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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

September 3, 2014

Kevin Stadler

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLORADO

MARK STEVENS: Like to welcome Kevin Stadler to the BMW Championship. Kevin, you're from this area, you mentioned you went to high school just less than a mile from here growing up. So, just kind of talk about what it means coming back here, having a TOUR event in your home city, and then we'll have some questions.

KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, it's great. It's awesome to be back here competing in Denver. It's certainly -- I'm not here full-time, but this is definitely home for me. I love coming back here. Kind of been -- it's been a long time, I think it's been since the International, since they have had a tournament here. It's kind of a shame. It's one of the best sports cities in the country, and I think this events going to go over really well. I was extremely excited when they said they were coming here three or four years ago, when they announced it. I can't believe it's here already. Certainly excited looking forward to it.

MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thank you.

Q. You talked about the International. Can you talk about what Mr. Vickers meant to the golf community in Colorado, and kind of what that tournament did for the state and with him getting honored tomorrow night by the PGA?
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, absolutely. That was one of the best tournaments on the schedule for a long, long time. I was thankful to be able to play, I think I played three of them. He gave me a spot a couple times when I was just starting out. It was a wonderful event. It was a shame to see it go. But, I guess it was just a tricky time in the schedule for those guys when they were juggling stuff around. But, it was the marquee golf event in Colorado for a long, long time and it was definitely a very special tournament.

Q. Talk a little bit about Cherry Hills as it sets up for you, how you think this fits into your game, and what you think the challenges are as the week kind of proceeds forward. We have got some reports that we might have a little bit of weather, but then again, maybe not. Talk about how that will change it and how that changes it not only for you, but for other players.
KEVIN STADLER: It's supposed to be a good probably 15, 20 degrees cooler the rest of the week than today. Yesterday it was pretty warm, as well. The ball was traveling out here. When it gets to be 85, 90, 95 degrees, the ball goes like I mean, it goes a mile up here to begin with, but it goes even farther when it warms up. The course was playing as short as I've ever seen it yesterday. There wasn't a hint of wind, it was playing really firm and fast, and it was playing great, but it was playing really short. I think when it cools off, the ball's not going to travel quite as much, won't be quite as scorable, but it's in pristine condition. I think we're going to see some low scores. But, in the same breath, if you're off your game a little bit, it's pretty severe. You can get out of place and make a lot of bogeys pretty quickly.

Q. You are in the BMW for the third year. Could you talk -- third year in a row. Could you talk a little bit about whether that helps you to have been through this before. Not everybody in the field has been this far before. What does it mean or how does it help you to pursue Atlanta?
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, I don't really know. It's just kind of just another event. It's obviously where you want to be playing, and you want to progress and move on to next week, but it's not something that I'm going to really worry about. If I play well I'll move on. If I don't, I won't. It's not the end of the world, but obviously, everyone here wants to go to Atlanta. But it's not going to -- it's not live or die, really. It's interesting because we play upwards of like 30 events a year, and when it comes down to it right here, it's kind of crunch time. It's a little bit different when you just get a field this small. It's just got a different feel to it. But, it's still just, once you start playing tomorrow, it's just another golf tournament.

Q. Forgive me if this was asked earlier, I walked in late. How many times before this summer had you played this course and then what was your reaction when you heard a few years ago that it was going to be played here.
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, I grew up not far at all from here but I really haven't played a whole lot. I've probably played it less than 10 times. Ever. I got out here a couples times this summer to check it out. I really enjoy it. I was, I said I was really excited to be coming back here to play in Denver and this is a perfect spot for it. With the history of the golf course and it's a great spot to hold a major event.

Q. With the familiarity that you do have with the course, is a 59 possible this week and is it even wise to try to be that aggressive?
KEVIN STADLER: Honestly, I'm not real sure. I'm really interested to see what the scores are going to be like. Because I can see really low scores, then I can also see just kind of middling scores. Because the rough is fairly penal, but it's strange. I haven't played here quite enough to really know what to expect from numbers. You can really be as aggressive as you want to out there and try to attack, but you're going to make some bogeys if you do that. But if you're on your game and you're driving it well and you're trying to bring it to its knees, you can get it going pretty low. Whether or not a 59's in play is just, I don't know, I don't think that he's ever in play, but it's, some people get hot with the putter.

Q. Curious, as you grew up, did you ever attend a tournament here. There have been other --
KEVIN STADLER: No.

Q. -- significant tournaments here.
KEVIN STADLER: No, never did. I only played out here, I played here twice I think when I was a kid and they were both in the winter. So it was just, it was fun. I was psyched to get out here and play, but it was certainly a little different than we're playing it today.

Q. Looking back, when you come home like this, especially with the kind of year that you've had this year, do you ever reflect back on where you have come and looking back, when did golf as a life or profession, whatever it means to you, when did that really start to sort of click for you and is it something that you think about when you come back here at all?
KEVIN STADLER: Not really. I've been extremely lucky to be able to do this going on 10 years now out here. It's hard to believe. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. But growing up around the game, obviously, following my dad around every where he went, it was, this is what I wanted to do since I was a little kid. I pretty much quit playing all other sports by the time I was in high school and just played golf. So I was lucky enough to -- I was a good junior and went to play in college and by that time it was what I wanted to do with my life. It's a very small minority that get to actually do it. And I'm very happy that I've been able to do it.

Q. Who do you pick as a winner?
KEVIN STADLER: No idea. There's 70 guys here, any of them can win. I guess there's not 70, but how many are there?

MARK STEVENS: 69.

KEVIN STADLER: 69? Yeah. Whoever gets hot with the putter, which is pretty much anybody out here, any given week. The field's so strong week-to-week out here, it's really not surprising when can see any name up there.

MARK STEVENS: All right. Thanks for your time, Kevin. Good luck this week.

KEVIN STADLER: Thanks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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