Tag: Arnold Palmer Invitational

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka Talks Disappointing Even Par Opening Round at The Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 05: Brooks Koepka of the United States plays his shot from the 12th tee during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 05, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka Addresses the media following a somewhat disappointing opening round 72 at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka recaps even par round 1 at The Arnold Palmer Invitational

Q. Your takeaway from today?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Even par. Nothing to get excited about. Nothing to rave about. It’s not far off, but it’s still, it’s annoying.

Q. Was it putting? Putts not going in?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, the par-3, 14, you got 25 feet for birdie, hit a good shot in there and then walk away with bogey, 3-putt. Just shots where I know if I’m in rhythm, it’s not, it’s going to be tight. Still not, just not capitalizing on anything. Turning what should be a routine 4 or par or whatever into a bogey and, well, it’s just not all there.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. Are you pressing at all or feeling like you’re pressing?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I just work through it. That’s why I’m playing this week. I wasn’t going to be here. I’m trying to figure it out. So it’s close, it’s not far away.

Q. What are you trying to figure out?
BROOKS KOEPKA: How to play golf.

Q. How long a session do you figure you’ll be out here working with your coach?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Not too long. It’s windy. I felt like I hit it all right. The last couple holes just kind of got away from me, but it shouldn’t be too long. Like I said, it’s close. It’s not far away. But it has nothing to do with out here. I can hit it great out here. It’s about when the gun goes off. I played great yesterday, hit it great on the range. It’s when the gun goes off.

Q. How is the course playing?
BROOKS KOEPKA: It’s playing all right. The rough’s obviously up from what it’s been in years past. Greens are a little bit, got a little bit of trampoline affect to them, you know, on your chips. Can’t really spin them. But the greens are rolling pretty good, so the course has held up pretty well.

Q. What do you think about Florida State’s new football coach?
BROOKS KOEPKA: They got a longer way to go than I do. They got a longer way. So they’re, they have got a few years. Hopefully mine doesn’t take that long.

Q. Have you been in this position before? And if so, did you learn anything working your way through it last time?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, you can look at my results for the past three years, all the way through until about Match Play is when I started playing. I just feel like I’m playing good. That’s why it’s so frustrating. Before I felt like I played terrible and the scores have been terrible. So it’s not — last year at Honda was kind of a shock. I thought I was playing bad and ended up finishing second. That was the only good one. Years before it hasn’t been very good this time of year and I feel like I’m playing way better than what I’m shooting.

Q. (No Microphone.)
BROOKS KOEPKA: It is what it is, man. I’m still trying my ass off. I can promise you that.

Q. What’s your opinion on the new proposed golf league, the Premier League?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I said it like 10 times, I said I’m going to play where the best players play, simple as.

Orlando, Florida

March 5, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy Speaks With The Media Following Opening Round 66 at The Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 05: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after finishing on the ninth green during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 05, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

World number 1 Rory McIlroy addresses the Media following his opening round 66 at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational about slow start, course conditions and what to expect moving forward.

PGA Tour: World number 1 Rory McIlroy recaps opening round 66 at The Arnold Palmer Invitational, trailing leader Matt Every by 1 stroke

Q. Slow start. A couple unforced errors. What did you do to get it clicked in?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think, looking back on the day, one of the biggest shots of the day was the key putt on 11. It started giving me a little bit of momentum. Obviously, it was an unforced error with the second shot. The missed putt on 12 was actually a decent putt. I just got a little complacent with it. I thought it was straight in and it broke left. But then after that, the birdie on 16 to get back to even, the birdie on 18 to get, turn in 1-under. And then I started to get going, hit some really good shots on the way in and took advantage of the par-5s and did everything pretty well for about the last 12 or 13 holes.

Q. Knowing you got the good end of the draw, the wind’s going to continue to pick up, is there any extra added pressure to try to get good rounds, good score in, good birdies?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, sort of. I think it was more I, when I was 1-over par I looked at the board and Sam Burns was already like 6-under, so I was like, Geez, I got to do something here. I got to get going. But then, yeah, I think this course is all about staying patient. If you can play the par-5s well, you should be there at the end of the week.

Q. So a lot of the wind — a lot of wind out here. Do you like to practice in the wind or are you going to shut it down?
RORY MCILROY: No, I’ll shut it down. I don’t think there’s any point. It’s hot as well. It’s getting hot. And I’ll just rest up and maybe go to the Magic Kingdom and then get ready for tomorrow.

Q. 1-over par after 6, 7-under thereafter. What changed?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I don’t know. I made a couple unforced errors starting off. I hit it in the water on 11. Actually made a good bogey in the end, holed a good putt for bogey. And then I missed the little one on 12. I think with the start and then turning in under par, birdieing 16, birdieing 18, sort of had a bit of a good pep in my step going into the first tee and then I played some great golf after that. I hit two great shots into 1, the shots into 2, holed a good eagle putt on 4. I got a bit of momentum and I kept it going until the end.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. I was looking through your highlights and it jumped out to me, the shot from the bunker on the 4th, talk us through the detail, because it looked a bit special.
RORY MCILROY: Harry said that’s the best shot I’ve hit all year, so, you know, high praise from him. Yeah, I had 260. It was in between 3-iron and 5-wood and I sort of — 5-wood was going to carry up on top, but it had a chance to go over the back of the green and that chip from over the back to that back pin is really tricky. So I said to Harry, If I can catch this 3-iron good and maybe pitch 10 or 15 short, maybe trundle up the hill. But short was always better than long. And it just came out perfectly and got up to pin high. And yeah, it was good to convert on that and make eagle.

Q. Finally, Radar was walking around here yesterday and he actually says, Rory turns up and it’s, like, is it going to be 3-under, 4-under, or more when he goes out and plays. Tiger, in his prime used to say that par almost seemed like a 68. With how you’re playing now and the consistency, do you set a different par for yourself when you’re going out, even on a course like this?
RORY MCILROY: No, I mean, I think — so, for Bay Hill I, think this course has always been about the par-5s. If you can play the par-5s well, you can play the rest of the course pretty conservatively and pick your spots. I mean, you’re hitting irons off a lot of tees here, but if you can play the par-5s well — I mean, that’s what — Tiger’s won here seven or eight times, whatever it is, he killed the par-5s. He then could pick and choose where he was going to be aggressive. And just sort of trying to follow that plan because it worked pretty well for him.

Q. Slow start today. 1-over through the first 6, but you end up shooting 66. Talk about how you played and what turned it around for you early.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, as I said over there, I think one of the biggest or best shots that I hit today was my bogey putt on 11. I hit it in the water and then hit a very mediocre chip shot. But to hole that putt for bogey, you know, it’s not — making 5 instead of 6 there is a big deal. I didn’t convert with making a birdie at the next, but 1-over through 2 instead of 2-over is sort of a different feeling. And to turn that nine around and turn in 1-under par, I sort of felt pretty good about myself going to the front nine. And then I had some really good shots coming in. Drove it really well. I worked a little bit on my driving over the last few days. I didn’t think it was quite up to par over the first three tournaments of the year. So I think I only missed one or two fairways today, and if you can do that around this place, especially with how juicy the rough is, you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances.

Q. I was going to ask you about the course conditions. They were telling us over 13 on the Stimpmeter on the greens. Is that what it felt like?
RORY MCILROY: No, I mean, I think they have taken it easy with the greens today, expecting the wind this afternoon. So I actually struggled to get the ball to the hole this morning. But then as they started to dry out, as we went on then, you could feel them, you could definitely feel the aprons getting a little bit firmer, the fairways, you know, the greens are getting a little crusty out there. And if the wind continues to whip the way it’s, the way it is, it will be a tough afternoon for those guys.

