|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 13, 2014Brian HarmanSILVIS, ILLINOIS DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome the winner of the 2014 John Deere Classic, Brian Harman. Congratulations on your first career PGA TOUR win. BRIAN HARMAN: Thank you, man. DOUG MILNE: With the win you move to No.14 in the FedExCup standings, you earn your ticket to this week's Open Championship. You started the day with a one‑shot lead, and more importantly, you ended the day with a one‑shot lead, so congratulations on a wonderful week. BRIAN HARMAN: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah, it was definitely stressful out there with Zach playing so well and Scott Brown, a good buddy of mine, I was watching him make birdies in front of me. I just knew if I stuck to my game plan and did the things that I wanted to do, I knew that my golf swing was probably as good as it's been all year. I knew if I could just get a couple putts to drop, I'd be in good shape. I was fortunate enough to get a couple to drop, and playing that last hole with a two‑shot lead is a lot better than with a one‑shot lead. Q. Six Georgia Bulldogs on the PGA TOUR this year. Thoughts about the program and how you guys are representing? BRIAN HARMAN: We had some good teams, man. We're always pushing each other, still buddies, most of us, so excited that now we've got something else to talk about. Q. Zach said he's not surprised. He's a neighbor, he played with you on the final Sunday last year, and that's got to be real gratifying that the guys that know your game were not surprised. BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, that's a huge compliment for Zach to give me. He's done so well out here and won so many golf tournaments, just to be able to go toe to toe with him out here was pretty special. Q. Do you model yourself after Zach in any way? He described you as a gritty guy who plays simple golf, and that's a fair description of him. BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I appreciate the way that Zach plays the game. He does it the right way. He does what he does extremely well, if not better than everyone else. At the beginning of this year I kind of caught myself trying to imitate too many guys at once, and I just kind of made the decision to try to be a little bit better version of myself and to do the things that I know how to do and to see where that took me. Q. Two years ago you went off in the second to the last group with Zach and you had a rough day and he ended up winning the tournament. Did you learn anything from that experience? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously playing with Zach, that was the first time that I was anywhere close to a lead really my rookie year, and having to deal with just all the distractions of playing in the last couple groups, it's a lot tougher than playing in the first group, for instance. I actually talked to Zach about it, and he felt like that I was trying to get out of his way a little too much and that I needed to kind of stake my ground a little bit. I definitely learned a lot from that situation. Q. You were talking about watching Zach ahead of you make birdies and Scott Brown. How much were you paying attention to them, and did it at all distract your game? BRIAN HARMAN: No, it didn't. I knew that those guys were going to make birdies. I would have been way more shocked if they weren't making birdies. I knew that I was going to‑‑ as good as I was hitting it, I was going to have some looks on the back nine, and that's all you can ask for really. No, it didn't affect the way that I played any holes. I tried to play every shot on its merits, and I was just satisfied to add them up at the end and see how I was doing. Once I made those three birdies, I didn't know where I stood until I stood on 18 tee box. Q. On 15 you had to wait to hit out of the bunker while Steve dealt with his shot. Did you start thinking a little bit or did you get out of your rhythm to wait so long? BRIAN HARMAN: Well, I caught myself a couple times thinking about the future today, and I just had to kind of reboot and say, all right, we've got six holes left. The only way you're going to get what you want is if you play these six holes really well. I just kept doing that and kept doing that and kept doing that and just hoping the holes were going to run out. Q. What do you think about the future now? BRIAN HARMAN: I think the future looks pretty good. Q. What does that future hold then? BRIAN HARMAN: Like I said, there's no telling. My game‑‑ Q. What were you thinking about? BRIAN HARMAN: You're talking about today? Yeah, obviously, I'm like, wow, I've got a two‑shot lead or I have a one‑shot lead. Yeah, I was aware of what was going on all day for the most part, but I didn't really start playing well until I could put that in the back of my mind because that doesn't help. Q. Did you think about the future as in, oh, my gosh, I get to play the British Open next week, I'm going to go to the Masters next year? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, all those things you have to entertain those thoughts at some point or another. I think anyone who says they blocked all that out, they're being a little facetious. But when those thoughts enter, it's like, what's the best way to get those things you want. It's like, I've got eight holes left and I've got to play these eight holes like I play them all the time. Q. What was the first thought that went through your head when your putt went in on 18? BRIAN HARMAN: I just wanted to give my caddie a big ol' hug. We've been through so much this year, so many ups and downs, and he's always had faith in me and I wanted to give him a hug and tell him how much I appreciated what he had done all year for me. Q. Did Steve ask if you wanted him to finish out on 18? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, he did, and he was actually going to be standing in my line a little bit, but I was like, oh, it's fine. That's a classy move by Steve to finish out and let me enjoy that. Q. You put a lot of pressure on yourself to get that first win. What was that like for you? What did you do? BRIAN HARMAN: Well, obviously a lot of guys that I played golf with in college and junior golf are doing extremely well out here, Harris and Russell and Brendan Todd and Chris Kirk and all these guys. We were all right there neck and neck all the time in college, and they've won a lot of golf tournaments. It feels good to‑‑ like I said, now we've got a little something else to talk about. Q. There have been a lot of people that have helped you have a part in this through the years. Anyone that got you going in the game? BRIAN HARMAN: I really started the game on my own. We lived on a golf course, I was a baseball player, but Jack Lumpkin back home, my teacher, I've been working with him since I was 12. I can't wait to get on the phone with him and talk to him. Q. (Inaudible) what's it do to your mind? BRIAN HARMAN: For me it was just, all right, what's the next hole like? Obviously I was very excited to make a 3 there. I was very pleased to make a 3 on that hole, but that excitement can't carry over to the next shot, or it will affect the next shot. That's just something that you can't afford to do, especially when Zach Johnson is shooting 64s. Q. Have you crossed paths with Zach very often? BRIAN HARMAN: Well, he's got a whole clan of kids and everything, so he's always riding bicycles by the house and everything. I mean, like I said, Zach and I, we've practiced together and we've played together a few times, and he's always been a complete gentleman to me and always trying to help. I mean, he doesn't have to do that. You know what I mean? So it's cool that he does. Q. Yesterday the bogey on 18, that could have played on your mind. You could have folded at that point. You showed a lot of strength between the ears, I think. BRIAN HARMAN: First time I've thought about it since yesterday. Q. Talk about being a better version of yourself. What is that? BRIAN HARMAN: Well, I feel like that I've always been a pretty good gifted ball striker. Like I've always been able to hit the ball pretty hard and kind of get it where I am going, and I haven't ever even since I got on TOUR felt like my ball‑striking was where it needed to be, and even the stats and everything else would kind of back that up, and this was really the first week that I've felt like that I had complete command working the ball both ways, being able to bend it off the tee box, and I think the stats will probably show that. Q. When did you feel the pressure the most? BRIAN HARMAN: I think No.8 probably was probably when it was the worst because I wasn't feeling spectacular. I had made a bogey on 6‑‑ or 5, I'm sorry, and I didn't hit a great shot into 8 and I glanced at the leaderboard and I saw the guys were playing well, so that's when I felt it, but I was able to calm down and hit three really good shots on 9 to make a birdie, and that kind of got me going. Q. When you hear the term good pairing out here, even though he's had a lot of success out here, was Steve Stricker a good partner for you to play with today in the final group? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, Steve and his caddie Jimmy are good buddies of myself and Scott. We were joking and laughing, and Steve is a big deer hunter, so we were talking deer hunting all day. Q. You've made some comments in this community before this week and established some ties here. Does that give you an extra comfort level playing in this tournament? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I grew up in South Georgia and here reminds me a lot of there. I feel at home like I said to you all yesterday. I'm a big red meat guy and they've got the best beef in the country. I do, I feel great around here, got to spend some time with Mr.Ontiveros and group this week, and they're always more than generous taking me out to dinner and stuff. Q. Did it feel like a regular Sunday round today being in the last pairing? BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I mean, today it was very nerve‑racking. It was very hard, probably one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do in my life. Just trying to not let your mind run wild is the hardest part out there. I knew that my golf game was good enough, and I just kept having to go back to that and just trust it. Q. Was it that way from the first step on the floor this morning, or did it build? BRIAN HARMAN: Well, it sure was nice having my fiancé Kelly around. We're always laughing and joking, so we were just kind of messing around this morning, and it was just like another day at the house. It definitely helped keep my mind off of it. Q. After the frustration of those two missed cuts, when did it feel like your swing clicked? BRIAN HARMAN: I went and saw my teacher, we worked on Saturday, so Kelly and I drove home from the Greenbrier, it was about a 10‑hour drive, and I worked the next morning with Jack, and my alignment wasn't very good, and I worked on it, and then we went to the beach on Sunday and I came back out Monday and I really thought about it a lot. I didn't do anything on Sunday but I thought about it. It looked really good on camera on Monday and just gave me just a little bit of confidence coming up here, and then to get off to the start that I did was what really kind of solidified it in my mind. Q. How does it feel to be going to the British Open? BRIAN HARMAN: Damned good. (Laughter.) Q. Another tradition here is that you're going to likely get a bobblehead. Have you ever thought about that, whether you're going to pose or‑‑ BRIAN HARMAN: Well, Kelly says I have a big head, so‑‑ a big‑sized head, so it'll be a big bobblehead. DOUG MILNE: I think you're the 20th or 21st first‑time winner. How nice is it to make this your first Tour win? BRIAN HARMAN: It'll be a special place in my heart for the remainder of my career, so thank you, John Deere. Q. The golf ball doesn't know how big the person that's hitting it is, but are you motivated a little bit by maybe being one of the shorter guys‑‑ BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I've always been one of the shorter guys when I played football and baseball and basketball and all that kind of stuff. That's always been a source of motivation. I don't let it bother me really. It doesn't bother me, but there are times that it feels good to hit it by a guy that's a little bit bigger than me. Q. What do you generally shoot‑‑ BRIAN HARMAN: Man, I don't know, I just try to hit the back of that ball as hard as I can most times. DOUG MILNE: Brian, congratulations on your first PGA TOUR win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|