer of the golf ball I don’t ever really go for, so for me it’s just kind of put the ball in the middle of the green and let my putter try to work.

I’ve heard horror stories, guys hitting 7-irons, 6-irons to that hole in the past. Besides for last year, every year’s been 100 degrees because of the time or the time the tournament was. So I’ve hit lob wedge there one year every day. So it’s just kind of one of those things that for me it’s just hit it in the middle of the green and take your medicine.

Q. Are you a Pete Dye fan and is there a particular hole out here that you find visually disturbing?
PATRICK REED: Oh, I am a Pete Dye fan. And a hole that is disturbing? I’ve never — well, when the golf course is firm and fast, 18 for some reason, that tee shot, just even being a drawer of the golf ball just never kind of suits my eye. If it’s a little softer this year, my driver or 3-wood down that right side doesn’t go through if it’s into the wind, so that one this year hopefully is going to be a little nicer to me.

But when it’s firm and fast I seem to never be able to get the ball far enough left and I’m always in those trees and having to give a fan something to either cheer about or kind of scratch their head about.

Q. Rory said yesterday his favorite was No. 12. Do you have a favorite?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, of course he likes 12; he can hit 3-iron on the green. I mean, yeah, I’ve always thought No. 2’s always been a great par-5. Off the tee you see guys hit everywhere from 5-wood to driver. The guys who fade the ball sometimes they don’t really feel comfortable with driver because they kind of turn it, but then after stepping up and hitting a draw or whatever shot there, then from the second shot you have to work it the opposite direction. So it’s kind of a double dogleg, and for the most part everyone can get home in two, but going for it you put yourself just in the wrong spot. Even if you’re only 10 feet off the green you’re struggling to make par. You’re hitting it to 30, 40 feet to some of the flags, so I feel like that’s a hole that is just an amazing design from tee to green that really just makes you think all around.

Q. Going back to what you were saying earlier about the noise, if you will, two things, one, have you had a chance or have you talked to Brooks since a few weeks ago?
PATRICK REED: I haven’t. I don’t — last week he played in the same event and I don’t think I saw him once last week.

Q. Secondly, do you think that noise ever goes away at any point or does winning maybe help eliminate that?
PATRICK REED: Well, winning always helps everything. But really at the end of the day the noise goes away once y’all decide it goes away at the end of the day. I mean, I feel like the players and all of us have moved on, but at the end of the day all we can do is go out and continue playing good golf and doing what we’re supposed to do.

Q. Is it going to be easy for you to come back to Augusta as not the defending champion?
PATRICK REED: Definitely.

Q. And why is that? Not many people successfully defend that tournament.
PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing is so for me in particular being my first major, my first one I won, I didn’t know what to expect. And then kind of showing up and getting back on-site, just kind of the extra kind of a adrenaline and just kind of hype that was going on on the week, all the extra pressures you put on yourself to play well to try to defend and have a good defense, whether — just have a good finish.

And with having to be the host of the dinner, having all these extra little things that you don’t realize what to expect when you come in, you feel like your day starts at 6:00 a.m. and doesn’t stop until 7:00 p.m., and then on top of it you got to go out and play solid golf.

So it was kind of — it’s awesome, it’s amazing to defend, but the good thing is now that I have won my first major, I know what to expect when I have the opportunity to win another one, what to expect if I’m going to defend.

Q. When you’re playing the 17th on a Friday afternoon and you’re doing that walk, as a player now generally, I mean, do you have to prepare yourself mentally that somebody’s going to say something?
PATRICK REED: No, not really. When I’m out there and I get inside the ropes I’m full on focusing about golf and either talking to Kessler about what we’re about to do, whether it’s a putt, iron shot or chip like where the ball sits on the green, if it’s going to be fast, if it’s going to be slow. That’s all the preparation we do during the week is to figure out, okay, what greens are faster than others, what putts are faster than others and vice versa, and for us we get so in tuned in golf that everything that goes on around us it doesn’t matter, we’re out there to grind and to go out and play good golf.

Q. Noticed you stopped wearing red on Sunday; why is that?
PATRICK REED: You know, I mean just kind of one of those things that I’ve always I used to always wear red and black but whenever I’d signed with Nike and everything, we want to make sure that we wear the current product so we keep up with what the fans and what the people who see us on TV, what they can go to the store and what they can buy.

Q. So now you’ve won in black, will that be a new look on Sunday?
PATRICK REED: It could be. That shirt that I’ve worn the past couple Sundays is one of the current products, so it works, it’s current and most likely it will be in it.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 12, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Australia

PGA Tour: 2004 Players Champion Adam Scott Addresses Media Prior to Making 19th Start at Event

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Adam Scott of Australia looks on during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

2004 Players Championship winner Adam Scott speaks with the media prior to making his 19th consecutive start at the event about how his game has changed as he ages.

PGA Tour: Adam Scott previews 19th start at the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass

SHARON SHIN: We would like to welcome Adam Scott, the 2004 PLAYERS champion. You’re making your 19th consecutive start at this event. How does it feel to be back?

ADAM SCOTT: Well, I love coming here. It’s like I talk about every year, it’s where my career really got going, I guess all those years ago and it’s been fun coming back ever since. I feel like I’ve really been welcomed here in this community and supported really well on the golf course. I played some good rounds over the years here and enjoyed some good results, however, not winning a second one, this year again that’s my goal going out there and I feel like my game is ready for that challenge this week.

SHARON SHIN: And already a win under your belt this season with a victory at the Genesis Invitational. How is your game feeling entering this week?

ADAM SCOTT: It’s good, even though that I missed the cut last week, I had a bit of a bad front nine at Arnold Palmer, which is disappointing. However, the silver lining may be that I didn’t have to deal with that golf course over the weekend, which looked quite brutal and my mind is in a good place because of that. But I feel very comfortable with where my game’s at. I think the lesson learned out of last week was I need to just make sure I’m prepared teeing off tomorrow and not have that kind of slow start to take away from the level where my game is and put myself back in with a chance to win a big tournament this week.

SHARON SHIN: We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. We have got a question from a fan in China. How do you adjust yourself to the pressure in competition and take your championship experience back in 2014 as an example?
ADAM SCOTT: I think everything comes from preparation and if you prepare properly then eventually with some experience you understand how you respond to pressure situations, and whether it’s teeing off on Thursday of a tournament or coming down the stretch to win a tournament. But I find myself, and I’ve also heard from a lot of other athletes that they get all their confidence out of their of their preparation; all the work needs to be done before you’re meant to perform.

Q. Do you change the game plan much going into this tournament as opposed to another tournament, especially because of the Pete Dye golf course?
ADAM SCOTT: It’s very much the condition of the course dependent. Which we have seen over the years, if it plays soft this course can be quite good around here. But if it firms up it gets a little treacherous and can play really like the other Florida tournaments can. So at the moment it’s a little soft, and although it firmed up a little bit today, it looks like you’re going to have to show a little bit of patience out there this week. The greens just got a little firmer today and the rough is significant enough to not make it easy to hit greens out of the rough and balls can roll through and the speeds of the greens make chipping difficult. So ball striking this week will certainly help. It’s playing a little longer than we have seen in May, as well, with the softness of the fairways. So it really turned into a wedge golf course. I felt like as I got used to it in May, and it was because of this tournament that I ended up putting four wedges in my golf bag for the first time, I don’t know, three or four years ago. But I think there’s a bit less of that this year, even with drivers off tees, the ball is, for me, not getting down to that kind of wedge area and I’ve hit a lot more 9-, 8-, 7-, 6-, 5-irons into greens than I can remember for the last 10 years.

The Players Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. There’s a lot of trees on this golf course, of all the places where you face a shot with a tree or trees, which one grabs your attention the most?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think the second hole, the trees up the left of the second are pretty much right where you want to flight the ball, you want to hug that left side and the trees are in the way so you have to go around. There have been a few, the one on No. 6 is gone now, that used to overhang the tee box. I never really thought I could hit it into it but you never know. It was getting a bit lower the last few years.

Q. David Duval and Justin Leonard were talking about the strategy of Pete Dye’s design around this course and Justin was talking about the 16th hole as an example where you need to draw off the tee and then hit a fade for your second shot. Do you think the move back from May to March enhances the need to play it strategically versus just blast over the trouble?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I think it will work out that way because the ball just doesn’t seem to be running like it was in May. Drives are really not running at all. Therefore, some of the holes like 14 off the tee and 16 off the tee, the ball doesn’t run down near any of the trouble, but it’s leaving us much longer second shots, which is more difficult. I think it is a course of strategy because everyone kind of plays to similar spots. I don’t think you can overpower the course, however — and I don’t think you can play out of the rough all week and do well. But now I don’t think you can really overpower this golf course. It would be difficult to drive it in those spots now.

So I think it is a good strategic golf course, I really do. I think that’s why we don’t see repeat winners and it’s really open to whoever can play well. I don’t think it favors long hitters, I don’t think it favors just a short game, I think it tests all areas of the game.

Q. Post your Genesis win, do you still keep the same clubs in the bag? Have you changed anything since that win at Riviera?
ADAM SCOTT: I haven’t, no.

Q. And if not, is there a sentimental reason for that or is it sort of like the fact that you’ve got the winning clubs in the bag or is it just you’re not a sort of club changer?
ADAM SCOTT: I generally am not a club changer. I try and stick with what’s working as long as I can. There’s so many changes all the time; if you can not change something it’s quite good to not have to factor in anything else.

Q. It seems like there’s an interesting competition going on on TOUR at the moment between the younger guys winning, you guys winning, the more experienced guys, and would you say it’s one of the most interesting times during your career to compete on the PGA TOUR at the moment?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I guess so. I mean for me anyway it’s an interesting time for me to compete. I feel like I have a great opportunity at the moment to achieve some of the things that I have set out to do. Coming off the back of not necessarily last year but the year before not playing as well as I hoped when these opportunities present themselves you want to take advantage of them. So I’m excited for that. I think I’m not really trying to prove that I can beat any of the young guys, but I think some of the old guys still have it out here (Laughing.)

Q. How would you say your game’s evolved at 39 compared to in your 20s? Do you play — what was your ratio to power to precision then and has that ratio changed?
ADAM SCOTT: I think — sorry, I just don’t know exactly how to answer. I think I’m a better player now. I think everyone’s become better. I think the power is easier to achieve now. I think the precision is more difficult to achieve now. I don’t know that I can say I was more precise back then, but in the overall balance maybe I was. But I was hitting it probably a little shorter too. Which would make sense that I’m more accurate hitting it shorter.

Q. Has there been any changes since you are older in terms of physical capabilities or have you adjusted in that regard or are you just as capable?
ADAM SCOTT: I think I’m just as capable physically, I mean, I’ve been fairly fortunate, I haven’t really had injury setbacks or anything bothering me from playing golf and I’ve always been conscious of keeping my body in a good spot and I’ve worked with good people on that. So I feel physically I’m very capable of playing top-level golf right now.

Q. Your swing has long been a model for juniors and anyone, really. I’m wondering, with the plethora of information available now in terms of TrackMan and all these biomechanics and plate things, how much do you use that stuff or are you more of a, do you prefer to just kind of go on feel, do you watch your swing on video, just curious about your process.
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I use TrackMan infrequently. I don’t use it much at all. I don’t know the last time I used it. And I got in the habit of watching my swing on video, which isn’t good because even though it the swing can be good you can nitpick every swing, I mean the perfect swing pretty much doesn’t exist. And even when I’m swinging good I could see something and try and then go and work on it. So basically I haven’t seen my swing this year at all and so a lot of it is based off feel. I trust my coach that he’s telling me the swing is looking in a good spot and he then, I just find my own feels to play golf and that keeps the freedom and kind of the natural talent I have for playing as open as possible to come out on the course and that’s kind of my process. There are times to reference off TrackMan and all the other information, but at this point I don’t think there’s many secrets I’m going to find from it. I know my game fairly well and I’m fairly honest with myself about how the ball flight is.