Q. How did you hit it into the water on 11? Was it turning?
RORY MCILROY: Turned it, yeah. I was trying to — I was forcing an 8-iron to try and get back there and turned it and pitched, obviously, over the hazard line. And I could have nearly played it. It was sort of, the ball was half in, half out, try to sort of do a Bill Haas spectacular whatever, but I decided against it.

Q. (No Microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: Definitely playing a bit better than I was playing in Mexico. Putting better. Driving it better. I think the course suits me a little bit better as well. So Mexico was frustrating because I started well and then just couldn’t get the best out of myself for the final three days, where I’m a little more comfortable on this golf course, comfortable with this style of play, and a little more comfortable on greens.

Q. (No Microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: I hit 3-iron out of there. I was between 3-iron and 5-wood and if anything, I wanted to err on the short side rather than the long side because of where the pin was. So it was one of those ones where it wasn’t, I never really expected it to get on the green. I thought maybe just like 5 or 10 short, chip it up close and make birdie, but it worked out perfectly and it was nice to convert that one.

Q. Going back to Mexico, are you still at a point in your career where you learn something from getting off to a first-round lead and not being able to close? If so, what did you learn two weeks ago?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, 54 holes is still a long way to go. I mean, even — I mean, you sort of take it one day at a time. It’s not as if I played badly in Mexico. I shot 69, 68, 68 the last three days. I just didn’t get as much out of myself that I wanted to. But, yeah, I mean, it’s always — I mean, if you do shoot a good one, you know it’s in there, you know you’re playing well, so you just got to try to keep it going.

Q. (No Microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: Not for public discussion.

Q. Can you feel Arnold Palmer’s presence on the grounds here?
RORY MCILROY: There’s so many nice little traditions here. Obviously, behind us here on the range. Still having to take your hat off when you walk into the clubhouse, that’s something that I really like. Eating breakfast this morning and saw a couple of people that were asked to take their hat off as they walked in. That’s nice. I think that’s a really nice thing. And to see Amy around and Sam and Roy and some of the family still. He meant an awful lot to the game, an awful lot to this community. And I didn’t play it for the first sort of few years of my career, but once I did, I realized that it’s a pretty special place and one that I want to try to come back to each and every year.

Q. How special was it for you to wear that red cardigan for the first time?
RORY MCILROY: It was special. It was warm. Alpaca isn’t as comfortable as you think. But it was nice. I mean, for me at that point just to, just to win a tournament again, it was 520-whatever days, and so I think just the, I don’t know, the joy in winning again was really, really special. You could have given me a neon cardigan and I would have worn it all the way home.

Q. Where do you keep it?
RORY MCILROY: I keep it in my wardrobe.

Q. The play on 18, did that at all set you up for the front nine?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, that was, I think the two shots I hit into 16, the shot I hit into 17, and the two shots I hit into 18 gave me a lot of confidence going into the front side. I hit a drive and a 5-iron into 16. Hit it right into the heart of the green. Good shot. Hit a good 6-iron on 17 the way I wanted to. And then 3-wood, 9-iron on 18. Yeah, so it’s shots that you got to stand up and make good swings.

Q. (No Microphone.)
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, of course. Again, like, 1-over through 6, there’s still 66 holes left in this golf tournament. I mean, it’s so fine that even now it doesn’t mean anything. I’ve shot a good score and it’s great that I’ve done it on the good end of the draw. I feel like I’ve gotten pretty fortunate that I’ve got that draw this week. So it’s just nice to take advantage of it this morning and tomorrow’s a new day and we’ll see how that goes.

Orlando, Florida

March 5, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Graeme McDowell Talks 13th Start at Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Professional and champion Graeme McDowell speaks with the media ahead of making his 13th career start at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

PGA Tour: Graeme McDowell talks with the media prior to 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Graeme McDowell to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. You’re making your 13th start here this week. Just some thoughts on being back here at Bay Hill.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, one of my favorite weeks of the year. Home event. Get to stay at home with my family. Some great history here, a couple of second place finishes. Obviously, my relationship with Mastercard. Just a lot of reasons to be here. Course looks great. Prepared for another, hopefully another great tournament. Like I say, just game’s in good shape, excited to be here, looking forward to he hopefully competing.

THE MODERATOR: Four top-25s this year. Where would you say your game’s at.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: I think it’s trending in the right direction. The 4th in Sony was important. The win in Saudi was very important. I’ve kind of had a couple weeks now to reset and get ready and I’m kind of, I’ve got a busy few months coming up, so I’m ready to play golf. I’m focused and I’m motivated. And it’s so much great golf to play here, so it’s a good time of the year to be feeling good and looking forward to playing and competing and I’m excited about what the next six months could hold.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for some questions, please.

Q. Are you thinking about Ryder Cup already?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Am I thinking about Ryder Cup?

Q. Already.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: I think we’re always thinking about Ryder Cup to a certain extent. I think there’s no doubt it would be a massive goal to play on the team this year. I missed the last two. I certainly put myself back on the radar for this year, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of great young players. It’s a lot of fun to see guys like myself and Lee Westwood and even Adam Scott, obviously, he’s not a Ryder Cup player, but guys winning in their 40s. It’s a nice flavor to start off 2020 and, you know, the Ryder Cup will get in the way if I play the way I know I can play and do the things I know I can do. So it’s, we’ll see what happens. A lot of golf to play. Four major championships ahead of us and lots and lots of great golf to play. So, listen, I would love to be in Whistling Straits, it goes without saying.

Q. The key this week, is it off the tee, just keeping it out of the rough, would you say?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, I think so. Looking at the forecast tomorrow, I think we’re going to have to get through a really tricky tough day tomorrow with 20 mile an hour gusts in the morning and 30 miles an hours in the afternoon. The rough is thick. Driving the ball is going to be a massive premium this week. I think in and around the greens it’s not as tough as I’ve seen it. There’s quite a nice bit of grass to chip off around the greens, and the bunkers are very nice. So I think big premium on driving the ball well, giving yourself a chance to attack the greens, and controlling the ball well in the wind tomorrow. I think tomorrow’s going to be a key day. I think tomorrow’s a day where you could play yourself way out of this thing right away. So thankfully played a lot of good wind golf this year, this season. Felt like Hawaii, a couple weeks in the wind, blew in Saudi, pretty happy the way my wind game looks, so very, very important to get off to a good start tomorrow.

Q. Do you use data at all in either course management or in like allocating your practice time? And if so, how have they affected what you do in those areas?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah. Did you say data?

Q. Yeah, like ShotLink?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, like stats. Yeah, I mean, I think we have, I’ve always used some form of statistical analysis into my game. I think instinctively between myself and my caddie we always have a fairly good idea where we’re at, but it’s nice to look at some numbers to back up, because you can get a little, you can get a little blinded out there thinking I’m not putting well, when in actual fact you’re hitting a lot of irons, a lot of great iron shots and you’re giving yourself a lot of 15-, 20-feet looks that you’re not going to make a lot of, and therefore you think you’re putting badly. So that’s just an example of how you can get a little blinded by what you think’s going wrong. But, no, sort of areas that I’ve been looking at, proximity to the hole, just around the greens, for example. I have a tendency to be a very good scrambler, but I don’t chip the ball close enough to the hole very often. And that has a wearing affect on the putter when you have 5 and 6 and 7 feet all day. So trying to be a little tighter around the greens, giving myself easier up-and-down opportunities has been something I’ve been working on, just as an example of using some of the data and some of the numbers to try and find areas in my game where I can just tighten up a little bit.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. What about for a course management?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: For course management? Not really. I mean, again, instinctively I think myself and my caddie are pretty good at taking a course apart and understanding where to miss and where not to miss. I think some of these little overhead maps where you see the little dot kind of maps where areas where guys are getting it up-and-down and areas where guys are not getting it up-and-down, I think those are very useful, especially on a golf course which I don’t maybe know very well. So, say, at a tournament where I haven’t played the course much, I may have a look at the computer on a Thursday morning and just try and see where guys are missing it and areas, what are they doing off tees, playing aggressively, and stuff. Those are very, very interesting, but I feel like it’s something I’ve always naturally done anyway. I feel like I’m pretty good at understanding where I should be missing the ball and trying not to overcomplicate it. It’s a hard enough game. You don’t really need too much stuff in the head at times.

Q. Speaking about hitting the ball toward the hole and whatnot, can you talk about how hard it is to actually hit the ball inside 10 feet on a regular basis. I mean, that’s really difficult.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: That really depends how far away from the hole you are to start with, obviously. Yeah, listen, I mean, proximity is important. They say 7 feet is that kind of threshold number where putting stats really start to skew and start to kind of fall off a cliff. So really from inside of a hundred yards those proximity numbers become highly important because those are your — that’s your conversion, your conversion area, where you’re getting the ball up-and-down on a regular basis. So from longer range, obviously, just managing it well and trying to be as tight as you possibly can. But from inside of a hundred yards it’s, that 10 feet number, that 7 feet number becomes very important.

Q. In this stretch of schedule where you’ve got two World Golf Championship events, THE PLAYERS, this, other strong Florida swing events, what makes this tournament stand out and how hard is it for players? I know you’re a main stay, but how hard is it for players to decide what to play and what not to play?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: For sure, I think you look at this stretch and you could argue that it’s maybe a little too strong. When you look at the stretch maybe between Augusta and PGA and PGA to U.S. Open, not trying to disrespect any of those events in that window, but there’s a lot of golf right now. You’ve got an unbelievably good Florida swing sandwiched between two WGC events. I live in Florida, so I love the Florida swing. I didn’t play the Honda last week for the first time in 10 years. I regretted not playing the Honda. I went to Mexico instead. Saudi got me into Mexico. I went down there. I didn’t play well. I was, like, totally wished I would have skipped that event. Like, skipping WGC events it’s just historically something you didn’t really ever think about, but I think the value of the WGC has been reduced because the strength of everything else around it has got so much stronger. So the long and short of it is, outside of the major championships, there’s so many great tournaments and scheduling becomes very difficult. So like I say, hindsight’s 20/20. I wish I hadn’t gone to Mexico. I wish I would have taken a week to reset and gone to the Honda. I think I would have loved it down there, just the way it played, seeing so many Europeans on the board. It’s so hard to pick and choose. I’m going to skip Tampa. It’s not an event I typically skip, because I want to be ready for the Match Play and I’ll play Valero as well. So there’s a lot of golf. And unfortunately big events are suffering. It looks like Tampa’s got a great field. Honda, maybe not so much last week. Obviously, next week’s a huge week. Really looking at that, trying to take that as a major championship approach going into the PLAYERS. So very, very hard to pick and choose right now because this is such a strong part of the year.

Q. Considering that, is 13 out of 25 choosing to play here, is that a pretty good number when you consider all the other moving parts?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: 13 out of 25 what? Sorry.

Q. 13 out of the top 25 in the World Rankings.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Are here this week at Bay Hill?

Q. Yes.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: I mean, that’s great. I mean, obviously, being a Mastercard guy and being one of the tournament ambassadors in the beginning after Mr. Palmer passed away, the big thing was how do we keep this event as a premier event, how do we carry the legacy forward. Obviously, the golf course can be a little sort of divisive. Some guys love it, some guys don’t love it. It’s a strong field this week, but because of all of the other events around it, it’s maybe not as strong as it could be. But, listen, I love this event. I’m happy for Mastercard and Bay Hill that they have got the kind of event they have this week and hopefully it continues to be a strong event.

Q. Whether you’re aware of this or not, you were No. 255 in the world when you left Bay Hill last year. What happened?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: (Laughing.) Yeah, I mean, Bay Hill was a very pivotal week for me here last year because The Open Championship conversation began here last year. There was some open spots up for grabs here, and I got off to a pretty good start and I blew out on Sunday and I was very disappointed. So, yeah, I do remember the emotions I was going through this time last year, for sure. It was difficult. The game wasn’t really, felt like where it needed to be. I suppose I’d go and win in Dominican Republic in three weeks’ time, two weeks’ time. But I was sort of trending in the right direction, but emotionally I just was, you know, I was, somebody beat me up. I just couldn’t seem to, I couldn’t seem to kind of get out of that, get out that have 25th and 30th funk that was in. I was in run of 25ths and 30ths and 40ths. I was feeling like I was playing well, but then I would look at the check at the end of the week and go, you know, 30ths just don’t cut it. I would go and win in Dominican. I wouldn’t you really have a good summer, but it kind of led me to kind of having a little soul search, getting a new coach, started hitting the reset button a little bit, and I’ve been really happy with the progress I’ve made. It’s not really been over a 12-month period. It’s really been since last August, I suppose, so it’s been a five-, six-month period, which brings me to here, obviously, in a very different place, 200 places in the World Ranking better than I was last year and feeling like I can go out and really, really compete. And if I’m there on a Sunday afternoon, I might actually know what to do this year. So just have a lot more belief, a lot more confidence in what I’m doing, which is, obviously, those intangibles that you can’t really learn on the range. You just have to be out there. You got to test yourself.

Q. And winning Saudi, how much did that change your outlook on the entire year?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: It changed my schedule a lot, for sure. It takes the pressure off trying to get into events like The Open Championship. I should be, barring a monumental collapse between now and July, I mean, I should be in pretty good shape for The Open Championship. It should get me in the PGA. Obviously nice to add events like the Match Play and FedEx St. Jude as well. And let’s be honest, if I have aspirations of making the team at Whistling Straights, I’m not going to be able to do it if I’m not in though those events. So it really maps my schedule out. It gives me an opportunity to pick and choose where I want to play, get myself ready for the events I want to be ready for and peak for. Schedule’s everything. When you’ve got that top-50 schedule, which I’m right on the borderline of having that again, and it just really makes the year so much more planable and really allows you to be able to peak better and rest up where you need to and just know that you’re going to be playing against the best players in the world more often.

Q. And lastly, is your schedule for the next month set in stone or would you make or be willing to make any alteration if you needed it related to Augusta?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, I mean, Augusta’s the only moving piece of the puzzle the next couple months. I have to be top-50 in the world the Monday after Match Play. You probably know that more than I do. It’s not going to be the be-all and end-all for me. I love Augusta. It is my favorite course in the world. It doesn’t love me very much, though. But if I’m not there, it’s not going to, it’s not going to dampen any spirits or anything that’s happened in the next three or four months. It will get in the way if I play the kind of golf I know I can play the next few weeks. And I would love to be there. I want to see my kids in boiler suits. That’s kind of the visual. I haven’t had a chance to do the par-3 with my kids yet because I haven’t played the last few years. So I want to have the kids up at Augusta this year. That would be fun. But like I say, it’s not going to change my life here in the short-term.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Graeme. Thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy Talks to Media About 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Preparations

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Current World number 1 Rory McIlroy speaks to the media ahead of his start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational about what it means to be number 1, the Olympic games, and Master’s Preparations.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy talks Arnold Palmer Invitational

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2020. Just some thoughts on being back here as the No. 1 player in the world.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, sort of feel like this was the start if sort of like a two-year journey to get back to this point. I came here two years ago off the back of a missed cut in Tampa and sort of a little lost with my game, especially a little lost with my putting and spent an afternoon with Brad Faxon at the Bear’s Club and then came up here and, obviously, something stuck with me from that afternoon and was able to win and that was my first win in 500-whatever days. So I feel like this place is a lot of special memories to me. It was definitely the catalyst to sort of do what I’ve done over the past two years and ascend back to the top of the World Rankings.

So good to be back. Course is in phenomenal shape. It’s as good as I’ve seen it. It’s nice to get back on Bermuda greens after the few weeks that I’ve started off on the poa annua. So, yeah, everything’s good and game feels in good shape and looking forward to getting going.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We’ll take some questions.

Q. How much do you use ShotLink data for your course management, how they change what you do or affect anything about going about it?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I use them a lot. All of the, it’s one thing I keep harping on about to the TOUR is actually how ShotLink data on every round that we play, like North Course at Torrey Pines doesn’t have it, the other three courses at Pebble when we play there doesn’t have it. I think a lot of the guys are starting to use ShotLink data to, it’s course management, but it’s also how you practice. So I got a stats report last week after the three weeks that I’ve had at Torrey Pines, at Riviera, and Mexico, and that’s what I base my practice off going into the next few weeks. My bunker play wasn’t up to the same standards it needed to be. I needed to get better from 6 to 12 feet. It’s stuff that you sort of know anyway, but it’s nice when you have that objective data in front of you. So I use it for a lot of different things. It is very important.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. With specific reference to the Olympics, are you relaxed about it, how do you get enough information, something you’re going to keep an eye on —
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it’s something that we’re trying to stay on top of. I mean, it’s something that if the organizers and the Olympic Committee believe it’s safe enough that athletes can go and compete in the games, then you have to take their word for it and you have to, they’re obviously liaising with the people that are the best at doing this, whether it’s the CDC in this country, whether it’s the World Health Organization, whatever it is. If they’re speaking to those people and those people are the best in their field, then you have to trust that their judgment is the right one.

Q. Based on the conditions out there right now, what kind of tournament do you expect to see this weekend?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, conditions right now, the golf course is playing very nicely. The rough’s pretty thick. If you start missing it in the rough, you can make life a bit difficult for yourself. I think they’re expecting a lot of wind tomorrow afternoon, so the scoring might be tough, a little tougher tomorrow than we have seen in the past. But it looks like the conditions are going to be good over the weekend.

So it’s an exciting golf course. There’s four par-5s. I think people can get it going around here and shoot some low scores. So I don’t see any, I think Francesco shot 64 to win last year. I shot 64 the year before to win. So I would say you would see something similar. There’s going to be a lot of people in with a chance and someone’s going to go pretty low over the weekend.

Q. Just watching everybody out there, like, asking for autographs and pictures and things, I’m curious how much of a challenge it is to you how you sort of divide your time and energy to figure out how to deal with it all, when to say no, when to say yes.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, Wednesdays are pretty hard to concentrate at times because you’re trying to find that balance between treating it like a practice round as well and trying to get something out of the day instead of just being a host for your amateurs and sort of trying to get them around. So I always try to play a game with Harry, my caddie. He sets me a score to shoot that day and says, right, If you shoot 4-under or better I’ll buy you dinner and if you don’t get to that, you have to buy me dinner. And that’s, we do that every Wednesday and it just, it keeps me concentrating on every shot and over every putt and it’s something that I need to do because as you see out there it’s very easy to get distracted and talk to people and basically hit the ball everywhere. So it just keeps me sort of on the straight and narrow.

Q. How did you do today?
RORY MCILROY: I lost by one shot. The target was 4-under. I shot 3-under even with birdieing the last.

Q. When you talk about the two-year journey kind of started here, do you think you’ve grown more from a game perspective or from a mental perspective over those two years?
RORY MCILROY: Mental more than the game. I mean, I think I’m more, I have done things in the game previous to two years ago that were maybe higher than what I’ve done the past couple of years. But from a mental perspective the consistency and showing up every week even when I don’t have my best stuff I’m able to still get in the mix and have a shot at winning tournaments. So mentally over these last few years I’ve definitely gotten better and, yeah, more stability in my life, there’s a lot of different things that go into it, but, yeah, just a lot more comfortable with where everything is.

Q. When you talk about gearing up for the Masters, when does that start and what does it mean?
RORY MCILROY: Honestly, I don’t know when it starts. For some people it starts the Monday they arrive at Augusta. For some people it started in January. I think it’s different for everyone. For me what I realized is I can’t make things too big in my head. So if I started to gear up for Augusta in January, by the time Augusta got around in April my head would be absolutely fried. So I try to push it out as late as possible. I’ve got four tournaments to play between now and then and my biggest concern and my top priority are those four tournaments.

Q. What I’m talking about gearing up, does that mean working on certain shots you are going to need or does that mean getting your game in peak form?
RORY MCILROY: I don’t think anything trumps execution in this game, so it’s just getting your game in good form. Playing enough competitive rounds, getting the — yeah, just shooting good scores, seeing shots. I’m not particularly — like it’s not as if I’m out on the golf course on the, you know, whatever hole here thinking, okay, this is the 5th hole at Augusta, this is the tee shot I need. I mean, some guys might do that, I’m not sure, but for me if I’m playing good golf that’s the most important thing.

Q. You’ve been forthright in talking about the Premier League and also saying —
RORY MCILROY: Football or golf? (Laughing.)

Q. If nothing else maybe it leads to some changes structural and otherwise on the PGA TOUR. What would you have in mind?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, I don’t want to come across as all sort of elitist, but I think there is a some smaller fields, maybe a few more events with no cuts, maybe not necessarily — if you look at the international properties that the PGA TOUR have started to go towards, like Korea, Japan, 70-player fields, no cuts. That’s the sort of stuff where you’re giving the — and honestly, there’s so many — I mean I get playing opportunities — there’s so many tournaments and there might be an over saturation in golf in a way. You look at the NFL and they play 18 games a year, 20 games a year max and people want it all the time. I know football’s different than golf and all that, but I think being a golf fan these days can get quite exhausting following so many different tournaments, different tours, all that stuff. So maybe making it a little, sort of streamline it a bit might be a good way — a good place to start a conversation.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Australia

PGA Tour: Adam Scott Speaks With The Media Prior To Making 11th Start at The Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Adam Scott of Australia plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and speaks with the media about his past history at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, current state of his game and Master’s preparations.

PGA Tour: Adam Scott Addresses media prior to start of 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

OHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Adam Scott to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Making his 11th start. Adam, a couple third place finishes here. Just talk a little bit about Bay Hill and this tournament and what it means to you.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I’ve come here on and off throughout the years, but it’s a course I’ve really learned to love, I guess, the last 10 years or so for me. I feel like I’ve played a lot of good golf here. I’m confident around this golf course. Unfortunately, I’ve never really put four solid days together in one go. So that’s my goal this week. It’s a special place, obviously, with the Arnold Palmer connection. It’s very strong. You can see that with everything going on here, but also through all the players. Here’s a guy who meant so much to the game of golf. To win an invitational-style event connected to Arnold Palmer would be really quite satisfying, I guess, for me in my career. I would rank it fairly highly.

JOHN BUSH: Speaking of good golf, you’re in really good form right now. 14th official TOUR win at the Genesis Invitational. Just talk a little bit about the state of your game.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

ADAM SCOTT: My game feels really good, actually. I like where it is after today. I feel like it’s still moving in the right direction after Genesis. Mexico was not my best performance. I’m pretty much thinking I’m one of the worst altitude players on the TOUR after that. I really don’t get very comfortable at altitude. But I feel good about where the game is moving on from Mexico back to a bit closer to sea level here and feeling very confident. I like the way the course is set up this week. I believe it’s going to be windy and hopefully my ball striking can get me a little bit of an advantage in these kind of conditions.

JOHN BUSH: Open it up with questions.

Q. You share the course record here with Greg Norman. You got guys like Marc Leishman and Jason Day have won. What is it about Australian golfers that seem to thrive on this golf course?
ADAM SCOTT: I don’t know, really. There isn’t anything particularly similar or that different than home, really. It’s just, I think there’s, with the connection to Arnold Palmer there’s extra motivation for everyone to do well here. I think that was the case in Greg Norman’s day when he was playing here as well. It’s neat to have the course record here. I remember the round well. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible to attack this week. The greens are pretty firm out there and the wind’s going to blow, so breaking par would be more kind of my scoring goals this week.

Q. And just to follow it up, what are your first, what are your thoughts on the first two days? What do you need to sort of do to get yourself in position for the week and is it a matter of surviving the first two rounds and maybe posting something under par?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it might be good to be out Thursday morning potentially, given the weather. And if I can take advantage of that and have a solid score, it can set me up for a good week. But no matter what, even if that is the way it goes, there’s going to be some survival going on. By the looks, it’s going to blow pretty strong and out of a difficult direction for this golf course. A lot of the holes that are flanked by water, the wind is going to be coming off the water, so you’re going to have to start it over the trouble, essentially, and the ball striking will have to shine through a little bit.

Q. You talked about the state of your game is very good and you’re pleased with it, but what does it do for your game going into the Majors when you win early in the season like you did?
ADAM SCOTT: In some ways it takes the pressure off, from the sense you don’t have to talk yourself into being confident. You can actually be confident because of a result. And then you must manage your own expectation after that. So hopefully, given that I have got a bit of experience, I can do that well from this point on. But I’m really enjoying the way my form is going, so I’m excited to play again this week and get myself back in that kind of position I was at in Genesis. That’s really my, the challenge to myself for the next three days out here is put myself in the winning position Sunday again. And I think my game is definitely still there and the confidence is still riding high, so I’ll try and take advantage of that while I’ve got it.

Q. How does this tournament, tournaments like this help you prepare for the Masters?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it’s a very important part of the preparation because it’s so close. So it’s very hard not to think about the Masters. Of course, we have the PLAYERS championship next week. But this golf course, the way it is this week with the rough is up a little bit and the greens are firm, it’s — and the wind is predicted, it’s going to be testing everyone’s patience, very demanding golf course, which is what major championships do. They really penalize bad shots and this course will do that often because of the water. There’s really no escape from water. So it will be good to kind of get a, get your emotions under control and be able to use that to your advantage maybe at the Masters in a few weeks.

Q. At Riviera you seemed quite positive about the Premier League concept and what it could offer. Obviously since then, Rory’s come out and been very outspoken. There’s been a lot of other chat about it. Has your sentiment changed in any way or been endorsed or what do you think now, a few weeks on?
ADAM SCOTT: I’m still very positive about the concept of what it could be, for sure. It doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen, necessarily. Everyone sees it from somewhat of their own agenda. Being an international player, I mean, the thought of a world TOUR sounds really great. Maybe less so for someone based in Florida who doesn’t have to necessarily travel as much. But it’s what I’m used to. So, yeah, I don’t think my sentiment on the concept has changed at all. I still think it’s fantastic.

Q. Talking about the Masters, how has your preparation changed over the years? When do you start thinking about getting ready for Augusta now, versus maybe 10 years ago?
ADAM SCOTT: I think it’s changed a little bit, to be perfectly honest, because TPC is back in before it and I regard that tournament very highly. So really, I’m trying to get myself in great shape for that. And if I can do that, it’s like a small step to getting ready for Augusta. So until last year the focus on Augusta was kind of starting from Riviera. And at the moment I’m trying to put that out of my head and think about TPC as much as anything and get myself ready to have a really good run there. I mean, for me, it’s a tournament I would love to win again. I think it would go a long way in kind of getting me satisfied with what I’ve achieved in my career. If I could win the TPC twice, that would be amazing. Then it’s a quick shift now then to Augusta. We have got a little bit of time. But I think between what I see here this week and TPC next week, you should have a good idea of where your game’s at and what you need to do to be ready to play the Masters.

Q. Were you still at Augusta last year when Tiger finished? And if so, did you watch it on TV? Did you — what was your, what was sort of your reaction to the reaction?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, just as I was finishing my round you got a sense, as he was kind of taking the lead on the back nine, that something special could be happening. There’s always an electricity in the air at Augusta on a Sunday, but then when Tiger or certain people are in the mix there’s something more. After I finished out and I stayed and watched, there was a lot of guys watching in the champion’s locker room and I stayed and watched. You don’t often get that group of people together very often. All of us definitely cheering hard for Tiger to win. And you just had that sense it’s a significant moment in the sport again. But seeing Tiger’s reaction was great because it felt like a significant moment for a guy who is achieved everything and more in golf and you could see in his reaction to the win how special it was. So that was — it was great as a golf fan to watch that.

Q. How do you think Tiger’s decision to go without a coach and kind of go it on his own the last few years helped him get back in the winner’s circle and win another major?
ADAM SCOTT: How do I think it helped him?

Q. Yeah.
ADAM SCOTT: I really don’t know how to answer. Maybe it just uncomplicated things for him, really. I mean, we all do our best to complicate the game a bit too much and maybe when you’re as talented and as accomplished as Tiger, your gut instinct must be pretty good for what you need to do, so maybe he did that. I don’t know. That’s a guess (Laughing.)

Q. This and Riviera are two of the strongest fields of the year thus far that don’t have built-in fields, for example. What is the difference between something like this, something like the Memorial and Riviera, compared with a WGC?
ADAM SCOTT: A few faces in the draw? I don’t know.

Q. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think it’s a good thing that these events are strong, these invitational events. They should mean something. And I think that was the idea with the World Golf Championships. But they have certainly changed over the 20 years that they have been around and gone in a, gone in whatever direction they have gone in, not quite necessarily — I guess they get the best players from all around the world together, but there’s been some levels of compromise, I guess, with them on locations and venues and timings and all these kind of things, and even the Match Play has been moved around and gets fields, it doesn’t get fields, but that’s most tournaments. Even though this is a very, very strong event there are a couple guys not playing. Most do. I think a lot of that is out of the respect for Arnold Palmer, of course. The venue at Riviera and Tiger’s involvement also commands a strong field. So I think they sit up in that similar kind of level, given the fact they are pulling strong fields.

Q. But you’ve missed some WGC’s over the years based on your own scheduling preferences. Was there a time early days where it was thought that these are ones you just don’t miss?
ADAM SCOTT: Absolutely, yeah. They have gone along, they have, I guess when they — there are many factors that are different than 20 years ago when they started. The PGA TOUR had far less international events 20 years ago, they have a lot more now. It was much harder to get the world’s top players together. Most of the world’s top players play on the PGA TOUR as a PGA TOUR member now. They were significantly more money. Now everything is a lot of money. I don’t think they are doing the same as what they did 15 or 20 years ago, that’s for sure.

Q. When on his game who is the just toughest guy out here to match shot for shot and keep up with?
ADAM SCOTT: To pick one guy?

Q. Yeah. One.
ADAM SCOTT: Well, Tiger then (Laughing) on his game. I mean, his record speaks for itself. I mean, I love Rory’s game and I love Dustin’s game as well. I think on their day those guys would be very, very difficult to beat when, if they’re on their game.

JOHN BUSH: All right. Adam Scott, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

ADAM SCOTT: Thank you.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Brandon Matthews Speaks on Sponsor’s Exemption Into 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 15: Brandon Matthews watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club on February 15, 2019 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Latin America Tour Player Brandon Matthews speaks to the media on what it means to him to receive a special sponsors exemption for his actions at last year’s Latin America event in which a special needs child had accidentally yelled in his backswing.

PGA Tour: Brandon Matthews previews 2020 Arnold after receiving special sponsor’s exemption

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Brandon Matthews to the interview room. Brandon, you’re competing this week on a sponsor exemption. Can you just give us some comments ahead of your first PGA TOUR start.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, it’s going to be a pretty cool week. Really excited. Really fortunate to be able to get this exemption, especially here. Mr. Palmer’s event, obviously, we have some ties back from Pennsylvania, and to be considered for this and then get this is pretty special.

THE MODERATOR: Going back to Argentina, can you just comment on that moment and how were you able to handle that so well?

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, it was obviously a tough situation. I was frustrated at first, didn’t understand the full circumstances behind it. But once I did it was a pretty easy situation for me to handle because of the fact that my mom used to work in group homes and I was around that kind of stuff my entire childhood. My best friend’s little sister has Down syndrome. So I saw it on a daily basis and I just kind of have a special place in my heart for it.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned it’s your first PGA TOUR start this week. Where would you say your game’s at right now?

BRANDON MATTHEWS: I feel like it’s pretty good. I’m really excited to be out here. I feel like I can compete on a daily basis out here. So if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing this. So really excited for this week and see how my game stacks up.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for some questions.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Tee Times and Leaderboard

Q. Just was curious what your reaction was to the reaction about how you handled everything like that. Could you have imagined that it would mushroom to the point where it got the attention that it did?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, it was overwhelming. I didn’t expect anything from it. It was funny, my one buddy Matt Ryan came up to me afterwards and he goes, Oh, this is going to pick up and stuff. And I said, No, it’s not. We’re in Buenos Aires. Nothing is going to come of this. I’m just happy I was able to make this guy happy and put a smile on his face. So I had no idea that it was going to get as big as it did.

Q. The result of that tournament still helped you advance, correct, to the Korn Ferry this year?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No.

Q. No, it did not.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No, it — if I actually won that tournament I would have had a chance to get back on the Korn Ferry TOUR, with a good finish at the finals. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Q. Can you then just talk about where you are and what your goals are for this year, what you’re looking to achieve, obviously beyond this week.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, right now I have full status on the Latinoamerica TOUR. I played well down there on 2017, was on the Korn Ferry the last couple years, and, you know, I’m just trying to get better on a daily basis. Try to get my game to the point where I feel like I can win every week. And if I keep getting better on a daily basis, you know, I feel like I’m going to be pretty darn good.

Q. What’s your schedule coming up after this?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, after this, hopefully Valspar, you know, after this. But if I can top 10 here and kind of parlay that, obviously that’s the goal. But if not, like I said, full status on the Latin, so we’re going to kind of get going on that TOUR.

Q. Is this your first start since late last year?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is. Since the —

Q. Shell?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, since the Shell Latin American Championship there.

Q. Where was that one?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: That was at Doral.

Q. Okay. In America?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, in America.

Q. Fantastic. What have you been doing the last couple months? Have you tried any four spotting? Have you thought about it?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: A little bit. My mindset over the last couple months was just to get my game to a point that I’ve never gotten it to before with consistency. I’m working with my swing coach, Dale Gray, and it’s been really, really good. I’ve been really happy to see some of the results that I’ve seen, the consistency coming, and I really, really think I can compete out here on a weekly basis. So, excited to see how it stacks up.

Q. What are you expecting this week?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: I’m just going to kind of take it one step at a time. I’m going to focus on that first tee shot and then slowly get into the round and just keep everything right in front of me. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t trying to win the golf tournament. Like I said, a top 10 would obviously go a long way, but I’m kind of looking short-term here and just trying to get some good practice sessions in and focus on that first tee shot.

Q. Let me go back long-term for a minute. What are you looking forward to this week?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Again —

Q. Beside this press conference being over. I’m sorry.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Of course, of course. Yeah, you know, this week, like I said, just trying to see how my game stacks up, see how ready it is and see where I need to clean up. It’s going to show me a lot this week and I’m looking forward to it. I love this stage. I can’t wait to compete on it.

Q. Your length is well known amongst the people that have been around you. A, where does that come from? And B, have you been trying to kind of, with Dale, trying to harness that a little bit, maybe not take anything back, but just trying to hone it in a little bit and not just be known for your length, so to speak, if that makes any sense.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, obviously, with how far I hit it it’s a huge advantage to most golf courses that I play. Dale and I have been working really hard to getting consistency and figure out kind of a shot shape, trajectory, everything like that that is going to get the ball in the fairway the most often for me. I think we’re doing a really good job at it. From where it comes from, it’s funny, I find myself telling this story a lot. My dad set me on the red tees when I was like four or five years old on this one course I grew up at, Emanon, it’s like a 5,800-yard golf course. It’s great. And there was a little pond in front of the red tee. It was like, I don’t know, 70 yards to carry. And then I was — I had sat there with a huge bucket of balls just trying to hit it over, just trying to hit it as hard as I can. And as soon as I did, my dad moved me back a tee and then that process kind of repeated itself until I got all the way back. So I feel like that was one of the big reasons why I was blessed with my length, because I kind of grew up just trying to hit it as hard as I can.

Q. Not many people roll in here and say — that have never played on the PGA TOUR and say, I think I can compete out here. So what is it that you’ve done over the last six months, let’s say, that you feel that you can compete out here against these guys?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: I’ve worked my whole life for this. Every time I’ve gotten to, let’s say, a little bit bigger stage, whether it was college, to the Latinoam�rica TOUR, Korn Ferry TOUR, I felt like I was ready. I felt like I was good enough to compete. I have a lot of self-belief in my game. I truly feel like this is where I belong and this is where I need to be.

Q. When you mentioned Valspar a minute ago, are you asking for exemptions or, again, are you looking at any qualifying or —
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, the Valspar would be just because of a top 10 here, but my agent’s done a fantastic job, Drew Carr, and we’re reaching out to some tournaments. And I’m just so happy to be here, not looking at anything else and, you know, also at the end of the day with — I just didn’t think I was going to get any reaction from what happened, so just to be sitting here today, to be able to compete this week is something that’s really special that I’m very thankful for.

Q. And you played — why have you chosen Latinoam�rica instead of Canada, for example, when you haven’t had Korn Ferry status?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, this year I’m very familiar with the TOUR, familiar with some of the golf courses because I played down there in 2017. So I would say back in 2017 I chose it just because of the way people kind of told me to set my schedule. They said Latin’s a little bit better for my game, so on and so forth. Canada is a little bit different. But had success down there in 2017, so I figured why not do it again.

Q. And you played once in Europe. How did that come about?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, that was kind of a crazy little deal. I heard some things from some friends that they were trying to push for me to get a spot and I had a good spring on Latin that year, was kind of doing really well at that point. I think I was second or third on the Money List or something like that. I was fortunate enough to get that start. I mean, I really had no idea really until about the week before that I was going to get it. It was funny, I was in Omaha, Nebraska and I got the phone call, Hey, do you want it play in Germany next week? And I’m like, What? So I looked at my phone, looked on some flights, flew back home, and flew over to Hamburg and — yeah, that was a long travel day there.

Q. Wonder if you could fill us in a little bit on your ties to Pennsylvania and was wondering have you played Latrobe Country Club and have you actually seen the tractor?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Unfortunately, I have not played Latrobe. I haven’t been over to the Western part of Pennsylvania too too much. I’m from kind of the northeast part there, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area. But like I keep saying, it’s incredible the amount of ties Mr. Palmer had to Pennsylvania, all over. The stories that I hear from a lot of people, it’s amazing. I was just saying this, you know, out of all the years you hear so many Arnold Palmer stories and it’s so amazing that every single one is so positive and that just speaks volumes to his character.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how, I’m going to say how difficult it is to be a professional golfer now and trying to find your way on a particular TOUR, keep a card, try to progress along to the next TOUR?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah. Yeah, it’s incredible how many people are trying to do it now. It’s great. But it’s hard. These guys are good. Out here, Korn Ferry TOUR. I think almost everyone that plays on the Korn Ferry TOUR’s good enough to compete out here. It’s crazy. The talent level that I’ve seen over the last few years has driven me to work harder, and I mean, I go through a whole day. I grind from five o’clock in the morning until dark, so it’s given me the drive to try to be able to succeed out here.

Q. Two questions: You touched on it a little bit earlier, but just, I’m wondering what qualities that Arnold Palmer had do you most admire? And then the second part of the question is, he had a reputation of always being a good guy. Now you’ve got that reputation of being a good guy. I wonder what that means to you too.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Like I keep saying, to be mentioned in any kind of light with Mr. Palmer is incredible. I’m very, very humbled by it. I mean, he was the epitome of sportsmanship. Like I just mentioned, you hear all these stories about him and all of them are so positive, it’s incredible. He’s done so much for this game, so much for a lot of people’s lives. He truly did it right.

Q. How did you wind up at Temple?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: How did I wind up at Temple? So, A, a guy, Paul Keating, a member at the club that I was playing at the time, Fox Hill Country Club, kind of mentioned me. I was kind of late — I had never really played AJGA’s or anything like that. I kind of, for whatever reason, stayed away from that. So when I kind of started winning a lot of stuff my junior year of high school, a lot of the colleges came up to me and they’re like, Well, we have already signed our guys. You can come in, walk on, whatever. And fortunately, Brian Quinn, the head coach at Temple University called me, because Paul Keating and him were very good friends, and he gave me the opportunity to play at Temple University and it’s just short ride down the turnpike. It was great. I tell people this all the time. The important thing for me at Temple was I learned how to be a kid too. The time off that I needed to take, because there were a foot of snow on the ground, needed to take off from basically December to March call it, it was good. It was nice to actually be a kid and not go full grind mode. And I got to understand how valuable time off was.

Q. Earlier we heard from Francesco Molinari about how special the Arnold Palmer Invitational is for him. I wanted to find out from you, especially as someone who has played golf from a much younger age, does the Arnold Palmer Invitational hold a special place for you in comparison to some of the other tournaments that you’ve been a part of?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No question. Obviously being my first PGA TOUR start, this is really, really special. But again, like I keep saying, to be a part of Mr. Palmer’s tournament as my first ever PGA TOUR start is something that I actually can’t really put into words, it’s pretty incredible.

Q. (Question about Pine Valley.)
BRANDON MATTHEWS: We actually did get an invitation one time, we were fortunate enough. That place is pretty special. That property is golf Disneyland.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Brandon, thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Thanks, guys.

Orlando, Florida

March 3, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Professionals

PGA Tour: Francesco Molinari Speaks About Defending Title at 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Francesco Molinari of Italy lines up a putt 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)

PGA Tour professional and 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Francesco Molinari speaks with the media prior to beginning his 2020 title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

PGA Tour: Francesco Molinari addresses the media ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational

JOHN BUSH: We would like to get started with Francesco Molinari, our 2019 champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

Francesco, first of all, if we can get you to take us back to your win last year, including a sensational 8-under, 64 in the final round. If we can get a few comments, please.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously most of the memories are from the Sunday. Just an amazing round, probably one of the best rounds I’ve played in my career. I remember, yes, starting the day thinking there was maybe half a chance, but I was quite a long way back and with a few guys in between me and the lead. So you obviously hope for a good day but you can’t really know how it’s going to pan out.

And then, yeah, just played an incredible round, played well, putted really well, and obviously finished it off with that putt on 18 that I think will always be one of the highlights of my career.

JOHN BUSH: You have four top-10 finishes in seven starts here. What is it about Bay Hill that you like so much?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I can’t really point one single thing. I think if you ask a lot of the guys out there they are going to tell you that it’s more of a bomber’s course, but I seem to like it pretty much from the first time I came. I don’t know, maybe part of it has to do with the fact that I was watching it on TV when I was growing up and obviously, like I said many times, in Italy the exposure to golf was limited and Mr. Palmer and Mr. Nicklaus were two obviously of the few figures that reached all the way out to Italy and they were really mythological figures. So to come here and to play in Arnie’s tournament has always been special to me and it’s always been a week that I’ve enjoyed a lot and I obviously still do.

JOHN BUSH: And before questions, just talk a little bit about the state of your game coming into the week.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Tee Times and Leaderboard

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I’m a little bit behind where I was planning to be, obviously, at this time. The start of the season has not been as good as I hoped for, but it’s only the start. There’s been a few physical things and technical things, but I’m working through it. I think I’ve got some good planning for the next few weeks building up to Augusta and some good direction to work towards. And, yeah, just looking forward to being out, play 18 a day and hopefully getting sharper day by day.

JOHN BUSH: All right. Let’s start with questions.

Q. Do you feel close to where you need to be and if you don’t, when there were times where you felt far away, were you honest with yourself?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I try to be honest with myself. I think in golf it’s never too easy because there’s a part of you that always makes you think you’re close even when you’re not. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly close right now. I would be, my expectations going into the next few weeks are really to build up some momentum and get better day by day and not really thinking too far ahead of myself. There’s work that I need to do to be physically better and fitter than I am right now and technically to be sharper. So that’s the plan for the next few weeks. But not always results in golf are directly linked to where you are exactly in a certain moment. So results might come earlier than I think, but the plan is still no matter what the results are going to be, to work hard the next month and get better.

Q. Have you had a chance to talk with Edoardo since last week and what was your reaction when you found out he had been quarantined?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I was laughing, actually. If you know my brother, of all people, for it to happen to him, I don’t know, yeah, I just found it a little bit funny at the beginning. But then, obviously, I spoke to him and he was, I would say, more annoyed than scared because he was feeling well. He had no symptoms. But, yeah, joking aside, obviously being Italian it’s not a great time back home with the health situation and I don’t know, hopefully they can get it sorted somehow quickly.

Q. Going back to last year here, is it possible to assess like just how well you played that final round and how, I mean, how would you grade your game? Was it maybe as good as it’s ever been in that last round? And was it a total, just a total performance in that every part of the game was working?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it was, like I said, one of the best rounds of my career, probably. Like I said, when I finished last year, the putting was particularly good. I hit the ball obviously well enough to shoot 64 but it probably wasn’t my best ever round tee to green. But, yeah, in general an amazing round. Conditions were tricky already on the Saturday, I remember, and then Sunday was the same. So I think this is a course that if it firms up and it gets a bit breezy, it’s a really tough test of golf and you can still, obviously, shoot 64 and 65, but you need to do a lot of things well to do that.

Q. Having won this event and Tiger’s former event and so forth, discussions the last few days about the PGA TOUR versus the European Tour, the difficulty of winning, I’m just curious if you buy into any of that —
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don’t think I should get into that. It’s golf, you know, it’s never easy to win in golf wherever you play. That’s all I’m going to say.

Q. Following up from earlier, so for you personally and just golfers in general, what is this coronavirus, is it going to, do you think potentially impede on people’s travel schedules, the way they kind of plan going forward?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I know as much as you, if not less, to be honest. We just follow, obviously, the directions that we’re given by the TOUR. So far, luckily, it doesn’t seem to have an impact on us directly. But, yeah, like I said, the first person — I wasn’t in Italy last week — but I was obviously reading the news and they cancelled football games, soccer games, which are huge over there and closed school, so it’s definitely having an impact there. Hopefully it won’t get to that stage over here.

Q. Just like Sungjae addressed it in his post-win, I mean he talked about how he hopes this emboldens his home, his people back home, because it’s such an issue. Do you — is it front of mind in some ways for you because of what’s going on in your home country?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, yes and no. Obviously, I got my parents in Turin, which is one of the areas where they closed schools and cancelled soccer games, and they’re not the youngest anymore, so it’s a bit worrying from that point of view, but then I spoke to them, I speak to them pretty much on a daily basis and they’re fine. There’s nothing too worrying at the moment. So it’s, obviously, trying to keeping the virus contained and it’s just, I guess, a matter of time to see if the policies that they have put in place will have a big enough affect. Hopefully they will.

Q. The 16th hole is often pivotal in the outcome of the tournament, especially going down the stretch on Sunday. Can you talk about your memories about that hole from last year? And as the Aon Risk Reward hole for this week, what are the keys for you for success on that hole?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, the memories from Sunday last year are playing the hole very well. I hit pretty much a perfect drive and a really good aggressive second shot over the flag and nearly made the eagle putt.

I think compared to some other holes that we played during the year in the Aon Risk Reward, 16 is in a way more straightforward because it’s just about hitting a good driver. And then I think 99 percent of the field will go for it from the fairway, because you have enough room and you have a good chance of making eagle. So, yeah, the strategy there for me is to be aggressive, obviously, as long as you are on the fairway off the tee.

Q. You spoke earlier of the physical and technical aspect of golf. How about the mental energies? You did speak about that after the Masters. How long does that take you to get back to where you were after a back nine where you had such a great tournament and then some problems on the back nine?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Obviously, I don’t know, I have a different maybe point of view from many people, but I think that the mental side has been one of the strongest points in the last few months. It’s just more being more down to the fact that I haven’t hit the ball as well and like I said, especially these first few weeks this year, I let a few niggles here and there and not been able to train and to get fitter and stronger. So I think mentally I’m ready to go. I’m in a good place and ready to compete. But obviously, I think that’s kind of the last stage. You need to have your best game and to be physically a hundred percent to be able to compete.

Q. Given what you shared earlier about your win last year and the fact that you were able to be in the presence of people like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, those whom you considered mythological before and you had the opportunity to be here in the presence last year, have you lost that sense of wonder? Is it still — it’s still an amazing experience for you to be back here in 2020. Despite the condition of your game right now, is there still a sense of wonder for you being here?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we’re lucky to play in great tournaments week-in and week-out, but there are certain tournaments that to each one of us are special. And like I was saying before, definitely every time I come back here or I play Memorial and I have a chance to see and to speak with Mr. Nicklaus, it’s just people that they have obviously achieved so much in the game of golf but most of all for the game of golf, that it’s just fascinating. And then, obviously, in the past few years I had a chance to have a few chats with Mr. Palmer and, yeah, he was just a fascinating character. And I think I said this last year after winning, especially for someone like me coming from a very small golfing country like Italy is and was when I was growing up, I would have never believed I would have had the chance to speak to Mr. Palmer. So it’s always special coming back here, yeah.

Q. A Masters question, I apologize. But it seems like the 12th hole is where everything kind of turned last year on Sunday. What do you remember about that hole and why was it playing so difficult? It played as the hardest hole last year on Sunday.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think it was just the wind, you know, the weather conditions of the day made it really hard to judge the shot in terms of how far it was playing. And then, obviously, it’s a hole where when the flag is in that position, back right, it’s by far the toughest position on the green. So it’s a combination of that, and then obviously the situation too, you know, you get there, it’s Sunday afternoon, so I think a few of us hit in the water that day and, yeah, it’s just how, it shows how tough it was playing. But that’s the beauty of the Masters and Amen Corner and it’s a special tournament and you could see that last year on Sunday. And like I said, I think that the weather conditions made those last few holes even more tricky and special for someone who was watching on TV.

Q. Two things: Can you remember the calmest you’ve ever played No. 12, calmest conditions, and how much easier, if any, did it make it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Calmest in terms of —

Q. In terms of wind.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: — conditions?

Q. Yeah.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, if there’s no wind, you know, it just depends if you hit a good shot. There’s nothing really that can stop you from hitting that green. But I think, I remember like the Saturday last year, I think I hit it a few inches from the hole with obviously a different pin position. But, yeah, like I said, that Sunday, when the wind is up and I think especially it was coming kind of into, from behind the green and those huge trees behind the green, so you never know how much wind actually it’s going to get. And it’s just complicated.

Q. Let me ask it a different way. How much wind is required for it to mess with your head?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think it depends on the direction, like I said, because it can, if it comes from a certain direction it can funnel in the trees and then that’s when it gets really hard. Because you might look at north, south, west, east on your yardage book and think it should be coming from one way and you see the flag blowing the opposite way and then it’s really hard to make a call and an adjustment.

But, yeah, so I don’t think it needs a lot of wind, it’s more the wind direction specifically on that hole that makes it tricky. If it’s playing downwind usually the wind is the same on the tee and on the green. When it’s coming the other direction, it just funnels in the trees and depends on the exact moment when you’re hitting the shot.

Q. The other thing I wanted to ask you, have you been approached by the folks from the Premier Golf League?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No.

Q. Your general thoughts on it and is there any interest?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I haven’t been approached, so.

Q. Is that insulting?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, not really, no. I’m happy to do my own thing, again, not get involved. I think there’s going to be bigger names that will have to make that decision. But I don’t know, I kind of agree with what Rory said, to be honest, we, I’m sure we can find ways to make this TOUR and the European Tour even better, but we’re lucky to play some amazing schedules, so I don’t see why really messing up with it too much.

JOHN BUSH: We appreciate your time Francesco, best of luck this week.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Thank you.

Orlando, Florida

March 3, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports