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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 26, 2014Jim FurykILE BIZARD, QUEBEC THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Jim Furyk, to the RBC Canadian Open media center. A 65 today to take a three‑shot lead, looking for your third RBC Canadian Open title tomorrow. Tell us what went well for you out there and the key to your round. JIM FURYK: Yeah, for the most part of the day I felt like I played real solid. I hit the ball well again. It was nice to get off to a good start on 1 where I really felt like I hit a perfect drive and it went up the left side. The wind never really touched it. It started chipping left and all of a sudden ended up in the bunker under the lip and I hit it fat out of there, but it was nice to hit that wedge in there tight, make about a four‑footer for par and kind of settle down a little bit. You know, I felt like I played very well today. I made a couple loose swings in spots, so what I think I was real happy about, the up‑and‑downs at 6, 11, I guess 1, 6, 11 and 16, where I got the ball up‑and‑down, made some good putts at 6 and 11 and kind of kept the round going, and then struck the ball very well for the rest of the day and gave myself some opportunities and made some putts. It was a fun round of golf, really. Those up‑and‑downs were the difference between 65 and maybe a 68 or 69 today, and it's nice to have that happen. Q. For an experienced player such as yourself, what's the key to maintaining the good play going into the final round tomorrow? JIM FURYK: I think not really worrying about what position I'm in in the golf tournament, not looking at the leaderboard too much, going out there and trying to attack the golf course the same way that I have the first three days. I think that while I'll check the weather out tonight, from what I saw, the wind direction is supposed to be similar to what we've seen all week, coming from the southwest somewhere. We could get some rain. We could get some thunderstorms. It's going to be a quick night, get home as quick as I can now, turn it around, pack up and get ready to get out of here tomorrow night hopefully. I guess there's pluses and minuses to that. I wouldn't mind the rest, but it's also nice to kind of turn around quick and get right back after it. Q. Specifically the up‑and‑down on 11, can you just go through the whole thought process of deciding to play that particular sort of low, running shot after taking the drop? JIM FURYK: It was really the only option. Where I dropped the ball it was basically on hardpan. It settled down actually in a bit of a hole. Putting the ball up in the air, if I'd have flown that ball on the green, it would have ended up on the other side of the green at best. There's a chance, good chance I would miss the green anyway. I felt like the best chance was to play it back, just hit it into the hill and hope it would pop up on the green somewhere. For it to end up 15 feet was a bonus, and then actually to make the putt, I definitely feel like I stole one. My mindset was there, let's take 6 out of play, what can we do to make 5 at worst and move on, and to get out of there with a 4 was definitely a bonus. Q. Do you think that's the type of shot that maybe a younger player would try and pop it up and get too aggressive, like the shot you play, do you think you in a way owe that to your experience? JIM FURYK: I don't know. There wasn't much option. With a good lie I probably would have flown that ball on the green, still with a good lie, 20, 25 feet is probably the best I would have done, but it would have given me the best chance to put the ball on the green, and that was first and foremost. But there weren't too many good lies there, and the ball actually settled down. I don't think many people would have done much different. Q. You've been in this position many times in your career. How much is experience going to be worth tomorrow? The leaderboard isn't filled with guys who have been in this position before. JIM FURYK: You know, I think it's always nice to have experience in rounds, whether I've played well, whether you've won or ended up not winning the golf tournament, you draw from both experiences. The guys that are out here that have played so well for three days already, everyone is capable. Timmy Clark has got a lot of experience, Kyle has won before. Those are the two guys I'll be playing with. I haven't really looked at the board. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of leaderboards out there to be honest with you, which, I don't know, could be a good thing in spots. You never know. So I didn't really look at the board that much today. I'm not sure of the guys that are up there, but they've all played well to this point, and we've seen good rounds. You saw Graham and I shoot 7‑under yesterday, Timmy shot 6 today. There is a good round out there, so you know, guys can go out there and fire a low one and definitely put some heat on the last group. Q. Do you remember your last bogey? JIM FURYK: Yeah. Q. That was a long time ago. Can you comment on that stretch? JIM FURYK: It's really not important. I know it's something that the media outside want to talk about. What is important is I'm 15‑under, and if that was with 25 birdies and 10 bogeys or 16 birdies and one bogey, it's really not that important. I would take another 65 tomorrow with as many bogeys as can be on the card. Q. If there was one shot you could take back today, which one would that be? JIM FURYK: You know, I don't have many regrets. Probably the‑‑ I made probably three bad swings. That was the swing into 6, the swing into 11, and the tee shot off of 16, which I didn't really commit to very well. But it all turned out fine, and that's part of the process. You learn from those, and I think I‑‑ I didn't make a great swing off the 18th tee, but it was a hell of a lot better than 16, and it's a very similar shot. Q. What do you think has held you back? You've had a lot of chances at winning since 2010. JIM FURYK: Sometimes I just got outplayed. Case in point would be Jason Dufner at the PGA last year. Other times I felt like I got in my own way, and that would be Akron and Keegan Bradley and not closing it out when I had the opportunity. If it were that easy to pinpoint and put your thumb on‑‑ I know that I've taken from those experiences. I'll spend a little time each time, whether I win or lose, and kind of think about what went through my mind down the stretch, physically the shots I hit down the stretch, spend a little time analyzing it and make a decision to move on pretty quickly. Probably if I had to pinpoint one thing, physical or mental, I'd say just putting a lot of pressure on myself and maybe trying a little bit too hard. Q. Where are you in terms of trying to have more fun this year? You talked about that earlier this season. And what did taking those weeks off before the British do for you? JIM FURYK: Well, mentally it put me in a really good frame. I was starting to get to a point where I was tired. Last year I took three of those four off. The only one I played was the AT&T at Congressional. But to have that extra week off, to go out West with my family, spend time with the kids and Tabitha, we had some friends that came out, we had a really good time. So I think mentally it kind of cleared my mind. I won't say I was worried that I wouldn't be physically on for the British Open. It was one of those, well, if I'm rusty, I'm rusty; that's what it takes right now; that's what I needed to do for me and my family. But I was pretty happy, I got to the British Open, I actually knocked the rust off pretty quick and felt pretty mechanically sound and really trusted my golf swing, and then that kind of carried on to this week. You know, more than anything I think it was just kind of a deep breath kind of halfway through the season, maybe a little bit more, take a little time off, relax, and kind of get charged up for a big stretch. Hopefully I'll make the TOUR Championship. I should be on the Ryder Cup team. That's a possibility playing nine of 11 weeks, and this is only week two. There's a lot of golf ahead, and I think it'll help me pace myself a little bit. Q. You've had back‑to‑back Canadian Open wins before. Obviously they're all different courses. Is there anything you take away from the experience of winning here in Hamilton or Markham at Angus Glen that helps you tomorrow do you think? JIM FURYK: I'm not sure any more than winning any other golf tournament if that makes sense because the golf courses change. If you're returning to Hamilton or returning to Angus Glen, you can draw from experiences and shots that you've hit. But you know, it's nice to come back. I definitely have been treated very well. It was fun to play with Graham and Kuch. We're all with team RBC, obviously Graham being Canada's best player at the moment got a lot of support out there, but I felt like Matt and I did, as well, and from winning here a couple of times, I always feel like I get quite a bit of support, so it's nice to see. Q. How do you explain your consistency? Is it hitting fairways or putting or both? JIM FURYK: Oh, this week? Q. Yeah. JIM FURYK: You know, I just feel like‑‑ the first couple days I felt like I struck the ball really well and really never had myself in too much trouble. I hit a lot of greens, I think 17 greens yesterday. The one green I missed yesterday was I was this far off and the pin was only about 15 feet away. You know, it had a lot to do with that. Today I found a way to score and get the ball in the hole and hit the ball well for most of the day, but when I didn't I found a way to get the ball up‑and‑down and knocked in a putt at key times. Kind of a mixture of a bunch of things, I think. Q. What felt better to you, knocking it stiff to a couple inches on 9 or getting it up‑and‑down on 11? JIM FURYK: Well, they both felt really good, I guess. 9 was good, a good way to kind of cap off the front nine. 7 and 8 were‑‑ 6, 7 and 8 were playing kind of short, didn't make a birdie those three holes, and then to get one back there, a kick‑in to six inches on a difficult pin was nice. Sometimes those big par saves where it looks like I'm going to make bogey for sure, I'm trying not to make double, and you walk out of there with a par, that's a huge boost of confidence. I had a big grin on my face after 11, so it probably felt a little bit better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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