Q. You mentioned about your goals for this year. Can you share a little bit more about that and what of the next three majors would you most want to add to your resume?
ADAM SCOTT: Winning tournaments is always my goal and of course we put a huge focus on the majors. And then I think we all have other specific tournaments we really like. For example, this one, it’s a big event and this is my main focus right now. Of course I would love to win any of the other majors later this year. My goal is to keep my game in a spot where that’s realistic. But I’ve got off to a good start by winning the Genesis a few weeks back and I would like to add to that. Now I’m in this position where I’ve won again I would like to get myself back quickly in that position and see if I can add to that tally this year.

SHARON SHIN: Adam, do you have time for a couple more?

ADAM SCOTT: No, I’m sorry, my table is ready at Chili’s.

March 11, 2020

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team USA

PGA Tour: Jim Furyk Talks 2020 Players Championship at His Hometown Club

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 14: Jim Furyk tees off at the 12th hole during round two of the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2020 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional speaks with the media ahead of the start of the 2020 Players Championship about his relationship with the late Pete Dye and his future plans to play on the Champions Tour

PGA Tour: Jim Furyk addresses the media ahead of The 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass

THE MODERATOR: I’d like to welcome Jim Furyk back to the 2020 PLAYERS Championship. Jim, you’ve had an exciting week already. We’re on the heels of your 10th annual Furyk and Friends, and while we were there, you announced a new tournament that will come to the PGA TOUR Champions in 2021, the Constellation Furyk and Friends. Can you talk about that new event and its formation.

JIM FURYK: Is there another event this week? Is there another reason we’re here? (Laughing.)

Yeah, Tabitha and I are really excited. It’s been a couple years in the making, and we’re just — I can’t tell you how excited we are to host and to have this new event here in the Jacksonville area. A lot of thanks to the PGA TOUR really, to have the support, I think also — all their support, all their vision. We’ve asked a ton of questions. We’ve asked for a lot of help. And first and foremost, for the approval of being able to have a Champions Tour event and then all the help along the way, and then also for Constellation, they’ll be our title sponsor, and I’ve had a long-standing partnership for over 20 years with them, and so it was natural that that would be one of the first and the first company to approach. So thankful to have them involved along the way, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for our first event in October, but super excited to showcase the city, to showcase our town, the river, and a wonderful golf course in Timuquana. It’s a beautiful venue, and we’re looking forward to our event.

The Players Championship Tee Times and Leaderboard

We’ve had a charity golf tournament for 10 years now in this area, and we have a great vision with it, we’ve had a lot of great support here in the community and also around the country with folks flying in, and our vision is really to take that event and have the same feel. But it’s going to be a little grander scale, a Champions Tour event, and now instead I guess leaning on the guys in this field to come over and entertain our guests and our sponsors I’ll be leaning on the over-50 crowd to make sure we have a strong field and you get the best players possible for the Constellation Furyk and Friends.

THE MODERATOR: Looking ahead to this week for THE PLAYERS Championship, you had an exciting runner-up finish last year. Can you reflect on that performance and how you’re looking forward to replicating it this year.

JIM FURYK: Yeah, it’s always fun to play at home. I think we all put a lot — when we’re home we put a lot more pressure on ourselves. We want to perform well. For that reason I think I haven’t always had the best success at this event, but I had some flashes and two good opportunities to win, and one of those being last year. And to feel, kind of feel the excitement of the crowd and a little bit of that hometown cheering section was really special for me, especially at the age of 48, coming off of three years of injury and really not playing all that well, and I wasn’t even in the field in 2018. I snuck in last year and had a great week, and it honestly gave me a ton of confidence that I got under the gun and hit some good shots down the stretch and almost won the tournament.

