Q: How do you keep your composure and get back on your feet and turn it around after what happened?
A: You've just got to realize this is a long tournament. Over the course of 72 holes, if today was Sunday, may be a little different story on how I react, but we've got a lot of golf left to play. I knew I was playing good, I felt like I was swinging good at it and had not hit too many bad shots to be honest with you and I knew I was rolling it great, so if I gave myself a few more chances I would be fine, and sure enough I did coming down the stretch and made three birdies.
Q: Following that, did you give yourself a pep talk after 13?
A: Actually my caddie, Scott, was fantastic. He grabbed me walking off 13 green and said, "You know, you're playing great. Keep your head on straight. Everything is going fine. You're swinging great at it. You're putting great. It's going to happen. You know, we are going to get some good breaks. You just got three bad breaks in a row." He goes, "You'll get three good ones coming back," and sure enough it did.
Q: A moment ago you mentioned the difference between today and tomorrow. What makes being in the final group on Sunday at a major, especially this one, so much more different than being in the final group last year at Greensboro, and how do you think you're going to handle it?
A: Well, I wasn't in the final group at Greensboro. But you know, this is just playing golf tomorrow. At the end of the day I'm going out there trying to win a golf tournament; doesn't matter that it's a major. I'm going out there to win a golf tournament tomorrow. I'm going out there to play good golf and see what I've got. This is the ultimate test for us.
We go out there on a tough day and we know it's set in front of us, and we know we need to play a good round of golf if we want to win, and that's what's going to have to happen tomorrow. Everything I've grown up trying to do, everything I've practiced for, everything I've done, is in preparation for tomorrow. I'm not nervous about it at all. I'm very excited about it, and this is why everybody in this field practices and plays is for a chance like tomorrow; so I can't wait to get out there.
Q: Flesch has been around but the other three guys, Immelman and yourself and Paul might be called the new wave, and the guy in fifth place obviously is a tremendous factor; he's never come from behind to win a major. Are you thinking of him and...
A: Who is the guy in fifth place? Oh, Tiger Woods, yeah, that guy. (Laughter).
Yeah, I'm sure he's going to be a factor. His name is going to be on the leaderboard somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be there on the back nine. You have to realize that Trevor and all of us in front of him, if we go out there and play a good round of golf; he's going to have to play an extremely great round of golf to beat us.
I know Tiger is going to go out there and shoot 4 or 5 under tomorrow and probably knowing him, the way he plays. And as good as he's playing right now, he played a hell of a round today, and that does not bode well for us if we think we're going to be able to shoot 1 or 2 under and win this golf tournament. You have to go out and shoot something low. So just let's you know what you've got to do.
Q: Really curious about what you're talking about yesterday about coming out here 40 or 50 times and just thinking about when you were saying it yesterday, just wondering, how was that for you for the first 10 times as far as asking to play and making the arrangements and how exactly did that work that you got out here this much?
A: Well, we used come here once a year in college, the Vanderbilt golf team used to be able to come down here and be able to play; a couple of the Members sponsored us. And then when you get that invitation to come play in the Masters, and I guess right around Christmas, you can come down and play as much as you want. And I was out of school, had not turned pro yet and they almost changed the rule the next year because of me, because I was down here every day. I wore it out. (Laughter) I thought, how many times can I have a membership at Augusta National for four months. (Laughter)
Q: How long was the drive?
A: It was 5 1/2 hours from Nashville and came down on the weekends, come down play Thursday night, play 36, be first out Friday morning, go out and play a round, play another in the afternoon; what better scenario could you have to come out and play this course as many times as you wanted to.
Q: And what was that feeling like?
A: It was great, just getting to know the golf course and getting over the whole aura of it is a lot. I've been able to walk around the grounds a little bit and kind of figure out and see where everybody is and get to know a lot of the Members that way, too. A lot of these Members are great guys, got to play a lot of rounds with them and got to know them. It kind of feels more like a home event for me. I feel like I know a lot of the guys in the crowd are cheering me on and it's a good feeling.
Q: In reality, how difficult is it to get the name Tiger Woods out of your head for tomorrow?
A: When I figure out how to do that, I think I'll be able to charge some guys out here and figure out get them to pay me because I don't know how you know what I mean. If he gets off to a great start tomorrow it's going to be in everybody's head. And that's something, as long as we acknowledge it and know it and try to counteract it and realize, hey, he is not going to be a factor in the next golf shot that I hit, you've got a chance of overcoming it.
But to sit here and say we are not going to be thinking about Tiger Woods tomorrow is crazy because we are, just like everybody else in this room is and just like everybody else in this world is. We're human, what can we say.
Q: The viewers will see something different because the lead four guys have never contended on Sunday in a major; your take on that?
A: Should make for some pretty exciting golf. Best way to put it is four guys haven't contended in a major. So shoot at pins, try to do everything we've been doing all week and not try to back our way into this thing. You know when you have that many guys around the lead and the No. 1 player in the world right there, too, you know it's going to take a little number to get it done tomorrow; and it's always what you want, when you are going down the stretch is to know you have to make birdies and make shots.
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