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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 8, 2014Luke GuthrieSILVIS, ILLINOIS DOUG MILNE: Luke Guthrie, thanks for joining us for a few minutes at the John Deere Classic. We appreciate your time. Obviously a tournament that means a lot to you. With that said, I think I just heard you say you pretty much just arrived, so I guess you haven't seen what's going on on the other side of these walls yet, but just some comments on being back here at the TPC Deere Run. LUKE GUTHRIE: Always feels back to come back to the John Deere. They gave me a start two years ago and was able to play well, and I grew up two and a half hours from here, so it feels like home, can see the Mississippi River, grew up around the Mississippi River. Feels good to be back. I heard the course is in great condition. Everyone is saying great things about it, and I think everyone looks forward to coming back here to the John Deere. Great fans, everyone around here loves their golf, and it's going to be a great week. Q. Coming into the week how are you feeling? What's kind of going best for you with your game right now? LUKE GUTHRIE: Yeah, I finished 26th last week at the Greenbrier, did a lot of good things. Really started kind of getting the ball to go in the hole a little bit for me, making some putts, hitting my irons really well. My driver kind of held me back last week, but I was in Champaign, Illinois, yesterday hanging out with Mike Small, my former coach at Illinois, and got my driver squared away and feeling a little better about it, and I've just got to give myself opportunities from the fairway, and I think I'll fare well. Q. What did last week do for your confidence? LUKE GUTHRIE: It's always good to see the ball kind of wanting to go in. Golf is a momentum game sometimes. You just ride it out. Like I said, I didn't hit my driver‑‑ I hit my driver pretty poorly last week and was able to get by that, and my short game was really sharp, my iron play was really sharp, so it's exciting to come into this week knowing the work I put in yesterday, kind of get some things figured out and clean up the driving, and everything else is going well. Q. How often do you bounce things off Mike Small? LUKE GUTHRIE: Quite a bit. I trust his opinion. Obviously he grew up a lot as a person and a player at Illinois in those four years, so he knows me personally and my game and kind of watched me grow up there a little bit. Like I said, I trust his opinion and things and kind of bounce ideas off him, what do you think about this, doing this, working towards this. I know he always has my best interest at heart, so I trust him. Q. Is he your only swing coach? LUKE GUTHRIE: I work with Brian Fogt a little bit down in‑‑ I've always kind of been a homemade guy a little bit. When I was younger, Mark Christensen from Quincy, Illinois, really gave me fundamentals of golf and just kind of let go play and hang out with my buddies and try and get better and beat people, and I've kind of‑‑ when I get stumped a little bit, I'll see somebody along the road, but for the most part try to kind of be a feel player and kind of own my own swing. Q. You mentioned getting the ball in the hole. How much of this game is mental for you more than just the physical and swing coaches and all that stuff, seeing the ball go in the hole? LUKE GUTHRIE: Oh, it's a huge thing. I think everyone out here is battling that in golf. That's kind of golf and life kind of go together pretty well, and you're just kind of‑‑ you have to overcome when the ball is not going in, you have to somehow trick yourself and believe 100 percent that this next one is going in. Sometimes that's difficult, and it's easier to do when you see the ball going in a little bit coming into the tournament and just kind of get out of your own way and let it happen now. Q. Obviously you can play well here. What is it about Deere Run that you liked two years ago and that you maybe can expect to see this year? LUKE GUTHRIE: The grass is familiar, just the bentgrass greens. I play a lot of golf on Bermudagrass now, just kind of the TOUR hangs down in Florida when it's cold up here, so that's kind of foreign territory for me. This is a little more comfortable and kind of see the breaks a little better and just be a little more comfortable around my surroundings and getting the ball up‑and‑down, and I think I play a little more aggressively and confidently. Obviously I've played this course, have a decent amount of rounds under my belt here, and actually watched my brother play at a high school golf championship here and conference championship, so I've been around this place a decent amount. Q. These galleries, a lot of familiar faces this week. Does that make it more fun for you to be out here and see everybody from back home? LUKE GUTHRIE: Oh, for sure. I mean, my next stop after here is the ticket trailer to go get my tickets. I've got a lot of family and friends here, and it's going to be awesome. Hopefully I can make birdies early and often and kind of get them fired up. I heard some guys from Quincy are doing beer per birdie, so hopefully they have a tough day. But no, it's going to be a great time. Last year I think I put a little pressure on myself because there was so many people to play really well, and this year, I mean, I'm just going to play golf and have fun. I'm playing well, and just like I said, get out of my own way and have fun. Q. How do you handle the fans and the hometown and not put any more pressure on yourself to do well here? LUKE GUTHRIE: I think it's a little bit of experience. You almost have to go through it once and realize that didn't work, so might as well not do it again. This year it's the same tournament, and when I was younger, I had never really went to a tournament by myself. My parents were always out there, had a lot of people supporting me. It's just always nice to see the friendly faces and the crowd and knowing that they're there no matter what, just to try to make more birdies than bogeys. Q. Does it add pressure? LUKE GUTHRIE: No, it really doesn't. I mean, it's really nice just to see them there, and it's more comfortable, like I was saying, and the more comfortable you are in situations, it seems like the better you play, and you just free up and play golf. Q. Last year was there something in particular that tripped you up on the course? LUKE GUTHRIE: I wasn't playing great coming into the tournament so I was really trying to play well, so trying to force it a little too much, and I had a lot of people out there supporting me, which was awesome, and I played a good round on Friday, just shot myself out of the tournament like three holes, so that's kind of tough. No, so it's going to be great. Q. You took a week off before Greenbrier, and I know that was kind of the plan, take a little more time off between events. Has the schedule worked to your favor? LUKE GUTHRIE: Yeah, I think it has. I feel way more fresher this year than I did last year at this point. I guess one year of experience under my belt knowing that I played a little too much early last year. When you're a rookie and in the category I was, you kind of have to play when you get the chances, too. So it's a double‑edged sword there. But yeah, I feel way more fresher. I haven't had my greatest year, but I've had a solid year. I haven't had the great finish and been there, but a lot of made cuts and a lot of top‑25 finishes and stuff. I'm just looking to kind of piece four rounds together and have a good chance to win. Q. What is the difference between Luke Guthrie last year and Luke Guthrie this year? LUKE GUTHRIE: I think I'm a better player first of all, just more consistent. I think the more tournaments, more years I get under my belt out here, the more comfortable I'm going to be. In college the first two years were kind of a struggle for me, and I just kind of adapted and I started playing well, and looking back on that, I just kind of got comfortable in my surroundings and kind of just started playing better golf and really started believing in myself. I can kind of start feeling that coming into my game out here, and this time there's only not two years left but hopefully 30 years left. Q. How much of that is playing the same courses and knowing when you go back to a course, hey, I've been here before, I know if I'm in this spot I can handle it? LUKE GUTHRIE: Definitely. I mean, just the familiarity that you're going to have with a golf course, you know where good and bad is a little more so than not. You kind of know what to expect and what the scores are going to be and everything, not to mention I had just arrived here just now, where your rookie year you're kind of having to get there early Monday, put your work in Monday and Tuesday because you're not in the practice rounds, a new course, competing against guys that have seen these places six ‑‑ a lot of times, whatever it be. But I think that's part of the reason I feel more fresher and was able to take Mondays off more this year. Q. How hard is that to deal with where one week you play real well and then the next week not as well? LUKE GUTHRIE: Definitely. That's part of golf, though. That's just all part of growing up in the game. Like I said, I feel like I'm growing up, and I think I'm going to smooth that out a little bit, and I think a lot of that is just kind of learn your own swing, learning the feelings that you have. You kind of get a little tense if something doesn't go right and you're trying to force it instead of just kind of slowing down and getting back to the simple things in golf like just a good rhythm in your swing or something like that. It's something that you kind of gain the more years you get out here, the more experience, and you're just a little calmer in those situations. Q. We've asked a lot of younger players what they take from Jordan Spieth's meteoric rise to success. Are you inspired by that, too, and maybe from a couple years' distance you probably understand better than they do that it's not as easy as he's making it look? LUKE GUTHRIE: He's played amazing. Obviously he's defending champ this week. And how consistent he's been, to get on the Presidents Cup, and he's looking good for the Ryder Cup this year. That's pretty amazing stuff that he's doing. Yeah, it's really cool for guys coming out of college, and shoot, I still feel like I'm almost in college. It doesn't feel like that long ago, and you're competing against these guys since your junior career and college career and you're beating them here and there or having a good rivalry and stuff, and all of a sudden he's out here playing really well. Even when like Rickie Fowler came out when I was more of like a freshman in college, I think that gives the younger guys a belief, like oh, it's possible, we can do this, and I think that's why you see a lot of the younger guys coming out and playing well right away. Q. What did that opportunity mean to you two years ago to play here on a sponsor's exemption? How big a factor has that been in who you are now? LUKE GUTHRIE: Oh, it was huge. Not only did it give me a start on the PGA TOUR; just besides that it's kind of a hometown event, I got to play in front of my kind of friends and family, had a lot of people coming to support me, and then I played well, and it really bolted me into my summer. I mean, it gave me a lot of confidence playing here, and that Sunday kind of being pretty nervous but like in a good way and being able to tame those nerves and play well and stuff, and really the most important tournament of that year for me was the Web.com, Columbus event, because I had no status anywhere, got in a playoff and that got me Web.com status, so you kind of tie that back into here, and it really kind of started me on my run. Q. How excited are you to participate in the pro‑am on Monday? LUKE GUTHRIE: Exactly. I played there two years ago. It's a great event. I know Darius Rucker is playing there this year, so I'm a country fan. I like Darius Rucker, so I'm looking forward to that more so than the golf almost. No, it's going to be a great event. They really come out and support that. The scramble before the pro‑am is fun. I know I just heard who I'm playing with in the scramble; it's a bunch of my buddies, Scott Langley, Robert Streb and stuff, so it's going to be a great time. I'm looking forward to it. Q. You've had the opportunity to play with some of the big names in golf this year, paired with them. Do you learn anything from that, take anything from that? I know sometimes there's not a lot of talking with those guys, but watching how they go about things? LUKE GUTHRIE: Yeah, you just try to soak it up and learn. I mean, I'm still pretty young here, and I don't know everything, and sometimes I can be pretty hardheaded, but I'm just trying to learn, learn from their example and try to get better. Anything that can get me better at golf I'll take advantage of that. Q. You're one of four former Illini in the field this week, just like last year. Is it nice to see those guys on a regular basis? LUKE GUTHRIE: Oh, for sure. It's just fun. Scott is kind of a buddy. I roomed with him in college at one point, and then Stricker I've gotten play a few practice rounds with and kind of just get to know and get to learn from him and see how good he is at golf and try to aspire to be that. On top of Illini Day being here Friday and going to see the orange and blue flags flapping around behind 17, I think that tent will have a couple Illini stuff going on and see a lot of orange and blue in the crowd. It's just fun. Q. What's more fun, playing well on Friday with the orange and blue out there or playing really well on Thursday with the black and gold Hawkeye stuff out there? LUKE GUTHRIE: Both, but it's the Illini Day just because there will be more people from Champaign, people I know from over there, and they'll be all in their orange and blue and they'll be getting rowdy. The more birdies you make the louder they're going to get and the more people are going to show up and it's fun to play in front of people, so why not. Q. You were talking about working with Mike yesterday. Is he coming up at the end of the week, and do you plan on doing anything with him? LUKE GUTHRIE: I think he's actually playing in a tournament down in St.Louis this week, so I don't think he's going to make it this week. But got some good‑‑ got a couple hours of work in with him, just kind of a checkup, and just kind of hanging out and chatting with him more than anything. We're kind of good buddies or good friends, and obviously like I said, I value his opinion and what he says and just kind of‑‑ it's confirmation I'm doing the right things. If he doesn't say anything really, that's a good thing. Q. How often are you able to get back to Champaign, and was it nice to get some face‑to‑face time? LUKE GUTHRIE: I don't get back too often. My brother still lives there. So does my caddie, so I got a free hotel room for the night, so that's nice. I get back as much as I can. Between Quincy and where my parents live, most of the time when I come back to Illinois I'm in Quincy for the most part because it's normally just for a couple days and got to see the parents. If I have a little more time, I go over to Champaign just because‑‑ Champaign has changed a lot since I've been there. There's three huge skyscrapers basically like downtown Green Street. I was impressed. It was cool to be back. Q. I don't know how often you hear from back home with your parents, but when you first heard that you were in the Little People's, what did that event mean to you and how did that kind of shape you? LUKE GUTHRIE: Oh, it was a huge event. That was the major of the summer for all Quincy people, and anyone I think in the area, and then on top of that, I played with somebody from I think India maybe and China there. I know Rory came and played one time, so it's amazing the people that have come to Quincy, Illinois, and that part of the world and competed. I know they've kind of struggled a little bit here in the past, but it's a great event. It's just such a good way to kind of jump start and just a good platform to compete and just have fun with it, whether it takes you to the PGA TOUR or college or not. It's fun to compete and have that‑‑ go try to beat people, and it's a great platform to do that. Q. You said Zach is on your bag now. Is that something that you're comfortable with, and how is that working out, and is that going to be long‑term or what's the situation there? LUKE GUTHRIE: He's been on the bag for the last two years, so yeah, we're comfortable together. Yeah, he's great at his job, and we get along. We've always got along for being brothers. We don't fight too much. He's five years older than me, so some of that comes from that. I've always kind of looked up to him. Maybe if we were a little closer in age it would have been a little more of a bad idea. But no, we get along well, and he knows my game, as well, so I see that as an asset, and he kind of can straighten me out from time to time and help me out. Q. Do you actually listen to him? LUKE GUTHRIE: I do, for the most part. Like I said, I'm a hardhead sometimes when it comes to things. It's hard to admit that you're wrong right in that moment. No, I listen to Zach. DOUG MILNE: Luke, we appreciate your time, as always, and best of luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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