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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 18, 2014Chad PfeiferJosh ScobeeSTATELINE, NEVADA THE MODERATOR: We have two gentlemen in the media room. First day, first time they've each been in the tournament. Looks like a first‑timer's deal. Chad Pfeifer with 24 points; Josh Scobee with 20. First‑time players. Great to have you here. Chad, why don't you take us through your round a little bit and let us know what holes you birdied or what you remember out there. Let's start there. CHAD PFEIFER: Didn't remember much. There was a lot of nerves, that's for sure. Just tried to play my own game and just tried to play steady golf. So I knew doubles are no good, obviously. But as long as I could eliminate a lot of bogeys and just, if I can play par golf, I'll make some birdies and hopefully don't give any back with doubles. So birdied 17, which was a lot of fun‑‑ JOSH SCOBEE: Got me by two there, by the way. CHAD PFEIFER: I played with Alfonso Ribeiro and he got me to do the Carlton dance. So that was a lot of fun. THE MODERATOR: Josh, take us through your round, let us know what holes you birdied, if you can remember those, and give us your impressions of the first round here at the American Century Championship. JOSH SCOBEE: I can tell you, I don't know how everyone else feels for their first time, but I've been playing in the NFL for 10 years and you don't get nervous in football like you do here. I mean, it's unbelievable how you get over the ball and how nervous you are. It's amazing. But I started out on No.10 and hit great tee ball, ended up bogeying 3‑putting, but on 11 I drove the green to about 10 feet made the putt for eagle. Got my round jump started. Made a bunch of pars, and then birdied 16 and ended up with 13 points on the front nine and kind of got derailed on No. 3, made just a careless double bogey and lost two points there. And I kind of just held it together after that. I think I parred the rest of the holes after that. But first round here, my second full round at Edgewood, and the course is amazing. And it's still going to take a little bit of time to get used to the elevation change and the lay of the land. But I really enjoyed it. THE MODERATOR: Billy Joe Tolliver when he was in here yesterday, he said: Hey, all you media folks, if you want to make some money, bet on Josh. JOSH SCOBEE: That's good impression of Billy Joe, too. THE MODERATOR: Doesn't take much. (Laughter) JOSH SCOBEE: I have a good one too. Nice of him to say that. He and I are same members of the course in Louisiana. He gets to see me play; I get to see him play. Nice of him to tout me like that. Now I'd like to go out and play a little better tomorrow and see what can happen later on. THE MODERATOR: Billy mentioned you were about a plus 4; is that accurate? JOSH SCOBEE: It is. I didn't play like a plus 4 today. I actually left quite a few out there. But that's just how it is in tournament golf; you have some silly mistakes that you don't normally make in your normal Saturday game. But you just try to make up for it with birdies. THE MODERATOR: You were more nervous out there today over a driver on the first tee than you are a 45‑yarder with about two seconds to win a ball game. JOSH SCOBEE: Absolutely, because I've been in that position more times than I have playing in front of these people that are trying to whisper not be loud. It's a different animal. Playing golf in front of people is completely different than people screaming at you, calling you names you've never heard before. But I really enjoy‑‑ tournament golf is a lot of fun and this is the coolest tournament I've ever played in. Q. We can scream at you tomorrow if you want. JOSH SCOBEE: That would feel more realistic. Q. Chad, when you came in here, you were a feel‑good story. Everybody was really happy. Everyone's expressing their thanks to you for your service to the country. You put a little golf on people out today. CHAD PFEIFER: I played well, but the experience I've had the last few days, had some Vietnam era guys come up and thank me. And it's really cool to get thanks from them. But they're the ones that should be getting the thanks because the way they were treated paved the way for how we've been treated. But it's been fun. Everyone considers me a hero, but that's not‑‑ guys in the military are just doing their job and that's how most of them feel. But it's special. It's fun to have them come up and thank me. But it's great with all the sport. Q. How are you feeling on that first tee today when you teed off? CHAD PFEIFER: I was nervous. Took me a couple holes to get the nerves out. Ended up bogeying 1. And I think I made a pretty good par putt on 2 that just kind of settled the nerves a little bit. Q. Chad, as you went up higher on the leaderboard did your gallery get any bigger, did you notice? CHAD PFEIFER: Just on 16 and 17 and then 18. But that's a big party there anyways. Q. What were they saying to you on 17? CHAD PFEIFER: A lot of them were just thanking me. So it was a lot of cheering, a lot of hearing my name out there, which is awkward, I guess. I'm not used to that. But it was a lot of fun. Q. Josh, 17, first time there ever with people, explain your feelings, just the whole atmosphere you had to go through? JOSH SCOBEE: Luckily it was a little subdued from what I've heard. We were the first tee time off 10 so I guess the crowd wasn't as rowdy as they normally were. But there was still a lot of people there. And I had just birdied 16 so I had some adrenalin going. I hit a really good shot to about 15feet, just left. And adrenalin was still going on my putt because I ran it by about four feet. And missed that one. So made a nice bogey there. He got me by a couple of shots on 17. But that's a crazy experience. I mean, if you can compare it to any hole at 17, TPC Sawgrass where I live, I can't even imagine hitting in front of that many people, especially when they're quiet compared to these people that are screaming at you. Q. Chad, how would you grade your invitation to the Carlton dance? CHAD PFEIFER: Probably‑‑ JOSH SCOBEE: Do we have video? CHAD PFEIFER: Probably a half. That was a lot of fun. That was a fun experience. But, yeah, he's definitely got more experience doing that than I do. (Laughter). Q. What are you thinking about going into tomorrow? You've had a great first round. Chad, I don't know, were either one of you expecting to be in the hunt right off the get‑go? CHAD PFEIFER: I knew if I played pretty good golf, you know, I wouldn't be too far off the lead. But yeah, if I could play steady golf, I figured I'd be close to the hunt or in the hunt or close to the leader. But just go into tomorrow the same way I went today and just try to play good golf. I'll try not worrying about being on top of the leaderboard. JOSH SCOBEE: I feel the same way. I felt if I went out and played not to my best ability but just a little better than average what I normally play, I could be around the top of the leaderboard. And to tell you the truth, I didn't play how I wanted to because I left quite a few shots out there and I still scored 20 points. So that's a good sign. And so now I know what to work on and try to eliminate those mistakes for tomorrow and make a few more putts. Q. Chad and Josh, what kind of feeling do you have inside knowing that you're way ahead of Annika, the odds are big‑time favorite. My wife and I went to put a couple of bets on you last night, you were 15 to 1, I see Josh Scobee, he's in the field. JOSH SCOBEE: You got that one. Got the same thing. Q. How does that feel to be sitting here and Annika is back home cooking chicken or something? JOSH SCOBEE: Well, I don't know what she's cooking. But‑‑ Q. She sliced her finger cooking chicken that's why I said that. JOSH SCOBEE: I didn't know that. Q. It wasn't a sexist comment. JOSH SCOBEE: I probably had the same reaction that everyone else did trying to win this tournament, that it's going to be tough and we might all be playing for second place. So I don't know how she's playing. But can't really worry about her until we might have to play with her. So she has obviously an amazing career and an accomplished golfer, but we still have to all come out and play the same tees and make the same putts. CHAD PFEIFER: Like Josh said, she's had an amazing career. She's an LPGA legend. I'd still be willing to bet she could throw a 33, 34 points at any time. So I mean haven't really thought about it. I'm sure Josh probably hasn't either. But we can't really think about who is chasing us or who is in the hunt or whatever. I think if we just go out and play our golf, that's kind of‑‑ I'm just having a good time. So I mean that's what the whole thing's about, is a great time and raising awareness and so it's an amazing event and I'm just having a lot of fun. Q. Both of you, does the modified Stableford change anything in terms of other tournaments you've played that might use just a standard stroke scoring? Did it change your approach today? CHAD PFEIFER: For me, it didn't. I know it's nice if you do have a blowup hole. The worst you can give up is two points. Where if you're doing stroke play, you could take a 10 on a hole and really fall behind. So I mean in that sense it's great. But other than that, I don't think‑‑ I haven't changed my game at all coming into this. JOSH SCOBEE: I played quite a few tournaments this year, too, and this is the first Stableford tournament I've ever played. And to me it does change it. It changes the way or how aggressive I am because you can go out and have 18 pars and get 18 points. But if you have nine birdies and nine bogeys you have 27 points. So it makes me be a little more aggressive off the tee. And I did that today. I just didn't take advantage of my good drives. And so tomorrow I'm going to try and hit the same balls that I hit today off the tee and take advantage of the shots I had coming in. But it's just a different format that it lends to being aggressive and making birdies. And that's just something that you gotta do, is be aggressive and make putts. Q. Chad, at some point you lost your cart today. Do you know what happened to it what hole did that happen? CHAD PFEIFER: No, that was on 17. I went back outside the ropes to grab the cart and it wasn't there. So I just walked the rest of the way in, which isn't too bad. I can typically walk a round of golf, but doing it back‑to‑back days, it takes a toll on my leg. I'm hoping to kind of preserve my legs today and tomorrow and then Sunday I'll be walking the whole round. Q. Chad, there's a special program that's going on this week at the American Century Championship where veterans are being allowed in free along with a guest and I think we've had about 2500 tickets ahead of time. So what's the message you want to give to your guys? CHAD PFEIFER: I mean, thank them for their service. I mean, it's really cool for them to come out and for American Century to do the program that allows them to come out. They've showed a lot of great support for me, and I think it will be great to show a lot of support from the other fans to them. So I know a lot of them are wearing their Vietnam hats and their Air Force or branches of the military. So it's a good representation that's come out, and good for you guys for allowing them to come out. So it's awesome. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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