Category: Team USA

PGA Tour: Tiger Woods Addresses the Media at the 2020 Masters Tournament Media Conference

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 26, 2020

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 16: Tiger Woods of the United States stands on the 13th hole during the final round of the Genesis Invitational on February 16, 2020 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: 2019 Masters champion Tiger Woods speaks with the media at the annual Masters Tournament media conference.

PGA Tour: Tiger Woods speaks with the media looking back o 2019 Masters Tournament victory

STEVE ETHUN: Good morning, everyone, this is Steve Ethun, Augusta National Golf Club. Hope this finds everyone doing very well. We appreciate you joining us on the call today, and especially for Tiger Woods, thank you, Tiger for your time.
We, of course, look forward to having you back to Augusta National here in just a few weeks.
So before we get started, just want to remind everyone on the call, we’ll take about 30 minutes to ask Tiger questions about the upcoming Masters Tournament, and with that, Tiger, I was hoping you could reflect a little on what it’s been like to spend the last year as the reigning Masters Champion.
TIGER WOODS: I like the sound of that. It’s been incredible for myself and my family to be a part of this and for me to be the current Masters Champion, it’s crazy that somehow it all came together for one week, one magical week, and to have so many things go right that week, and that’s what you have to do in order to win an event.
But to do it there, there’s so many little things that have to go right, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have done it four previous times, but last year was just an amazing week.
STEVE ETHUN: With just a few weeks to go, obviously your attention, I’m sure, has turned to preparations for April. How is that going, and what’s your timeline between now and the Masters?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, once we get to Florida, it feels like the Masters, right around the corner. But I’ve been thinking about this for — probably since Australia. I was so focused on what I had to do with those two weeks, in the Bahamas, as well as Australia.
But once that was done, my prep has been just like it usually is, is what do I need to do to get ready for the Masters. I’ve been fortunate to have done this now five times, and to try and have everything peak together for just an incredible week, it’s hard to do.
It’s hard to try and get all the shots and have everything dialed in, but I’ve been excited since — I’ve been a part of the Masters since I was 9 years old, and it doesn’t cease to amaze me is that once when I go back to Augusta National, just the beauty and the history and the aura around it, it’s just unlike anything that we have in our sport.

Q. I’ll start by just throwing out a general one here. Obviously your win was iconic and it stretched beyond just golf. It moved people beyond the game, and I’m curious from your standpoint looking back now, what kind of reaction did you get from people that really stood out? Was there anything, perhaps a letter, e-mail, text, what-have-you, that really struck you that this meant more than just the usual victory?
TIGER WOODS: I had just an amazing amount of e-mails and texts that were flowing in, but I was more surprised the amount of videos of people watching the Masters and seeing their reaction when I hit the shot on 16 or when I made the putt, whether it was on airplanes or in airports or restaurants. It was just — that part of it, being — I’m on the other side of it, so I’m out there hitting the shot.
But seeing the amount of reactions and the amount of people that were riveted by the Masters and that were — the amount of emotion that people were showing, that’s what blew my mind is I didn’t think that that many people were going to be moved that way. I was just trying to win the event and do something I’ve never done before, which is come-from-behind in a major championship and win.
Ironically enough, looking back on it, to have the event end a little bit earlier and to have that amount of people watch; I even had a few people here in this area that said to me, “We didn’t watch it. We went and played golf and we had it on DVR. So we were able to watch it when we got back,” and then at that point responded, because most people have mobile devices and alerts and all the different ways that people get reminded, but a few of my friends just didn’t watch it.

Q. Did you watch it yourself at all in full, the final round at any point?
TIGER WOODS: I did. The first time I watched it was about a month after the event. Joey came down and we watched it together. We were talking back and forth, and reliving every bit of it. Because we have a certain viewpoint of how we look at it, the shots, the numbers, the situations, and people are making birdies and all the different scenarios were playing out in our heads.
But it was kind of fun to sit back and listen to the broadcast and hear their take on it. You know, what we don’t have access to is what people are — how they are doing it in front of us, and you know, we hear the roars. We hear the birdies that were being made. We have the signage that people pop up and what they have done; we just don’t know how they did it. That was kind of the fun part is reliving that from a totally different perspective than what we did.

Q. The emotional reaction you had when you won became such a part of the story. With your kids, was there a moment or two later that night or after you got home or whatever, where they said something or did something that really stuck with you and really touched you about they were there to see it and fully appreciate it?
TIGER WOODS: I think what made it so special is that they saw me fail the year before at the British Open. I had got the lead there and made bogey, double, and ended up losing to Francesco.
So to have them experience what it feels like to be part of a major championship and watch their dad fail and not get it done, and now to be a part of it and when I did get it done, I think it’s two memories that they will never forget; and the embraces and the hugs and the excitement, because they know how I felt and what it felt like when I lost at Carnoustie. To have the complete flip with them in less than a year, it was very fresh in their minds.
Just watching them fight over the green jacket on the airplane was pretty funny. “I want to wear it; no, I want to wear it,” and that’s something I certainly will never forget.

Q. Couple questions about the 16th. Did you notice Michael Phelps standing there, and if so, was that weird?
TIGER WOODS: No, I did not. I did not notice Michael was back there. I was locked into what I was doing. I had just taken the lead on 15 and just trying to figure out, am I going to — I already had an idea if it was going to be 7 or 8, and that’s what I kept thinking and reminding myself that, hey, I’ve got to be committed to either shot. And then when we got over and the wind started picking up, I went in with 8-iron.
But no, I did not know who was there, and to see the reaction, to see Verne call it and to see Michael, basically, bending over in the same position that I was in leaning forward, that was pretty cool.

Q. What is the toughest pin for you on 16, and secondly, how do you approach that hole on Sunday when the difference of a good look at birdie or a potential bogey could be a matter of inches?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, well, trying to figure out, do you feed it back there or do you fly it back there. I’ve done both. I’ve hit cuts into that flag, or I’ve shaped it off the hillside. But either way, there’s a pretty big area that you can get the ball back into that hole.
Yeah, but it’s a very — it’s an easy pin to get the ball, you know, 20 feet below the hole. Now, trying to get it all the way back there, then the risk comes into play of hitting the bunker or hitting it over the back or hitting it up on the right and having virtually, you know, being in a dead position. But hitting it just below the hole 20 feet is really not that hard a shot.
The hardest pin I think there is that front right one. I know they moved the tee up to get to that front right one, but still, there’s really no area to hit to. I’ve had, over the years, two different game plans: Either go right at the flag, and if I miss, it miss it right of the flag, and I’ve got an easy little chip or right up the hill.
And I also have years where I just play short left and just putt up the hill and take my three and move on. If I happen to hit a good shot where the ball cuts over the flag, then I could have a potential birdie.
But any time that I walk away with three on that hole to that front right flag is always good.

Q. I was hoping to ask you a couple things. What was your thought as you walked up to 9 and saw where your ball was, and how big was that up-and-down and how difficult?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that putt, unfortunately, I’ve had it — fortunately and unfortunately, I’ve had that putt before. I have left it on the middle shelf, and so that’s obviously not where you want to be, but also, then again, it’s very easy to putt the ball over the green, or actually, down the front edge of the green.
The good thing that I had going for me was that at that time, the wind was a little bit into me, so I had a little bit of a backboard with that wind being slightly into me.
But it’s being committed to hitting that ball up there into that fringe, or near the fringe. Only problem is if you get it too far right, actually, it gets a little steeper and picks up a lot of speed. The conservative approach is play it a little bit left of the hole and you know take your 10-, 15-footer and move on with a four or five.
But I decided to take a little bit more of a risk, and knowing that I had a little bit of a backboard with the wind kind of coming slightly into me.

Q. What was your thought after going bogey, bogey and walking off the fifth and now you’re three back going to that sixth green?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I made two bad mistakes there. I played 5 all for the week and played it in, what, 20 shots.
Just reset and try and see if I can get it back to under par at the turn. I know that Fran was playing extremely well. There’s a bunch of guys that have a chance, but if I’m within six of the lead — I’ve always felt this — if I’m within six of the lead starting the back nine on Sunday, I’ve got a shot at it.
We’ve seen so many things happen on the back nine. Guys have won shooting 30s and guys have lost it shooting well over 40; so anything is possible. I just need to get myself into that position where I had that opportunity, and I was able to play my way back into it and a couple guys made a few mistakes there at 12, and lo and behold, I’m part of the lead.

Q. I’m curious, you mentioned coming into Sunday, the first time you trailed at a major and went on to win that major. At what point during the round did it click for you, this is going to happen, maybe with a shot. I don’t know when it was, where you’re like, if I do this, this and this, this is going to happen.
TIGER WOODS: Once I played my way back into it and there was a bunch of guys with a chance, I made a mistake there at 10 making bogey; if I can somehow play both par 5s under par, maybe sprinkle in two more somewhere along the way, that I could get it done.
I didn’t really think the tournament was truly over until I hit that little pitch shot on the green on 18. But Brooksy had missed his putt and that gave me a two-shot lead, and I knew that bogey was the winning number and I played it extremely conservative over to the right.
But once I hit that pitch up on the green, the tournament was over. When I was walking up on the green, to see my family and friends there through the chute, I started to get a little bit emotional and I had to rein it back in and say: Hey, it’s not quite over yet. I’ve had this putt before. Let’s go ahead and make this putt.
To be honest with you, once I knocked that pitch shot on the green, that tournament was over.

Q. Is the tee shot on 16 the shot you’ve thought back on the most, or is there a different one you’ve thought about the most?
TIGER WOODS: Well, we touched on it with Steve asking the question. I think it’s the putt on 9, making par there. The guys made mistake there is at 12.
But the most pure shot that I hit was the second shot into 15, just through the forest, straight up in the air and turned it over.
The shot I hit on 16, yes, that was a nice shot, and it ended up in a really good spot, but the best shot I hit all day was the second shot into 15.

Q. You mentioned how long you’ve been playing in the Masters. I’m wondering how with the advancements in equipment and how far the guys are hitting it, but also the course having lengthened, how different does the course play now than it did back in the ’90s, namely, the par 5s, and how do you see that evolving going forward?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I’ll give you a good example is I’ve hit driver and wedge into 2. To the back left pin, I’ve hit 9-iron over the green a few times. That shot doesn’t exist anymore. Trying to carry that bunker, it was just a no-brainer to drive it down there and then I could have some kind of wedge in there.
8, just try and keep the ball left of the bunker or over the bunker, have some kind of iron in there.
13 was a 3-wood, an 8-iron.
And 15, as you saw in ’97, I hit driver, wedge in there. And so the par 5s have changed dramatically.
The shots I learned from Raymond or Seve or Ollie over the years, when I first got there, the bump-and-runs, using 4-irons and 5-irons around the greens, the fairways are so much tighter back in the nine tees. It was hard to get a sand wedge on it. Afraid of it bouncing, and so playing more of a bump-and-run shot was a little more of a proper shot.
Now with the grass height being a little bit longer and them overseeding it a little bit more, it’s a little bit more sticky than it is around the greens.
Also, we don’t have square grooves and balata balls anymore. The shots that we were able to play back in the ’90s were a little bit different. I know that the green over the years, every green has been rebuilt, and every green is a little bit flatter than it was back then, giving us a little bit more room. Just because the fact we’re a little bit further out, they are giving us a chance.
Granted, that’s not saying the greens are easy; they are far from, but they are a little bit flatter, and the areas that we have to hit to are a little bit bigger, but granted, we are so much further back than we ever used to be.

Q. You mentioned hole 5; you mentioned you bogeyed it all four days. Do you see that as a potential strategy, lengthening more holes, or do you think that the course is in a good place now as a test?
TIGER WOODS: Well, Augusta National has been at the forefront of trying to keep it competitive, keep it fair, keep it fun, and they have been at the forefront of lengthening the golf course.
Granted, they have the property; they can do virtually whatever they want. Complete autonomy. It’s kind of nice.
But also, they have been at the forefront of trying to keep it exciting. As the game has evolved, we have has gotten longer, equipment’s changed, and they are trying to keep it so that the winning score is right around that 12- to 18-under par mark, and they have.

Q. I was just curious, looking back to last year and the early start, what a different Sunday that was for somebody at the top of the leaderboard at the Masters, what your routine was in the morning and how you dealt with a very, very different situation?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was different. I was telling the people close to me that this is going to be different for a lot of us. It’s a quick turnaround for me with my back and the way it was. I had to wake up a little bit earlier and get into my routine.
But I think that having the guys who have never won the Masters, now get a chance to have a quicker turnaround, not have to sit on that lead and think about it far into the afternoon, it’s very similar to when we played The Open championship. We don’t tee off until like 3 o’clock. Sitting on the lead, you have to figure out what you’re going to do all morning long, try and kill time.
I thought it was advantageous to the guys who haven’t won, but I hadn’t been in this experience, either. I hadn’t been there before, and I hadn’t won coming from behind. So there was a lot of new things, and we were all having to go through it together and I’m going to have to go earn it, and being part of a threesome on that Sunday is something that I’ve never been a part of.
It was very different. Having the rounds be a little bit slower and a little bit more delayed is something we’re not used to on the weekend. We are used to sort of running around there. It was going to be a new experience for all of us.

Q. First of all, you’ve done this long enough and had enough success that you’ll be playing with your second U.S. Amateur champion from Georgia Tech as a defending champion. Any advice you might give Andy Ogletree on how to handle that experience, even comparing it to how you handled it back in ’95?
TIGER WOODS: I usually tell the amateurs that I play with, coming up that first hole — my first putt playing in the Masters, I putted off the green right in the gallery playing with Ollie. Chipped back up there and made the putt for bogey, and that was one of the most embarrassing moments that I can ever remember.
How to start off, your first major championship, you putt it off the green. I’ve told amateurs that experience before, whether it was all the way back to Kuch; that was one of the most embarrassing ways to start, but also, you know, now that I’ve been a part of the Masters, I’m able to tell that story. Usually it relaxes the amateur.

Q. A very broad question. You have a 25-year relationship with this place and this tournament. What is your personal relationship to that place, and what do you think it’s meant to your legacy?
TIGER WOODS: Well, it was my first major championship, and to have it be when I was in college, and to stay up in the Crow’s Nest, and to be up there with Tripp and Buddy and I think Tim Jackson was up there; we had just a great time. To watch Sam and Byron and Gene Sarazen tee off on the first hole, those are memories that I will never forget, and now to have been a part of it from the champion’s side, and to hear all the stories that happen in the champions locker room, to hear the needling and the hazing that happens over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of it and I will always be a part of it.

Q. You mentioned guys making mistakes on 12. What do you think it was about the situation, the weather, the wind? How do you explain all those guys hitting into the water on 12?
TIGER WOODS: Well, as we all know, the wind swirls down there a little bit, and when I hit that shot on 11 and I turned it back into the fan, I probably hit that shot maybe another — it played probably two to three yards longer than what I had thought.
And to see the guys ahead of me, whether it was Poults or Brooksy; when I got to that 12 tee, I could — the feeling was that 11 played a little bit longer, and that shot is so inviting to hit it over there. It was warm out. I know that I don’t quite hit the ball as far as Brooksy does, and I had 9-iron out, and I figured that his flight is more penetrating and he can get it back there, and he didn’t quite get it back there.
Watching Fran hit an 8-iron there, and you could see it — and I know he didn’t quite hit it right, but I played it to the left.
Tony hit the best shot to all of us and he got stood up at the very end. It was a good shot. He hit it flush, but it stalled out at the top. If I had gone at the flag, my ball would have been the same thing, because mine, I played left, and it stalled out at its apex, ended up short left, and I had a putt.

Q. How does your health compare this year to prepping for the Masters last year, and do you think you’ll prepare similarly?
TIGER WOODS: The plan is to prepare the same way. It worked last year, so yeah, I’ve got a blueprint for what I need to do and hopefully I can have the same feelings.
You know, looking back on it, one of the things, the best move I made the entire week was to not go out and play on that Tuesday when it was — rain had come in and the greens had slowed up. They didn’t quite cut them. The golf course was playing slower. I know they would speed up but Thursday, and I just stayed on the practice green. I chipped and putted, but I hit a lot of putts that were — I hit downhill putts because I knew the greens were going to be a little bit faster and try not to get myself acclimated to that pace because I knew it was going to change come Thursday, and that was the best thing I could have done.

Q. Should we expect a similar schedule then coming up before the Masters?
TIGER WOODS: It’s weather dependent. Last year we had the rain come in. The plan is to practice and prepare, and I had found a feeling right — well, after the Match Play, I started to figure something out where I felt comfortable hitting the ball high and turning it over from right-to-left and I felt like I could control it.
Going into that week, I really had amazing control of not only my tee shots but my iron shots, and the amount of time that I spent putting, getting a feel for it, and then coming in there on that Sunday afternoon and getting a nice quiet round out there with Joey and Rob, that set the tone for what I did the rest of the week.

Q. What’s your opinion on the possibility of lengthening 13, and what’s the longest club you would feel comfortable hitting into that green in two?
TIGER WOODS: That I feel comfortable hitting it in there? Probably a wedge.

Q. No, what’s the longest club you would feel comfortable.
TIGER WOODS: Exactly. A wedge. (Laughs).
That’s one of the toughest shots we’ll ever face. People don’t realize how steep that slope is, and as they have lengthened it over the years, if you hit it — if you don’t quite get around the corner, that’s the steepest part of the slope, and if you’re able to turn it over and get it down there, it’s a little bit flatter.
But trying to hit a cut off that hook lie, and some years having to start it right of the creek and hook it back over there, and if you miss it left, it’s dead. If you miss it right, you’re dead. There’s not a lot of good spots to hit it into. It’s a big commitment.
We saw what Nick did when he beat Greg there. He was trying to figure out whether to hit an iron or a wood there. It’s one of the most difficult shots, especially last year with the wind.
When I hit that second shot, that wind came off the right and it should have been off the left. It’s very easy to get fooled down there.

Q. Are you concerned about how far they will go to lengthen it?
TIGER WOODS: Well, they have done it before. You know, I think that what they do with the tee markers over the years, slagging it more to the left, and it seems like each and every year, the trees get a little taller and they have added more pine straw off the right side over the years, planted a few more trees in there.
You know, I’ve had different game plans over the years of hitting 3-wood to the corner, or hitting driver around the corner. When I first got there, it was just hit it up there, up near the gallery up on the right-hand side because we have more of an angle and the tee was more to the right.
Just for me, my length at the time was just drive it down there, and I’d have somewhere between an 8-iron to a wedge in there; take advantage of it, because the further right we can get on that tee shot, we’re hitting back into the slope.
But also, then again, the flipside is if we’re able to hug the corner, we’re playing along the creek with the second shot.
Do I feel comfortable in there with anything but a wedge? It’s one of the most difficult, underrated shots that we have to face there.
STEVE ETHUN: With that, everybody, I want to thank Tiger for his time today.
Before we let you go, I wonder your thoughts on your Champion’s Dinner menu, if you’ve finalized that yet.
TIGER WOODS: I have. Being born and raised in SoCal, having fajitas and sushi was a part of my entire childhood, and I’m going back to what I had in 2006. So we’ll have steak and chicken fajitas, and we’ll have sushi and sashimi out on the deck, and I hope the guys will enjoy it.
I’m debating whether or not to have milkshakes as deserts because that was one of the most — one of the most great memories to see Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead having milkshakes that night in ’98.
STEVE ETHUN: Thanks for your time, thanks to all the media who joined us this morning, and we look forward to seeing everybody in April.
With that, we’ll sign off and talk to everyone again soon.

Augusta National, Augusta, GA.

February 25, 2020

Tags Masters, Professionals, Tiger Woods

Team USA

PGA Tour: Keith Mitchell Speaks on Title Defense at 2020 Honda Classic

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 26, 2020

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 02: Keith Mitchell plays his second shot on the second hole during the final round of the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale on February 02, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona. on February 02, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

2019 Honda Classic champion Keith Mitchell addresses the media prior to the start of his title defense at the 2020 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

PGA Tour: Keith Mitchell speaks with the media ahead of 2020 Honda Classic

JOHN BUSH: We’d like to welcome Keith Mitchell into the interview room, our defending champion here at the Honda Classic, making his third start at this event. Keith, first of all, if we can get you to take us back to 2019 and your victory here.

KEITH MITCHELL: It’s great to be back. It’s obviously my first victory on the PGA TOUR, and it will always hold a special place in my life.

2020 The Honda Classic Tee Times

Played the back nine yesterday for the first time and the front nine today for the first time, and yesterday I actually went back and tried to hit that putt again on 18, tried to find it, so that was fun.

Last year, it was a dream come true. It’s what we work for our whole lives, to try and win on the PGA TOUR, and to do it here at such a great golf course that’s held this tournament for so long is really just fun to be back, and now it’s business this year that we’re trying to get the same thing, trying to get the trophy again. So it’s been fun to see everything, but also it’s business, as well, because I don’t want somebody else taking my trophy from me.

JOHN BUSH: Comment a little bit about your season up to this point, making your 11th start of the year.

KEITH MITCHELL: I’ve always felt like this was my good stretch, I guess, because I grew up on the Bermuda greens. I grew up in this part of the country playing golf, so I’m a little bit more comfortable here. Felt like I’ve had an okay start at the beginning of the year. Got to go to Maui for the first time, which was great, and played decent in Sea Island, where I live.

I feel like we’re trending. My game is getting better. I’ve had some good finishes the last couple weeks, so really I would say this is really where the start of my year is really starting to pick up.

Q. Did you make the putt?
KEITH MITCHELL: I was actually trying to find exactly where it was. I was messing around a little bit, and we couldn’t get it exactly where it was. I have to go back on the cameras and looks for it.

Q. (On playing the back nine.)
KEITH MITCHELL: I’ll tell you what, it was fun, because I remembered where I was shot was on that back nine, exactly where I hit — however many shots it was, but I remember every shot on that back nine, and every time I walked on to the next hole, it kind of brought back what I did that day. It was kind of funny because I bogeyed 11. I remember standing on 11 tee, and I was like, man, I’ve just got to hit this in the fairway and don’t make bogey. Man, being on 15 — it was funny, the wind was exactly what it was last year when I was playing, which is going to be opposite this year. It was fun playing the same wind yesterday on the back as it was last year, but this year it looks like it’s going to be completely opposite. I mean, the whole Bear Trap looks like it’s going to be into off the left, and last year it was down off the right, so it’s going to play completely different.

Q. Last year where did you draw your motivation from as the week moved on and you got yourself in position to win?
KEITH MITCHELL: A lot of it was past experiences on the PGA TOUR, where I’d been in the last group on Saturday my rookie season and shot, I think, 74 or 75 when I was in the last group.

And then last year, my second season, I was in the last group on Sunday for the first time at Sony, and I think I shot 74 or 75, too. It was more of just kind of this internal battle with myself of I wanted to prove to myself that I could compete and handle the big stage better, and that’s really what I was — it was kind of that motivation that I had, especially after I bogeyed the first two holes on Sunday, was to prove to myself that I could handle the stage.

Q. Confidence-wise after you won, first PGA TOUR victory and holding off Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka, what did that do for you moving forward?
KEITH MITCHELL: You know, it let me know that I could play with those guys, but it also made me want it more because once you do that one time, it’s something you want to do every week. And so the next couple weeks I was obviously playing good, and I kind of felt that, but then when you’re going into the weeks that you don’t necessarily have your 100 percent, it’s really tough because all you want to do is win, and when you’re obviously not in position to win on Saturday afternoon and you’re in 40th place, it’s frustrating.

But last year the confidence, it built that I could do it, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to be consistent with those guys. I mean, Brooks and Rickie are consistently at the top every week, and I’ve got some work to do to stay up with those guys.

Q. You’re friends with Josh Teater; what were your reactions to seeing him come so close in Puerto Rico last week? And anything you’ve learned along the way from him as being a professional golfer?
KEITH MITCHELL: Josh and I met when I turned pro. I didn’t know him until I turned pro. But he’s very — I would say very wise about how to balance life and golf, and he’s helped me a lot in that aspect. He’s also one of the best ball strikers I’ve ever seen, and it’s a very natural motion. It’s very fluid. And to see him have that putt — he seemed to have a putt on 18 to potentially — at the time it looked like to take the lead, and his putting hasn’t been up to his standards lately, and it looked like he hit a great putt, and unfortunately it didn’t go in. That’s kind of one of those things you want to pat him on the back and say, look, you did everything you could, sometimes the cards go your way and sometimes they don’t, but to see him in the field this week and know his momentum is going forward is pretty awesome.

Q. Has he given you any tips along the way?
KEITH MITCHELL: I mean, so many. A lot of guys have. I mean, that’s what’s great about the PGA TOUR. So many guys have helped you, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing really.

Q. You were talking about how you shot 74, 75 and some of these other rounds when you were in the final group, so what was different about you last year in that situation as opposed to before? What are the mental or physical changes that make the difference?
KEITH MITCHELL: It’s definitely more mental than physical because if you’re in the last group, obviously your physical game is good enough to be in the lead or next to the lead. It’s more of trying to achieve and accomplish something instead of trying not to mess something up, so if you’re in the last group, you’re like, wow, I’m in a really good position, I hope I can stay here. If you’re in first, you don’t want to lose first place. If you ever think about it that way, you start falling backwards.

This last year here I was really just trying to move up the leaderboard in terms of under par, and I was trying to — and the way to do that is you hit each shot, you hit each putt and you don’t think about where you are. Toward the end of the round last year, I guess I bogeyed 11 and didn’t want to fall back into that same kind of thing, so I was like, look, I’m just going to make as many birdies as I can coming up, and whatever happens happens, and the cards fell my way.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

February 25, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Keith Mitchell, Professionals, The Honda Classic

Team USA

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau Talks Outstanding Putting Performance in Round 1 of the WGC Mexico Championship

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 21, 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States checks his yardage book on the 18th hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Bryson DeChambeau addresses the media following an opening round 68 at the WGC Mexico Championship. DeChambeau is currently 3 shots off the lead after round 1.

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau speaks with the media following his opening round at the WGC Mexico Championship

Q. If you look at your numbers, you had 119 feet in holed putts here in round 1. That is outstanding.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thanks. It was a little different than last year. Again, I feel like I’m rolling it well. I rolled it well at Riv, just putts didn’t drop there, and today they dropped quite a bit, and hopefully I’ll keep that momentum going.

Q. I saw you warming up with a teaching aid on the shaft of your putter. Tell me about that.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, shoot, I even forgot the name, but it’s essentially just a laser, and I put it on a chalk line and I just stroke it and make sure my face path is proper.

Q. Did the wind and altitude really affect the golf today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s a very difficult day to play golf. Rory shooting 6-under is doable. I didn’t capitalize on a couple of key holes and messed up on a few easy holes, but overall it was a difficult golf course to play today, and again, it’s about hitting a lot of fairways out here and hitting greens, and if you hit the driver straight and you’re hitting it long, it’s even more of a benefit.

Q. You’re putting so well. Same greens as last week. I’m sure growing up in California you like these types of greens —
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No.

Q. You don’t?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I played on perfect bent at River Bend. It’s now called Dragonfly. They were the most perfect greens in Central Valley, so I was accustomed to really good greens, actually, surprisingly. When I went over to Monterey I didn’t have the right loft or anything, and I would consequently putt really bad, and it actually made me feel like I was a bad putter growing up, and it was part of the reason why I struggled with a bunch of my stuff in college, and then I realized there was a better way to putt. I think it just allows me a little bit more comfort, and I’m putting well doing what I’m doing and have the right launch out there, and it’s nice, too, with being able to tap down spike marks. That helps a lot. So utilizing that, which is appropriate — you should be able to do that. If nobody else was there and you were just putting, you wouldn’t have that. That’s nice to be able to do that.

Made a couple good putts — long one on 3. I couldn’t believe I made it. I hit a 9-iron in the bunker, plugged that far into the ground. I did not think I was going to get out of it, go down to the green and made a 45-footer. That was a great way to start the day.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. Also I noticed your assistant holding a towel —
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s just to see the line. It’s literally just to see the line. If not it’s a little difficult to see in the light. It’s an even more powerful laser but then it becomes illegal through federal law. Can’t do that.

Q. How difficult did the wind make this golf course today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Twice as hard. Twice as hard. I felt like I played some incredible golf. I made a couple mistakes, didn’t birdie 12, didn’t birdie 1, bogeyed 16, bogeyed 10. You flip those, I’m leading.

Q. What makes putting on these greens whether it’s here or last week, what’s the challenge?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s just the inconsistency of the roll, unfortunately. I think they’re better than last year, but it’s one of those things, isn’t it a weed or something like that, and so it’s just difficult. It doesn’t grow even, so you’ve got some spots that are a little splotchy. Hey, that’s the grow of the green. It’s literally the way it works.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Bryson DeChambeau, Professionals, WGC Mexico Championship

Team USA

PGA Tour: Billy Horschel Speaks With The Media Regarding Adapting for Altitude at the WGC Mexico Championship

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 21, 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Billy Horschel of the United States lines up a putt on the 11th green during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

PGA professional Billy Horschel speaks with the media following his opening round 68 at the WGC Mexico Championship about adapting for the change in altitude and distance.

PGA Tour: Billy Horschel speaks with the media following opening round at The WGC Mexico Championship

Q. This is going to sound like kind of a general question, but it seemed like it was windier today than what you guys have had. Would that be your assessment?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I’ve never — what is it, my second or third time here, and I’ve never seen the wind blow this hard. It blew a little bit on Tuesday afternoon but nothing like this, and it was a challenge out there.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. How does that factor with the thin air? I know you guys have a hard time dealing with that to begin with.
BILLY HORSCHEL: The great thing for me I think was when I hit balls on the range on Tuesday and it was into the wind, we were still just testing some numbers out and seeing that just a little bit of wind that there was had an effect on the ball, bigger effect than what we thought. So it was a challenge because if you hit it — if you launch it higher, the ball is going to go farther, but then if you factor in the wind to go shorter and you launch it too high, then it negates the point. It’s a challenge. Ryan Fox and I were just talking about it. It was really tough to get the ball close to the hole, and then when you do get a good club in and you feel like you hit a good shot, you can land it in the right spot and the green could be a little bit softer and it could hit and not bounce the way you’re suspecting or it could bounce a little bit more. It was a very challenging golf course out there today, and I’m happy that I scrapped it together and shot 3-under.

Q. Did you have to be a little bit more patient today than maybe normal?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think so, knowing that the wind was blowing. There was some really good pin locations today. I think even if there was no wind, you’ve got to be patient because you know you can go low here, but sometimes you can hit a lot of good shots and hit a lot of good putts and not get rewarded for it. It’s a little bit of a different kind of patience today, understanding that par is a really good score instead of where in the past you’re just trying to make a lot of birdies.

Q. Did you and TA work on anything special this week?
BILLY HORSCHEL: No, just very similar to what we’ve been working on since Scottsdale, the putting, just same thing, getting a little bit better setup. The golf swing, the only thing we did last week to improve on Scottsdale was just trying to stay in my right side a little bit longer on my downswing to allow my right arm to get in front of the right hip. I’ve been having a tendency or I’ve been doing it for a long time of jumping up out of my backswing, and then the arm gets stuck behind me and I hit some really bad shots, and I hit one of those on No. 7 today.

But there’s been a lot of good stuff. It’s still not natural and it’s still not without thought, easy to do, but we’ve been doing some really good work, and it sort of is nice to see it pay off. We work really hard and sometimes we don’t see the results, and it doesn’t feel like we’re getting anywhere. But since Scottsdale, since the Waste Management Open, it seems like the path is clearing a little bit easier.

Q. The PGA TOUR officials have said that they’re going to limit water on these greens now to allow them to get firmer. How much more difficult will this golf course get with firmer greens?
BILLY HORSCHEL: It’s pretty difficult already even with soft greens. I’m interested to see — 3-under par is leading, 4-under par is leading. We don’t really need to make it that much tougher. The greens are tough enough as it is. This is a very tough place to make putts. I think it’s the fewest footage of holed putts on average. Yeah, if it gets a little bit firmer, I think it’ll be a little bit more predictable with the ball, understanding how the ball is going to land on the green, is it going to land soft, is it going to land firm, so I think that helps us a little bit, but then at the same time it gets a little bit tougher to get close to the hole when the greens do firm up.

Q. Is it unpredictable now?
BILLY HORSCHEL: I mean, I hit some shots today where we landed it where we wanted and it hit and it spun back, and it didn’t take the bounce, and then we hit a couple shots where it hit and took a bigger bounce than what we thought. You know, that’s what happens when you play on poa; it’s like that on the West Coast. The greens are just that way a little bit. It’s a little bit easier when the greens do get firm and the entire green is firm. It’s a little bit more, I think, predictable to understand how the ball is going to land on the green. But like I said, vice versa, it’s a little bit tougher to get the ball close to the hole, and at the same time it’s a little bit tougher to scramble.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Billy Horschel, Professionals, WGC Mexico Championship

Team USA

PGA Tour: Patrick Reed Speaks on Windy Conditions at The WGC Mexico Championship

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 21, 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Patrick Reed of the United States plays a shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Patrick Reed speaks with the media following an opening round 69 about the windy conditions and the recent Brook’s Koepka comments.

PGA Tour: Patrick Reed talks wind, Brooks Koepka, and Premiere Golf League rumors

Q. You’ve played here a couple times. Can you talk about how much harder it is in wind like this?
PATRICK REED: It’s a lot harder. This is the first time I’ve actually played with wind.

Q. I think it’s the first time we’ve had it.
PATRICK REED: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is into the wind, downwind, kind of sea level at home, it’s very easy to kind of judge. But all of a sudden you come here and it seems like downwind the ball will just not stop. It just never stops, and then into the wind it seems like the ball doesn’t go anywhere. Because the air is thinner up here, it seems like at the end of the day the wind magnifies what the ball wants to do.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. So it still makes it go shorter even into the wind? You don’t get the advantage of the altitude into the wind as much?
PATRICK REED: Well, you still get the advantage of altitude, but I think the biggest thing is just like a little puff at home might be three yards difference, but here it seems to be five to seven. Just seems to be magnified just a little bit. And same thing downwind. If you get downwind and a full wedge number in your hand, the ball will never stop. It will just go.

Q. Rory talked yesterday about the Premier Golf League. Do you have any thoughts?
PATRICK REED: Honestly I have my team grabbing all the information about it, and I don’t know enough about it yet to really say anything about it, but once we get all the information, I’ll go make my mind up later on.

Q. What did you think of a guy of Rory’s stature essentially saying he’s out?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, I mean, I just heard about it probably earlier this year. I know some of the guys have heard about it for years, and supposedly this has been something that’s gone on and hasn’t really caught, and then it’s kind of been going on and off for quite some time. Rory would know more about it and kind of where he stands, and me, it’s hard for me to really say either way. I don’t know much about it yet.

Q. We haven’t had a chance to ask you, but did you see what Brooks said about the Hero and do you have any response?
PATRICK REED: Not really. I mean, I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas, and at the end of the day, all I’m trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run Rory down.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Patrick Reed, Professionals, WGC Mexico Championship

Team USA

PGA Tour: Justin Thomas Talks Successful Track Record at the WGC Mexico Championship

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 21, 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Justin Thomas speaks with the media following an opening round 67 at the WGC Mexico Championship and in a tie for second position, 2 strokes off the lead.

PGA Tour: Justin Thomas recaps opening round 67 at the WGC Mexico Championship

Q. Justin, what is it about this course you like so much?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I don’t know. It’s a different course. Leish and I were talking about it today. I’ve never played a place — I felt like today was tough. I’ve never played this place with this kind of wind. It just doesn’t get this windy here this often. But you can go so low, but man, if you’re not playing well, you can shoot over par in a heartbeat. It’s pretty tough to manage your score, but I feel like we have a pretty good idea how far the ball goes, and that helps.

Q. When you guys teed off there was nothing and then all of a sudden it kicked up. When that happens, how much do you have to change your game plan out there?
JUSTIN THOMAS: You have to change it a lot because usually at altitude the wind doesn’t affect it too much, but when you’re hitting 6-irons from 240 over water, you’re like, well, I hope it — is it going to affect it, is it not. I hit a sand wedge today, Jimmy and I were posing looking at it, and it landed like 10 yards short of the green. Like it wasn’t even close. It took us a little bit to kind of figure out that the ball did not go very far into the wind, but man, it goes downwind.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. You’ve played all over the world. How much do you enjoy representing not only you and your brand but also the PGA TOUR, playing here in Mexico and everywhere else you get to play in front of fans like this?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s awesome. Jimmy and I said, it’s really cool. I want to meet this kid; I’ve met him but I don’t know him very well. He’s followed us around the last two years. He knows Jimmy’s name, he yells at Jimmy, he yells at me, he looks like a TOUR pro out there, so I feel like I have some sort of relationship with this little kid just from playing in this tournament. But we get a lot of support from everybody, and it’s great that we decided to come here to Mexico City.

Q. How would you assess your round out there today?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I played well. It was a little difficult to start it felt like with this wind. It wasn’t something that we’re accustomed to out here, all of us. It’s usually very, very calm. If anything you’ll get maybe a five-mile-an-hour breeze. But took us a little bit to adjust, but when I missed the green I felt like I missed them in good spots and got it up-and-down, made a couple key putts and really felt like I did everything I needed to do.

Q. With the wind, how did that make the course harder?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It’s really tough just because I think 7 is a perfect example. For some reason that back tee, seems like no matter where the pin is, it’s just a perfect 6-iron, and my 6-iron here goes about 230 to 235 and the pin is in the back today. I think it was 230 — it was 241 and we had 208 front, and the 7-iron goes 215, and usually at this altitude the wind doesn’t do very much, but when it’s blowing that much, you’re like, is it not, because long is bad and what do we do and I can’t come up short because then it goes in the water, and it really was just a guessing game.

I hit a wedge shot on 5 that — I mean, I flagged it and it landed 10 yards short of the green. It wasn’t even close. It took a little bit to get used to, but once we did, I felt like we had somewhat of an idea.

Q. Does it help that you’ve had some success here, when you have to deal with something like that, it’s easier to figure it out a little quicker than maybe guys who haven’t played here?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I hope so. That would be an advantage for me. At the end of the day, the most important thing is hitting the ball consistently because if you hit it differently, you hit down on it, you hit it high, hit it low, your yardages are going to change, and I feel like that’s something we’ve done is we just try to stick to just playing golf and our numbers that have worked the last three years.

Q. How much is it to have validation after Genesis to come here and put a good opening round together and put yourself — seems to be at this tournament again.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s good. It just yet again proves what a fickle game golf is. Two places that are as totally different as they may seem, I feel like are similar golf courses in terms — if you play well it rewards good golf, but you can shoot over par pretty quickly. You’ve got the zoysia fairways, the kind of kikuyu type rough, poa annua greens, so you really have to be patient out there, and it’s kind of something that I try to learn a little bit from last week. I didn’t play that poorly on Friday, I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole, so it was nice to see some putts go in.

Q. How do you define patience out here?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Just waiting for your time. I feel like at some point over four days, hopefully a couple times I might reel off four, five, six in a nine-hole span, and you just kind of have to wait for it. There’s a decent chance it doesn’t happen, but you have so many wedges, and if you have control of your ball you can get it in good spots. I mean, I’ve had two 62s here, and you can get it going. It’s just tough sometimes because of the altitude and playing the yardages correctly and making them on these greens. So many short clubs, you just kind of have to wait for it I feel like.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Justin Thomas, Professionals, WGC Mexico Championship

Team USA

PGA Tour: Bubba Watson Addresses Media Following Opening Round 67 at The WGC Mexico Championship

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 21, 2020

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Bubba Watson of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

PGA professional and two time Masters champion Bubba Watson speaks with the media following an opening round of 67 at the WGC Mexico Championship which is good for second place, 2 shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.

PGA Tour: Bubba Watson talks to the media about playing wit Justin Bieber, superb putting, and the pros and cons of golf at altitude

Q. 4-under par for Bubba. You had that tie for ninth finish in three previous starts here, so you haven’t been great on this golf course, but today you played very well. What made you get to the 4-under-par total?
BUBBA WATSON: I just made some putts today. The only thing that was missing last week when I missed the cut was I didn’t make any putts. The ball just wasn’t going in the hole for some reason. I’ve been hitting the ball great all year after training. I’ve been working on getting fitter, getting stronger so I can hold positions and hit the shots I want to hit. So today I just made putts. The one thing I haven’t done around here is make putts. Around here, one foot means a lot. So you’re chipping or hitting the ball into the green, it can bounce over the green or it can be close to the hole. So around here it’s very difficult. You’ve just got to get your bounces to go your way.

Q. 13 one-putts today, including the last seven holes. When you began the day it was like this; there wasn’t a breath of wind. Then all of a sudden in the middle the breeze kicked up a little bit. How much did that mess with the strategy?
BUBBA WATSON: I’ll go with the first part. Me and Teddy were joking, it seemed like I was one foot off of just about every green. That’s what it felt like today. So I missed a lot of greens, but I was just off the green where I could putt and secure an easy par I guess you would say. But when the wind picked up, it changes because the elevation already messes with your head and what you’re thinking, and then when you talk about into the wind, how much does it affect it, downwind how much does it affect it, so you’re always second-guessing yourself more than back home just because of the elevation, so that’s what makes it so difficult. And that’s what the scores are showing. Sometimes par is great around here when you’re second-guessing the wind and the elevation.

2020 WGC Mexico Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. If you look at your record around here, you’ve had some pretty decent results. Do you like playing at elevation? Is this fun golf for you?
BUBBA WATSON: Well, what my psychologist would say would be yes, I love it here. I don’t have a psychologist, but if I did, that’s what they would say.

No, you know, it’s one of those things where it’s fun. When we talk about four days of golf, me and you hit a shot and we land a foot apart, one is going to bounce, one doesn’t, and it’s just about getting the bounces to go your way, the putt to go your way, and today I made some putts. I missed a couple greens just off the green, so it looks like I missed a lot of greens today, but I putted the ball nicely. LA last week I didn’t putt it very nicely. I stroked it well but I just didn’t make any putts, so I missed the cut.

I know my ball-striking is where I want it to be. My mind is where I want it to be and everything. Coming here, I was just hoping I’d get the right bounces and the right breaks. I know I can play around here if I stay committed to all the shots, and today I did that.

Q. Did you get into the right frame of mind Saturday playing with Justin Bieber?
BUBBA WATSON: Oh, man. You know, he’s my mental coach, my psychologist I was talking about. (Laughter.)

You know, it’s — life sometimes throws you curve balls. I’ve had some ups and downs over the last five years in my personal life, in my mind, and I’ve reached out to some guys, and I’ve also helped some guys, and so missing the cut — think about it, I could be very disappointed because that golf course I love. I mean, I’ve won it three times in LA, and I can’t hit the ball any better. For two rounds I was 13th in greens in regulation, and I think I beat two people in putting for two rounds. So I was like 118 in putting.

I was very disappointed, but at the same time, you’ve got to live life, and so I called my buddy and called a couple buddies and we got together and played some golf and freed it up and just had some fun and realized I was in a good frame of mind and where my life is with my beautiful wife and my beautiful kids; who cares about missing a cut really. We’ve got other things to worry about, a different tour coming on and all these things.

Q. Where was that round, and was it Saturday?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it was at Lakeside. Lakeside is one of my favorite golf courses right there in LA right outside of Warner Brothers studio, any chance I get to play there. I’m honored with, I guess, a complimentary membership, so any chance I get a chance to stop by there, I stop by there and play and hang out with the boys.

Q. How many complimentary memberships do you have?
BUBBA WATSON: I’ve got a few. And there’s a couple I pay for.

Q. A couple?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, there’s a couple that make me pay, but yeah, it’s all good. It’s worth it.

Q. Guys were saying because of the thin air the ball doesn’t seem to turn as much. It seems to me you’re a player that likes to see the ball move in different directions. Do you like that or is that a challenge?
BUBBA WATSON: It’s a challenge because I’m used to starting a ball or trying to start a ball one way and getting it to curve back, that’s the challenge. Here I have to do different eyesights and trust it. And that’s why around here, I have the ability just like all these guys have the ability, it comes down to trusting it, that your ball is not going to curve as much or it’s going to do a little different. Today the gusty winds made the course a lot tougher than we’re used to because we haven’t really seen this over the past couple years.

It comes down to trust for me, and yeah, I want to be able to move the ball, but at the same time, I’ve got to go with what the ball is doing, and in this elevation the ball hasn’t really moved that much. I’ve got to talk to Bryson about air density and stuff like that.

Q. Was the tee shot at 1 an example of that, that you expected it to curve a little bit more?
BUBBA WATSON: Yes, but at the same time, at 1, you want to miss it — I want to miss it to the right a little bit because of those bunkers. They just dump sand in these, these bunkers. These are the toughest bunkers I’ve ever seen because there’s so much sand in them and I knew how difficult it was going to be if you hit it in those bunkers. Louis landed in the bunker and it only moved a couple inches and he had a ridiculous chance to get up-and-down.

Q. Do you think patience will be the key for the next rounds? Or what will be the key?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, the key is always patience. That’s the beauty of what Tiger Woods has able to do, McIlroy has been able to do. It comes down to patience. When you have patience and trust in yourself and your ability, that’s when you can play good golf. I mean, all these guys at this field, at this event can play the game of golf, but it comes down to who’s got the most patience and the freed-up mind and mental attitude.

Q. What is the thing you most enjoy about playing here in Mexico?
BUBBA WATSON: What I like most about playing here? The ball goes forever. Even though I’m getting older, the ball still travels a long way, so it’s always fun, and it changes it up. It changes up our routine of having the straightforward shot. Now we have to do some math and try to guess right on the numbers and pull the shots off.

Mexico City, Mexico

February 20, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Bubba watson, Professionals, WGC Mexico Championship

Team USA

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka Addresses the Media at the PGA Championship Media Conference

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 18, 2020

ST LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 12: Brooks Koepka of the USA celebrates with the winners trophy on the 18th green after winning the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Golf & Country Club on August 12, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: 2019 PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka speaks with the media at the annual PGA Championship Media Conference in San Francisco ahead of the 2020 edition taking place at Harding Park

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka speaks to the media about 2020 PGA Championship

JULIUS MASON: Ladies and gentlemen, the countdown has really officially begun. It’s 84 days until the second major of the year comes upon Harding Park. We are really excited to have our defending champion, Brooks Koepka with us today, and I guess over the next 15 minutes we’re going to go ahead and open the floor to you to ask as many questions as like.

Brooks it’s been over — we have to go back to the ’20s when Walter Hagen won four of these championships in a row. What’s your mind-set going into this PGA Championship when you could come close to history winning three of these things in a row?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It would be incredible. Obviously you look at Walter Hagen is a name everybody knows, every golf fan knows. To even have a chance to put my name with his would be incredible and it would be super special.

Coming back, obviously two-time defending, it’s a different feeling, and one you want to win this year for sure. It’s something I’m looking forward to and can’t wait to get the year started.

Q. Given the hat that you’re wearing, I would imagine the perfect scenario would be to win this thing, look over to the camera and hold up a 2 and a 4?
BROOKS KOEPKA: That would be pretty cool. It would be neat. It would be special. It really would with everything that’s gone on, it’s obviously very sad, but no better way to honor him.

Q. How is your knee? How is your health?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s a lot stronger. It’s stable. It feels good. Every once in a while, last Monday was probably — didn’t feel very good but that’s why, you know, I have got my PT with me on the road taking care of everything and making sure that my knee is in the right spot. My knee is so much better. It’s really progressed a lot in the last month and a half.

Q. How will you prepare with the terrain, getting physically ready for the tournament?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’ll be physically ready. I’ve got plenty of time. What did you say, Julius, 84 days? I’ll be fine. It’s something I’m not worried about. It is walking, so it’s not too bad. But at the same time, downhill is a little bit of a struggle but other than that, everything else is good.

Q. No. 1 in the world for a bit now. How has life changed for you since, if at all?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Obviously being No. 1 is nice, but you get comfortable with it and you know, you’re just trying to make sure you play good. It’s as simple as. Not there right now, but I had three months off, so just trying to find rhythm and get back into the swing of things and really kind of get used to being on Tour again.

Q. I know it’s been a few years, but can you share with us anything that sticks out from playing Harding Park before?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s a big boy golf course. You have to be able to hit it long. It’s very difficult. It’s a major championship golf course. You know that. You look at — this finish will be interesting. I think it will be a great finish. You look at the back nine there, starting on about 13, 14, it gets really interesting. You’re going to see a lot of — it will be exciting, especially if it’s close on Sunday. I think those holes let up for quite a few disasters and some good golf.

Q. Can you describe what it’s like, you have a target on your back now as the defending champion and the field is so competitive. When you’re the one that people are pointing toward, how does that change the way you play, or does, it when you know that people are gunning for you?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I like that. Everybody wants to be in that spot. There’s nothing wrong with it. Obviously they are all doing that because you did something good and that’s what you want. Just keep plugging away. It’s not a normal event, but you know, it’s a major; you’re hyped up and you’re pumped to play and ready to go, just get out there and go do what you’re supposed to do.

Q. Last year, the U.S. Opens you were so dominant, and then the Tiger one, the previous PGA Championship, last year, you were in complete control, had a little bit of a hiccup but were able to close the deal. What did you learn about going through that stretch and being able to hold on to win?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It was nice. That’s why you play good the early days so you’ve got a chance. I really didn’t feel like I made any mistakes. It’s a hard golf course, especially when it’s blowing 25, 30 miles an hour in the wind. Played good and didn’t do much wrong but you can make some bogeys pretty quick on that golf course.

It’s been fun to battle it out with him the last few years.

Koepka Talks TPC Harding Park

Q. You called it a “big boy golf course,” Harding, with the trees, and accuracy matters; there’s a distinct San Francisco style of golf. You played in The Open at Olympic as an amateur, as well. What did you learn about San Francisco golf in those tournaments?
BROOKS KOEPKA: You know the rough is going to be thick. You know what you’re going to get. You have to be able to hit it far and you have to be able to hit it straight. There’s been a precedent on making sure accuracy is big, and you know that when you come out here.

You have to find the fairways if you event want to have a chance. If you don’t hit the fairways, you’re going to be struggling to make pars. You’re not going to make any birdies, but it’s a golf course that it’s set up for a major championship like this.

Q. Have you been back to Harding since the Match Play?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I haven’t been back. 2015 was the last time I was back. Back out here, might pop up for a day and maybe go play before the event but that’s about it.

Q. Had you heard how narrow the fairways are?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’m sure they are.

Q. We’re going to see you hit some balls to McCovey Cove. What are you going to be using? A sand wedge? Your putter?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’ll probably use as much club as I can. I’d love to hit anything. It doesn’t matter. It would be cool to hit one in McCovey Cove. I don’t know. We’ll figure it out when we get down there.

Q. How was the Bart ride with the trophy?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It was fun. I think everybody when I was on Bart was like, what is going on here. Brought like six, seven camera guys, everybody looking. It was fun. We had a good time.

Q. What did you think about the recent distance report?
BROOKS KOEPKA: The long hitters are going to be long hitters whether you roll the ball back or not, it doesn’t matter. I always use the example: Jack Nicklaus drove the green on 18 at St. Andrews and that was, what, 30, 40 years ago and it’s tough to do that now. I can’t even do that now.

It doesn’t matter. Look, kind of speaking out of both sides of their mouth. They want to make it tougher, but at the same time, we want to grow the game and get people involved. So if you’re going to make it tougher, not many people are going to want to play.

Q. Does Harding Park allow you to play your type of game? Does it put a different club in your hand from the fact that it is a narrower course and it’s got trees on each side of the fairway? Do you have to be smart about the way you attack?
BROOKS KOEPKA: You just have to take what the hole gives you. It doesn’t matter. There’s no real — my style of golf, nothing like that. You just try to go out there and figure out what the hole gives you and depending where the pin is and what the miss is, there’s about 30 things that can come into play and you just have to take what it will let you do.

Q. Do you have an idea — a few months out, what type of a game plan you may have for this type of a golf course?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It all kind of depends. You get a wind direction or the weather report comes in, whatever. It can change to anything in an instant. Doesn’t matter. Holes playing downwind now might play into the wind when we’re here. You just have got to see, kind of wait and figure out what the best opportunities are.

Q. How much does it matter, if at all, that this is on a public course? I know Bethpage last year, there haven’t been very many, Torrey Pines I guess, but truly municipal courses to host an event of this magnitude?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s incredible. Obviously anybody can go out and go play, which makes it unique. Makes it cool. So people really understand where we’ve been. If we have hit in a certain — behind a tree or hit it left on this hole or hit it right on that hole, the average golfer out there knows exactly what we’re dealing with. It brings people a little bit closer to us.

Q. Does it send an important message, battling the elitism?
BROOKS KOEPKA: For sure, definitely had that feeling for years and years and years. It’s nice to bring it to a public place and nice to bring it to somewhere where, you know, it’s not that exclusivity that’s been, I guess, tagged with golf for a long time.

Q. How important is it for you to try to get back to No. 1?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’ve just got to play good golf, man. That’s all I’ve got to do. If I play good golf, everything should take care of itself. Just trying to feel a little bit of a rhythm, build up on it. I’ve only been hitting golf balls for a month and a half now. Everything should be pretty close.

Q. How did you handle the play off, not being able to play.
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, it was a grind. It was the second we got back from Korea. I was in rehab right away, so I didn’t really have much time to think about anything else other than just go attack the knee and make it strong and make it back to what it was. That was the only way possible.

So I really haven’t had much time to think about anything else other than trying to get back out here and trying to be able to play again.

Q. What are your thoughts on playing this championship in a world-class city like San Francisco? It puts the PGA Tour and so many great players in this area.
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s fun. I’ve spent a bunch of time out here in San Francisco when I was going through college and just getting done. Spent a much of time with a family out here in Pleasanton. It was kind of a second home there for a little bit. It’s fun. It’s fun to get back here and see everything.

Obviously it will be a fun week with the fans here. I think it will be exciting and hopefully they are looking forward to it.

Q. Has anyone in this area helped influence your game as a golfer teaching-wise?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No. I haven’t got any lessons out here. It’s kind of far for me to travel from Florida, so I wasn’t out here getting much lessons. But no, nobody out here.

Q. Do you have relatives in Pleasanton?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No. They were family friends. They were out there. So go play golf with them. One of them, Noah, is actually playing golf at the University of Washington. Be cool to see them. Hopefully they will be out.

Q. You mentioned Walter Hagen and that was so long ago in Match Play. Will you embrace that trying to go three in a row in stroke play, something that’s never been done in this championship, or just I want to play the golf tournament?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I just want to play good golf, man. It’s simple. You start thinking about all the things that could happen, that’s when, you know, I guess nerve, everything else kind of creeps in. Just stay in the moment and keep plugging along.

Q. When you win a major, how does that change your life?
BROOKS KOEPKA: A major? I mean, it puts you in a different category than everybody else. You can win as many tour events as you want, but at the end of the day, you’re remembered by how many majors you’ve won. You look at it, and I’ve said it before, Arnie, Jack, Tom Watson, Gary Player, all these guys, I can’t tell you how many PGA Tour events they won, but I promise you everybody knows how many majors they won.

Q. But when you go to 7-11, Wal-Mart, whatever, at one point it’s like, oh, there’s Brooks Koepka and then you win a major, oh, snap, expletive, it’s Brooks Koepka. Is it like that?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s definitely a little bit different. Get noticed a lot more. Things like that, it definitely changes your life a little bit.

I’m still the same me, so it doesn’t matter. I’m still just a regular guy just like anybody else.

Q. Have you been to a baseball game here? Did you play baseball growing up?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I did. Actually I went on a date with Jena before were dating here, actually. Buster gave me tickets. I knew Buster from Florida State. He helped us out with tickets and we were here in 2015.

Q. So you didn’t go for the perfect game?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I wasn’t. I didn’t make it out. I wasn’t going to be getting free tickets from anybody at that point. (Laughter).

Q. Have you looked into the Premiere Golf League?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, everybody’s pretty much heard about it, looking at things.

Q. What do you think?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, there is a possibility. Obviously they have got financial backing. So it’s become more and more real, especially with everything that’s developing. They are giving us information. But at the same time, we’ve got to figure out what’s best for us. We have no idea. So when we make that determination, we’ll let everybody know.

Q. Both you and Rory have been dismissive of the rivalry labeled between you two, but has him overtaking you at world No. 1 changed your mind-set in regard to your ebb and flow with him?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Not really. I just don’t — we haven’t competed going into a major coming down the stretch. I think the only time we really competed with each other was WGC.

So other than that, we haven’t been in contention in the same tournaments coming down the stretch, so it’s hard to say there’s a rivalry. Even people talk about the Phil and Tiger rivalry, it was kind of one-sided there for a long time, too. I just don’t see rivalries in golf, I really don’t.

Q. You’ve obviously won this twice and each major seems to have its own personality, and Augusta with the greens, U.S. Open with the rough, British Open with the wind. What in your mind is the signature sort of element of a PGA Championship?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I think the fact that they can switch it up and make it different. I like the fact that you can play this in long rough, big tall rough. You can play it with not that much rough and make it difficult.

You look at like Bellerive two years ago, that was one of the funner courses to play, and then you look at it last year was probably one of the most difficult golf courses you’re going to play in the entire world. The way that they can vary it and make it different, and make it enjoyable for the fans.

Q. What was different about Bellerive?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I think, too, there’s a lot of — it’s a sporting town. St. Louis is a good sporting town. It was fun to be there. In fact, I just remember how hot it was. I must have lost like ten pounds that week.

Q. Can you speak to the talent on the PGA Tour right now? It seems like it’s in a great spot right now with so many international and American players. Just how hard is it to win on this tour right now?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it’s obviously very difficult. So many guys, you go down the line, you’ve got Rory, J.T., Dustin. I could name 15 names, rattle them off. I think that’s why you’re not going to see — guys are not going to win 30, 40 times like they have years and years ago just for the fact of it’s not going to be possible. There’s too much competition.

Q. What do you remember about the baseball game you saw here, if you flash back to the U.S. Open at Olympic and the match play at Harding and to now think you’re coming back to San Francisco as No. 1 or close to No. 1. Pretty striking contrast to where your career was.
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it’s different. That might have been my first match play, too. I could be wrong. It might have been my first one. It’s crazy to look how far I’ve come and how things have changed over the last, you know, four or five years.

Q. Any memories from that baseball game here?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Had a good day. I guess it worked out for me.

Q. Will you have a chance to play Harding several times before the PGA Championship?
BROOKS KOEPKA: We’ll see. It kind of depends. I remember a little bit of it, but also at the same time depends how much off-time we get and if I can if I’m over here, obviously going to spend quite a bit of time in San Diego with my guy and probably can, if I can pop up and the weather looks good, I’ll pop up for a day and play.

San Francisco, California

February 17, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags Brooks Koepka, PGA Championship, Professionals

Team USA

PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson Addresses The Media After Falling Short of AT&T Pro-Am Repeat

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 11, 2020

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09: Phil Mickelson of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 09, 2020 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: 2019 AT&T Pro-Am champion Phil Mickelson speaks to the media following his final round in which he ultimately came up short defending his championship.

PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson speaks to the media following closing round of 2020 AT&T Pro-Am

Q. Just how would you assess the day?
PHIL MICKELSON: So I’ll tell you, I had a lot of fun today having a chance to be in contention and having a chance to win. It was fun to get back in it. And these last couple of weeks have really given me a lot of motivation and momentum to continue doing what I’ve been doing. It’s disappointing certainly to have not won, but I got outplayed. I mean, Nick played better than I did. He holed a couple of great shots. That eagle on 6, the putts he made on 4, 5 and 7 and he just really played some great golf. I kept — I had a couple of times where I hit really good shots in bad spots and I had a couple times where I just then didn’t quite trust it and made some bad swings. I fought hard. But I loved having a chance to be in it again. It’s so fun being in the last group, and I’m hoping to continue to build on this.

Q. How difficult were those conditions kind of around the turn there?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, it was extremely difficult because you have the wind that kept swirling in and then down, and you had the greens that were very firm and there’s really no run-up shots. So it was a hard day but I got outplayed, totally fine with that, and that I’m going to continue to get better and give myself more chances and I’m really excited about the rest of the year.

Full Leaderboard: 2020 AT&T Pro-am

Q. Take a lot of confidence going into Riviera, a place you love?
PHIL MICKELSON: So there’s a lot of positives that I take out of today. I’ve always struggled with right-to-left wind and I feel like I had a little bit of a milestone here these last few weeks where, off of 18, wind’s blowing right into the ocean, in the past I’ve struggled with that. I hit two great little low drives in play. If I can continue to do that it’s going to be a good year.

Q. What did you figure out with that particular shot?
PHIL MICKELSON: I just worked hard on it. I worked hard on it with the equipment, with my swing, to get rid of that left miss and I’m excited about where we’re headed.

Q. What’s been the biggest challenge in the last 52 weeks since you won here?
PHIL MICKELSON: Getting my confidence back and playing well and starting and visualizing and seeing what I want to have happen, not letting negative thoughts continue to creep in after so many months of poor play. But these last two weeks have been good strides. I got off to a rough start, knowing I’m playing well, but not focusing properly the first two weeks, missed the cut and now I’ve had two third place finishes and I’m going to continue to build on that and give myself more chances. And I’m having a ton of fun, it’s just really fun having a chance.

Q. (No Microphone.)
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I didn’t, I had a tough time with the conditions, I had a tough time with making pars, but my focus and everything was really sharp today. I just didn’t execute, we had a few misjudgments of the wind, we just had — it was just a tough round.

Pebble Beach, California

February 9, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags AT&T Pro-am, Phil Mickelson, Professionals

Team USA

PGA Tour: Jordan Spieth Talks Bouncing Back at 2020 AT&T Pro-Am

Post author By Golf Post
Post date February 11, 2020

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: Jordan Spieth of the United States looks over a putt on the first green during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 08, 2020 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: Jordan Spieth speaks with the media about bouncing back from recent struggles with a stellar performance at the 2020 AT&T Pro-Am, including posting the lowest final round score.

PGA Tour: Jordan Spieth addresses the media following final round of the AT&T Pro-Am

Q. Low round of the day today. What was working so well for you?
JORDAN SPIETH: I just knew playing the back nine and it was going to be windy playing the back nine early, if you could somehow be under par at the turn, I was going to be able to make up a lot of ground. And I hit just a phenomenal wedge into 14, which is probably the hardest par-5 we play all year when it’s blowing. And I hit it to about a foot there and that got some momentum going. Just took it to the front nine and kept hitting it close. I mean, I had a lot of looks on the front nine, almost every hole, and then on the last hole I just kind of made a little bit of a mess of it and chipped it in to finish. So certainly fortunate to escape with a 4 on the last. But yeah, I mean, it was pretty solid the whole day. I didn’t do anything overly special. I hit fairways like I have been. I hit greens like have I been and got a couple in there pretty close. And these greens are tough to putt on, so I had, No. 1 and 2 I had birdie putts inside of 10 feet and missed them and went to No. 3 and just knocked it right in. So tried to kind of keep my head up even when it looked like it could kind of get away from me. And this is what I’ve been seeing. It’s just today I finally had a lot of good numbers. I’ve just felt like the last few days I’ve been in between clubs a lot and hard to commit and then today it was just one of those days where it hit me kind of where I could commit to a lot of full shots.

Q. And just real quick, you get great fan support obviously everywhere you go, but how special were the fans here at Pebble Beach?
JORDAN SPIETH: They’re always great. First few rounds, to come out to all three of those golf course, I played with Dustin and Wayne and then my partner Jake, obviously a crowd favorite. So we enjoy having the support, when it’s spread out over three courses a lot of people don’t have more than a couple people following them and it’s really nice to be able to have that kind of pick you up when you’re down and kind of ride the momentum when it’s going well. So cool for people to stick around the back nine for me today, those that did, and go to Los Angeles and try and improve on this week.

Full Leaderboard: 2020 AT&T Pro-am

Pebble Beach, California

February 9, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Tags AT&T Pro-am, jordan spieth, Professionals