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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAYAugust 12, 2013Luke DonaldMark WilsonMARK ROLFING: Welcome, everyone. I'm Mark Rolfing for those of you that don't know me. A couple gentlemen I'd like to introduce first. Brian Urlacher has lost a little bit of weight since you last saw him; Chris Collins, who is going to be joining us today who's going to team up with Luke Donald in an all‑Northwestern pairing; and Kirk Hinrich here from the Chicago Bulls is going to be paired with Mark Wilson. We're going to have a very entertaining nine holes of golf out there. Want to talk first of all to both of you players about the state of your game, where you are. We're getting ready to begin the FedExCup Playoffs. Let's start with you, Luke. LUKE DONALD: It's been a little bit more of an inconsistent year this year for me so far, certainly not through lack of work ethic and trying, but it's just golf is like that sometimes. You have some ups and downs, and I've been trying at times, but I think I'm on the right path to some better times ahead. And obviously looking forward to the FedExCup, as you said. There's a lot of volatility. Each tournament is worth practically five tournaments' worth of points, and it just takes one week to kind of get back on track, and hopefully I'll have a solid performance in the Playoffs. MARK ROLFING: Mark, are you looking at the FedExCup Playoffs to kind of make your year? Obviously it hasn't been the best year of your career. Can this one make your year? MARK WILSON: Certainly, yeah. I've worked through just a lot of different ideas through the year, swing thoughts or putting, and I feel like I'm rounding into form. I played good in Canada and I feel really good about, I guess, the trust level of my game, just kind of going out and playing golf right now. So I'm excited to go to Greensboro this week and then the Playoffs starting. MARK ROLFING: Talk about Chicago and the fact that you have made this your home now. You've been here for 10 years almost. You play a warm weather game and you live in a cold weather market. How does that work for you? MARK WILSON: I guess I just made it work, and my game is elevated when I've taken a break in the off‑season. Putting the clubs in the closet in November and December has really benefitted me in terms of recharging my battery and getting some of those bad thoughts out of my head. I used to be‑‑ guys used to call me the little Vijay Singh out there. I was out there 12 hours a day, but there was no‑‑ there were no good results from that. I was going back to Q‑school every year, but I thought, hey, as long as I work physically harder every year I'm going to get better, and I just didn't see that until I kind of took a step back and started working with Bob Rotella a little bit on the mental side and realizing that his advice was go play tennis before the tournament, get your mind‑‑ the game is right there if you just let it out. I've kind of taken that to heart, and believe me, I still stumble trying to think of see if I can move my right arm this way or that way, let me think about this, but really I try to be a kid a little bit more often, and it's helped. MARK ROLFING: Luke, you have been the No.1 player in the world and in fact were for some 55 weeks. When you look at the big events and how you gear up for them and then you look at the FedExCup Playoffs, how are the Playoffs different for you in your approach? LUKE DONALD: Well, I think you always want to play as well as you can in the Playoffs. There's a great opportunity to make big leaps and bounds. Obviously the majors are one tournament, but the Playoffs you keep moving along to try and get to East Lake. They're a great opportunity for you to have one great week to really turn around your year. You know, it's a time of the year where you've been playing a lot and hopefully gotten into a rhythm of playing well, and it's a great opportunity, again, to‑‑ it's funny, the last few years that I've been playing the FedExCup, I've always come into them in a good position. This year I'm a little further back than I usually have been, but it's a different opportunity, a different mindset. I feel like I have that opportunity, where one good tournament is going to shoot me right up the board. I'm excited about that chance. Q. Luke, I was just looking, you talked about having an inconsistent year. You're known as a good ball striker. Your greens in regulation is down. Is that where you've been struggling is having birdie opportunities? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, certainly statistically, yes. I haven't had as much control with the golf ball as I would have liked. I'm missing it a little bit both ways, which has led to a little bit of the unknown. But working hard on that. Hopefully you'll see some improvement. Hopefully the numbers will start getting better. I feel like what I'm working on is going to help. It's just seeing how long that's going to take. But certainly, yeah, the goal is always to improve those statistics, hit more fairways, hit more greens, and I haven't hit as many greens as I would have liked this year. Q. Do you have an idea how this course, as far as a winning score for this tournament, how they'll set this up and how tough this course can be for the BMW? LUKE DONALD: Well, I think weather like most weeks will play a role. If we can have good weather and the course can remain firm, I think the scores won't be super low. You know, I play here a reasonable amount of time, and I'm never really throwing in 63s and 64s consistently. If I shoot 69, 68, 67, that's a really solid round and I feel like I've played well. I'm guessing that's an indication of what the other players will be shooting, too. I don't think they'll really tear this course up, unless it gets very wet and soft, and we see that even at the hardest courses when it gets wet, people are able to make birdies. The greens become like dart boards and you can make some birdies. But if it stays firm and fast, I think this course will hold its own. Q. What about playing with Chris, any kind of scouting report? Do you know him yet? LUKE DONALD: We met for the first time about an hour ago, but I've heard a lot of great things about Coach Collins, and I'm expecting big things out of him this year with the basketball team. Obviously I had a good relationship with Northwestern and all their sports, and looking forward to getting to know Coach Collins a little better, and especially over today and for the future. Q. Luke, can you talk about just how excited you are to have this event here at your club and why you wanted to maintain a relationship with Conway Farms after your days at Northwestern? LUKE DONALD: Well, extremely excited when I heard there was a possibility of it coming here, and I pushed pretty hard with the TOUR to try and make that happen, and I'm not sure if I had any responsibility for that or not. But certainly I've always enjoyed my time here. Conway have always been very gracious to the Northwestern program letting the guys come out here and practice. I remember when I first came across to the U.S. and got to see this place for the first time, I was pretty amazed by what an amazing place it is and what a great golf course it is. I think I'm excited to hopefully show off this place. I think my fellow peers and professionals will really enjoy coming here. I think they've knocked it out of the park with sales, and hopefully the Chicago people will come and support this event and make it a great part of the FedExCup. Again, I hope the players love it, and hopefully this isn't the last time. I know we're scheduled for '15, as well, and hopefully that happens, too. Q. Luke, you mentioned you're in a different position heading into the FedExCup this year. Do you feel any extra pressure to make sure you are here? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I certainly would like to be here in a playing capacity, yeah, for sure. You know, I still have a lot of confidence in my ability, and hopefully that won't be a problem. Q. Mark, have you played out here before, and when you guys come to a new course for a tournament, what is the learning curve? How long does it take you guys to get the course down? MARK WILSON: Well, I played the 1997 NCAA championships here, and then Jeff Moore has been nice enough to let me come out, maybe once a year I usually call him up and see if I can play. I play it on a regular basis. But I think of Crooked Stick last year, and guys got in there late and then it was rainy, the pro‑am was rainy. I only played nine holes. I had never seen the other nine other than on TV. You know, I really still think that‑‑ we play a lot of courses in a given year, and a lot of new ones, and our games travel. I think there's a little learning curve, but whoever is playing the best is certainly going to come out near the top. Q. How do you feel about this course? How do you think it's going to play for the tournament? MARK WILSON: Like Luke said, I think weather is a big factor. Usually when I play out here, there's wind, so if there's wind, I think like Luke was saying, 67, 68s are good scores. But yeah, if we get soft conditions and no wind, it's going to look like Oak Hill last week where guys are shooting some 63s and 64s. Q. Mark, how is your ankle and does that teach you that you shouldn't be working out so strenuously? MARK WILSON: It's 100 percent golf‑wise, but my five‑year‑old son could beat me in soccer a lot easier than in the past, so I'm still working hard to get my ability to run and jump back, so maybe one day I can touch the rim of a 10‑foot goal. But golf‑wise it's fine. Thanks for asking. Q. As a player, Mark, when you have another player, a colleague of yours, who's so involved in an event at a place, how do you relate to them? Let's say there was something you didn't like about it that you saw today. Would you call him up or talk to him? How will the other players relate to him in this situation? MARK WILSON: He'd probably be the first one I'd go to. Yeah, and it would hopefully be in a nice capacity; hey, just a little word of ‑‑ an idea I had for this hole or that or whatever, and maybe he could pass it along to the club. Most of the time us golfers see the same stuff, so he'd be like, oh, I've been trying to change that for years. That's probably how we'd do it, but I don't think you're going to find a whole lot wrong with this place. Q. Luke, have guys already started asking you about Conway Farms, trying to get a little scouting report in before they even get out here? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, a couple people have certainly mentioned it to me, and I've given it glowing reports. I think the guys will like it. It's pretty much in front of you. It's a little bit of a different feel to what we play week in, week out, prairie land course with some fescue, but I think the guys will really enjoy this. I know Cog Hill was a place which hosted this championship for a long time, and I think guys are looking forward to having a new venue and obviously a new area, and I think this event will be a great success. Q. I'd like you both to talk for just a second if you would about the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars. You're both on the board of the WGA. Mark, why don't you start first about your involvement and why it's been so important to you over the years to be a part of the Western Golf Association? MARK WILSON: Yeah, I was just honored when John Kaczkowski came and asked me to be a director. I just think heavily of the organization. If any of you have caddied in this room, I caddied when I was 12 years old for about a season, and I know it's hard work lugging that bag around, and these kids, the stories you here from these kids that they do about 100 to 150 loops a year in this short season here in Chicago and all the other extracurricular activities they're doing at school, you just know when they get to college they're going to have that work ethic that's needed to succeed. My wife Amy and myself believe heavily in education and getting the new generation ready to be our next leaders, and Evans Scholars does that by providing the scholarships for those kids that might not otherwise go to college. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean, obviously having lived in Chicago for 16 years and obviously Evans Scholars being a big part of Chicago, just seeing how important education is to me and making sure that I went through four years of college and giving other individuals that opportunity to go to college just seemed like a very worthy thing to be involved with. As I said, I had four really great years at Northwestern. Northwestern has been a great supporter of the Evans Scholar Foundation, and yeah, I wanted to do whatever I could to help these guys learn some of life's lessons through golf and caddying but also have that opportunity to go to college and spend four years, which for me was some of the best years of my life. Q. Luke, are you going to let any of the TOUR guys stay with you during the event? LUKE DONALD: I think Sergio has already asked. He's probably number one on the list. Maybe one other. I'm not sure yet. Q. Are you going to say yes to Sergio do you think? LUKE DONALD: I think so, yeah. Sergio and I have been friends for a long time and we get along well. Certainly more convenient staying at mine, with it being at Conway. Q. How close are you, five, ten minutes from here? LUKE DONALD: About 20 minutes. Q. Do you think the players finally have a handle on the FedExCup format? There's been some tweaks along the way over the years, and if both of you could offer some general thoughts on the four venues that make up the Playoffs this year that would be great. MARK WILSON: Yeah, I think the players pretty much understand it, but it's the same. We have different levels of people who even care about that stuff. Some players just go out and free‑wheel it, don't even know, and they could have their manager or their caddie tell them, oh, you're in next week; oh, good, I'll go play. I'm the opposite; I always kind of know where I stand and stuff. It's been the same now since I think '09. There hasn't been a tweak yet. I think everybody understands that the Playoffs are five times worth the points, and I think all the venues are great. I love how Barclays is moving around to different places. Liberty National is a really cool feel where you're looking at Manhattan as you're hitting balls on the range, and you look back at your caddie and you see Manhattan, the skyline. Deutsche Bank, TPC Boston, has been a great course that's continually improving the look and feel of the course. I love what BMW is doing, moving it around, and we go to Denver next year. And of course East Lake is just a great place with a lot of history, so I enjoy all of them. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, very similar thoughts to Mark.  I love the fact that the TOUR is always continuing to try and find great venues to finish off the year. I think East Lake is a great place to have the TOUR Championship. Yeah, and as Mark said, they haven't messed around with the FedExCup, the points system and how it works for the last four or five years. So I think they feel like it's pretty close. They've obviously had some worthy winners. You know, it has some volatility, but it's also producing great winners. You know, because of that it's brought more attention to the end of the season for the golfers, and it's made it more exciting and fun for the fans to follow. Q. Is there a danger at all this year that the volatility might be too much, that a player could win five tournaments like he has and somebody could win one and‑‑ LUKE DONALD: There's always been that every year. I've gone through situations where I've‑‑ a couple years ago I had a really solid season. I was entering the FedExCup in third place or something. I had three or four top 10s and played great, and someone just won the last tournament and went above me. But I think in every sport you can have great preseasons, not play that great in the Playoffs and not win. I think that's why spectators and fans love it, because there is a little bit of volatility. You're not always going to get maybe the correct champion, but you're going to get the guy who played the best in the Playoffs. MARK WILSON: It's more exciting, too. If you think back to 2008 when Vijay won those two tournaments in a row and when he got to East Lake he already had the FedExCup as long as I think he just teed it up, right? Maybe even not. So is it fair or not? Probably not, but it provides excitement, and that's what generates the ideas we have behind what we do in terms of the points. Q. Luke, when was the first time you played here? Were you a freshman at Northwestern? LUKE DONALD: Would have been, yeah, freshman. I would have come here on my recruiting trip just to have a look around. It would have been April of '97, but I would have played it in the fall of '97, yeah. Q. And much like Mark asked, why have you stayed in Chicago, made this your home? What is it about this area? LUKE DONALD: I met my wife here, and she's from here. That had a lot to do with it. But no, I mean, obviously been with my coach, Pat Goss, for 16 years, just had a lot of ties here and made a lot of friends in college. I've always enjoyed the city of Chicago. I think it has a lot to offer. A lot of people get deterred because of the winters, but it has so much to offer: A lot of culture, a lot of great restaurants, a lot of things to do downtown, being on the water. You know, it's just a great place to live, and it's pretty easy to travel out of. Obviously I go down to Florida a bit in the winter, but having my wife and her family being here, obviously a big part of that decision, as well, but also feeling very comfortable here and enjoying the city. I've traveled around a lot in the U.S., and it doesn't get much better than here. Q. Mark, Wisconsin obviously doesn't have a TOUR event anymore. Now that this is north from Cog Hill, do you think there's a chance that maybe the state you're from will support this event and maybe we'll see some cheeseheads? MARK WILSON: Oh, yeah, there'll probably be a few cheeseheads out. There will be many cheeseheads and then actual cheeseheads. That was one of the first things I thought of when they moved it up here. Cog Hill, being way south, people up in Milwaukee aren't even thinking that's on the radar. But now that it's Conway Farms and it's just over the border, no question about it they're going to come out. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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