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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

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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

Categories
Professionals

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im Talks Victory and Leap in FedEx Cup Standings After 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Sungjae Im of South Korea celebrates after making a birdie on the 15th hole during the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

PGA tour professional and second year player Sungjae im recaps his maiden victory at the 2020 Honda Classic, beating out Mackenzie Hughes and Tommy Fleetwood

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im recaps first career victory at the 2020 Honda Classic

DOUG MILNE: We’d like to welcome Sungjae Im, winner of the 2020 Honda Classic. Sungjae, congratulations on your first PGA TOUR win. Goodness, it seems like every week you’re up there inside the top 10, and I know it feels good to get the job done, and with the win, 500 FedExCup points to move to No. 2 in the standings. Just a few comments about the week and getting your first PGA TOUR win.

SUNGJAE IM: After being so close so many weeks and even after having a bunch of top 10s and just using that experience this week was big, and just hope to really work hard and move forward and become a winner again very soon.

Q. Two questions: One, I know you understand a fair amount of English. How is your acclimation to the U.S. going?
SUNGJAE IM: I like being here, just as far as travel and the food, everything. Not just not being able to visit Korea and go back to my home country as much is the only thing that hurts me a little bit sometimes, but everything else I’m very satisfied and happy with where I am.

Q. And you spoke of it outside a little, too, but these are scary times in Korea. There’s scary times in a lot of countries. You mentioned the virus. How much is what’s going on at home, how much was that on your mind this week? How much did you carry that around with you this week?
SUNGJAE IM: There has been reportedly over 2,000 cases of people that have been affected with the coronavirus in Korea, and to be honest I’m a little concerned and worried about how fast this virus is spreading. As of right now, all I can do is pray for the best and just hope moving forward that not many more people get affected, and hopefully this virus can be calmed down and sort itself out very soon.

Q. 15 and 17 are supposed to be scary shots. How were you feeling over them?
SUNGJAE IM: In between 15 and 17, 15 is probably the hardest hole out here in my opinion, and just going into that hole the past few days, I was a little tentative and didn’t really hit my lines. But going into today, I had the right club, the wind was in the right spot, and just felt like I had everything to attack the pin the way I did and just had the right club and was comfortable with the wind. That way I just was aggressive and saw my shot, and glad it worked out the way it did.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. How did the Presidents Cup help you down the stretch today, your experience there?
SUNGJAE IM: Playing for Captain Ernie for the Presidents Cup this year was a huge experience. I had a lot of fun, and just we were all in the mindset of the international squad trying to win. Everybody wanted to win. Just comparing today’s pressure to that pressure, I felt a little less nervous than I did during the Presidents Cup, so experiences like that have really helped me and will help me moving forward.

Q. After Tommy made the putt on 17, you kind of blow on the golf ball in your hand. What was that for?
SUNGJAE IM: It didn’t mean anything. I just signed some balls for some of the volunteers and the ink was still wet, and I was trying to dry it out a little bit.

Q. As a guy who plays almost every week, will you take a week off, and B, how difficult has that been for you to play every week?
SUNGJAE IM: I plan on playing almost every week, maybe take an event off during the Texas swing, but nothing confirmed. But as of right now, just the one in mind, and planning to play them all.

Q. Is that difficult, or what is the difficulty in that for you, playing every week?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m just so happy to be on the PGA TOUR and just to play golf, and it’s almost as — I don’t really look at it as work, it’s more of a chance to just go out and do what I love and play golf. As far as difficulty-wise, it’s not very hard because I’m doing what I want to do. So that’s kind of how I feel right now.

Q. Could you say how you two met, how you know each other?
ALBIN CHOI: We’ve known each other for I’d say the past two-and-a-half, three years now from playing on the Korn Ferry TOUR together and I met Sungjae at the final stage in Arizona and kind of exchanged a few words there, but as the year progressed we became closer and closer, and we’ve — he moved on to the PGA TOUR, and we just kind of kept in touch, and yeah, here we are.

Q. How did you end up on his bag this week?
ALBIN CHOI: I got a phone call after Riviera, he was looking for a guy this week, and I know he’s had some language barriers with other caddies in the past, and I just felt like we communicate better, and being a player myself and having played this golf course a lot of times, he wanted somebody on the bag with a little bit of experience. I accepted, and I’m glad that I did.

Q. Sungjae, you’ve made a lot of starts. You came really close at the Sanderson Farms back in the fall. How did you draw upon that experience coming into this stretch, and also is it kind of a relief to get that first win?
SUNGJAE IM: I was a little disappointed the way the Sanderson Farms ended. Very similar spot to what I was in today. Finished with a one-shot lead and had to wait on the guys coming in, and so drawing upon that experience I felt like it made me hungrier for today to go out and get that win, and just having come so close, it’s just very happy everything worked out the way it did and I’m just happy to get the win.

Q. Another South Korean, Y.E. Yang, won this tournament 10, 12 years ago. Do you know him? How well do you know him?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m very well aware of his victory here, and I know him a decent amount. We’re from the same place back home and have exchanged words with him in the past. I would say we’re on pretty good terms of knowing one another.

Q. Sungjae, you’ve played in three of the majors, and this win gets you of course into Augusta. How much are you looking forward now to going to the Masters, and how well do you think you’ll do, and what do you know about Augusta? What excites you now about playing in the Masters?
SUNGJAE IM: So having played in every major, obviously the Masters was the only one that I’ve been missing. Just really looking forward to going to Augusta, and right now obviously playing four rounds is the goal, and having performed well in major championships before, I just want to add the Masters to my belt, and I’m super excited.

Q. You mentioned being on his bag this weekend. You live in Jupiter, I believe. What experience, if any, do you have with this course, and kind of what brought you down here to Palm Beach County?
ALBIN CHOI: Just being a player myself, and I played final stage on this golf course and got my card through here. So I know how hard it is to kind of navigate your way through this golf course, and just with the pressure of the tournament on the line and just playing here a bunch, and I just felt like the experience kind of helped me today. Just from being — from a player standpoint, I kind of knew what he was feeling at certain times, and I felt like I could kind of draw upon my experiences to help him out today and to keep his head in the right place.