A lot of fun, and this is a — it’s always a big week for us. Tabitha and I are involved in a number of different charity events throughout this week. We had Operation Shower on Sunday afternoon, we had our concert and party Sunday night, we had our charity golf tournament yesterday across the street at Sawgrass Country Club, and then this morning we had These Kids Can Play with the Wilson Children’s Hospital and Community PedsCare.

It’s a busy week, and then we’re just going to cap it off with coming to the media room and answering questions about our new event. Eventually this afternoon or tomorrow I’ll start thinking about golf, I’ll start thinking about the task at hand and THE PLAYERS Championship, but it’s been a whirlwind week so far and it’s been a lot of fun. Hopefully, I can take that excitement and take it to the golf course this week.

Q. This is the first THE PLAYERS Championship without Pete Dye. I’m wondering, you’ve had as many starts as anybody in this field at this course. Is there a hole, maybe not necessarily your favorite hole, but is there a hole out there that is the most reflective of what Pete’s vision and what he demands — I think I saw a quote where you’ve got to hit the shot Pete wants you to hit, not the one you necessarily want to hit. Is there a hole out there that you think most reflects that?
JIM FURYK: There’s a lot of them. I think — when I think of Pete Dye and think about the work that he’s done, I think one of the most impressive things is he tackles jobs that most architects won’t. He takes difficult pieces of property — if you remember what this property looked like, it was kind of a swamp land at one time, and he tackles a difficult piece of property that’s very flat, needs a lot of fill, and he makes something very interesting, very demanding out of it.

I read a book that he titled, I think he said he wanted his courses to be visually disturbing and I think that would sum up my feeling, when I’m on a tee box on a Pete Dye golf course, right out of the chute I think about the first hole. The first fairway from the tee looks extremely narrow. You stand on the tee, it’s uncomfortable, it’s tough to pick a target, and it looks like you’re hitting to about a 15-yard wide fairway. And then you get out there, and I miss the fairway a lot, and I look around, and I go, sheesh, this fairway is pretty big, it’s 35-yards wide. And then I look at the green, and I go, my goodness that’s a tiny green. There’s a big bunker on the left, and visually it’s disturbing. And I miss the green and I get up there and I go, this green was plenty big enough to hit with an 8-iron, how did I miss it? It’s seems like that’s kind of his unique trait is everything looks tougher than it is. When you get up there on the 5th fairway — the 5th fairway looks small from the tee and you get out there and you go, God this is a big fairway. But his golf courses are visually disturbing, they look more difficult than they are, and I think he forces you into hitting shots that you wouldn’t normally hit because of that.

Q. Does that make you a better golfer because you hit uncomfortable shots and maybe you pull them off, and now all of a sudden you get halfway decent at being uncomfortable?
JIM FURYK: Possibly, possibly. I think one thing about this golf course is that it makes you at times want to play very conservative. I think the 4th tee would be an instance like that. I don’t think that’s the way you play a Pete Dye golf course. I think you’ve got to take it on. You’ve got to be aggressive. If it eats you up, if you don’t hit the shots, you’re not going to be competitive. But you have to be aggressive off the tee. You have to challenge the golf course. And if you do drive the ball well, you can set yourself up for some opportunities.

And I think early in my career, it took me a long to figure this golf course out. I think I tried to play it a little too conservatively and then it kind of ate my lunch. Last year I did a very good job of being very aggressive off the tee and I was hitting the ball real well and I gave myself a lot of opportunities because of it.

Q. When you turn 50, are you the next week going to jump into the Champions Tour or are you going to be like Davis Love and play a lot on the PGA TOUR, or like Ernie and Retief and go?
JIM FURYK: I’m caught a little bit in between, but my thought right now would really — I kind of want to play this season on the PGA TOUR. I started the season, I want to finish it. Last year I was kind of — I was real close. I had a good solid year but real close to making the TOUR Championship. I’m not going to have that many opportunities in the future for those to happen. That window is closing. So I want to finish out the season on the PGA TOUR, and then I’m going to kind of reevaluate, and eventually when I do — I don’t see myself juggling. I talked to Strick a lot about it. He tends to like the juggle kind of between both tours. He’s one of the few players I’ve talked to that does enjoy that. Most kind of try for a while, don’t enjoy it, and then they flip the switch and pick a TOUR, like pick the Champions Tour full time. I really believe that’s what I’ll do. When the timing is right I think I’m going to turn over and play the Champions Tour full time and maybe cherry pick a couple of my favorite events, like the RBC Heritage or next week Valspar. Those are some of my favorite courses and you don’t have to hit it like 410 yards off the tee there, so it really feels a little more comfortable to me.

Q. We focus so much on winning and if you win it’s a successful week, maybe if you don’t win it’s not. I’m just curious, when you look at some of your —
JIM FURYK: I had a lot of failure. In that model I’ve had a lot of failure in my career.

Q. You’ve had 188 top 10s, and I’m just wondering, can you get satisfaction out of a top-10 finish that’s a non-win?
JIM FURYK: Sure. Sure. I think there are times when I’ve finished eighth in a tournament and felt like it was a disappointing week because I felt like my game was firing on all cylinders, I might have made some mental errors, I might have felt like I let a tournament slip through my fingers that I could have or should have won. And there’s other times where I finished 20th at an event and really didn’t have my game, I scrapped it out, actually got the ball in the hole pretty well, and at the end you’re kind of satisfied. You’re like, I’ve got some things to work on and I know my game isn’t sharp, but I really did play well this week as far as I got the most out of what I had. I guess I’m not happy about the fact that maybe I didn’t have my “A” game, but I’m happy with the fact that I got the ball in the hole and scrapped it out. And you never know when one little swing change, one little swing thought, you get a good feel, you start striping it, and all of a sudden you’re playing good.

Q. A year ago did you walk away satisfied or disappointed?
JIM FURYK: I think it could be both. I would say last year it’s really close to — it’s really difficult to get that close and then not be able to get a win. But I think the event gave me a lot of confidence. It had been a long time since I had been in that much heat and been under the gun. And I was able to birdie 16, able to birdie 18, hit a great shot at 17, hit a good putt. Moments like that is why we’ve practiced and prepared our whole career is to put ourselves under the gun and kind of test what you’ve got. And then if you hit some pretty good shots and play pretty well, I guess it’s a satisfying feeling, but it also is disappointing to get so close and not win, and especially in a tournament of this magnitude where it’s a huge part of your career to win this event.

Q. Your tournament that you’re going to be holding on the Champions Tour, is it going to be a one- or two-day pro-am and are you going to invite your friends from Pennsylvania down?
JIM FURYK: How about some of my friends from Pennsylvania? It’s tough to make the list.

Q. Do they have to be Pittsburgh Steelers fans?
JIM FURYK: It helps. It significantly helps, yes.

The Champions Tour often has a Wednesday-Thursday, two days of pro-ams, 54-hole event starting on Friday, and that would be the model that we’re in. We’re excited. We have obviously a great — we had 39 groups at our event yesterday playing 27 holes, so we’re hoping to continue the support and continue the event we have right now, and then obviously we’ll have a lot of new partners and sponsors and such.

The pro-am is a major part of every event, PGA TOUR and Champions Tour, and we’re excited to do a good job and get into that.

Q. We’ve had five guys 22 and under win since July, Hovland, Morikawa and Wolff actually did it quickly after getting out of school. Is there something about the game today that makes it easier for guys to come out — I know you’ve seen a lot of these youth movements — but something about today’s game?
JIM FURYK: We’ve been talking about these youth movements since I was about 35, so the last 15 years. I think that it seems as though — I think it’s a two-part answer. It seems as though in the last 10 years, you see a lot more young players maybe not finishing college, maybe early 20s, and they’re prepared to be successful on the PGA TOUR, and they’re prepared to win at an early age.

That being said, that could be training, fitness, Tiger might have made golf a little cooler, you’ve got a lot more athletes playing the game. But I think a lot of it, the technology driven, they seem to be very confident, though, mentally and prepared mentally better maybe than my generation was. Mickelson came out early and was prepared to win, but I also look at this class. I mean, the guys you mentioned, Hovland, Morikawa and Matthew Wolff, we’ll see, but 10, 15 years down the road, that could be the best class that we’ve seen in the last 50 to 80 years on the PGA TOUR. I mean, these three kids come out in the first year all have won PGA TOUR events, have done it in very definitive fashions. It’s not like a flash-in-the-pan type win. These guys are playing well week-in and week-out and are very consistent and then also closing the door to win some events.

I think you see it as a whole, but if we’re just talking about the young folks that have won this year, we’re looking at guys that are very, very good players in their own right.

Q. What role has maybe TrackMan and ShotLink and that technology helped with maybe quickening the learning curve of maybe helping give stuff that it took 5, 10 years to learn, allowing guys to know much quicker, maybe put a veteran’s mind on a young guy’s body, if that makes sense.
JIM FURYK: Possibly, but I think the technology part has helped in training, but when you’re standing out there on the 18th fairway with a 7-iron in your hand and a one-shot lead and you need par to win, TrackMan is not really helping you too much at that moment. You still have to be mentally prepared and ready and believing in yourself. There’s still a mental side to the game, and it’s still an art in some respects. What I’m most impressed is the maturity level of some of the young players coming out.

I think for every Morikawa, Wolff and Hovland that mentally aren’t prepared, that are physically prepared for the PGA TOUR but not mentally prepared, so my hat’s more off to them on that side of things.

But the training — there’s just a depth in fields. I’ve long said that Nicklaus would have been great in any era. He’s Jack Nicklaus. But the depth in the ’50s got better in the ’60s, got better in the ’70s. We’re just seeing more good players, more skilled players and more depth, more players that are able and capable of winning, and it’s impressive to see.

I’m 50; when I came out of school, it was rare, one or two guys a year would get their card that played college the year before, would just get their card. Now you’re seeing a lot of kids come out and they’re not only getting their card and being respectable, they’re challenging and becoming top-20 players in the world very quickly.

Q. A little along the lines of what Mike was talking about with the top 10s, Rory is on a run right now where every week it’s a top 5 or better the last six events or whatever this year, but he’s not getting over the line and winning them. Just kind of wonder where you fall on that, if it were happening to you would you be looking at the positive side that you’re putting yourself there every week or wondering why you’re not making it happen on Sunday?
JIM FURYK: I think there’s a — I think as players, we all get frustrated by that. Again, getting close, not getting over the hump. It’s frustrating for everyone. He puts himself in that position quite often, and that’s because he’s — it’s hard to — I’ll just go real general, if he’s not the most talented player in the world, he’s definitely one of the top 5, so he’s fun to watch. But I think those kind of things comes in bunches. I wouldn’t be surprised if later this year he rips or three or four wins real quick, as well. That’s just kind of the way the game is.

We as players don’t look at the whole or the big picture, so if it were happening to me, I’d be frustrated and I’d be pushing and I’d be trying a little too hard and I would be working hard at home, and I’m sure he’s doing all those things. But from an outsider looking in, the way I look at it is the guy is super talented, and it’s just a matter of time. He’s going to keep knocking on the door, and then when the flood gates open, look out, we’re all going to be in trouble there for a little while.

Q. It looked like Brooks was going to run away and win a couple majors a year, and now he finds himself struggling right now, obviously a little physical issue. What’s your view of Brooks and is that just the way the game goes?
JIM FURYK: I think that’s the way the game goes. He’s not 100 percent. I don’t think he’s said he’s 100 percent. That’s always difficult. Golf is such a unique sport. You put a running back out there in the NFL and if he tells you he’s 85 percent and it’s Emmitt Smith, you’re running him out there because Emmitt Smith at 85 percent is going to help you. Golf is a little different sport. Trying to play at 85 percent is difficult when we have so much depth again and so many great, talented players.

But I think what’s unique about Brooks is that he’s just tough. I mean, you get him in contention, you give him a chance to win, it seems like the bigger the stage, the more that’s on the line, the more he seems to thrive, if that makes sense. Big shots, big putts, I guess you could say Brooks like big putts, cannot lie. (Laughter.)

Q. I did want to ask you about your tournament, given where it falls in the schedule or in the calendar year. Do you feel like your tournament will give you an extra incentive to join Champions early at all? Does that make sense? Where you’ll obviously have a presence there already before you’ve even turned 50? Would you play more on the Champions Tour earlier because you have a tournament that is involved in that?
JIM FURYK: There would be incentive for that, yeah, absolutely. I want to support the Tour. I want to support the Champions Tour and play in it, especially hosting an event. So yeah, I think it would — there is an incentive to play maybe earlier or more because of it, but I really went into the season not wanting to just flip the switch in May and turn over and kind of go half a year on both tours. I kind of want to finish up the season on the PGA TOUR, kind of want to reevaluate where I’m at, and then I’ll figure out when exactly is the right time for me to start the Champions Tour. I’ve been pretty adamant that I don’t want to go back and forth on both, but I’ve also been pretty adamant that I can change my mind any time I want, so I’m going to stick with that theory, as well.

Q. Seeing Ernie win last week, and depending on what Phil does, whatever he’s planning to do, you have some big names coming in —
JIM FURYK: We do. We do. I think it was fun for me when I was 30 years old that we had a great group of folks that were all within about five years of each other. I think about — you mentioned Ernie and Retief and Phil, myself and Duval and Justin Leonard, and they were all buddies of mine, all guys that I really respected but were all similar ages — Mike Weir, K.J. Choi — all similar ages. It was kind of a nice niche and a nice group of folks that I got to play alongside.

I like seeing them have success, and I’ve always said that I’m really, really getting tired of hitting 4-iron. I feel like I’m the only guy on TOUR that can wear out a 4-iron before a pitching wedge anymore. So that’s getting old, but I had an opportunity to win the biggest event on the PGA TOUR last year, and I’m not going to get that opportunity for that many longer in my career, so I’m going to ride that for as long as I can. But it is more of an incentive to play the Champions Tour and start playing it full time sooner rather than later because I have an event out there, absolutely. Those are my friends, too. I want to be out there in that atmosphere. I miss some of those guys.

Q. I was going to ask you, do you see you can renew some of those rivalries on the Champions Tour, like you’re basically extending that against the guys that you’ve been battling with for 20 years?
JIM FURYK: I think that would — yes, absolutely. I think that’s great for the Tour. To have Ernie and Retief out there — I guess Bernhard is probably everyone’s rival. He’s been kicking everyone’s butt for 10 years. But yeah, I think those rivalries, guys that are at the top, guys that are fighting it out, that’s going to be great for the Champions Tour, and I would love to get out there and be competitive and be in that mix.

Q. You look at yourself and Rory, or Rory and you running 1 and 2 last year, you would acknowledge you play different styles of games. Is there a championship venue that’s more inclusive than this one to all styles, and if so is that a good thing, being that it’s THE PLAYERS Championship?
JIM FURYK: I guess the one tournament that comes to mind would probably be Hartford in that you had Bubba Watson and Corey Pavin in a playoff, which is still like the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, probably the longest and shortest player in the field got in a playoff in an event. There are still venues on TOUR where the distance might not be as impactful as others, but I think that’s one thing about this golf course, it really — I’m not sure it favors a style of game as far as power is concerned, but it will test a lot of different areas of your game, if that makes sense. I still think you have to be a well-rounded player to do well here.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports