Tag: The Players Championship

Categories
Team USA

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

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

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

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

The Players Championship Full Leaderboard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 12, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Australia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Players Championship Full Leaderboard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 11, 2020

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Commissioner Jay Monahan Speaks at Annual State of The Players Press Conference

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 13: PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks to the media during a practice round for The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2019 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks at annual Players Championship press conference, speaking on the legacy of the late Pete Dye, charitable donations and the future of the tournament.

PGA Tour: Commissioner Monahan addresses the media prior to the beginning of the 2020 Players Championship

LAURA NEAL: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to THE PLAYERS Championship. I’d like to introduce our PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan for his annual state of THE PLAYERS Championship Press Conference. I know you have some opening remarks and then we will open it up to the media for Q & A.

JAY MONAHAN: Good morning, everybody, and I do have some opening remarks. It’s great to be with you today as we kick off THE PLAYERS Championship 2020. We have more than 900 credentialed media with us this week, and we certainly appreciate what you do in covering our sport and the PGA TOUR throughout the year.

I’d like to start by taking a moment to reflect on the brilliant life of Pete Dye, who designed this golf course with his wife Alice and helped elevate this championship into global prominence. When he passed away on January 9th, golf lost a visionary, a legend and a creative force. Pete’s designs always challenged a player, perhaps more than any architect in history, between the ears, and his courses always demand your best efforts on every single shot.

I encourage you to take in the various tributes to Pete around the golf course this week as we pay our respects to his World Golf Hall of Fame legacy. And as we recognize Pete, I’d like to recognize several individuals here with us today, who were instrumental in the birth and growth of TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS Championship.

Former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman, former PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, Vernon Kelly, former president of PGA TOUR golf course properties, Bobby Weed, neighbor, protege and lifelong friend of Pete and the inaugural winner here of THE PLAYERS at TPC here in 1982, Jerry Pate. I’m sure you’ll enjoy speaking with them today about Pete Dye and what he meant to the game of golf and their own lives.

So in preparing for today’s press conference, I went back and I looked at the 2017 transcript from the first time I spoke with you here at THE PLAYERS as commissioner. At that time I spoke a lot about the path to securing the TOUR’s foundation for the future, and many of you had questions about the future of our media rights, the FedExCup, the schedule, the stature of THE PLAYERS, and yes, pace of play.

In revisiting these topics, I’d like to remind you about our business model. This is a player-led organization, and as a membership organization, it’s a great honor and it’s awesome to have our members here back at TPC Sawgrass.

Our players are entrepreneurs, and they inject that spirit into everything we do as a TOUR. Yes, they have independence, but they are also world-class athletes who have a desire to bring their talents to a growing global fan base and impact the communities in which we play. That’s how we’re able to modernize the PGA TOUR at every turn, because of that entrepreneurial partnership and culture we’ve built with our members. We listen, we respond, and we grow the reach of our TOUR.

Our players want and expect us to listen, to not only them but as importantly, to our fans. What do they want from the TOUR and how do we deliver world-class golf to them in new and different ways.

Look no further than some of the changes we’ve made in recent years: The schedule, the FedExCup structure, the TOUR Championship format, our Discovery global media partnership, the domestic rights agreements we announced yesterday, the launch of PGA TOUR Live, every shot live this week at THE PLAYERS, gaming opportunities and our emergence on that front. These past few years have been transformative for our TOUR, our players and our fans, and we are not slowing down.

It’s clear to me that we have a winning formula. It’s worked for our players, our sponsors, our fans, communities, media partners for 51 years. We’re growing in virtually every metric, and it’s not because that winning formula remains the same. We listen, and we respond. That allows us to broaden our reach internationally, allows us to diversify our fan base, allows us to provide new and innovative ways to reach our fans, and allows us to showcase our great athletes to the world.

I’d like to address just how much progress we’ve made on these items and more give you an idea of where we’re headed.

In 2017 year at THE PLAYERS, I was asked about the future of media rights and how this would help us better deliver the PGA TOUR to our fans. Yesterday we were thrilled to announce that we will continue our long-standing broadcast partnerships with CBS and NBC and with The Golf Channel while establishing a new relationship with Disney and ESPN+.

These partnerships put us in a position to significantly increase player earnings, deliver more value to our tournaments and sponsors, and ultimately allow us to grow our charitable footprint. It also should be viewed as a major victory for our fans, based on the elevated commitment from all four partners to help us grow and innovate that content and its delivery.

At the end of the day, when you add in our Discovery/GolfTV partnership, we now have domestic and international media rights secured through 2030, with unquestioned industry leaders. On behalf of our players and our team, thank you to these partners in responding to the PGA TOUR’s desire to evolve and innovate.

We’re also pleased to successfully negotiate media rights for our strategic partner, the LPGA, through 2030. With this new rights agreement, the LPGA will continue as anchor programming on The Golf Channel and will also receive expanded exposure on CBS and NBC.

Right here at THE PLAYERS in 2017, we announced a 10-year extension with our largest partner FedEx as we headed into the second decade of our season-ending FedExCup Playoffs. With this long-term agreement in place, we were able to make significant improvements in 2019 to our schedule, the FedExCup Playoff structure and the TOUR Championship scoring all to create a more compelling and engaging product for our fans, both new and existing.

It also allowed us to prioritize securing long-term relationships with our partners. We currently have 18 sponsors in place with agreements of seven or more years, and we anticipate that number will grow as we move forward. For our members, these additions meant significant growth in total compensation, with bonus money doubling from $35 million to $70 million.

We’re pleased with our progress but by no means are we finished. Our existing partnerships combined with our new domestic rights agreements will allow for significant growth in our members’ earnings in the coming years, and deservedly so.

In 2017, I also outlined the many significant course and infrastructure changes to TPC Sawgrass already completed, and I detailed a multi-year plan of putting all the elements in place as we continue to elevate what is one of the most significant events in the world of golf. This plan included a continued growth in the purse, which we were pleased to announce at $15 million with $2.7 million awarded to our champion later this week.

THE PLAYERS Championship has the strongest field in golf, an iconic and fan-friendly venue in TPC Sawgrass that favors no particular style of player, evidenced by Rory McIlroy edging Jim Furyk by one stroke last year, and a finishing stretch that certainly ranks amongst the most exciting for fans.

Each year our PLAYERS Championship team led by executive director Jared Rice, TPC Sawgrass director of operations Jeff Plotts and the competitions pillar led by Mark Russell and Stephen Cox, continues to elevate this championship.

That elevation continues to positively affect lives in northeast Florida, evidenced by a record $9.3 record in charitable impact in 2019.

This impact is possible through the support from our players but also from our three proud partners: Optum, Morgan Stanley and Grant Thornton, and the more than 2,000 volunteers who work tirelessly throughout the year and as well as our incredible fans.

We have a fan-first mentality in everything we do as we strive to engage existing fans while creating a new and diverse group of PGA TOUR followers. Innovation through content and new ventures is a significant part of this process. This week at THE PLAYERS, every shot will be live-streamed on NBC Sports Gold to PGA TOUR Live subscribers, allowing fans to follow any player in the field for all four rounds. That’s more than 32,000 shots over the course of the week, captured by more than 120 cameras throughout the course.

Our vision is to bring every shot and every PGA TOUR tournament live to our fans, and this is the first step in making that a reality.

Something else you’ll see for the first time this week: The use of a drone-operated camera that will offer views of many of golf’s most famous holes, giving fans a distinctly unique perspective on the action. I know NBC Sports legendary producer Tommy Roy will take full advantage of this technology, and our fans will be the beneficiaries.

Gaming: It certainly presents another significant opportunity to grow fan interest and engagement. With 21 states now having approved legalized gambling, we’re ramping up engagement opportunities through our partnership with IMG Arena for data distribution globally, DraftKings for daily fantasy, DraftKings, by the way, is standing up a tiered products for PLAYERS the first time this week, and as well as our newest partner the Action Network through GolfBet, which serves to help educate and simulate the betting market throughout the U.S. and overseas.

You asked me in 2017 about pace of play and I appreciate you keeping me honest on this topic in 2018 and 2019, as well. While there was a lot of external discourse regarding pace of play during the FedExCup Playoffs last year, we had been in the process of reviewing this aspect of pace of play for the better part of 2019 and asking ourselves and our Player Advisory Council, is there a better way to do it.

We’re very pleased with the additions to the policy that focus on the individual habits of players, aided by ShotLink technology, that will take effect at the RBC Heritage. Again, we listened and adapted. We think the policy will help keep the focus on our athletes and their incredible skill levels, and will present a better product for our fans, both onsite and on television.

Now, impacting lives in the communities in which we play and efforts to promote diversity, growth and health of the game, they are not side projects for us. They are part and parcel to our business, and we are committed to their success.

Charitable impact is part of the PGA TOUR’s DNA and something we, our tournaments and our players take great pride in. To the tune of more than $203 million raised last year to more than 3,000 organizations. And in January we celebrated a $3 billion milestone thanks to the tournaments across our six tours.

On the participation front, the PGA TOUR has doubled down on its support of the First Tee, now in its 23rd year, as we continue to work towards ensuring those playing the game are a diverse and inclusive reflection of society. Our industry partners are doing the same with their own successful programs.

From a global perspective, we’re at 93 international PGA TOUR members, from 28 countries and growing. We have highly successful PGA TOUR events in Asia, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Dominican Republic, and our three international tours continue to flourish in Canada, China and Latin America. And building on the momentum of golf’s return to the Olympic Games in 2016, we expect further international growth and interest with the playing of the Tokyo games this summer.

So with this winning formula, working in tandem with our players, we made a lot of progress in the last three years as we continue to build a more exciting product for our existing fans, and we’re set up for success and growing and diversifying our fan base in the future. We will never stop pushing to improve all facets of our TOUR, but we’re certainly proud of what we’ve accomplished.

Now, that was a lot more than you expected to hear from me, but I wanted to take this moment to share my thoughts in advance of answering any questions you have.

Q. Could you address further the — some of the things that will be changing on a weekly or daily basis — the impact of the coronavirus on the future schedule? Do you have any plans to assist other organizations with possibly moving their championships to TOUR venues?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think from our perspective, the way to look — in asking that question, I would tell you that it started out as a task force. It’s now essentially a business unit, where we have two leaders, Tom Hospel, our medical director, and Alison Keller, our chief administrative officer, who have organized a large team to fully understand the coronavirus and its implications on all facets of our business. I think it goes without saying that the health, safety, well being of our players, our fans, our tournaments, everybody that’s involved in our ecosystem is of utmost importance.

So for us, we are relying heavily, as other leagues and sports and entertainment venues are, relying heavily on the World Health Organization, the CDC, but primarily given the fact that we’re playing 175 tournaments over six tours, this really is about a market-to-market exercise and truly understanding what local public health officials, local government officials, what’s happening on the ground through our tournament directors in every single market where we play.

Suffice it to say it’s a very dynamic situation, but I’m really proud of the amount of effort and thought that’s going into not only where we stand today but the commitment to continue to gain as much information as we can, and candidly the contingency plan for a lot of different scenarios, given that this is an unprecedented situation.

And as it relates to other tournaments and looking across our schedule, I would just say that we’re working very closely with each of those organizations. They’re part of the work that this team is undertaking, talking to those organizations every single day, on the same conference calls with various health organizations, and I think as it relates to any other tournaments and what other organizations are doing, I can’t speak to it, you would have to speak to them, but at this point I think everybody is planning on moving forward full speed ahead, exercising their tournaments, but also keeping an open eye and an open mind to the information that’s coming their way.

Q. So much chatter the first few months of the year have been on this Premier Golf League. I’m just curious how many of the top players have you spoken to, can you characterize the feedback you’ve gotten, and can you say one way or another if a player verbally pledges support of this new league, would they be no longer TOUR members immediately?
JAY MONAHAN: So three questions? Listen, I think it’s my job and it’s my responsibility to be talking to our players every single day, every single week. I do the best that I can. Being out at our tournaments and making myself accessible and listening and responding. That’s what my predecessor did. That’s what I do, and that’s how I really — that’s my commitment as a leader of this organization.

And as it relates to the team golf concept, I certainly have talked to a number of our top players. I’ve talked to players across our membership, and as you recall, this is something that has been rumored for several years, so it hasn’t just started of late, it’s something that we’ve talked to our players about for several years.

If a player pledged — you and I have a long history of hypotheticals and me not answering hypotheticals, but I would just tell you that we’re encouraged by the response that our players have had in our discussions. I think that the value that we provide to our players, to our tournaments, to our fans, the news that we’ve just talked about, securing $12 billion in revenue through 2030, the strength and security and foundation of this TOUR has never been stronger, so that’s what we’re focused on. We’re focused on the excellence that we want to continue to achieve with our players, and our commitment is always one to listen and to respond. That’s a bridge we would cross when we get there, but going back to my earlier comments, this is a player-led organization, 51 years running. Our governance system has been driven by our players and our board, and we have regulations in place that allow us to protect the interests of our media partners, our sponsors and all of our constituents, and if we got to that point in time, we would take measures to vigilantly protect this business model.

Q. With the stuff that you’ve just announced obviously and the new TV deal and whatnot, how much do you feel like that strengthens you? You’ve talked about the fact that the PGL and the team golf thing has been around in the ether for the last few years, but it seems like it’s gained momentum of late, and I wonder how much of a threat that has, for lack of a better word, that it has been to you guys, and to some degree how much does this new deal help you and guys like Rory coming out just the other day, what did that mean to you guys?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, listen, I think that it’s flattering when any entity is looking at what’s happening on the PGA TOUR and they see growth, they see momentum, they see a broadening reach to a larger fan base domestically and internationally, and it’s no surprise that someone is coming to try and take a piece of that. That’s the nature of business.

And so for us, I go back to the very point you’re making, which is an astute one. When you think about free to air television, to have CBS and NBC, CBS covering 19 events through 2030 on average, NBC covering both of those partners, with a rotating commitment to cover the FedExCup Playoffs, when you have the home of golf 24/7 in the United States committing to the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry, PGA TOUR Champions, LPGA Tour, and the great talent that sits at the Golf Channel making that commitment through 2030, and then when you add ESPN+ and the full support of the ESPN family, which when you step back and I talk of broadening our fan base, when you actually look at the numbers, the great reach that our current partners provide, with the addition of ESPN, you’re talking about 50 million additional uniques that we’re going to be reaching over the course of the year.

So we have the support and the commitment of those organizations through 2030, and we feel great about moving forward with them. And then to know, looking back, they happen on a one-off basis, our tournament extensions, but to have 18 tournaments with seven plus years, it gives the PGA TOUR an opportunity — it gives us an opportunity to long-term plan. And coming back to our players and the original point I’m making, you look at the model of a player’s independence and you think about what we’ve done here in the U.S. from a media rights standpoint, you think of what we’ve added with Discovery, the value of their platform in that independent model is also going to grow up significantly because we’re going to be reaching a lot more people. So we feel really good about where we’re going to go with purses, where we’re going to go with the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, where we’re going to go with the FedExCup, and our players have always had the opportunity to play for meaningful prize money and for meaningful consequence out here, and that’s only going to continue to grow and will grow at a faster rate thanks to that great support that we have.

Q. Just going back to the earlier question about coronavirus, specifically is one of those organizations the PGA of America and a potential contingency of Sawgrass being able to host the PGA Championship should they have a need to move that event?
JAY MONAHAN: You know, I think — I’ll answer that question two ways. One, I’ve talked to Seth and Suzy a lot. Suzy is on our board. They are great partners. And like I said earlier, they are fully planning on proceeding with the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. But when you get in these extraordinary circumstances, you have to make yourself available to your partners, and you have to really work as closely together as you ever have to help each other get through this.

And so there is no plan at this point in time for the PGA Championship to be held here. It’s going to be held at TPC Harding Park. But I would just pledge to you, as we’ve pledged to everybody else, that in all of our tournaments week to week that we’ve got to — we’ve really got to listen and respond to the real information that we’re receiving on the ground, and it’s important for us to present a complete schedule, FedExCup schedule this year. And if we can do that, that’s what we’re going to do as good partners to the game.

Q. Have you spoken to Andy Gardner from the PGL?
JAY MONAHAN: No.

Q. Is there room for another tour in the bigger sort of world tour picture?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think if — listen, you look at the PGA TOUR and you look at what Keith Pelley and the European Tour have been able to accomplish, and you look at some of the other international tours, the professional game is performing at a very high level across the world.

We’re about to get a lot stronger. We’re going to continue to go strength to strength, and that’s a question for you guys to answer. We need to stay focused on what it is that we can control. We think we’ve got a winning formula, or we know we have a winning formula, and that’s something that we’re now in a position to accentuate. We couldn’t feel better about our position and our ability to get stronger in the decade ahead.

Q. When Rory came out and spoke publicly, and I believe was one of the first to speak out about the league, what was your reaction? What do you think it told you about him?
JAY MONAHAN: I would tell you that it just reminded us all of how thoughtful and thorough Rory McIlroy is. He’s one of the top players in the world, and he had fully understood that model and what was being proposed, and he’s lived this one.

I think his comments — I wasn’t surprised. I was certainly proud and pleased on that given day, and candidly, as I’ve talked to a lot of top players in my one-on-one conversations, I’ve heard a lot of the same. But I thought that was a moment of leadership, and that was a special time, special day.

Q. Scott Piercy made some news recently for some social media posts. What was your reaction?
JAY MONAHAN: My reaction was one of significant disappointment. You know, that post does not convey the values that we have as a TOUR, and certainly doesn’t convey our interest in making certain that golf is inclusive for all, an inclusive sport for all, and the fact of the matter is that what — that post itself is a violation of our policy. I’m not going to speak to the disciplinary action or the disciplinary side of this, but it’s something that we take very seriously. He knows that. I think he at some point in time will address that, and the fact of the matter is that, again, it doesn’t reflect who we are as an organization.

But when something like that happens, you need to use that as a teaching moment, and people need to get better and people need to understand the full consequence of something like that, and that’s where our focus is on right now.

Q. Specifically to two weeks from now in Austin, as you know they’ve canceled a fairly big festival there the week prior. Where does that stand? Is there any chance that that event would not go on? Can you just update us on how you’re looking at that?
JAY MONAHAN: I would say that right now, that’s one of the tournaments that’s on the focus list, given its proximity to where we sit right here. We are planning on — we are fully planning on being in Austin, Texas, for the WGC Dell Match Play. We are working very closely with, on the ground, Jordan Uplegger, who is our executive director, meeting with the mayor, the mayor’s staff, local public health officials, tied into our coronavirus task force. We feel like we have support to continue to move forward with the event, full support. But I would say, you used the word, any chance, or the expression, any chance. This thing is so dynamic that you just have to go hour-to-hour, day-to-day, but right now we’ve gotten — we have every assurance that we’ll be in Austin for the event.

And I also would add that — you mentioned another event that was canceled, and when you see these cancellations, they happen for different factors and different reasons, some of which aren’t applicable to us, and that’s where, when you see that news, there was an immediate — we started to get a number of phone calls from members of the media, from players, from our partners, and you step back and you actually look at the data, look at what’s happening on the ground there, if your local public health officials feel confident that everybody can enter into a safe environment and that we’re protecting the well-being of all folks on-site that we’re going to move forward.

Q. Would you describe some of the ways specifically that the viewer experience will be enhanced over the next nine years?
JAY MONAHAN: Yes. So you started to see a little bit of it this week with every player, every shot live. But one of the elements to yesterday’s announcement that I think is very important beyond the incredible commitment we have from those partners is that, when you look at the PGA TOUR today and you look at how global our sport is, our athletes are and the media interest is, by working — by taking greater control of the compound, by adding more feeds than we currently have on PGA TOUR Live today in the future, being able to not only provide more content here in the U.S. but also use that content internationally off of GolfTV with our Discovery partnership is one thing that I would point to and one of the things that excites us about that announcement is it’s not just, we’re moving to ESPN+, but we’re also creating more content that can serve our global fan base.

So that’s one. And then when you look at that, I talked about how we’ve set up where we are from a gaming standpoint and the strength of the ShotLink technology, that we invest tens of millions of dollars in each year. Now to be able to use that data and to be able to apply that not only to our platforms but potentially in the way that we stream and the way that we think about presenting our sport, again, these new deals start in 2022, we’re working with our current partners now on that, but I would expect us to have more specifics on that front as we go forward.

But I just think when you look at our sport and the fact that we cover 20 percent of the shots that are out here and there are over 30,000 in a given week and we’ve got more and more stars representing more and more countries, it’s just a chance for us to be able to showcase them more, and with new technologies emerging, it’s going to be easier to do it, and we’re going to have the infrastructure in place to be able to do it.

But when you — one of the things that we’ve really liked about where we are is there’s a spirit of — these aren’t unique deals. There’s a spirit of collaboration across the partners. There’s a commitment to evolve and innovating, and then there’s the complete lack of complacency about where we are and where we can go, just given all the opportunities with that set of partners.

Q. You made the comment, “doubling down on the First Tee.” What does that mean?
JAY MONAHAN: The First Tee — it’s actually hard to double down because it was maxed out under Commissioner Finchem as leadership from a TOUR standpoint. The one thing that we looked at was our partners in the industry have their own unique programs, but the governance of the First Tee was tied to the World Golf Foundation.

And so you had all of the golf organizations that were governing the First Tee. I think it’s fair to say that the TOUR was the majority, the lead partner in the First Tee. What we’ve done is to take the First Tee out of the World Golf Foundation, set up the PGA TOUR First Tee Foundation, and now the First Tee is essentially a business unit. Every employee at the PGA TOUR is responsible and accountable to help grow the First Tee. We took Greg McLaughlin, who did a wonderful job running PGA TOUR Champions, he’s now running the First Tee. He’s built a great team. We’re going to be embarking on a significant capital campaign that comes off the back of identifying what we think we need to do to change the curriculum or upgrade the curriculum and refresh it, what we need to be more technology centric with this younger generation and how we produce our content and a number of other steps that we’re going to take that we think will take the First Tee with additional resources, to the next level.

Q. I just wonder what you made of Rory’s thoughtful argument last week that there were too many tournaments in professional golf. That, in his words, we’d reached saturation points and were in danger of exhausting the fans.
JAY MONAHAN: Well, we have a wonderful PGA TOUR FedExCup schedule with 49 events this year, and there really are very few weaknesses on our schedule. And when you look at our model and the fact that players are independent contractors, for us putting the best tournaments forward week-in and week-out, recognizing that in our sport players like to play in certain conditions, certain markets, like to sequence their schedule differently, a lot of factors that go into the schedule that we have, and we’ve got great commitments from the markets where we play, and that’s what’s gotten us to here.

But I think when you look at — when players — this is not the first time we’ve heard this. When you’re in Player Advisory Council meetings, when we’re in board meetings, we’re constantly looking at how our schedule is performing. I talked a lot about where we are and where we’re headed, and it’s been reinforced by the marketplace, but I would say that because the schedule is so dynamic for our players, it’s also as dynamic for us as leaders, and that’s something that we’ll continue to look at and say, what are the things that we can do to improve our schedule. But I would tell you, we feel really good about where we are today and the flexibility we have going forward.

Q. Last week Phil Mickelson was asked about Rory saying he was out of the Premier League, and Phil’s response was, I don’t know if I would want to give away my leverage right away like that. My question to you is, have you felt pressure from top players to use the Premier League as pressure to leverage more benefits for the top players?
JAY MONAHAN: I feel pressure from top players to continue to make sure our product is getting better and better and better, the playing opportunities they have are the best in the world, the platform we provide them is the single best platform in the world that’s growing in value. So you always feel that pressure. It hasn’t just started here over the last couple of months.

So I wouldn’t say — certainly this is a unique circumstance or situation, but you don’t wake up and hear that and all of a sudden say, okay, we need to now start doing more. I’ll take you back to where I started, which is we have a really — we have such a great leadership team in here. We’re so committed to where we are and where we’re going. We’re thinking multiple years down the road, and we’re always thinking about our players and how we make things better for them, continue to make them better for them.

So long as we do that, I think we are going to continue to succeed.

Q. Once the dust settles on the health aspects of the coronavirus, the economic aspects are going to be long out there. Obviously you’re a corporate-driven organization. How does that concern you over the short-term and the long-term, A; and B, the current sponsors you do have, if in fact there was a need in some way, shape or form for concessions from you, would you be willing to do that as a partner?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I wasn’t at the TOUR — I joined the TOUR in 2009, and one of the most impressive things I experienced was the way Commissioner Finchem and the leadership team at the time assessed what was a deteriorating economic environment. And the strength of this organization, given the incredible impact that we have in the communities where we play, is not such that a tournament or a sponsor is looking generally to leave the marketplace or to leave their tournament. We have so many that have been there for 10 or more years.

But you have to always be aware of your surroundings. You always have to be aware of the environment. And so to answer your question, if a sponsor is challenged or a sponsor needs us to be open-minded relative to things that we can do to help them, we will always be that way.

But I point to the fact that one of the reasons that we’ve built up the reserves that we have, that we have the strong financial underpinning we have is that so when you get to a situation like that, we continue to proceed with the schedule that we have and the tournaments that we have, and we would get to the back end where we are today with even stronger partnerships than we currently have.

But hopefully that answers your question, that it would be — in that situation, it’s very dynamic and you take each conversation on a one-off basis.

Q. In regards to the Premier Golf League again, in the aftermath of all of this, there’s been a lot of things proposed as ways of helping the so-called top-name players, the top-marketed players. Could you ever see appearance fees being allowed or some sort of a marketing pool used to sort of enhance their situation?
JAY MONAHAN: I would tell you that going back to the fact that we’re in a position here where, starting in ’22, you’ve got — we’ve got a meaningful increase in the overall dollars that we’re going to be allocating, that we’re going to look at all facets of our business model, and I think that you look at where we’re going to be from — and I’m excited to one day share with you where we’re going to be prize money-wise, Wyndham Rewards Top 10, where we’re going to be with the FedExCup. But I think you have to be mindful of where do we need to be 10, 15 years from now, and to say that we’re going to — that we’re looking at appearance fees at this time would be premature. We just had a board meeting last week where we finalized where we’re going to be with our media rights and where we think we’re going to go from an allocation standpoint and we’ll rely quite heavily on our Player Advisory Council and our governance process to decide how to look at the next 10-plus years.

Q. Can you share where you think you’re going to be?
JAY MONAHAN: I think we’ll be — listen, here we were excited to move to a $15 million purse. I see us getting to $25 million, and I see that certainly through the term, if not earlier in the term. I think when you look at the Cup, when we were here in ’18 we were at $35, we move it to $70, 60 plus the 10 with the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. There’s a day in the not-too-distant future where that Cup will be worth significantly more, perhaps $100 million or more. That’s not a commitment, but that’s, generally speaking, the kind of growth that I expected for us to see for our athletes.

Q. I also wanted to ask you what you see as the future of the Hall of Fame, specifically the building structure.
JAY MONAHAN: Well, we have a big meeting tomorrow from 10:00 to 12:00 where we’ll select the 2021 class, and then as it relates to the building and the structure, we are committed to being in that building through 2021. We are looking at, with Greg McLaughlin’s leadership and my industry partners or our industry partners, what life looks like continuing in that building, and then what all of our options are as we go forward.

I think that building has served the Hall of Fame exceedingly well in St. Augustine and may continue to be the case, but with the world changing and the world, the way people consume media, consume content, we want to make certain that we come out the back end of this that we’ve done everything we can to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of everybody that’s in that Hall of Fame, so we’re looking at a lot of different options, and we haven’t settled on where we’re going to be at this point.

Q. Everyone is going to be driving by the new headquarters building on the way in this week. Can you just update on the status of that, when you expect to be moving in and also when you might be adding some of the jobs that were promised with that?
JAY MONAHAN: We will be in that building on January 1st, maybe 2nd or 3rd, whenever we come back in the new year. I would tell you that we don’t start adding jobs when we go into the new building. We’ve been adding jobs to grow and diversify our fan base and our technology business and platforms, adding jobs in our tournament business affairs group to support the work we do with all of our tournaments across all of our tours. We’ve done that over the last couple years. We’re going to continue to do that as we go forward, and we feel very confident that the commitments that we made to the community will be honored. And we’re really excited to go from 17 buildings in this town, and you think of the moment that Deane came down here and played across the street in the Father-Son, did not — had an opportunity with Sawgrass Country Club, he and the board decided that wasn’t the right opportunity, and then he negotiated long and hard for the dollar that he spent to have the opportunity to build this unbelievable property. But they started in a condo, which led to three condos, and now that three condos has gone to 17 different locations in Ponte Vedra.

When you think of a global organization with all the resources that we have, everybody being in the same building, one culture, it’s such an exciting time for the organization, it’s something we can’t wait to get to, and Deane, Tim, thank you for getting us here.

Q. There’s a great picture of Tiger from last year over your right shoulder, and I know it’s great to have his participation, but given the great young influx of talent and all the different names that are a part of the game now, how has the TOUR’s dependence on his participation changed?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, listen, any time you have Tiger playing, not only does it make an impact on golf fans and core golf fans, it makes — it reaches all tentacles of the sports marketplace worldwide. He is a global icon. As we sit here today, his presence, his excellence, what he’s been able to accomplish over the last couple years, obviously we’re disappointed he’s not here this week, but he told you all, I think the expression was the new normal, and he used it 18 to 24 months ago. And I think him being smart about understanding his body and only playing when he thinks he can win is the new normal.

But in terms of our dependence, Ben Crane said it best: He said, when Tiger Woods — when young kids started watching Tiger Woods, they stopped playing baseball, football, hockey, and they started playing golf, and now he’s out here and he’s competing against the very athletes he created. And so his presence is here, literally, even if he’s not here playing in the tournament.

And the way I look at Tiger is that will always be the case. His legacy is something that will always be celebrated the next 30, 40, 50 years or in perpetuity, and his impact, it’s all around this property.

Q. We have quite some presence and partnership in countries like China, Korea and Japan where the coronavirus is highly affecting them. Has it ever been on your agenda to start some initiative and charitable campaign to help the local government and the people, especially we’ve seen some other sports and organizations, like NBA, they have done a lot to help them and also like growing the presence in international markets is one of the things you talk about a lot.
JAY MONAHAN: Yes. Well, you know, obviously one of the things that we did right away was to postpone the start of our PGA TOUR China Series Qualifying School and the start of that season. I think for us, recognizing that we’re going to be in the marketplace later this year hopefully, and with our people on the ground, there are a number of things that we’re doing to support our employees and there are a number of things that we’ll be doing to support everybody on the ground. That’s part of the DNA of this organization.

So I feel really good about where we are and what we’ll continue to do to be supportive on that front, and any time you get into a situation like this where there’s a worldwide — you’ve got worldwide impact, generally speaking, we feel really good about the story we can tell when everything is said and done. We’re less vocal about what we’ve done up front, but I feel very good about what we’re doing.

Q. Going back to the TV deal for a second, one of the elements of that was the TOUR taking on production responsibilities. Two questions about that. Why, and secondly, what that means for golf on television, sort of what it looks like going forward.
JAY MONAHAN: I think the simplest way for me to answer it is, a couple years ago, we were in business with NBC, The Golf Channel and with CBS. We had Discovery and you built a direct-to-consumer platform in every market ex-U.S. and now we’re placing our rights as they come up market to market. We’re producing a lot more content than we’ve ever produced internationally.

You add the expanded partnerships with CBS, NBC, Golf Channel, you add ESPN+, and you add the fact that our fans are seeking more content, what we decided, and Rick Anderson and his team did a wonderful job of identifying this, and candidly our partners have been great in responding and adapting to it, is that we’re going to need to produce more content, and we need to have a singular look at how we do that, given the commitments we have across a number of partners, including our own platforms.

So that’s why we’ve done that. It gives us a greater ability to effect that and honor the commitments we have in this extraordinary period of time that we’re in.

Q. One of the most recent major discussions has been on the bifurcation of the golf ball. It’s been discussed for over 10 years by the USGA and the PGA. Now, this weekend we’re going to have warm weather and we’re going to have firm fairways, and your TV announcers are going to say the ball just went 340 yards. The USGA is going to come back and say, the ball is going too far. Do you have any thoughts on that?
JAY MONAHAN: Do I have any thoughts? I would say, first of all, the USGA and the R&A, I commend the work that they did, stepping back and fully assessing the subject of distance. We are, as an industry partner, we’re committed to the process that they’ve outlined. And not only committed, we’re fully invested in it, and we want to make certain that, not only are we invested in it and understanding all the various options that they’re thinking about, but we’re also looking at it selfishly from the perspective of what’s in the best interest of the PGA TOUR and also what’s in the best interest of the game.

So for me to take a position before that process has started and before we’ve been into more formal discussions I think would be getting ahead of the process itself. But I think it’s pretty obvious, when they sent out the report and they introduced the concept of exploring a local rule, that spooked a few people out. So we need to all get together, get in a room and really understand this subject, all of its implications and be good industry partners, and that’s what we plan on doing.

Q. Does that include the ball manufacturers and the cost it’s going to be to a ball manufacturer to change —
JAY MONAHAN: Well, the Vancouver protocol very specifically states that it will. We’ve got great partnerships with all the manufacturers, and they’re going to be a part of the process. We’re also going to continue to talk to as many people that are impacted and affected by this industry, so that we’re as fully knowledgeable as we can be.

Q. If the tournament can’t be held in Austin, would the WGC just be canceled or is there a backup place in plan now?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, as I said earlier, we fully expect that the tournament will be held in Austin. That tournament is two weeks away. We’re all in and making certain that we’re able to operate that event.

Now, there are various iterations or there are different ways of operating an event based on the circumstances in terms of fan involvement and how we operate the event, but we’re still confident that we’d be able to operate the event.

LAURA NEAL: Any parting thoughts before we head out?

JAY MONAHAN: Well, I would just say thank you, as I said up front, to everybody in this room. I think about how our organization continues to evolve. I think about the strength of our membership and the strength of our athletes and our tournaments and where we are, and I just couldn’t be more excited to walk forward into the next decade with all of you here and to work to grow the greatest game on the planet. So thank you very much.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Players Championship Tee Times and Leaderboard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Defending Champion Rory McIlroy Previews Title Defense Ahead The 2020 Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 10: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 10, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

2019 Players Championship winner Rory McIlroy addresses the media prior to beginning his title defense at the 2020 edition at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy talks Players Championship title defense prior to 11th start at the event

MICHAEL BALIKER: It’s a pleasure to welcome defending PLAYERS champion Rory McIlroy back to the interview room here at TPC Sawgrass. This is Rory’s 11th PLAYERS appearance here this week, six starts so far this season, finished top 5 in all six, and enters the week third in the FedExCup standings. Rory, just to start out, no one has ever successfully defended THE PLAYERS. You have an opportunity to make history this week. Talk about the challenge ahead here at Sawgrass.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I guess there’s — if there’s been no one to defend, it would be a nice time to start and have someone do that. But yeah, glad to be back.

Obviously this week last year was huge for me in terms of sort of getting the monkey off my back a little bit, and I had a few close calls, and I wasn’t able to sort of walk through the door and claim a win, and then I was able to do it here and went on to have a great year and won a few more times. You know, it’s nice to be back. I said this on Sunday at Bay Hill, a lot of similarities between this year and last year in terms of how I’ve played the first few events of the year, given myself some chances, haven’t quite been able to capitalize, and yeah, obviously would be wonderful to replicate what happened last year.

MICHAEL BALIKER: And then just very briefly on last year coming down the stretch, being able to close out that tournament on the last few holes, starting with the putt there on 15. Kind of take us through that briefly.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, yeah, obviously it was sort of — holed a big putt on 12 for birdie and then another big putt on 15 after a great 6-iron. Yeah, I like big putts and I cannot lie (laughter), and I was happy to hole those two, and went on to win from there.

Q. You’ve talked a lot in the last year or so about concentrating on the process rather than the results, and I just wonder, you’ve been on such a great run this year with all these top 5s, at what point do you try to shift into more of a result mode, and how do you stave off being frustrated by fact that you’re crossing the line probably as much as you think you ought to?
RORY MCILROY: I don’t think you can ever go into result mode. I don’t think that works. I don’t think that helps anything. I think you just have to keep going about your business, doing your thing. I think the only way to not win is to concentrate on the results. So if I can just concentrate on what I’m doing and what I’m doing well, what I maybe need to improve on a little bit, just break the game down into different sections but really just try to make it as simple as possible, if I can do a few different things in my golf game just a little bit better, those thirds and fifths will hopefully turn into wins.

You know, I’ve had some really good success following this path that I’m on, and I’m just really trying to focus on doing the little things right, practicing good habits day in, day out, and if I keep doing those, then the byproduct is winning. Yeah, I definitely don’t feel like I’m too far away.

The Players Championship Tee Times and Leaderboard

Q. Just on the no one has defended here, what’s your best guess as to why that might be, and do you look at it as, I guess, an opportunity?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it is. It is an opportunity for sure. I don’t think you ever need an extra motivation when you come to this golf tournament, but to be the first one to defend here would be very cool.

And I think this golf course can play so differently day-to-day, depending on wind direction, conditions. You know, it is such a clich� here, but it really doesn’t suit any one style of play or any one type of player. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m sure there’s been people in the past that have had opportunities to maybe defend and have had their chances and finished well up there, but I don’t know, I’d love to give myself a chance. If I can keep playing the way I’ve been playing and get myself into contention on Sunday, it would be something extra to play for, which would be pretty cool.

Q. You just mentioned, obviously, that it can be different. You were the first winner going back to bringing this back to March. What were the big takeaways, the difference from May to March?
RORY MCILROY: So for me two big things were, off the tee, the course plays a lot longer in March than it does in May, so I was able to hit driver a lot more. The fairways are a little softer, so the course plays a touch wider. And then I think the other thing is having the rough overseeded around the greens, that was a big thing for me because I’ve always been more comfortable chipping out of that sort of overseeded rough rather than a pure Bermuda. Pure Bermuda, especially in May time here, it was sort of a hit and hope. It was a little bit of a guessing game around the greens, where at least nowadays, if you do miss a green — I said this last year and I said it about Jason Day, I played with Jason the final round last year, Jason has got a wonderful short game, and he can actually show what a wonderful short game he has in March here rather than in May, when if you miss greens, basically it’s a leveler of everyone, where in March the guys with the best short games and the best techniques can sort of rise to the top a little bit.

Q. You’ve mentioned that Pete Dye courses were a little bit of an acquired taste for you. I wonder was there a turning point where you started to feel a little bit more comfortable, could have been Kiawah in 2014 or could have been — you had three top 10s here in a row early on. When did you start turning the corner on that, and is there a hole out there that still kind of drives you nuts?
RORY MCILROY: So 2010 Whistling Straits was when I turned a corner. I turned up there, it was the PGA Championship, and I hated it. Like I really did not like it. I had to tell myself, look, you just need to like it for one week. Just get your head around liking this place for one week and embracing the fact that it’s different and the fact that it’s visually a little funky and whatever. I ended up finishing third that week and one shot out of a playoff, and I think that was when I sort of had turned a corner in terms of not necessarily loving Pete Dye golf courses because of — I think he’s a wonderful golf course designer, but I never liked how he made you feel on the golf course in terms of hiding things and angles, and it makes you a little bit uncomfortable, which is obviously his plan. Like he’s a wonderful designer of golf courses, but that was the week where I had to embrace what Pete tried to put into his golf courses.

Yeah, going on from there, winning at Kiawah, winning at Crooked Stick, winning here, I’ve started to quite like them. But as you said, an acquired taste. They’re like beer when you’re younger. You sort of don’t like it but then you think it’s cool to drink it and then you sort of acquire a taste for it.

Q. Is there a hole that still gives you the most trouble or maybe makes you think the most?
RORY MCILROY: The first hole. The first hole to me is — the fairway is over here, the tee box is over here, but the tee box is sort of parallel to the fairway, but you’re having to hit across — just angles and sort of — you’ve really just got to pick targets and be very specific with what you’re aiming at out here.

Q. You’ve had a lot of success here recently, but you actually missed your first three cuts here. What do you remember about your first impressions of this tournament, and I’m wondering what caused that change, whether it was more conservative or more aggressive strategy or just becoming a better player?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think strategy was part of it. I was probably more stubborn back then than I am now and trying to overpower this golf course with a driver, when in May you couldn’t do that. The first time I played here, the weekend before I was in Vegas for a fight and then probably didn’t prepare the best way possible and missed the cut and ended up getting kicked out of bars in Jax Beach for having a fake ID. So I’ve come a long way. (Laughter.)

But yeah, I think just learning to play the golf course a little bit better, tempering my — whatever that is, willingness to hit driver all the time. At least now in March I can hit driver a little bit more, but I had to learn to play the golf course the right way when it was back in May.

Q. Going back to what you were saying about process and so forth, I’m curious, do you view — is there such a thing as a good top 5 or a bad top 5 in your view, and maybe if there’s an example one way or the other you can think of?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean, I’d say last week was a bad top 5. I took advantage of a good draw. I got out early on Thursday morning and shot 66 and then sort of hung on for the rest of the week. And then there’s other weeks where you just don’t have it at all, and you hang in there and hang in there and you sort of just — you struggle all week and you scrape it around in 70 or 69 or whatever it is for four days, and you end up finishing T5. I finished fifth at Torrey Pines last year, and I swear it was one of the best top 5s I’ve ever had. I walked away from that week just thinking I couldn’t have squeezed anything more out of my golf game for the week. So yeah, there are such things as good and bad top 5s, and last week was probably on the bad end of the spectrum.

Q. Jon Rahm was in here earlier talking about his maturation process from age 22 to where he is now at age 25. Three years ago when I asked you about his meltdown here at THE PLAYERS, you had said he’s going to be a generational talent, and when he can harness that passion that he has in a positive way, you’re going to start to see some really good results. Do you see that happening, starting to happen now for Jon?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, I don’t — even before the last couple of years. I mean, as soon as Jon came out, he was contending to win big events and playing great and obviously won at Torrey Pines, won in Europe. I mean, I think we all have to go through that process. Some of us it takes longer than others. But Jon, I think everyone could see as soon as Jon turned — even before Jon turned pro when he was in college that he was — the TaylorMade guys tell a story that they basically thought they signed a top-10 player in the world coming out of college. I mean, just shows you how highly they thought of him then.

But yeah, he’s a wonderful player, and I think I said to you then, he can use his fieriness to his advantage, he just can’t let it get him down and get on top of him. But he seems to be harnessing it pretty well at the minute, and he’s not turned into a great player, because he always was a great player, but he’s a hell of a player.

Q. As a follow-up to that, you’ve done it, Brooks has done it, Jordan Spieth has done it. You win that first major and it seems to catapult a little bit into the second major, third major, fourth major. Could you see that happening with Jon once he gets over the hurdle of winning that first one?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think it just gives you belief. It gives you belief that you can do it on the biggest stage, and I think, you know, you’re obviously playing well, and the majors are pretty — they come pretty soon after one another, so if you get that first one and you’re playing well, you get into that second one with a little more belief, and all of a sudden, boom, you’re right back in there and you believe you can do it.

Yeah, I think not just with Jon but with anyone. Once you get over that hurdle, it should make the second one a bit easier, and then on from there.

Q. Can you give us some details on the bet today and how nervous were you?
RORY MCILROY: My bet? Which one? There was two.

Q. Okay, both.
RORY MCILROY: There was one with — where’s George? There you go. He bet me 50 bucks that I couldn’t hit the green on 17, which was easy. That was an easy one. And then again, I have a bet with Harry every practice round about shooting a score, and yeah, Harry will be buying me dinner at some point this week. But yeah, my tee shot on 18 was a little too close to the water. But yeah, so I’ll be enjoying a nice steak on him at some point.

Q. A little bit off the beaten path here, there are some really impressive Peloton metrics floating around online, and the rumor is they belong to you. I believe the one I saw was a 955 output in a 45-minute ride. First, can you confirm that that was you, and please do or my story is completely ruined. And second, has cycling become a big part of your fitness and workout regimen?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, so that was me. But I think the bike was a little juiced. (Laughter).

So I did that the Monday after Riviera in the hotel I was saying at in Santa Monica. So, like my bike at home, I can sort of get on the Peloton, and I can sit in the saddle at like a 50 resistance at like 90 — like a 90 cadence and just sort of buying that out for 45 minutes or an hour, but 50 resistance on this bike felt really easy, so I sort of cranked it up. So I’d say that was a little juiced. But most of the ones are, on my Peloton user name or whatever, are pretty accurate. But yeah, I try to get them in sort of two or three times a week. I did one last night — and I’ve never really enjoyed doing cardio, like really never liked it, but since sort of learning about Peloton and doing it and sort of being a part of that whole community and stuff, I’ve started to enjoy it, and I enjoy the leaderboard aspect and the fact that it is competitive in some ways and you’re always trying to beat your last score. And it keeps me — it makes me earn my dinners and sort of keeps me sort of in decent shape. I’ve been enjoying it.

Q. I’ve been talking to a lot of players about you, and aside from their envy of your ability to drive the ball a long way and your iron play and all that, the one dominant theme that they have is that they like the way that you seem to be leading and being comfortable with leading. Do you understand what they mean? And are you indeed as comfortable as they think you are with leading?
RORY MCILROY: Well, if they looked at the leaderboard the last few weeks they’d say that’s not true.

Leading in terms of like —

Q. The game. Not on —
RORY MCILROY: I mean, I think at this point I think I have somewhat of a responsibility. Not just for myself but for the other players. I’ve been around the top of the game for a long time now, over a decade, and I think being at the age I am and being at the stage of life where — I am very — I’m a lot more comfortable in my own skin and in my own beliefs and values and convictions. So yeah, I have been outspoken about a number of issues in golf over the past couple years, and I’m happy about that, yeah. I’m not trying to lead so that people can — I’m not trying to set some sort of example, but I guess I want to be a voice out there that can at least put forth some good commentary and a decent opinion on things, and that’s what I try to do.

Q. Why are you so comfortable in your own skin now?
RORY MCILROY: I don’t know. I think just because I’ve learnt over the last few years that you’re not going to please everyone and you’re not going to — not everyone is going to like you. I think as you grow up, you sort of — I certainly had an ambition or you try to do things for people and you try to — I just basically learned no matter what you do, there’s some people that are going to like you and appreciate what you do, and there’s some people that you just won’t be able to please. I think I came to terms with that a few years ago and am definitely a lot more comfortable in my own skin because of it.

Q. I’ve been sitting here looking at this photo, very nice photo of you taking a peek over at 17. Take me through what you were thinking at that point and what was that moment like?
RORY MCILROY: It was nice because I just hit a 9-iron into the 16th and had a 12-foot eagle putt, so I was feeling pretty good about myself. I always take a peek at sort of the group in front and seeing what they’re doing or where they hit it into. Everyone knows where the hole location is on 17 here on Sunday, so it was just more having — there’s the two big boards there, as well, the two video boards, so looking at players’ reactions and sort of the shots that they’re hitting in.

Yeah, I wasn’t thinking much. At that point I think I was tied for the lead, or no, maybe I was one ahead and Furyk had maybe just birdied the last. But knew that if I could birdie 16 and par the last couple that I’d be able to win. Yeah, that was really it.

Q. The question about Rahm made me think what a help it must have been, you were 22, I think, when you won at Congressional. For you and for people like Justin and Jordan to have kind of knocked it out at an early age, was it helpful, do you think, looking back, as you contemplate questions about Rahm, when he’s going to win a major, Xander is going to fall into that, Rickie has been there for a few years. How much of a relief do you think it was?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean, it certainly is a relief whenever you can get one on the board early. It’s helpful. But I mean, you think of Phil didn’t win his first one until 33, 34, and it didn’t hinder him. I mean, he ended up winning five, and people could say should have, could have won more, but he’s still got a pretty impressive tally.

I don’t think the likes of a Jon or a Xander or whoever else is in that category of great young players that haven’t won one yet, my recommendation is not to let it affect you or listen to it. I mean, everyone is going to have chances, and it’s not as if you — we’re all just trying to beat each other out here at the end of the day, and at one point or another, all of us have beaten one or another out here. So it’s not — if you can sort of try to take the importance of the occasion out of it and the trophy and the history and all that stuff, they’ve done it before.

Q. There was also 10 years of Phil getting asked when, four times a year.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah.

Q. Wouldn’t that add to the difficulty do you think, or no?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, you’d have to ask them or you’d have to ask him. I mean, I get it every April, and it certainly doesn’t help things. But at least I only get it once a year, not four times a year.

But yeah, I mean, if you’ve had close calls — all those guys are good enough to win major championships. I would think it’s just a matter of time.

Q. We’ve got a question from a fan in China. Which hole is your favorite here at TPC Sawgrass and also on the 17th, how comfortable are you to avoid the water this week?
RORY MCILROY: My favorite hole, I’m a big fan of the new 12th hole here. I think they’ve done a good job with the redesign of that hole, risk-reward, you can go for the green, but if you miss it in the wrong spot, it can become very tricky. So I do like the 12th hole.

And yeah, I mean, look, I think the 17th is — if you surrounded that green with bunker or grass or whatever, it would be one of the easiest par-3s that we play all year, but because of the water, there’s just an extra element of difficulty to it. I think most guys are just trying to put it into the middle of the green. If you hit it close, that’s a bonus, but you walk away with four 3s there for the week, you’ve done pretty well.

Q. I heard last week called the ultimate in survival golf. As a fan of the game, how often do you like to see that, and what are your expectations for scoring this week?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, so obviously the last two tournaments have been very difficult, and obviously I live very close to PGA National and people say to me, why don’t you play this week, and I say, well, I don’t get to spend that many weeks at home, and when I do, I’d like to enjoy it.

I think the last couple tournaments have been tough. It’s been windy. The courses have got firm and fast, especially last week at Bay Hill.

And yeah, it’s a different style of golf, right. It’s more of a defensive mentality rather than an assertive, aggressive mentality of trying to go out and make birdies. You’re having to play a little bit of chess and you’re trying to put the ball in the right spot and hit it to 30 feet, two-putt, move to the next. It’s a little more methodical, sort of takes a little bit of the flair away from it, I guess.

But I think every so often, that’s a good thing. I think if every week was the same, it would be pretty boring, so I think to throw in weeks like last week, it keeps it interesting.

Q. What do you think this week?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, this week is not going to be like the last couple weeks. It’s still pretty soft out there. The greens have the potential to get firm if the weather forecast stays the way it is, but I can’t see the fairways getting overly bouncy and firm. It’ll be a little more sort of target golf, I guess, but it has the potential to get a little firm over the weekend and the greens to get a bit of speed. But I certainly don’t think you’re going to see single digits under par winning this week.

Q. How proud are you of 100 total weeks at No. 1? Can you fathom 683? And how will you treat this stint differently to the last one?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I’m very proud to think that I’ve spent two years of my career at the top of the World Rankings is a pretty nice feeling. 683 or whatever it is, I can’t fathom. I mean, it’s just — it’s unbelievable. I just don’t think anyone can speak highly enough of what Tiger did over that stretch of golf. It was just insane.

And I’m — this stretch now that I — the way I got to No. 1 this time was sort of anticlimactic — there wasn’t much of a fanfare. I got there through a mathematical algorithm more than anything else, but I still made sure to celebrate it and celebrate the milestone. I hadn’t been in this position for over four years, so on the Sunday night of Riviera, I went out and made sure to have a couple of drinks with Harry and a couple of my friends and sort of toast the fact that — especially for Harry, too, Harry took over that caddie position in the middle of 2017 and basically we’ve been on that journey together from sort of injuries and not playing my best all the way back to the top of the world. So it was important for me to sit down and have a few drinks with him and be like, you know, we’ve done this, this was our journey and we did it, two guys that grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland, playing golf together, and that we’ve done this is something that was really cool.

Q. You said at the weekend that you wish you could have converted one of the recent top 5 finishes you’ve had coming into this week. Is there one thing that you can pinpoint that has held you back from crossing the finish line so far this year?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, just big numbers when I find myself in those positions. I made the triple bogey at Riviera early on Sunday, and I made the two double bogeys on the front nine last week. Just real untimely, poor shots. Not even poor shots but just — like Riviera was very firm, as well, and if you missed it in the wrong spots, it got tricky, and I feel like that’s what happened there and that’s what happened at Bay Hill, as well. Especially on the par-5 sixth hole on Sunday, I hit a decent drive but didn’t hold the fairway and tried to get the ball up as close as possible to the green so I had an easier third shot with the chip, and it went into the bunker and then I had a tricky shot. It was just — maybe playing the percentages a little more if I had have made sure to stay short of that minute on 5 at Riviera, I wouldn’t have brought 7 into play and then maybe staying short of that bunker on the 6th hole at Bay Hill last week, I wouldn’t have brought the water into play with my next. So just those little things.

When the courses are playing that firm and that fast, those are the tiny little margins that make the difference. Yeah, so maybe just sort of dialing it back that five percent instead of trying to play the perfect shot to hit my next from, being okay with the 80-yard shot into the par-5 or the 40-foot putt below the hole. They’re the things that make the difference, I guess.

Q. Did Fallon put you up to the whole “I like big putts” line, and second question, this is an Olympic year, and some of the courses that — you’re the reigning champion here, Augusta is Augusta, and then you’ve also won at Harding Park. How did you physically prepare yourself for this year and describe your process for getting ready for six straight months of marquee tournaments?
RORY MCILROY: No, Jimmy didn’t, no. I don’t think Jimmy even could have came up with that line. Yeah, I mean, preparing physically, I don’t think that’s the challenge for me. It’s more mentally preparing yourself for going back to defend here. I think the nice thing is going back to places that you’ve had success on before, coming back here, going back to Harding Park. You know, I think at this point in my career, I said earlier, I’ve spent over a decade in this position, so there’s not much that’s new to me anymore in the game of golf, but this year the Olympics will be. I’ve never got to experience anything like that, and that’s a really cool thing. 12 or 13 years into a professional career and you get to do something for the first time again, that’s pretty exciting.

MICHAEL BALIKER: And your relationship with Optum and having won this tournament last year, what did that mean from that perspective?

RORY MCILROY: It was certainly a nice way to kick the partnership off, that’s for sure. But yeah, it was — yeah, obviously Optum are a huge partner of the PGA TOUR and myself, and yeah, it was great to win in front of them and obviously kick off the relationship in style, and they threw me a nice little party at the end. Hopefully we can get together on Sunday night again and do the same thing.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Spain

PGA Tour: Jon Rahm Speaks With The Media Ahead of 2020 Players Championship

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 22: Jon Rahm of Spain lines up a putt on the first green during the third round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 22, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Jon Rahm addresses the media ahead of making his 4th career start at The Players Championship in which he recorded a 12th place finish in last year’s edition.

PGA Tour: Jon Rahm previews 2020 Players Championship prior to Thursday start

THE MODERATOR: We’d like to welcome Jon Rahm here to the interview room at THE PLAYERS Championship. Jon is making his fourth start at the event and coming off a T12 in 2019. If we can just get an opening comment on your return to TPC Sawgrass.

JON RAHM: I have to say, T12 doesn’t reflect how good I played that week for the most part. It’s great to be back. It’s great to be back. Last year was a really fun week. Unfortunately I didn’t have my best Sunday, but besides that it was an unbelievable week.

After two years of playing average I would say on the golf course, one MDF and one barely-made cut basically, it was good to come back and play solid. Like every year I started with a solid round and it was nice to follow with a couple good ones, to shoot 8-under par here with a chance to tying the course record on 18, it was great golf played. Probably one of the best iron days or iron weeks on Thursday, Friday and Saturday that I’ve had in a very long time and one of the best I’ll ever have. So hopefully I can do the same thing this year, play good and have a good showing on Sunday and give myself a chance coming down the stretch.

THE MODERATOR: You’ve had a very strong start to the season, four top 10s in your first five starts on the PGA, ranked in the top 5 in strokes gained off the tee and putting. What’s been the key to your consistent play so far this season?

JON RAHM: Yeah, I think I’ve been consistently good off the tee for four years. I think the putting stat is more unusual, I might say. I know last year I was really good inside five feet on TOUR, and this year I think I’m really good inside 10 feet. I’m playing really good. Sometimes just need to butter up your putter a little bit, just need to be nice to it and maybe hope for the best and put your time in, just butter it a little bit.

Q. Could you just talk about your growth, not so much in your golf game but just in terms of your temperament, handling tough situations? 2017 here was not good for you on that Saturday, but yet last year when you did not have a good round on Sunday, you did rein in your emotions. You didn’t let it combust you in any way. Is that a reflection how much you’ve grown from age 22 to age 25 in that respect?
JON RAHM: I mean, I’m going to be really critical of myself, and it is an improvement, let’s say, maybe in that sense to the public eye, but to myself I still didn’t perform the way I wanted to. There’s been times that I’ve gotten mad and I’ve performed better, so it was one of those days where I taught myself, at least I showed myself that I can keep it under control. It’s just, next time I need to do that and still perform the way I want to, right? I feel like I was not showing it as much but I was keeping it within me and I was carrying a lot of tension, and I just need to learn how to release a little bit more. And you only learn from experience and getting yourself in those situations. That’s why I said that that Sunday I didn’t play great but it was still a great opportunity for me.

And yeah, I’ve said many times, I think it was 2018 that I said maybe it wasn’t my best golf year, but when it comes to personal growth, it was huge for me. Stuff I don’t want to talk about in the public and let everybody know what I’m dealing with, but it was huge. And it keeps on going.

Me and Kelly are married now, we had our second wedding ceremony in the U.S. just over a week ago, and in that sense in my personal life things couldn’t be better. With this being a work in progress, what people don’t see, is the reason why I’m so happy now and one of the reasons why I’m so consistent and playing better, maybe one of the reasons why the bad weeks aren’t so bad is one of those many things. It’s very easy to translate what happens in real life onto the golf course, just because whatever happens outside is so much more important.

Slowly I’m just maturing. I’m 25 years old and I was 22 and just out of college. Things just happen.

Q. Do you still feel there are times when maybe inside you’re doing a little slow burn because you’re not playing the way you want to on a golf course but then there are times when maybe that helps you kind of give yourself a little —
JON RAHM: So many times. So many. I mean, what I feel is the willingness to compete and perform my best, right, so when I’m not doing that, if I try to put that aside, I’m just playing on the same, like mindset, I don’t know how to put it, like just keep on going, it’s not what it is, but the truth is, it does matter. Each shot matters, and when I play good, sometimes I’m just — sometimes you need to feel yourself and change what’s going on. I’ve done it many times where nobody has seen it, where maybe I get mad where I need to do anything outspoken or anything, but I get mad and that starts a stretch of good golf. It’s happened. It happened in Ireland last year. I played 36 holes where I wasn’t happy. I got to the 10th tee and I basically told Adam, that’s it, I kind of got a little mad of — not mad, but a little tense, just going like, I’m mad, and that followed up by a great week and ended up winning the tournament. I’m not the only one, a lot of people do it. I think Tiger did it, a lot of other people do it, some people smile through it, some people don’t, but we all do it.

Q. I know you’ll be focused on this tournament this week but you’ve got a chance this week to go to world No. 1. Is that one of those sort of career goals and one of those boxes you want to tick?
JON RAHM: I don’t know how many times I’m going to answer this question. Yes, it is. But again, it’s a consequence of good play. So I just need to focus on from the first shot on Thursday to the last one on Sunday. If I do my job properly and I play good and I win the tournament, that will be a reality. If I just focus on being No. 1 and play bad, that will never happen.

Yes, it is a goal, but I’m here to win tournaments. I’m going to perform, and that’s what I’m here to do.

Q. Number one, have you taken any personal precautionary measures and has anything changed different because of the scare over the coronavirus?
JON RAHM: Well, I mean, I’ve done some research on it, and there’s a lot of things you can look at. From what I hear, the flu is deadlier than this virus, but at the same time still need to do your part to not expand it as much as possible. If everybody washes their hands as much as possible, we don’t touch each other as much, keep your hands off your face, you might be able to prevent as much as possible. And I’m also saying it because I know it affects the elderly a little more, and I have an 85-year-old grandma with asthma, and I know it’s a respiratory virus. So I know she’s a target, and she is close to me and dear to me. My brother has asthma, Kelly has asthma, Kelly’s mom has asthma. I know it’s a respiratory problem, so there’s so many cases close to me that it could affect, so it is obviously my duty and everyone’s to do as much as we can to prevent that even as hard as it is, it is what it is.

So this week, I love to fist pump and high five the kids, but it might be the one week where we don’t do it. I love also to sign autographs, I might restrain from that a little bit, too. Not from being selfish reasons, I just feel like it might be the best thing for everybody.

Q. Talk about the grouping you’re in, the uniqueness of the top three players in the world and what it will be like playing with Rory and Brooks.
JON RAHM: Well, it’ll be really fast playing with those two in the group. I’m not going to act like I’m the fastest, but I know I’m not slow, so with them two and me, it’s going to be nice.

The Players Championship Tee Times and Leaderboard

You know, it’s exciting. You have the defending champion in one group, we have the 54-hole leader from last year and one of the best major championship performances we’ve seen in a very long time, so I’m excited. Brooks has had some really good rounds here, shot 9-under on 2019 on Sunday. Obviously it’s just an exciting week. You live for those moments. We all practice together in those nice groups and it’s nice to be recognized and it’s really nice to just be a part of it. I kind of feel like, not the outsider, but obviously they both have four major titles, both been No. 1 in the world, FedEx Cup Championships, many things, they’re both Nike. I feel like I’m trying to — I might have something to prove besides just good golf.

Q. This is the first of a marquee tournament of the year where there are the four majors and the Olympics. How do you prepare for a run where you have — where this is an Olympic year — and how do you prepare your game to be clicking on all cylinders here and the rest of the marquee tournaments heading into the Olympics?
JON RAHM: Well, with the schedule changing so much the last four years I’ve been a pro, I can’t tell you anything specific because I’ve done different things. But I think a lot of it goes to tailoring maybe a workout schedule or your workouts in that sense. I do a lot of work with them and make sure I’m going to peak at the right time.

I am doing different things in the schedule this year just because of the — of how much golf we have coming up, how much high-quality golf we have coming up. Now that the Olympics are happening, right, I think it’s — I thought they said — have they not said if they’re doing it or not, the Olympics? I might be wrong. They haven’t said anything? Okay, never mind. I thought they were — okay, that would be a huge thing if they do or not because if we’re not playing, they might add another tournament throughout the year. If not, obviously playing the Olympics if I can, if I qualify I would love to.

Yeah, I can’t tell you anything special. I mean, usually the week before, make sure you’re eating properly, you’re hydrating, making sure your body is going to be in the best possible condition for that week, don’t burn yourself out. But I don’t think there’s any special secret or any formula to make it, right. You have different things. Tiger never played the week before, Brooks plays the week before. Jack never played the week before, Phil plays the week before. There’s many different examples to do, and it’s strictly personal.

Now, what I do like is that THE PLAYERS Championship being before the majors, I think it puts a little bit more emphasis on it, just because it gets the great recognition that it deserves. I mean, we’ve got to be honest, we’re playing a major championship quality event. It’s as simple as that. It’s the best field there is. It’s one of the best golf courses we play all year. It tests golfers like a major championship. And I think — I mean, we could treat it, we should treat it like a major championship pretty much, because it is what it is. It’s that high quality.

I’m happy it’s this time of year and THE PLAYERS gets the attention that it deserves.

Q. You played so well here last year. I mean, aside from two or three shots, it could have been you holding the trophy instead of Rory holding the trophy. Does that give you good feelings about coming back this year and good feelings about how well you have played this golf course already?
JON RAHM: Yeah, it’s kind of what I said earlier. My first two years, it’s not like I played bad, but I just didn’t have the showing I would have liked. Every year I started with a solid first round, and it is a golf course that I like, last year I proved that I can play properly here, at least for three rounds, hopefully four. It is something I like. It’s a ball-striking golf course. You need to hit it really well off the tee no matter what you hit and you need to be accurate with the irons. On paper, it should play to my strengths. That’s why I like it. Again, it gives you a lot of options off the tee, it’s not the longest golf course and you can rail it back as much as you want and be as aggressive as you want, and last year it was a great example. You see Rory hitting driver on 18 with a one-shot lead, one- or two-shot lead, whatever he had, and put it in the fairway and making himself a lot easier second shot. And in other cases with other people are hitting drivers or not. It’s a great golf course, it’s a great design, and like I said, I think it suits ball-striking. You need to be a ball striker. Obviously we have years like Webb Simpson’s where he was making every putt he looked at, but for the most part I think ball strikers have had good success here. I think that’s why Adam Scott plays good almost every year, why Tiger has played good, why Sergio is up there pretty much every other year. You need to be good tee to green. I’m playing good, so hopefully I can play as good as I did last year.

Q. You were mentioning Sergio. The 17th hole, from your point of view what’s so special about that hole, and do you remember watching Sergio having success and having trouble in that hole and how did you leave that hole in the last two years?
JON RAHM: Well, he made a hole-in-one in the group behind me, so that was a pretty special moment. He did win in a playoff on that hole, and unfortunately he did lose a tournament on that hole, as well, right, so it shows you can’t escape it. You can’t escape it. If you’re going to be brave you need to hit a great shot. There’s no way around it. It’s a great, great design of a golf hole when the best players in the world are struggling with a pitching wedge in their hands. It’s as simple as that.

You know, a lot of it goes to strategy and the setup and the wind. If you have no wind, obviously it gets a little more accessible.

The front pins are a little bit more doable just because of the slope of the green helping you stop the ball. When the pin is on the top tier, I think the public that watches on TV can’t appreciate how firm that is, so if you land it anywhere close to the pin, most of the balls are ending up in the water long, so you try to dial it back and you end up on the bottom tier. It’s not the easiest shot. I think it looks — the green doesn’t look big off the tee, and when you’re looking at how small the landing areas are, it’s tiny. That’s the greatness of it. And then you have a great atmosphere around, the public cheering on you. It’s amazing when you actually get to hit a good shot and make birdie. It’s really fun.

Obviously I think you can’t pretend to go your whole career without messing up on that hole. It’s going to happen. It happened to me. Probably will happen again, but I’m hoping I can get a couple birdies in between.

Q. You’ve gone into great detail about the passion that you play with and how you don’t want to eliminate it, but you do at times want to control it to get the best out of you. Can you just talk about that process and how Adam Hayes, your caddie, has also been part of that process on the course as rounds go on?
JON RAHM: Well, Adam has the hardest job in that sense because obviously it’s very easy to see when somebody might be losing it and to say something, but you’ve got to be effective how you’re saying it because otherwise it could either go worse, you never know and you’re just not hearing what he’s saying. He’s been really good about that and getting me refocused for the most part. He’s been a great asset to my game.

I mean, he has full permission to tell me whatever he wants at any time. It’s as simple as that. I told him, I want honesty between us, so I will tell him if something is on my mind and he will tell me if something is on his mind and he has in the past and he has on the golf course. It happened at Riviera last year where on the 4th hole I hit a chip, and I was just — I was talking to him and I was just complaining to him, like I’m hitting good shots and I’m not getting rewarded, I was just deflecting, like sometimes I do. And he looked straight at me, and he said, Buddy, let’s just be honest, that was a terrible chip. And I was like, oh, so you didn’t buy the lie, okay, never mind. You’re right, it was a terrible chip. He kind of got me refocused and keep on going. So he does have a hard job in that sense, but he’s said the right things almost all the time. And also, when it comes to the development of somebody, I mean, I’m not there yet but it’s a constant work in progress. I’m spoken before, even in my amateur days, that just that willingness to compete and to want to do the best I can, it’s helped me out. It hasn’t been detrimental to my game until I was a pro and there was cameras on me, so that’s why it never really changed that much because it made me play better.

Now, when there’s repercussions like there is now as a pro, it’s a work in progress. I’ve been working on it really, really hard since 2014, and it’s a process.

Again, it got better in college but then the magnitude of where we were playing, I basically went from playing college events to being top 10 in the world in seven months. It was such a big change, the attention on me, it was hard to handle it. So that’s why I had some bad moments and slowly I got to No. 2 in the world, dropped quite a bit, and then I’m back in a little bit better form just because it’s a work in progress, and you learn from experiences. I’m really good at learning basically when I mess up. That’s the best learning opportunities, and I think everybody should take advantage of those. There’s no good times and successes without the bad times. Again, sometimes you need to take one or two steps back to be able to lean forward a little bit more.

Q. You’ve heard a lot of players say that once they get that first major, that that somehow can take a little bit of a burden off of them. You’re playing with two players this week that, once they won that first major, just seems like it erupted into two and three more majors. Could you see that scenario happening for you once you get that first one?
JON RAHM: I mean, it would be really foolish to say no. I’ll say that right now. Yeah, I do see it. I do know I have the talent and the skills to do it. It’s just a matter of doing it. It’s as simple as that. I mean, Brooks has shown, he says, you’ve got to show up that week and do it. You never know. Rory got on a run in 2014 where he won two in a row. There’s just moments or times where players get in runs and get close. I mean, Vijay, late ’90s, early 2000s, obviously he did a lot more than just win majors, but it’s examples of where it can just happen. Look at Phil when he won his first Masters in 2004 and between 2004 and 2008 basically he was contending in every single major he played at. And not that he didn’t content before but just that one win kind of got him going big time. You know, Rory — Brooks obviously being the most recent example, it’s happened to a lot of people. Jordan Spieth, as well. It went from losing the Masters to winning three majors in the next few years. It can happen, and if it’s going to happen, I’m looking forward to it. Obviously it would be amazing to be the fourth Spaniard to win a major. I can’t lie. I mean, it would be amazing. Hopefully I become — I get that dream into reality.

Q. Any preference for which one you would want to be the launching pad, which major you would win?
JON RAHM: Listen, I’m not going to be that picky.

Now, I can make an argument for each one. As a European I would love to win the Claret Jug. Obviously the Masters is very special for anyone, especially Spanish people. There’s something over there for Spanish players. But being a little bit greedy, it would be amazing or let’s just say, dreaming a little bit more, it would be amazing to be the first player from Spain to win a U.S. Open or a PGA. That’s something, if I get to do it, then nobody will be able to take away from me, it will be there forever. I’ve always said I would like to leave my name in the history of the game in whatever mode it is. To do that, Spanish history would be the only one, so far, because it could happen, you never know, Sergio is still playing great golf and many other players that could win. It would be amazing.

Again, I’m not going to be picky in that sense. I hope I win one, but that’s just — I could make an argument for either one of them.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Justin Thomas Speaks To The Media Prior To Making 6th Start at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 10: Justin Thomas of the United States plays a shot during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 10, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and FedEx Cup number two Justin Thomas addresses the media ahead of The Players Championship, speaking on the May to March change, building his schedule for the year and being paired with friends.

PGA Tour: Justin Thomas previews The Players Championship ahead of making his 6th start on Thursday

AMANDA HERRINGTON: We’d like to welcome Justin Thomas to the interview room here at THE PLAYERS Championship. Justin is making his sixth start at THE PLAYERS Championship, comes into the week No. 2 in the FedExCup standings on the strength of two wins this season. Justin, get your thoughts on coming into the week here.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s a place I love. I love the golf course. I think it’s just a very well-designed course, tee to green, forces you to work it both ways off the tee and into the green, and obviously it’s an extremely deep field with all the top players here, so it’s a tournament that when I first came here, I felt like I could have some success at this place, and yeah, came out and practiced yesterday. It seems to be in pristine shape as usual, so I’m excited to get out there today on the course and see how it is.

Q. You’ve had some really good low rounds here and some not so good. When you play well out here, what are you doing right, and when you don’t play so well, what’s kind of been your stumbling blocks out here?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I think honestly, I think it’s a testament to a well-designed course. You look at, obviously Mexico is very different or Riviera, but every day you have those 64 to 67s and you have some 78s, and like that just doesn’t happen every week.

I think it’s because this place rewards good golf and penalizes bad golf. I would think that — I mean, obviously it depends on the weather and you can get some cold, windy and some firm weeks in March, but some of my high numbers have been in May mostly. When it gets firm like that, it puts even more of a premium on hitting the fairway, and those days where I had some high numbers, I was not playing well, and I didn’t really have any control of my ball versus when I was playing well. If you get the ball in the fairway you have a lot of wedges and 9-irons into these greens, and I feel like that’s a strength of my game. I just have been able to take advantage of that a couple times when I’ve been hitting it well.

It’s a place where you can get it going, you just kind of have to stay patient and wait for your spots.

The Players Championship Tee Times and Leaderboard

Q. We always get this mentality that’s kind of like win or nothing else, and I’m just curious if you ever finished like in a top 10 that wasn’t a win but that was a satisfying week for you. Can you get satisfaction out of a non-win top 10, for instance?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Absolutely. I mean, we all say that and we all think that, but it’s not reality. We’re not going to win every week. We’re not going to win — I don’t know the percentages of the top players’ wins in their career, but I can’t imagine that anybody except for one person is above 10 or 15 percent. You have to be realistic in senses like that.

I mean, a week like Phoenix this year for me was huge. I did not play very well. I was not driving it well. My irons were very average. I got it around the course very well and ended up — I had a good Sunday. We got it going a little bit, and ended up finishing third, and I think weeks like that are sometimes more confidence boosting than anything else because realistically I could have won that tournament if I just could have got something going remotely the first couple days, but I just could never — I was never hitting it well enough to make that five, six birdies in a nine-hole stretch or whatever it was. I’d make a couple and then I’d just make some more pars on some easy holes. I just could never get momentum going.

But for not playing very well and not hitting it very well, I think I made four bogeys over four days so managed my game well and got it around that course well. I’d take the win, but sometimes it’s just as confidence boosting.

Q. With the change back to March and the fairways being softer, do you think we’re going to see someone shoot a 62 here? The 63s have both been in March, I believe.
JUSTIN THOMAS: I think Colt Knost shot 63 here when it was in May. I think you can. The thing about it being in March, I’ve never experienced it, I mean, I’ve heard some horror stories from guys in the past of you get in Jacksonville this time of year you can get some cold, cold days, you can get a strong north wind where we’re hitting 6-, 7-, 8-iron on 17. I would imagine if that’s the case then you won’t be seeing any. But if you get weather like it looks like it could be this week, generally one or two of the days they’re going to have the pins set up a little bit easier, someone could get hot and do it. You can do it on any golf course, I think when you give us the soft conditions it’s definitely going to be more likely, but at the end of the day 10-under par, that’s a low score no matter where you’re playing. But I definitely think that it is doable.

Q. It seems like just a blink ago you were considered one of the young guns out here. I want your thoughts on this current crop of young players that come out here and they not only think they can win, they expect to win.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Am I officially out? Am I thrown out of the young —

Q. Yeah, you’re out.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Damn, that’s rough. (Laughter.)

No, it’s impressive, and I think it’s cool what the TOUR is doing this week is pairing Viktor, Matt and Collin together. The fact that those three guys have won already is unbelievable. I don’t think — they probably don’t even realize how impressive it is.

But they also understand how talented they are, and we do, too, and they’re going to be out here for a long time.

You can’t compare their group versus our group or another group or whatever it is. You just kind of have to respect what’s coming out, and they’re unbelievable players, they’re very, very mature for being thrown into the spotlight. I think that’s something that goes very under-mentioned and underrated is that it’s easy to forget that they’re 21, 22 years old, I think at least, and they’re handling all this very well because they’re very much in the spotlight just like any of us are. They’re still playing some pretty good golf and being comfortable out here.

I think they’re going to continue to do great things, and it’s great to have them out here.

Q. This question is from a Chinese fan, so obviously you’re one of their favorites. He wants to know before your round if you’re not mentally ready, what do you do to snap yourself out of it?
JUSTIN THOMAS: There’s plenty of times. You wake up some days and some mornings and you just don’t have it, you’re tired, you don’t feel well. I don’t have a good warmup or whatever it might be. I think those days I rely on my caddie Jimmy. He knows if I’m not feeling well. We know each other so well to where we can figure out just by being around each other for 20 minutes if the other one isn’t in it that day. I’ll just tell him walking to the tee, Hey, man, I need you today, I don’t quite feel well or I don’t have it and we need to stay extra patient today, and we might talk through things a little bit more. Yeah, I don’t know, he does a great job in situations like that, and we’ve actually had some pretty good rounds doing that.

Q. You referred to it a little bit ago about the top 5s and how that top 3 was a positive moment for you. When you look at Rory right now and the run he’s on with all these top 5s, which is pretty remarkable, how do you view that stretch because obviously he’s frustrated he hasn’t won yet, which I’m sure you would be, as well, but where do you weigh that on the positive side versus the negative side, not closing them out when he’s had chances?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I think you definitely have to look at it as a positive. The thing about it is you keep — when you’re as talented as Rory is, you keep putting yourself there, it’s going to happen eventually, and he has the capability to do what he’s done a couple times where he might win four events in six weeks or win a couple in a row. I know he knows that, I know we all know that, and he’s playing some unbelievable golf, but he’s just — it’s cool because I respect Rory as much as I like him. I just respect what he does because he works really hard. He takes it extremely seriously. I mean, I would say, along with myself, he is someone that I see practicing more than anybody else. We put a lot of work in.

I think he had some times there where he was expecting more of himself and he wasn’t sure what he had to do, and he just kind of had to dig it out of the dirt and kind of just get back to the basics and just, not start over, but be like, I need to be me, I need to be Rory McIlroy and get myself back to what made me great, and he’s obviously doing that, and the wins will come.

Q. The guy to chase in the FedExCup at the moment is Sungjae Im. What are your thoughts on him?
JUSTIN THOMAS: He’s unbelievable. I remember the first time I played with him at the CJ Cup, it was really windy, as is often is there, and the way he was hitting his drives, we’d have this huge crosswind and he would hit this little low bullet hold and when it would be the other way he would do the same thing, we’d have a downwind into the green he’d throw an iron straight up into the air. I’ve never seen somebody that young with so many shots. I know it took me a while to learn all those and feel comfortable doing them in a golf tournament, for one, but he obviously is very comfortable doing it, and he definitely plays enough to get comfortable with it in a tournament. It’s impressive. I think every person that I know that has played with him for the first time walks off and is like, wow, he’s good. He knows what he’s doing. He can make his way around a golf course, and yeah, I don’t think we’re — anybody who’s played with him, I don’t think we’re surprised that he’s won, and I’m sure he’s going to win a lot more times.

Q. Regarding the grouping with you and Jordan and Rickie, how hard or easy is it to turn off the friendship when you start off the first tee and get competitive like you need to be? What’s that dynamic like to play with two such close friends?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it can be tough, but I’ve had some really good rounds with some great friends. You definitely have to find the, I guess, the happy medium of we’re going to talk between shots, and it’s just a matter of, okay, when do I cut that off and I need to get back into my focus, because I have a lot of times that I hit it up there close and I’m kind of counting my putt, it’s like a four-footer and I’m kind of laughing and joking around with the guys on the green and next thing you know it’s my turn to putt, I’m not focused and I miss it. I’m walking off the green going, how many times do I have to do to this learn that I’ve got to stop doing it. But because of that I obviously have learned, and I know that I have to take it into consideration.

We’re going to have fun. I mean, not any more fun than we would with anybody else. We just happen to be some group of guys that are really good friends and hang out quite a bit and we’re out here competing trying to win a golf tournament.

We’re all going to be trying to play as well as we can and beat each other, but in between shots just kind of yuk it up and have some fun.

Q. How hard is it to build your entire schedule for the year, and is it subject to change ever? And also, what did you do the last couple weeks?
JUSTIN THOMAS: In terms of scheduling, it can be tough. I feel like it’s going to take a couple years to kind of figure out. The Florida Swing is very difficult for me at least living here. It’s like there’s so many tournaments I want to play, and there’s so many tournaments I feel like are good for me, but at the end of the day, I need to do what’s best for me, and I need to do what’s going to make sure that my body is in the best shape throughout the year, going to be fresh and ready for the majors, and most importantly fresh and ready for the FedExCup Playoffs, because I felt like last year was kind of strange because obviously I didn’t want to miss a month, month and a half with the wrist injury, but come the Playoffs time, everyone is tired and I’m ready to go. I took a month, month and a half off, and I’m like, all right, let’s do it, let’s keep playing.

I almost learned a little bit from that because it’s like, I don’t need to play. Yeah, sitting at home and watching the Honda and watching Bay Hill and being like, I know that I can do this and I’ve had success at Honda and Bay Hill is a tough course, ball striker’s course, I know that I can compete there. But I can sit at home every week and do that.

I probably did watch more golf than I have in a while because of just how — not entertaining but just how good the golf courses we’re playing. I thought it was enjoyable to watch. I guess that answers the question, I did watch a lot of golf.

It does take a little bit to figure out the scheduling. But no, I took it easy. I didn’t do very much at all. I wanted to get some rest for these next three events coming up in a row, and one of my best friends from high school got married this past weekend in Louisville, so I went home Thursday, got to see my friends and my family that I don’t get to see very often and spend a nice fun weekend with them and then came back Sunday morning and went out and played with dad Sunday afternoon and then came here yesterday.

Q. It’s been kind of an odd start to the year in terms of winning Kapalua, missing the cut at Sony, being there at Phoenix, missing the cut at LA, being there in Mexico. What’s going on?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I hope that trend doesn’t continue now that you say that.

No, Sony was weird. The conditions were so brutal. I don’t know if it just took a lot out of me winning in Kapalua or what it was, but I played poorly, but I didn’t — I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole at Sony. I had a hard time putting in that wind, and the golf course was so different than any year I’ve ever played it where, honestly, I feel like it almost hurt me playing there — not that five times is that many — but playing there as many times as I have, because I’m used to, when you hit it in the rough on No. 1, you’re trying to land it 15 yards short of that green on the right and run it up there. Whereas, you’re in the rough, straight downwind, you had to fly it in the middle of the green because it was so soft that the ball was just going to basically plug where it was. I think it took me about 20-something holes to figure that out, and by that point it was a little too late and didn’t matter.

But in LA I just drove it bad, and when you drive it bad out there, you’re pretty much behind the 8-ball, and I could never get the ball close enough to the hole to make any birdies.

I actually played all right on Friday. I played good enough to post a score well enough to make the cut, but I just played so poorly on Thursday that I didn’t really have much. Just kind of been a little bit of up and down.

Q. Secondly, have you or any of your people sat down or talked with the Premier Golf League, and when do you have to make a decision if there’s one to be made?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I don’t know, in terms of the decision. I’ve tried to keep it as far away from me as possible because I’m focused on playing out here and taking whatever week I have next, focusing on that as opposed to focusing on whatever it is. We haven’t really talked about it. I mean, it’s just something that kind of gets brought up quickly, and I kind of let them handle it. Like I said, that’s not my part. I’m out here to try to get ready to play on the PGA TOUR, and that’s my main focus right now, and once that opportunity ever presents itself to actually sit down and talk about it, then we can.

Q. Davis Riley is having a great start to the year on the Korn Ferry TOUR. Can you speak to your relationship with him and following his progress and what stands out to you and impresses you with his game?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, Davis is a stud, man. He’s one of the guys when I’d go back and visit the guys at school, I just hit it off with him so well. He kind of reminds me a lot of myself. He’s a good player, but he’s laid back, he’s easy going. He’s a great teammate. Got along with all the guys. I just really, really like him. I do. I kind of wanted to take him under my wing a little bit and try to help him as much as I could, whether he wanted the help or not, just present it to him that I’m here to help if he wants. He’s impressive. I mean, there’s a handful of guys or a group of guys I feel like in college and amateur golf, there’s obviously going to be a lot of kids that come out and are very successful, but he’s someone that you sit and watch hit balls, and it’s like, that’s a different sound than everybody makes, it’s a different ball flight than everybody makes and he just needs to stay focused and keep doing what he’s doing. Whatever he’s doing right now is working pretty well and hopefully he’ll have continued success and we’ll have a lot of years out here together.

Q. From this point on until through the TOUR Championship, the schedule seems a little unrelenting. You’re never more than a few weeks away from a really big event. How do you go about compartmentalizing to avoid burning out from THE PLAYERS through the TOUR Championship?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’s a good question, but I think I just try to take everything I’ve learned over the past five years from it. It’s like, I don’t play more than three in a row. Nobody, including my caddie, wants me to ever play four in a row. It just doesn’t bode for a good Justin. Not fun to be around. Using the Mondays through Wednesdays how I need to use them and using the off weeks how I need to use them, and I feel like I’m definitely young enough and do the proper training to where I should not get burnt out. Certainly there’s going to be weeks where maybe you’re a little bit more excited when you get to the course or tee it up on Thursday than others, but that’s why I do what I do. I came out here and I wanted to play professional golf so I could be playing all these tournaments and playing from THE PLAYERS to the TOUR Championship. There’s definitely — it definitely beats the alternative of not having to worry about burning out, that’s for sure. That’s what I do all of my work on the off weeks and training for, so that doesn’t happen.

Q. Speaking to your pairing, the spring break reunion tour this week, can you just talk about that pairing, and can that be advantageous playing with buddies? Is that something that can be a help during a tournament, first two rounds of a tournament?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it’ll be a good time. We’ve had a lot of rounds of golf together, probably more fun rounds than competitive rounds. I don’t know. At the end of the day, we’re going to play well because of us, not because of the people we’re with. I mean, there’s obviously times where you’ll have everyone in the group is 4- or 5-under, you can kind of feed off each other. Sometimes the group is a little bit flat. But at the end of the day, if we all get off to a good start, then we might play well. It’s not like I’m going to play great today because I played with Jordan and Rick. I would like to hope that I have a little bit more confidence in myself, that I’m a good enough player to play without them. But that being said, it is nice knowing — I was going to say it’s not like I can really catch up with them. I pretty much know everything about them already, and vice versa, but it’s just — I like their caddies, I like their families. It’s easy for us. It’s something we’re very, very accustomed to.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports