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HUMANA CHALLENGE MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 5, 2012Jhonattan VegasMARK STEVENS: Tell us a little bit about what you did in the off‑season and to get ready for your sophomore year on the TOUR, and your plans on following up on a great rookie season. JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, for the off‑season, just really went home, went to Venezuela and hung out with the family. I spent all year last year here in the States just playing, playing, playing. So I needed to go home, catch up with the family, to see everyone, just relax and so that's kind of the main thing that I did, just really go to the beach, relax and really recharge from last year and getting ready for this year. You know, this year, the main goal is just to keep getting better, and I feel like I can get better on every part of the game. I feel like I'm going to do as good or better than last year, so that's the main goal right now is really improve everything when it comes down to putting, chipping, driving it, greens in regulation, if I can improve everywhere, I feel like I can have a better or as good a year as last year. MARK STEVENS: Does it feel like a year since you won why are first event on TOUR? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know, what it feels like it's been a month, to put it that way. And since it happened so quick, it's hard to believe that it's almost a year since I won. It's good. It's been a great learning experience. It's been a lot of fun. I learned a lot of good things, so I'm really pleased for how things turned out. Q. Congratulations on the great year. You got off to such a very, very good start last year; did that surprise you, that you won so fast, or that you almost won the very next week? JHONATTAN VEGAS: No, I mean, I wasn't surprised, because I knew that it could happen. But I mean, it just kind of caught me a little bit off guard to be honest, because I knew that I had the potential and I knew that I had the ability to compete out here. But just to see it happen that quick was‑‑ it just really caught me off guard. It was fun. I really enjoyed it, because I mean, it's what every player wants when you get here to the PGA TOUR. After I got my TOUR card through the Nationwide, that was my gain goal, just come here to the PGA TOUR and win and have success. That's kind of why I was able to just really hang on and really fight through everything that happened at the Bob Hope, and, you know, so hopefully that will keep happening. Q. Did winning that fast change the way you looked at the rest of the year? Obviously you got in some tournaments, one down in Augusta, Georgia that I know you were excited about, but how did it change things for you, winning that quickly? JHONATTAN VEGAS: It definitely changed everything. Because I was able to get in a bunch of tournaments that probably wouldn't have got in by my number. So it definitely changed the whole perspective. After four weeks of the year, I was still in the FedExCup, so there were so many positive things happening that I started thinking on just really having a phenomenal year. You know, I probably wasn't really prepared for everything that came my way; when it comes down to time management, just really being able to put myself together and put the time into my game, and just really let myself go a little bit. That's kind of why I kind of struggled a little bit. It's part of the learning process. But I won my first year and I'm really excited and hopefully the next time a win comes, I can handle the situation better and keep playing as well as I did a year ago. Q. How do you like your nickname, "Johnny Vegas"? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know, I actually love it. I actually love it, because even when I was in college, they used to call me Johnny and now that I got here, I kept myself to that and it's really good. We are here, and you know, just makes you feel good, because it means people like what I'm doing and they are having a good time with that, too. So it's kind of fun. Q. It's fun to watch you, you're exciting to see and your energy comes through. Back in Venezuela, is there excitement about the Latinoamerica Tour that's going to start in 2012? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Oh, there's a lot of excitement, because there's so many great players from the area, not only from Venezuela, but the whole South America that need a little bit of an opportunity to do great things. We have seen it with a bunch of players, we have seen it with Andres Romero, who kind of came from playing that and went to Europe. So give some of those guys an opportunity, who knows what they can do. You can have Major winners. So everyone in Venezuela and South America is super excited for that, and hopefully it can grow to be huge and the third level tour of the PGA TOUR and just get guys from that area to the PGA TOUR. Q.  You don't think you're the exception; do you see other guys following in your footsteps? Do you see talent? JHONATTAN VEGAS: There's a lot of talent there. I grew up in that area and I grew up playing with guys that were as good or better than me, and just haven't really made it because they have not had the opportunity that I had to come here and go to school and all that stuff. It's a great opportunity for them to prove themselves and that they can play here. It's a great way to get guys from that area to come here. We have seen it with Asia; that golf is really growing big there, and it's going to do that same thing with South America. I'm sure that we are going to get a lot more players from the area. Q. You're looking forward to playing in the Olympics? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I'm really excited. I'm really excited about the Olympics. Just to think that golf is back in the Olympics and you're going to be walking with a bunch of other athletes in one of the biggest sporting events in the world, it's going to be super exciting and hopefully get an Olympic medal. It doesn't get better than that. Q. Going back to Venezuela, did you have any concerns since 2004 Major League Baseball players have been kidnapped there and recently with Wilson Ramos with the Nationals. Is there any concern for you that you are more well known, and having won on the PGA TOUR going back there? JHONATTAN VEGAS: No, I wasn't really concerned with security. I mean, you have to take precautions like you would anywhere and take precautions that you really know what you're doing, because it's easy to get in trouble. But no, I didn't really have any concerns. It's my country; I know it, and as long as you're doing everything safe, it's just like any part of the world. As long as you're doing everything safe and not really looking for trouble, you're going to be fine. I was just excited to go there and see everyone and have a good time. Q. As far as you said you take certain precautions, do you have security? Is your family's home secure? What sort of things do you do? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, the family, we have been in the same house for a while and we have pretty nice house and you know, we just take security precautions. Have a nice door where nobody can walk in. But nothing really out of the ordinary‑‑ nothing really out of the normal. Q. Is it hard for you to see these incidents? Do you feel like it might give people the wrong idea about Venezuela, or your reaction to these things that have happened? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Yeah, I definitely believe that it's a different perspective of what the country is like. That kind of stuff happens all over the world and has a chance to happen, but it's something that you have to know that it can happen, you just really play it safe and take precautions and don't really expose yourself. You cannot live just thinking that you are going to get kidnapped, you're going to get robbed or whatever, because nobody can live that way. Q. You talked about time management. Obviously you had a very good start and you had nice performances at the end of the year. In the middle of the year, you kind of slipped down and weren't on the leaderboard as much. What were the biggest things you learned about being on TOUR last year, other than time management? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, I mean, that‑‑ just to be honest, the PGA TOUR‑‑ it's human, that it's hard to balance things. It's hard to really do the things that you normally do, because you want to be playing, you want to be‑‑ you want to keep having success and if you don't really take care of yourself, you're going to hurt yourself and you're going to not perform as good. That's kind of what I struggled and what I learned this year, is really enjoy myself, just really do things that make me feel normal, feel who I am and just get my brain a little bit away from golf, because I mean, we play all year, we don't really have much of a break. So in between, if you don't take care of yourself and get the breaks you need, you're going to really burn out and that's something that I have to work at a little harder this year. Q. You came from the Nationwide Tour the previous year; last year seemed like a very strong crop of players on the Nationwide with Keegan and Brendan and yourself all winning, as well as other players. But I take it from what you're saying, that it really is a different level of time consumption, if you will, from what happened on the Nationwide Tour to the PGA TOUR. Was it a big step in that regard? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Oh, it's huge. The Nationwide is definite preparation, but the PGA TOUR, I mean, it's the Nationwide on steroids, let's put it that way. There's just so much going on. You have the fans, you have the media, you have so many things, the Pro‑Am, and the thing about the PGA TOUR is you're playing week‑after‑week and you don't really get a week off in the Playoffs where in the Nationwide, you can play for three weeks in a row and have a few weeks off and that was just forced. You didn't really have anything to do. On the PGA TOUR, you can play week‑after‑week and every tournament is so good, you just want to keep playing. You know we love to play and we love to compete, and all we want to do is play. But I mean, it's just hard to play all year long. Like I said, you don't really take a break and take some time, you can burn out and it's really hard to stay at a high level all year long. So that's why you have to recharge and get things ready again and come back out ready and refreshed. Q. The last question I would have for you, going back to last year's tournament, you're on the second hole of a playoff and you hit your drive into the water, did you think you were going to win at that point, or did you think it was a nice tournament, but somebody else would win this week? JHONATTAN VEGAS: To be honest, I didn't really think of anything. All I was thinking was where the ball curls and how can I hit it again, because so many things happened that week that I wasn't going to let it go that quick. So I just put my head down and just kept walking and got there and hit my second shot, and fortunately, just things worked my way. But it was one of those things that I never thought about losing. I always knew that I had a real opportunity to win. I'm that kind of person that never gives up in the last minute. It was just one of those things that I learned from a lot, because no matter how bad it gets, you just have to keep working and keep fighting through and you never know when things are going to turn around. Q. Last year you played 90 holes and two more than that to win, and this year they cut the tournament to 72 holes. Is that something that you would care about or concentrate on as the week begins, one less day? JHONATTAN VEGAS: No, it's another tournament. It's another tournament. It's something that you've got to get ready for and you have to prepare for. There are three courses now instead of four, which is a lot easier to prepare for. Last year I was fortunate enough that at Sony, I made the cut, but I wasn't able to play on the weekend, and I was able to go a day earlier and see all four courses. This year, now we have three courses instead of four, but you know, having three or four or five days, it's the same thing. You just have to go out and play hard and hopefully things turn around at the end of the week. Q. Since you're at Kapalua on Maui, how do you like Hawai'i? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I love Hawai'i. It's just as simple as that. I'm a person that I love the ocean and love being near the ocean. When I went it Venezuela, out of 2 1/2 weeks there, I was almost a week at the beach. I love being there and hanging out and Hawai'i is one of my favorite places to come. Q. With the tournament starting tomorrow, how do you prepare tonight? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I'm just going to do the same thing I've done all my life. Just really go, have a nice dinner, have a nice workout after practice today and just have a nice sleep, which I really like doing that. It's part of the game, I like that. Q. Just to follow up a little bit on a couple of the last questions, as you're probably aware, Humana has taken over at the title sponsor of the tournament, it's now the Humana Challenge and the Clinton Foundation is involved with a conference on Tuesday of tournament week and health and well being is a major theme of the tournament going forward. Can you talk about your conditioning program? You talked about getting a workout in; during your time off at the end of the 2011 season, looking ahead to this season, and just in general, what kind of a fitness program do you keep yourself on? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, I mean, when it comes down to fitness, I feel like I'm a strong guy naturally so I don't really have to do anything to make myself any stronger. Because when it comes down to golf, all you want to do is keep your muscles healthy. So all I do is a lot of stretching and conditioning and a lot of just really maintain my body in a good, healthy way, because at the end of the day, that's kind of what you need to do. You don't need a lot of muscles to hit a golf ball. All you want is efficient movements and that's what I work a lot with with my trainer on TOUR and at home, and just really making sure that my movements and my body, all parts of my body are moving correctly and I'm not injuring myself. Because as we know, the golf swing happens so quick, if you do the wrong movement, you can do an injury to yourself. So that's really what I do, just make sure that I'm doing everything well and I'm staying healthy. Q. And just one other thing about the tournament going from five days to four, also as you're aware, it will be from four courses to three with the Palmer and Nicklaus Courses at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club being the only three courses being used this year. Do you think that will be a factor at all as far as the players? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I hope so. It's a great event. I actually enjoy playing the Pro‑Am format. I even heard the format changed a little bit. It's fun. It's a little more relaxing and a little more fun hanging out with some of the Amateurs, just playing with them, it could be a little distracting, but it's different. I mean, we have to have different things on the PGA TOUR that can make things a little more fun, so I actually enjoy that. And I really hope guys go and play. MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot, Jhonattan, we'll see you in Palm Springs in two weeks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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