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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 12, 2014Patrick ReedGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA MARK STEVENS: We welcome returning champion Patrick Reed. Patrick, just start off telling us how that feels hearing that? This is where you got your first win on TOUR, tell us what it's been like since and coming in seeing the grounds where your picture is everywhere on tickets and all that kind of stuff? PATRICK REED: Yeah, it's amazing. Just the feeling coming back to a place where we won our first event and just the support we've had ever since we've been here. We flew in yesterday afternoon, and just the warm welcomes we've gotten from not only the people that work with the event, but also all the fans around the area is awesome. It really jump started my career, that's for sure. Playing really well here, and actually being able to cap it off and win, it led to me being able to play very well for almost a full year in a row and hopefully that will continue. Q. Since this is your first tournament back as a defending champion, can you sort of compare and contrast your approach 365 days ago going into this and hoping you can play well and seeing what happens on the weekend whereas I assume you're one of if not the favorite? PATRICK REED: Yeah, 365 days is a lot of days and a lot can happen, and a lot of guys have improved and myself and a lot of other players as well. I definitely feel comfortable out here. It's one of those things where if you've won somewhere you just have that extra comfort level when you go to the golf course. I'll be able to stick to my game plan and feel comfortable with what I'm doing because I know it worked, at least it worked last year. The main thing is just to get out there and see how it's playing compared to how it was playing last year and go from there. Q. You closed out leads at Congressional. Is there something you learn from failure that you don't learn from success? PATRICK REED: Yeah, when I was at Congressional we decided to come back a week early to play the week before the U.S. Open. We were playing planning on U.S. Open to be our first week back, but because of how smooth everything went with the delivery of the baby and how smooth everything went with Justine getting back and healthy, thought why not go play St. Jude? So we went and played, and it was just one of those things that throughout that time period I just wasn't‑‑ my endurance wasn't up as much. So coming down to Sunday, I was a little tired, a little loose and it showed my game. Hit a couple of those shots that if I was not tired at all, it probably would have never happened. I probably wouldn't have fat blocked sliced a 5‑iron or sliced a driver or completely chunked a 3‑wood. Those are shots that guys out here, we just don't do. You know, it's definitely something I learned that you have to be ready, and you have to be more healthy in endurance‑wise to play. You know, I've changed a lot of that, and we're ready to go. Q. When you talk about endurance, you're one of those guys that (Indiscernible) being in golf shape? PATRICK REED: Yeah, for sure. Every time I go in the gym I just seem to bulk up and get stiffer. I'm already stiff as it is, so if I get in the gym I probably won't be able to swing around my body. But for me it's more eating healthy and making sure that I practice for a period of time where, if you have that long day where whether you have to play 27, 28 holes or whether you have a rain delay and you're out there for nine, ten hours, you're able to last that period of time. Q. You mentioned earlier you feel comfortable out here now. How long did it take for you to feel comfortable, and was it a gradual process? PATRICK REED: The first event I played after I Monday qualified was when I became very comfortable to the fact that one of the most stressful things I've ever played was our first Monday qualifier, and the second most stressful thing I've ever played was Q‑School. So playing in both of those, once I got to the PGA TOUR event, I was like well, I have two rounds, and if I make the cut, I have four total rounds. To me that almost seemed like a breeze compared to 100‑something golfers, four spots, 18 holes and a golf course you really haven't ever seen before and you have to go out and play. And the guys that make it through Monday qualifiers, they're making cuts, they're top 10ing, they're playing great golf. They're all golfers that can contend out here, so it's just like you have a PGA TOUR event in 18 holes. So I think that's where that comfort level out here on TOUR really came from because you show up. Our first one was Zurich. We showed up out there after making the cut at San Antonio and had four hours of sleep and had to tee up, had never seen the golf course before, and shot 4‑under par. We had a six‑man playoff for three spots, and luckily‑‑ well, luckily I birdied the second hole and I was able to get one of the spots. But those are the kind of things that definitely helped get me more comfortable out here on TOUR. Q. You've had a lot of highlights over the last year. Can you think of one that stands out? PATRICK REED: This one, for sure. There is nothing like your first win, especially with your wife on the bag. To have Justine on the bag, and to come out and we were literally going through the trenches. I mean, it was so nasty and wet out here last year because of all that rain, and then to literally go from an all‑time high to an all‑time low, to back to an all‑time high whenever we thought we hit the ball on 10 and found out it was in play and then hit that shot with the 7‑iron to six feet, and this win will definitely be in my mind forever, that's for sure. Q. Justine said she's going to get back on the bag and there was some talk about maybe this week? PATRICK REED: You'll see her tomorrow. She's going to be out here. She's going to caddie for the Pro‑Am and just kind of see. The only way that we feel we're going to be able to see if she's ready and if she feels like she's ready is to get back out here and see. So we're going to test it tomorrow during the Wednesday Pro‑Am, and if we feel it's the right move and she feels comfortable, then we're going to go with it. If not, it will probably be at the beginning of next season. Q. Do you guys talk about husband and wife stuff too while she's caddying or is it strictly playing? PATRICK REED: While we're at work, it's work. That is one thing that I think we've done extremely well is when we're on the golf course we leave all the personal stuff behind, and it's strictly business. She's a huge competitor. She doesn't want to talk about anything else besides winning and playing well. I feel like it's been harder for her being outside the ropes than it is for her being inside. Inside the ropes we have game plans, we're able to talk through things, and outside the ropes she's just seeing the result. We might have a great idea on what we're going to do while we're inside the ropes and it could be an error by me on a bad golf swing or something like that, and then she's like why did you do that? It's like well, honey, if you listened to our conversation, this is what we're doing. She's like, oh, okay. Well, great golf swing. She's such a huge competitor and so am I, and I feel like that's why I am where I am today. She pushes me extremely hard, and I push her as well. With that, I feel like that's the reason why we've been successful, and that's why we've had such a great career so far. Q. You've played all the majors now. What have you learned about playing the majors and the difference between the majors? PATRICK REED: The main thing I've noticed is since I've played four I've missed two cuts and made two cuts. The two I've made the cut I've played the week before, the two I missed the cut, I did not play the week before. I feel like it's just because the times I would go over to the event‑‑ like Augusta, I went over early and played the course I think like 30 times it felt like. We went over Thursday of Houston. I played every day 9 or 18 holes up until the event, and I almost overthought the golf course and almost just tried to plot my way around the golf course by overthinking it. Did the same I think at British. I just feel like I have to treat it like it's another event. I have to go out there, go in the normal time, play the normal nine holes one day, 9 holes next, 18 one day and find your game plan and go play. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that for two of them, but when I was talking to Dicky Pride who is a good friend of mine, he says you're going to learn what the best strategy is for you going to those events, whether it's to play the week before, whether it's not and how you handle yourself. I feel like now that we've played in four of them, I've really figured it out and hopefully we can make some noise next year. Q. How has your life changed? You've bought a new house, and upgraded your hotel accommodations? PATRICK REED: We did get a house. It's nice to get that behind us. But at the same time, really not much has changed. You know, the only other change would be flying with NetJets. We've gone private plane for a little bit. It's just a thing that we felt like needed to get done due to the fact that you go to the airport you have to get there an hour, hour 15 before. You never know how your bag's being handled. You usually have a connection, and then you're waiting at baggage claim for 30 or 40 minutes and then you have to get your car and everything. Rather than flying privately, we can drive up to the plane, throw our stuff in the plane. You know how your stuff is being handled, and you're in the air in ten minutes and then you're on the ground and your car is waiting for you. It's just an easier way of life, and especially how much we play and how much we travel, I felt like that was something we needed to get done. Q. Have you spent much time talking with Tom Watson? PATRICK REED: I haven't. We talk periodically. I talked to him a lot at heritage when I played nine holes with him, and we didn't really talk much about Ryder Cup at that point. We were just talking and getting to know each other and having a good time. Then I talked to him right before the final round. He came up and talked to me for a split second of last week. It's one of those things that last week I definitely learned a lot as well. I'm not worried about what everyone else is doing. I was so focused on what Zach was doing and what all these other guys were doing on that final round that I wasn't able to play golf. You know, it's definitely a learning experience, and I'll definitely learn from that. Q. Is there anybody you want to play with? PATRICK REED: I would play with any of those guys on the team. They're great guys and everyone has their strengths. You know, it's just one of those things that right now when I look at the top nine, we have a bunch of fierce competitors out there, and all of us want to win and all of us have some really great things going. Rickie's playing great, Bubba's playing great. I mean, hopefully we can get Kuchar healthy and we'll be good to go. Q. (Indiscernible) in your short time on TOUR. Does it still bother you when you read what people say? PATRICK REED: No, not at all. Q. Is that just part of the PGA life? PATRICK REED: All I can do is focus on what I do. I can't focus on what people write or anything like that. I just focus on what I do and what I do on the golf course and how other people that I play with and people that know me, what they think of me. They know who I really am and that's all I can control. Q. Is it tough out here in that sense? PATRICK REED: Not really. When I'm out here, I'm just focusing on golf and trying to play well. Q. Everybody that plays out here has to have a lot of confidence. Did you put any extra pressure on yourself by putting yourself in the top 5 and then you were struggling for a while and then the baby? PATRICK REED: No, I don't think so. I believe that if I play well that I can reach my goal, which is to become a top 5 player in the world. I know it's going to take time. It doesn't happen overnight and it definitely doesn't happen over a year or two. You need some time to get there. But that's one of my goals and what I'm going to shoot for. That's probably everyone's goal out here is to become the best player in the world. Q. You mentioned Dicky Pride earlier, are there some other veteran players that you've sought advice from or you look up to? PATRICK REED: I played with Jerry Kelly last week. I've played with him a lot. I always talk to him about things. Stephen Ames, I'm sure I'll be talking a lot with Tom Watson. I'm going to be picking Steve Stricker's brain a lot as well at the Ryder Cup. I've played with him at Greenbrier and talked to him a little bit about not only golf but also how he handles everything. That's all I can do is keep on talking to the veterans and older guys and just try to find how not only how to make my golf game better, but how to make life better out here on TOUR. Q. How valuable is that? PATRICK REED: It's huge. The best thing out here is it's a big family. Everyone's here to help everybody. If you talk to somebody they'll usually give you their best advice they have which is always nice. Q. This tournament is first time PGA TOUR winners, four of the last five times. You're the most recent. Obviously you would love to defend your title, but who is somebody that's maybe where you were a year ago, flying under the Radar a little bit and think might be primed to break out and score their first PGA TOUR win this year, if that trend continues? PATRICK REED: Wow, I mean, there are literally so many good golfers out here that haven't won yet that I literally could not name just one player. I could go through the whole list of players and the guys that haven't won, I could probably pick almost all of them. I mean, anyone out here if they have a good week and they're on their game has a good chance of winning. Q. You still warm up with the ear phones in? PATRICK REED: Oh, yeah, for sure. Q. What are you listening to? PATRICK REED: I'll have to grab my wife's phone and see. I take her phone, put it on repeat and have it go. I switched phones and I lost all my music, but she still had all the songs I used to listen to. Q. You didn't get it switched over on your phone? PATRICK REED: No, I didn't, not yet. I am, it's just it takes time and really I haven't had time. We're on a seven‑week run and we had a major and World Golf Championship before this week, so just haven't had much time to be able to do anything. MARK STEVENS: And a child. PATRICK REED: Yeah, she's not running yet. Q. You mentioned the seven‑week run. That is a lot of golf. Do you like playing a lot? PATRICK REED: I prefer to play. Like I said before, Justine and I are huge competitors, and I don't like sitting at home and watching other people play. I'd rather play. If winning here, there is definitely no way I was going to miss this event, and since we're going straight into playoffs and we've played extremely well, I knew we were going to have a long run here. I'm ready for it. I've been in contact with my coach and also my physical therapist, and just the ways to be able to allow myself to last not only seven weeks, but the Ryder Cup two weeks later. So we'll be ready to go, and hopefully be fresh for all nine. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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