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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 26, 2014Tim ClarkILE BIZARD, QUEBEC THE MODERATOR: We welcome Tim Clark to the media center. Tim, a 64 today to put you right in the hunt at the RBC Canadian Open and off to a great start with a birdie‑eagle start in the first two holes. Maybe tell us what that start did for your round. TIM CLARK: Yeah, it's always nice to get off to a great start, particularly on a Saturday. Saturdays are normally the toughest day to score on, and I hit my tee shot in a similar spot yesterday on the 2nd and it was a tougher flag position, so you dream of a start like that, and after that I continued to play some pretty solid golf, I think again without a bogey today. THE MODERATOR: When you get off to a great start like that, how do you kind of refocus yourself and understand you still have 16 holes to go? TIM CLARK: Yeah, I never got really too ahead of myself, and that's what happens when you're playing good golf. You stay calm and you're focusing on each shot, and that's what I've done for three days. Q. You're known as a not long hitter shall I say. Is this the kind of course that benefits you to any extent, or are you hitting your long clubs well? TIM CLARK: Yeah, I'm hitting long clubs well, too. There's a couple par‑4s out there and a par‑3 that I'm having to hit hybrid or 5‑wood depending on the wind, but when you're swinging well and hitting the ball well, to me it doesn't matter what I'm hitting in. I don't really care. Some of those holes they put us up a tee and it's allowed me to actually get to them. I think if we played off the back tees on a couple of the par‑4s there, I'd actually have a tough time getting to them, so that's helped me a lot, too. Q. You were bogey‑free today, actually just one bogey over the three first rounds. That's quite impressive. Can you talk about that and explain what you're doing so well on this course? TIM CLARK: Well, it stems back to what I did at the Deere. I think I played my last three rounds at the John Deere with one bogey, so that's six rounds with two bogeys, and it's really all come from hitting fairways and greens again. I think I was struggling a little bit with my ball‑striking at the start of the year, then I found it a few months ago but then I wasn't making any putts, and you've just got to make crucial putts at certain times, and today I made a 10‑, 12‑footer for par on the par‑5 which saved that sort of bogey streak. That's been the difference now. I've had the ball striking for a few months, and now finally the putts are starting to go. Q. Can you just go over your health‑‑ you've had a myriad of health issues the last couple years. Have they all resolved themselves? Are you healthy now? TIM CLARK: You know, I've obviously had some elbow issues, and it's something I've always got to stay on top of. Right now I feel pretty good and I am able to swing how I want to swing. That wasn't the case at the start of the year. I had to have cortisone into my left elbow at the start of the year, and I think that slowed me down for the first few months. Like I say, three months ago I started to hit the ball good again, swing it good, but I just wasn't scoring. Finally the last few tournaments I've started to score. Q. You have an interesting history in Canada because you won the CPGA a long time ago now. Could you recount that? I know I've heard the story before but it's been a few years. Was that your first professional win, in London? TIM CLARK: Actually I won the week before, and it was fun. Just coming out of college and I was doing a lot of mini‑Tour stuff and just burning through money, not making cuts, and I was fortunate enough that I was given a few starts up here in Canada. I won the New Brunswick Open to get me into the Canadian PGA. Funny enough I never saw either course. I didn't play one practice round for those two weeks, one due to weather, one due to celebrating the week before. It was a fun two weeks and definitely springboarded me and gave me that confidence that professional golf was something I could do. Q. What did you learn about Canada? Were you driving between events or did you fly? TIM CLARK: Well, I was of the age you couldn't rent a car. I know the first tournament I recall a bus somewhere and then I just sort of latched on to a few South African players that were over here playing and somehow made it around unscathed. Q. You've talked of your bogey‑free stretch, and Jim Furyk is also doing very well. It seems like you're going to play with him tomorrow. How do you feel about that? TIM CLARK: It'll be fun. I mean, it'll be great to be in the final group. Jim is a really tough competitor, and like you said, this course seems to fit into our sort of game. It's an Open Championship, you need to fit fairways and greens, and that's both of our strengths. If you do hit it in the rough here, it's at the length where there's fliers and you have to judge that, and the few times I have been in the rough I've been able to hit a nice shot and get it up around the green or on the green. Yeah, it's a course that suits us, and that's a great thing to see. Q. How do you feel like you've handled the nerves the last few weeks, whether it was Memphis or John Deere when you've had chances on Sunday? TIM CLARK: Yeah, I think obviously the first few days I felt great this week. I probably haven't handled it the best those weeks. I shot 4‑under the final round at John Deere, but it's one of those days you know you have to go out and shoot 7‑ or 8‑under. Again, it's a case of just making those putts when you need them. The good thing about the John Deere is I felt like I still putted good, they just didn't go in the hole. That's going to give me confidence tomorrow that I didn't get ahead of myself. I was able to stay shot for shot. Tomorrow is going to be the same way. Who knows what Jim is going to do tomorrow. He may go out and shoot 4‑ or 5‑under. It's a case of just going out and playing golf, and if you play great on this course, you can shoot a low score. Q. What was the frustration like for you early in the year when you had to withdraw? TIM CLARK: Yeah, I mean, I started to feel my elbow really, and soon after that I had the cortisone shot, and it took a couple months for me to get really back into it. That's frustrating because I had just missed a year three years ago with elbow surgery. But I wouldn't say there's any player out here that's not playing hurt at some point in time, so it's one of those things you've got to buckle down and play through it, and it's just nice to finally see the results. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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