Q. You’re known for kind of a slow, methodical backswing. I’m wondering how you learned the swing and how that style suits you or how you settled on that kind of tempo.
SUNGJAE IM: Up until three or four years ago, my backswing speed was the same as the average player out here, but I wanted to experiment and just kind of find out what really worked for me, and was just doing a drill of slowing down the backswing, and it really helped. I felt like I could hit the ball where I wanted to and just got better contact in general, and now I feel like my backswing is getting slower and slower as time goes, but it’s what works for me, and I’m happy with it.

Q. Two quick things: What’s going through your head when the ball is in the air on its way to 17?
SUNGJAE IM: I wasn’t worried about being short because I took more club for that reason with it being into the wind. I was just a little bit concerned about the back bunker when the ball was in the air, but I was just happy to see the ball hit the ground fast and stop where it did, and I felt like that was a good turning point.

Q. For a guy who basically lives out of hotels, how do you celebrate tonight?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m not sure if I’m going to be heading to Orlando tonight or tomorrow night, but regardless, wherever I am, in a hotel or wherever, I feel like this is going to be one of the happiest nights of my life.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team Canada

PGA Tour: Mackenzie Hughes Talks Falling Just Short at 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: MacKenzie Hughes of Canada putts on the 16th hole during the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Mackenzie Hughes recaps his weekend 66-66 after just barely making the cut and falling just short of a victory at the 2020 Honda Classic.

PGA Tour: Mackenzie Hughes talks to the media following completion of the 2020 Honda Classic

Q. Great finish, 66-66 on the weekend after making the cut on the number. What a run you made this weekend. You have to be very proud of yourself.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, it’s been a really tough season so far for me. I knew I was never really that far off, but it’s all results, and the results weren’t good so far this year. I always believed I could do it, but until you do it and get yourself back in there, there was always that bit of doubt.

I mean, this golf course I knew would bring out my best because it’s just such a grind, and you just have to hang in there, just hang in there and hang in there. I mean, I just fought my butt off all weekend. Yeah, it was a lot of fun to be back in the mix, though.

Q. 16 you had that vicious lip-out for par, and you come to the 17th and from 54 feet roll in that putt. That had to be exhilarating.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, 16 was tough. You know, didn’t put it in a good spot off the tee and didn’t draw a great lie, and the putt I thought I had just gutted, and it came right back at me. 17, got away with one. I kind of push-fanned one and it was on the green, and I stole my caddie, and I was like, let’s just try and make Sungjae’s putt a little harder. That’s a huge bonus that that ball would drop in. I haven’t been that excited on the golf course in a long time.

Unfortunately I’m standing there in 18 fairway, I just — it’s a tough shot. Wind is in off the right, and you’re trying to cut one but you can’t over-cut it because then you’re going to be knocked down by the wind. I was grinding my butt off and unfortunately just one short, but I had so much fun this week.

Q. Just a little bit short, but what a great week for you. If we can get some comments.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, super fun week. I’ve had a very tough season so far and don’t feel like I’ve played poorly. I’ve missed a lot of cuts by two, three shots, and I’ve had my chances to play the weekend, but things just were falling short there at the end. I never felt like I was far away from being in a spot like this, and I knew that this golf course would be a great fit for just the grind — make a bunch of pars, throw in the odd birdie, and I’ve always loved coming to this place. It tests every part of your game, and it’s mostly just mental.

So I had just tons of fun competing. I love being in the mix. I love having a chance to win, and yeah, so I mean, it sucks to come up one short, to fight that hard all day. I just kind of thought I was going to do it. But still proud of the way I fought this week and looking forward to the rest of the year.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. Did anything change from Friday to Saturday?
MACKENZIE HUGHES: No, not really. You know, my college golf coach, he texted me on Friday night, and he said, you know what, the hard part is over. I missed five cuts, and I always said when the hard part is over you’re on the weekend. It kind of loosened me up a little bit and I said, let’s just go out there and play golf and see what happens. I was just a little bit more at ease on Saturday, and once I posted 4-under, I knew that was going to give me a chance on Sunday, and then again, I knew I probably needed the same kind of round on Sunday, but just the confidence of doing it the day before, I thought, I can do this.

I had a great feel with a lot of the shots I was hitting this week, and yeah, it was just — it was nice to be in there because it’s been a while.

Q. Have you played with Sungjae before?
MACKENZIE HUGHES: I have not. I actually was kind of joking to myself coming up 18, I was like, man versus machine. I’m the man, hitting shots in bunkers and hitting the grandstands on 18 and he’s just like a machine. It was really impressive. He played great golf, a great start, which I think actually kind of helped me a little bit because I was like, I’ve got to go get this guy. He’s 4-under through five, I’ve got to chase him a little bit. So I thought early on, he seemed to have it beat, and I was like, just hang with him and keep it close and anything can happen down the last few holes.

He honestly hit two incredible shots into 15 and 17, and he’s very, very deserving, obviously, of winning.

Q. What was that like having Albin in your group? You guys go way back.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, that was really crazy. The chance of him being in our group were — like this is the first time he’s caddied for Sungjae and we’re paired together on Sunday. I thought it was kind of a dream come true because you get to walk with — my caddie is a good friend of mine, and I get to walk with Albin who I’ve known since junior golf days. It was a lot of fun. We had a few good laughs out there, and he might be caddying a little bit more in the future, I think, but we’ll see.

I also wanted to say one more thing. I had a friend of mine who passed away last week in Charlotte, Daniel Meggs, and all week I marked my ball with his initials, and I just want to tell Daniel, who’s up in a better place now, and his family, that I’m really thinking about them. Daniel was an incredible human being, golfer at Wake Forest, and I was playing for him this week. I always play for myself, but I looked down at my ball every now and then and just reminded myself that it’s a blessing to be able to have another round of golf, to continue to play this great game, and I know what he wouldn’t give for another chance to play a round of golf or to be with his family.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to Daniel Meggs and his family and tell them I’m thinking about them.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Professionals

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im Recaps First Victory at The 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Sungjae Im of South Korea poses with the trophy after winning the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Second year PGA Tour professional Sungjae Im speaks to the media about his breakthrough performance at the Honda Classic, earning his first PGA Tour victory at only 21 years old.

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im addresses the media following clutch performance in the final round of the Honda Classic

Q. Talk about the shots at 15 and 17 because eight feet, you roll them in, those were huge.
SUNGJAE IM: 15 and 17 have given me a little bit of trouble this week, especially on 15, I missed it a little bit on the left side, and today I felt good with the club and the wind and felt like I was going to take more of an aggressive approach. Just happy with the result.

Q. Mackenzie rolls in the birdie at 17 from 54 feet and the crowd went crazy. Did that add more pressure on you to hit your putt?
SUNGJAE IM: After Mackenzie made the putt, it definitely sparked my focus up a little bit more and kind of got me more focused on my own putt and probably a little bit more dialed in, so it helped me en route to my birdie putt on 17.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. And then clutch shot out of the bunker on 18, that was huge considering the circumstances.
SUNGJAE IM: I’ve been good out of the bunkers all week. I really like the bunkers around here, and once I got up and saw my ball and saw that it was a good lie, I knew that it was just an ordinary, everyday bunker shot. I went up there and I was pretty confident with it, and glad that the ball came out the way it did.

Q. What does this mean, 21 years old, you get your first victory on the PGA TOUR, a year after you’re PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. What does this do for you now? You have to be so incredibly excited.
SUNGJAE IM: Even after winning Rookie of the Year and having a few chances to win, I really wanted to get that win. Had a few good chances that slipped away, but I’m also still very grateful that I could win at such a young age, and to have it happen as fast as it did, I’m very happy and satisfied.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Team USA

PGA Tour: Gary Woodland Talks Long Term Success at Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 29: Gary Woodland of the United States lines up a putt on the 14th green during the third round of the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on February 29, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and US Open Champion Gary Woodland recaps his final round 67 and his consistent success at the Honda Classic, including never missing the cut.

PGA Tour: Gary Woodland speaks to the media upon conclusion of the final round at The Honda Classic

Q. 3-under 67, excellent final round. If we can get some comments.
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, today I played great. I hit a lot of good putts. It’s as good as I’ve putted it and not made anything, so that was a little frustrating. But any time you can shoot 3-under out here — this golf course is hard. A little frustrated with yesterday. Yesterday I actually played as good as I did all week. Got in a couple sand-filled divots there on 9 and 11 and 13 I think was the other one. I had three or four holes, and I played those holes 5-over, and it cost me the golf tournament.

Outside of that, I can take a lot of positives. Played solid last week, played solid this week, so enjoy a week off and get ready for a big stretch.

Q. Never missed a cut here; what is it about this tournament?
GARY WOODLAND: This is a good golf course. I mean, it’s hard. You’ve got to execute shots. When the wind blows like that, you can flight shots, and I enjoy flighting shots. I enjoy hitting the ball low. And today I executed great. It’s nice to sleep in your own bed. I wish I would have putted a little better overall, but I’m excited with where I’m headed.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Rickie Fowler Talks Current State of His Game Heading Into The Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 27: Rickie Fowler of the United States plays a shot during the first round of the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on February 27, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and 2017 Honda Classic champion previews his 2020 return to the Honda Classic and speaks on the current status of his golf game

PGA Tour: 2017 Honda Classic champion Rickie Fowler addresses the media prior to the 2020 edition

DOUG MILNE: Rickie, 2017 Honda Classic champion, tied for second last year, obviously some good memories of the place. Just some thoughts on being back at PGA National.

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, like you said, we’ve had success here. I love this golf course. I feel like it’s very demanding of the game, not always hitting driver, but you’ve got to get the ball in play, and very much a second-shot golf course once you do get it in the fairway.

Typically we’ve got some wind, which for me I enjoy playing in, especially living down in this area. I’ve been in Jupiter for about 11 years now, and looks like we’re going to have a little cooler week than normal. We’ve got a front coming in later today. Yeah, a little cooler, a little different wind than we’re used to seeing here at this golf course. But throw some sweaters on in the morning and go play. Everyone has got to go play the same course and same weather.

Q. How are you feeling about your game coming into the week?
RICKIE FOWLER: I’m excited. I’ve had three weeks — well, off of tournament golf, but I wouldn’t say I’ve had three weeks off. A few workdays in there and I’ve been putting in a lot of time in the gym, on the course, but it’s been nice to have been at home sleeping in my own bed for three weeks, and like I say, getting good work in. So I’m looking forward to getting started back here at Honda, and as of right now, we’re looking at playing six out of the next seven weeks.

Q. Is there an element of comfort for you at this golf course, or do we just perceive that because we know you live here and we’re so used to seeing you here?
RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, I’ve had a lot of good tournament golf played on this golf course, going back to junior golf actually. I’ve always been comfortable here.

At the same time, it is challenging. I’ve had plenty of mishaps. It happens around this place. It’s bound to happen. You’re going to make bad swings, and sometimes they happen at the wrong time.

No, I enjoy what this golf course kind of brings to the table and what it demands of you as a player, and then like I said, with the wind typically being up, you’ve got to hit some shots and control your golf ball around here.

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Q. Does it ever become exhausting, you can’t help but see how many little ones are dressed like Rickie and they just love you and they want to meet you and get your autograph? Does it ever just become exhausting to see them all out there? Do you want to make them all happy if you know what I mean?
RICKIE FOWLER: No, it’s obviously a great position that I’m in. No, I mean, it makes your day better, if anything, to see the support and see what kind of impact that I’m able to have on people at times. I try and make that be a good impact.

But no, I’m kind of blessed to be in this position, so to be coming from when I was young, looking up to guys who played the TOUR or to riding, racing dirt bikes, something I did growing up, to now being in a position where I’m the person that kids are looking up to, it’s a cool position to be in.

It can take some time here and there to sign autographs and whatnot. Unfortunately I’ve tried it; you can’t please everyone. So there’s some people that take that better than others, so that’s one of the downfalls that sometimes we have to deal with as far as trying to make people happy, but at the same time accepting that you can’t take care of everyone because we’d be sitting out here signing all day sometimes.

Q. Do you know what the phenomenon is that has them gravitate towards you, like dress exactly like you and want to be you?
RICKIE FOWLER: I don’t know. To be honest, it’s not that — we didn’t try and do anything different or out of the ordinary as far as for who I am. I feel like kids are really good at picking apart if someone is genuine or not, seeing if they’re fake or for real, and I feel like I’ve always — as far as me knowing and the people that I’ve grown up with from friends and family, I am who I am. This is who I’ve been growing up to playing junior golf, college golf, and on TOUR.

I’d like to say I haven’t changed. We’ll go to them for confirmation, but I think that may be one thing that kids can pick up on and they see, as well, in J.T., Jordan, Rory, and guys across the board.

Q. A year ago you were top 10, you’re 25th now or something like that. You said you spent three weeks working on your game. Is that the reason, the drop? What were you working on?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yes and no. I mean, I took all fall off. We got married, honeymoon. I wanted to make sure that I was able to do that right and enjoy it. Yeah, I didn’t play as great through maybe the kind of spring and summer last year, but also with the time off, that’s been not out playing and not earning points, so that’s been part of falling back.

No, it’s been a very, I think, beneficial time off. Yes, I’ve fallen back in World Rankings. A lot of that’s just due to not having played, and now we’re jumping back on the horse right now, and we’ll climb our way back up to top 10 and go from there.

Q. With your OSU connection, do you have a good relationship with Viktor? I’m curious, watching some of these kids come right out and win, what’s your impression of that?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I have good relationships with both Matt and Viktor. I probably know Matt a little bit more, him living down here now. But Viktor I’ve spent a decent amount of time with. They’re both great kids. I say kids because they’re 10, 11 years younger than I am. But it’s been fun to watch. They’re two great players. I feel like in a way they play kind of two different kinds of golf, two different swings, but they’re good at what they do.

I don’t think that especially now and especially you look at Collin Morikawa, these kids are another step above where myself and some other guys coming out of college were just because I feel like the talent level and competition keeps getting better and better. They’re just more and more prepared to come out here and compete.

Q. I’m sure you saw or heard Rory’s comments on the proposed golf league.
RICKIE FOWLER: I haven’t.

Q. Where he said that he wouldn’t be interested, basically, said he didn’t think it would work —
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, yeah, I heard something on that, but I also heard that the transcript was kind of — the one thing was taken out of what was really said, if you read the whole transcript, versus just the one line.

Q. My question is what were your thoughts on it?
RICKIE FOWLER: I don’t really have a stance yet. I need to gather some more information and see where we’re at with all that, but it sounds like some of that stuff moving forward — but yeah, I don’t have enough information to take sides or comment on it a whole lot.

Q. You live here, you’ve had success here, you’re coming back after a few weeks off. Do you feel like you have a course advantage here?
RICKIE FOWLER: Not necessarily. You know, playing this golf course, I play it once a year. I’ve played well here, but there’s also a lot of other guys that have played well here, Brooks being — staying at home, as well. Him and I both finished second last year. No, I don’t necessarily look at it as a home course advantage. Some guys like sleeping in their own bed and take that as an advantage. There’s some guys that aren’t playing this week, just because it’s a little odd playing at home maybe for them. I enjoy it. Like I said, I’ve played well here. I look at this as it is a nice week to be at home, be comfortable, and it is a golf course where if you have a little bit more confidence on it, having played well, it definitely helps.

Q. Just talking about comparing your first couple years on TOUR to the player you are now, what do you remember about those first few years? What were your biggest challenges?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think the biggest challenges were always just time management and learning how the TOUR works, week in and week out, how many weeks you can play in a row, how to go about your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, how to get ready for if you’re teeing off early Thursday or if you’re playing late Thursday, when to eat, how to eat, when to work out, how to get worked on, stretched, and how to get your body right. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it. One of the biggest things the first couple years is learning golf courses. You’re playing all new places that you really haven’t been before. So there’s a lot on your plate. It’s not easy to do, but good golf always answers a lot of questions.

Q. Do you think that’s understood or not understood, that it takes all those things?
RICKIE FOWLER: I think golf at the highest level or PGA TOUR golf where you’re traveling and playing for a living, I think to me as a whole is very much misunderstood as far as what goes into it. It’s not just the glamorous life it teeing it up Thursday and finishing Sunday afternoon.

Q. (Indiscernible).
RICKIE FOWLER: Those are just the basics. There’s a lot that goes into it, and like I said, it’s learning how to manage everything, when to do it, how to do it. Like I said, figuring out how many weeks in a row you want to play. If you do play three, four, five weeks in a row, which I don’t play more than three, then is it one week off or two weeks off, then you add in workdays as far as shoots with sponsors, whether they’re still or commercial stuff. I do about 25 to 30 days a year, so those obviously aren’t in a row. You’ve got to pick and choose are those Monday and Tuesday when you get back from a tournament or mid-week, or if you’re fitting them into one week off, it kind of interrupts your preparation or your rest, so then you have to take two weeks off to fit shoot days in. So there’s a lot that goes into just picking which tournaments you want to play.

Q. You’ve had a couple weeks off and a busy upcoming schedule. What are some keys for you to get into that competitive form not just for this week but with THE PLAYERS and Augusta not too far away?
RICKIE FOWLER: Just keeping it simple. You know, working on stuff at home, at Grove, Medalist, Turtle Creek, playing, being in the gym. The big thing coming out here is we’ve been working on that, don’t try and go work on stuff on the golf course, go play golf; keep it simple. Sounds cliché, fairways and greens, but some days it’s a lot easier than others. But that’s the biggest thing is go out and play golf and go score, not try and think about what you’re doing with the swing. Go with one or two swing thoughts. So the more simple I can keep it the next seven weeks, that seventh week we’ll be in a really good spot at Augusta.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

February 26, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Viktor Hovland Discusses First Win on Tour Prior to Honda Classic Debut

RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO - FEBRUARY 23: Viktor Hovland of Norway speaks with the media after winning the Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Country Club on February 23, 2020 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and rookie sensation Victor Hovland recaps his maiden PGA Tour victory last week ahead of the 2020 Honda Classic.

PGA Tour: Viktor Hovland speaks on his first Tour victory and Honda Classic debut

DOUG MILNE: We’d like to welcome Viktor Hovland. Thanks for joining us for a few minutes here at the Honda Classic, making your first start at the Honda Classic and coming just a few days after your first career PGA TOUR win at the Puerto Rico Open. I was thrilled to be there with you for that. If I could start by taking you back to San Juan, obviously the dramatic putt there on the 72nd hole to get the job done. Just kind of a little bit of a reflection on the week and getting your first TOUR win last week.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean, it was — it definitely just looking back at last week, it felt like a really long week. That was kind of — I’ve had some back-door kind of top-15 finishes, some top-10 finishes, but it’s been very back-door, and last week I was kind of in contention, from not quite the get-go but had the co-leader from the second round and definitely felt the extra pressure of kind of being up there the whole way. It was a really long week, but to find of finish it off the way that I did felt really good.

DOUG MILNE: You mentioned the extra pressure. You’re one of these ones that as soon as you set foot out here on the PGA TOUR, expectations were pretty high. Is that something that you were aware of, kind of the expectations, given your history as an amateur and so forth growing up in the game, the expectations for you to get that first win right away?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, they were — yeah, I definitely felt it. It was kind of weird just having people expect so much from you when I haven’t had quite the finishes that maybe warranted those expectations, but I kind of just stuck with within myself and tried to perform the golf that I know I’m capable of, and fortunately last week it came out, and I hope in the future that I keep — that I can get that out more often.

DOUG MILNE: Just some thoughts on being here this week, shifting gears and getting back to business as usual. Have you had a chance to get out and kind of see how the course sets up for your game?

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VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I played 18 holes here yesterday in the evening, so it was a little windy and the greens were really firm and fast, completely opposite from last week. I’ve actually never been here before. I didn’t play the Polo Junior here or the junior tournaments that a lot of guys have played, so that was the first look at the course, and it’s tough, and it’s a really good test of golf.

Q. With that victory, do you come here feeling momentum, or is there something more difficult than we understand about winning and then having to play again right away?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, I would say I just come into the tournament with a lot of confidence. Obviously it’s a way different course. It’s a lot longer, and it requires kind of different shot making. But I’m definitely taking a lot of the confidence that I had with my irons going into this week, and if I can just keep hitting fairways and hit my irons the way that I have been, I think it’s going to be another good week.

Q. Viktor, it’s different for everybody, I’m sure. We know what comes with winning in terms of the prize, the money, the points, the status, all those things. But it’s only been a couple of days, but do you feel like there’s been a mental change, an emotional change? Other than the stuff you get, what do you think really changed now that you can say that you’ve won one of these?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Well, I think it’s just a little sense of relief. I was in a spot where I didn’t really know quite what tournaments I would play except for a couple weeks ahead, so this certainly gives me a little bit more leeway to really pick the events that I want to play. But still, I’m kind of right outside the top 50 in the world, so I can keep playing well and get inside there, that would really get to the next step, and then I could really pick my schedule, and yeah, try to figure out where I want to go. But except for that, it’s another week, and I’m going to try to do the best that I can.

Q. How did you celebrate?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Me and my caddie and a couple other people, we just got some food at the restaurant at the hotel and had a couple drinks and went to bed and flew out the next morning.

Q. How much is Ryder Cup on your mind this year? Obviously a long ways off, but that sort of went a long way toward that, as well. Have you heard from Padraig or anything along those lines?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, hopefully it didn’t hurt, and no, I’ve been looking at Ryder Cup as something that I want to play in for a really long time, and it’s certainly, I would say, pretty much the pinnacle of a golfing career, being on a Ryder Cup team. I saw Padraig yesterday. He said congrats, so that was great, and hopefully I can just keep playing well and kind of make more of my mark that maybe I have a chance to be on the team.

Q. Speaking of your schedule, you’re now in the field at THE PLAYERS Championship. Have you played that course before? Do you have any experiences there, and just your general excitement to play at Sawgrass?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I played Junior Players there the year before I went to college, so that would have been 2015, I believe. It was a different time of year and the rough was really thick, and it was playing really soft and long at the time. So it’ll be different or interesting to see how it plays this year. But the course is awesome. I think it’s maybe one of my favorite courses I’ve played in Florida. I think sometimes in Florida you get not boring courses but everything is kind of right in front of you, but at TPC Sawgrass, I feel like everything is just — every hole is just completely different, and it really tests your arsenal of shots. I think it’s a really good test of golf.

Q. Can you take us a little bit down the path of how a kid from a place known for winter sports becomes a player on the PGA TOUR?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah. I mean, my dad got me into playing golf, and since I was really young, I always played golf. When I got a little older, I wanted to practice all year-round, and somehow I ended up at Oklahoma State, and that kind of made the process go a little faster. I learned a lot those three years in college under Coach Bratton and Coach Donnie Darr. So yeah, it’s kind of crazy to think that we’re here just under a year later since I was in college.

Q. Who are role models for you if you didn’t have a lot of guys from your country playing? Who are the guys you watched and learned?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Well, we had one PGA TOUR player currently playing when I was kind of younger and growing up, Henrik Bjornstad, so I was kind of following his scores every week when he was playing, and obviously born under the Tiger era, so certainly was very inspired by what he was doing on the course, and I really liked kind of the flair that Sergio Garcia had while playing. So just looking at — I would kind of take pieces from every single player and kind of like some of what he was doing, then this guy would do something else that I would think was pretty cool. It was mostly Tiger, but I would kind of pick something from all of them.

Q. Usually for a player the first or second year on the TOUR is going to be a tough acclimation, not just on the course but off the course, culturally. Have you had any of that, not knowing where to go, not knowing who to sit with in the dining room, that kind of thing?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: A little bit because I would say I’m a little shy person naturally. But I think it’s great for me to kind of get out of my comfort zone a little bit and kind of challenge myself with just, okay, I’m just going to do my thing, and if there’s people sitting there, I’m just going to go down there and sit there and say hi to everyone and kind of get out of my shell a little bit, and I feel like I’ve definitely come a long ways, and yeah, I feel like I’m somewhat getting the hang of it.

Q. Is it a hard thing, though, and does it help to be playing as well? Does that make it easier?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I don’t know. I haven’t really thought much about it, but I guess it helps a little bit, gets you that extra confidence to kind of sit down and do those things. But you don’t really want kind of your results to be the driving factor behind it, you just want to be the person that you want to be.

Q. This victory brings a lot more attention to you. You had a lot of attention from before, but now even more. Do you like that, or do you just feel like you want to play golf and shy away from all the crowds?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, it’s nice to have the attention because then that really shows that you’re doing well. But kind of obviously sometimes when you’re done with a round, you just want to sign the scorecard and go to your room. You don’t really want all the extra attention. I mean, there’s good parts and bad parts with it.

Q. You’re known for being Twitterless Viktor, and back home in Norway, everyone is wondering are you going to be on Twitter?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: After the win on Sunday, I got so many text messages, I couldn’t even respond to half of them, so if I got a Twitter, that would just make it even worse, so probably not.

Q. You touched on this a little bit before in terms of being able to set your schedule and knowing where you’re playing. What are you kind of most excited about after the win, or looking forward to the most?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean, obviously getting into the PGA Championship is going to be a lot of fun. I haven’t played that major. THE PLAYERS is going to be awesome to play in, and hopefully I can kind of keep my ranking and get into the Match Play event that’s coming up. I’m really a big fan of match play, and I would say I’ve played some of my best golf in matches, so hopefully I can get in there and do well. I mean, there’s so many cool tournaments out there. Just whenever the next tournament I’m playing, I’m pretty excited, and then we move on to the next, then the next, then the next.

Q. Augusta I would imagine would be on that list of —
VIKTOR HOVLAND: It’s up there.

Q. Curious your earliest memory of the Masters.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I don’t remember. I couldn’t tell you.

Q. Really?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I couldn’t tell you. I don’t remember things like that, if back in 2004 I was watching the Masters. I don’t really remember that stuff.

Q. How about Tiger?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think it was in elementary school sometime, just watching golf and seeing him fist bump, go crazy. I couldn’t tell you.

Q. Congratulations on not being on Twitter officially makes you the smartest person in the room, so good job on that.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Thank you. Setting the bar high.

Q. I know you just played the course for the first time last evening, but everyone knows 15, 16, 17, but those are obviously not the only hard holes. 6 can be brutal, 11 can be brutal. Did the course live up to the expectation of how hard it can be?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah. I played — I went off 10 yesterday with Matt Wolff and Martin Trainer, and it was into the wind on 10, and I didn’t hit very many balls after teeing off, and I kind of necked one. It was dead straight so I thought it was going to be fine, and I didn’t check my yardage book or anything, I just stepped up to the tee and what happened it, and yeah, I obviously necked it into the wind, spun up a little bit in the air, and I walk up the fairway and I’m thinking it’s going to be in the fairway, and it’s in the bunker like 260 out from the tee in the lip, and Shay is shooting the flag, and it’s like 235 to the pin. I’m like, This is a pretty easy par-5 if I just catch one. He’s like, “It’s a par-4, mate.” I was like, well, okay, that’s a good start to the week. But yeah, there’s a lot of really tough holes out there. But if you hit the ball good, there’s definitely opportunities to score.

Q. It’s hard to win at any level in golf, Korn Ferry TOUR, Euro Tour, certainly out here, and you and Collin and Matthew have stepped out in a matter of months and won. Do you find that remarkable, or is that just part of the plan?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think honestly when we were in college and looking forward to turning pro, that was definitely our plans, if you will, that we were obviously dreaming about it, but for all of us to have won within a year, I mean, it’s pretty remarkable. I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s a pretty crazy ride.

Q. Did Matthew’s win early on kind of give you more confidence that I can step out and do this?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I would say for sure because I played and practiced with him every day in college for two years, and I saw what he was capable of, and I knew what I was capable of. So certainly seeing him kind of laid the — broke the ice a little bit for me, I would think.

Q. Going back to Austin, what is it about match play that you like so much, and what are some of your favorite memories that you’ve had playing match play?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I think it’s just that you get to play with the person that you’re playing against. You’re not necessarily playing — you’re not playing against the rest of the field or kind of the course. You just have to beat one guy, and to kind of see what he’s doing and then you have the opportunity to kind of combat that and be clutch I think is really cool. I have some great moments from obviously the U.S. Amateur and NCAAs, but even before that in the European Boys Team Championships that I would play back in 2013, ’14, ’15, representing Norway, and yeah, just had some great matches.

Q. Putting aside the fact that it would help you at this moment, you beat a very good field in Puerto Rico, a lot of good players out there. Do you think the Masters should reconsider its policy of not letting winners of opposite events into their tournament?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I don’t know, I haven’t put much thought into it.

Q. Even after winning?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: I mean, it’s not up to me to decide.

Q. It’s not up to me, either.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: No. I mean, I don’t know what tournaments really get you into the Masters —

Q. Everything but the opposites.
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Okay, well, I don’t know. It is an opposite field event, so you can make that case. It’s just how the rules are. Obviously I’d like it to get me in, but I don’t think it should change just because I won it. I don’t really think it’s wrong or right.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

February 26, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka Talks Injury Recovery Prior to 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: Brooks Koepka smiles during the pro-am round for the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on February 26, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Four-time major championship Brooks Koepka addresses the media prior to the 2020 Honda Classic about his knee injury recovery and looking forward to the 2020 Masters.

PGA Tour: Brooks Koepka speaks with the media prior to making sixth start at the Honda Classic

DOUG MILNE: We’d like to welcome world No. 3 Brooks Koepka. Brooks, thanks for joining us for a few minutes prior to the start of your sixth start at the Honda Classic this week, coming off a tie for second last year. With that said, just some thoughts on being back here and what’s kind of a local game for you.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it’s nice to be back. Obviously any time you can play in front of my family and friends that don’t get to come out really any other week, it’s always nice for them to get to see me, and it’s obviously a little different sleeping in your own bed. It’s fun, though. I enjoy it. I like the golf course. The golf course has always been pretty good. It’s tough; I like that. It seems to be in good shape. Hopefully this rain doesn’t make it too soft, but we’ll see.

DOUG MILNE: I know one of the questions people want to know is how you’re feeling. You’re making just your second start in the calendar season. Just how the knee is doing and how you’re feeling.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Knee is great. I wouldn’t be playing if I couldn’t play or if there was pain or if I didn’t feel like I could come out here and compete at my best. I’ve just played bad, simple as.

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Obviously with a little bit of time off, I don’t want to say rust was the culprit of that. I felt like I was doing a lot of really good things. I was very close, striking it well, putting it well, and sometimes it’s just a matter of scoring. You can go through runs where you feel like you play great and you just don’t score very good, and that’s kind of where I feel like — out at LA I didn’t hit it very good. But everything — I mean, everything seems fine. It’s just a matter of going out there and actually making birdies. I just haven’t — it seems like I make a few birdies and then follow it up with a bogey, and it’s just kind of any momentum has been killed, which is not usually how I’m used to playing golf.

Hopefully it’ll start to turn around here. I feel good. I’m excited to play.

DOUG MILNE: Looking down the road, obviously a big stretch coming up. Just kind of what your schedule is looking like coming up.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, obviously I’m trying to play my way into it a little bit, a week off, week off, just to kind of test everything and see where it’s at. Obviously after here, next week will be off and then THE PLAYERS and then go to Tampa right after, and then after that I believe is Match Play. It’ll be three weeks in a row for me, which will be nice to kind of have something to build on, where it’s been one week on, one week off here, where it’s not tough to build a rhythm, but it’s just been — it’s just a lot easier when you’ve got three weeks in a row to really find your game and really build off the last week. I mean, I’ve done really well when I’ve played multiple weeks in a row. Every major I’ve won, I’ve played the week before. My second week out in a row is usually my best week, second and third week. It’ll be nice to get going in that little stretch.

Q. In terms of the knee, any lingering concerns? You mentioned the three weeks in a row. Is that sort of a test to see kind of how it would hold up, I guess?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, no, I mean, everything is fine. Everything is just how — it’s better than we expected it to be at this point in time. Like I’ve said, it’s stable. It feels good. There’s no — I can actually do a one-legged squat now, where I couldn’t even do a quarter squat two and a half months ago. It’s progressed great. Derek Samuel in San Diego has done an unbelievable job working with me, and we’ve got it right where we want it, and it’s just now about building even more strength around it and really understanding a different approach on workouts.

Q. Talk about the downtime. I know you had that unfortunate experience of having downtime before with your other injury. What was that like for you going through that? Is it just the concentration is getting better so you’re not missing the golf as much?
BROOKS KOEPKA: My days were so filled that I didn’t really have time to miss it until I started to get a little antsy right around the beginning of December is when I was like, all right, I really just want to hit balls, and didn’t get cleared, I think, until December 20th was the first day I hit balls. It’s just one of those things where you just sit around on the couch. After rehab I’d be home at 11:00, 10:00 in the morning, did rehab at 7:00 a.m., and then out here, and then I went out to San Diego and basically spent all my time in San Diego. I was out in La Jolla with Derek, where my trainer is at, and we grinded every day on the thing. There wasn’t much — there’s nothing I can do. You try to stay busy, try to walk on it. Doing more activity was actually good for it because there’s other problems that kind of come in. My foot was bugging me a little bit, and you’ve got to get out and move it, and that’s sometimes the best rehab than sitting down and — like if I still sit down for a while, I can still feel it a little bit, if I sit down for like an hour or two, but you’ve just got to keep moving and everything is fine.

Q. When do you start going into Masters prep mode? And then also a follow-up, how did last year’s Masters experience kind of affect you going into your prep in this one?
BROOKS KOEPKA: My prep will start basically whenever I get up there. I’m just trying to play right now. I’m just trying to play good golf and find some rhythm, and I feel like if I find rhythm, I’ll be just fine. As far as last year, last year I’ve said it, I think the more I’ve played that golf course, the more I’ve realized that you don’t need to be as conservative as I think a lot of people will tell you, a lot of guys that have been around there for years and years. You look at it, there might be a slope that’s right to left on a green, and they’ll tell you to play off of it, and it’ll feed right down to the cup, but at the same time, if you just aim at the flag, it’s flat down there. You just hit it right there, and if you push it, it’ll actually hit that slope and come back instead of aiming for it. Where I think sometimes you try to play for, I guess, the crowd pleaser, where it catches the slope, feeds in, and everybody is oohing and aahing, but you can be quite aggressive there, and I think that’s kind of the approach we’ve taken the last couple times we’ve played it, and it’s gotten a lot better. I like the way that we’re attacking the golf course, how we feel on it, and where our misses are.

Q. Was there confidence built last year in learning some things?
BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I don’t know if there’s confidence. It’s more of just an understanding of how to play it. I wouldn’t relate that to confidence. I felt pretty confident. I think everybody in this room knows that every player that goes to play Augusta is going to be confident. They’re there to win, otherwise they wouldn’t show up.

Q. This is kind of a two-parter. No. 16 is the Aon Risk-Reward challenge hole. Last year you had two birdies, two pars that kind of sent you on your way to winning the challenge and the million dollars. With the weather that’s forecast, will that significantly change how you play that hole? And the second part, since you’ve won it, are more players coming up to you or thinking about, hey, I need to get in on this?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Well, I’ll answer your second part. Everybody is in on it. Everybody has got a chance for it. You’ve just got to play good those holes. It’s just a correlation of how well you play that week, too. You play good enough, you’re going to birdie enough holes, and you should win the thing.

Last year I thought I played really well, and obviously it’s going to relate to things like that. You see it in the FedExCup. You’ll see it in the Wyndham Rewards. You just play good, it all takes care of itself.

But as far as 16, it’s pretty much the same thing. You’re trying to hit it about 250, 255 off the tee, hit some bullets. It could be a 3-iron, 4-iron, depending on what this rain does, whether it soaks it. You’re still hitting iron off the tee. Some guys will hit hybrid to get down there, but it’s all pin location, whether — I think any time it’s on the right-hand side of that green, it’s a little easier, or just for me, the way I shape the ball. When it gets on that back left tier, it’s obviously very tough to make a birdie. But the hole itself won’t change.

Q. Speaking of the Masters, Tiger Woods was on a conference call with reporters yesterday, and he spent a fair amount of time talking about one of his memories of last year is how fellow players were happy for him and the way he was treated and the congratulations he received. I’m just curious, next month, is all that goodwill over? Is he just another guy to beat? When you go back there, are there any memories of the previous years, or is it all about just getting past it and winning?
BROOKS KOEPKA: For me, I don’t really go off past experiences too much because then you start — I’ve hit a bad shot on every hole I’ve played out here on TOUR, so I don’t think of that. There’s plenty of good shots I’ve hit on every hole at the same time.

You can’t really think of what’s been good, what’s been bad, but at the same time, when we all get out here, we’re all competitors. There comes a time where, like last year at Augusta, when you’re done, you can kind of go, okay, listen, I gave it my all; I’m pleased with how I played. I hit shots exactly how I wanted to, and sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Then you just shake the guy’s hand and say congrats, that’s awesome, exactly what happened with Tiger last year. I did it with Gary, too, last year. I played great at both those tournaments, and just came up short. Sometimes that happens. That’s golf. You can play your best, but some guys just come out and just flat-out beat you, and you have to accept that. That’s what I think makes this game so beautiful. You can play your best and just get outplayed. And then sometimes you don’t — I felt like there have been times where I haven’t — I felt like I’ve played better in other tournaments and haven’t won, and I haven’t played that great and I’ve won.

There’s just certain times where it works out in your favor and sometimes when it doesn’t, but at the same time you’ve just got to understand that, hey, this guy played unbelievable and shake their hand and accept it.

Q. I think a lot of people when they look back at that heading into the Masters this year will be wanting to talk about what happened on the 12th hole for several players —
BROOKS KOEPKA: What happened?

Q. A lot of things happened in a short period of time. Is that your prominent memory of that tournament, or is it something else?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’ve said it before, I actually didn’t hit a bad shot on 12. I really didn’t. I think if you go back and look at the tape, I backed off it because the wind direction came — I’ll start it off by saying this: If you’ve ever played Augusta and you’ve stood on the 12th tee, or even if you haven’t, look at the pin on 11, look at what it feels like on the tee, look at 12’s pin, and then try to look at the trees on 13 and they’re all going in different directions. So you tell me which way the wind is going. It’s very difficult. You kind of have to go with what your gut says and what it’s doing at that exact moment.

Not to throw a shade on Henrik, but he hit it in the back trees like 30 yards long. Let’s be realistic, Henrik is not going to hit a shot that’s 30 yards long anywhere. Off a tee? No, it’s just wind. If it gets above those trees, it can do anything, and that’s what I did. You see guys do it all the time. It’s just a matter of does it stay under the trees and go with the wind that’s going through funneling in, or does it get above the trees and do what it’s been doing all day. I actually hit a good shot and it just kind of just spun just a hair too much. But I hit a great shot. I’m aiming right where I should be, right at the center of the green just like everybody else, but at the same time, it’s very difficult.

I don’t think anybody is ever going to understand that, the wind on that hole, and if you do and you hit the green, a lot of times you’ll see guys let a deep breath out because it’s very — I don’t know what else to say. It’s just a difficult hole.

You look at it, four out of six guys I think hit it in on the last day, and I don’t think all four of us are that off on our distance.

Q. I’m guessing that you either saw or heard Rory’s stance last week on the proposal of a different Tour, of a new Tour, and I was curious if you’ve formulated any sort of firm opinion one way or another on what you might be thinking if the opportunity ever happened?
BROOKS KOEPKA: I’m just going to play where the best players play, simple as. I want to play against the best. I think everybody wants to play against the best. Whatever comes of it comes of it, and it is what it is. I just want to play good this week and focus at the Honda Classic. I’m not interested in anything else other than to play good this week and come out with a W.

Q. What did you think of what Rory essentially said, that he’s out? Did that sway your opinion at all or anything along those lines?
BROOKS KOEPKA: My opinion is my opinion. Nobody else is going to sway it. Nobody else is going to — it doesn’t matter. I mean, I respect what Rory said. Everybody has got their own thoughts. Everybody has got a different opinion. It is what it is. I’m pretty sure Rory wants to play against the best players in the world, too. Wherever that is, everybody is going to be playing.

Q. Just kind of an odd segue here, but going back to what you were saying about the Masters, if I were to ask you what the best shot you’ve ever hit was, what would be maybe the five-second answer?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Over at Augusta?

Q. No, just ever, period. What would come to mind?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Probably the 4-iron I hit at Bellerive on the par-3, 16. Just pressure, situational, contact, flight, everything, spin. That was the best shot I’ve hit.

Q. You saw where you recently played a round of golf with Donald Trump. Can you just talk about that experience, how that came about?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. He’s asked me to play golf maybe three or four times, and it just hasn’t worked out. His schedule is kind of busy, so it’s kind of changed a little bit. I had to cancel on him I think once or twice, too, just some things I had going. It was fun. I actually had a blast. We had a good time. I guess my brother and my dad played — not my whole family, but just those two, and we had a blast. We laughed it up. It was fun. It was great to get out there. I hadn’t played that golf course in years, and it’s always funny time I’ve been lucky enough to be around quite a few Presidents and sitting Presidents where it’s been probably one of the top 5 coolest moments of my life, getting to play golf with the President.

And then when Obama came to the Floridian up there, I didn’t get to play with him, but getting to meet him, that was some of the coolest memories — when I’m on my death bed, that’ll probably be one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, getting to meet those guys. It’s so cool. It really is.

I think it’s interesting when you look back and where as a 13 year old kid, you’re going, oh, it’s so cool, because they used to come down here quite a bit, being like, oh, cool, that’s the President and getting to meet both of those guys as they’re sitting Presidents is very unique and very special, and it’s something I won’t forget.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

February 26, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports