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FRYS.COM OPENOctober 11, 2014Zachary BlairNAPA, CALIFORNIA DOUG MILNE: Zach Blair, thanks for joining us for a few minutes after your third consecutive sub‑70 round here at the Frys.com Open, 69 today. I was out there yesterday when we got some comments from you, and certainly your attitude is great when you got the question from Golf Channel about were you going to be nervous about being in the second‑to‑last group in the third round, and you joked, well, I was in the last round today. With that said, just some comments on your 69 today and how you're feeling as you prepare to head into the final round tomorrow. ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I played pretty solid, made some kind of little mistakes kind of midway through my round but was able to fight back and make a birdie on 17, so it was nice to kind of finish well. Q. (Inaudible.) ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, four years at BYU with him being the assistant coach, great coach there, and awesome guy, so it's been nice to have him around. He came around this week, so it was nice to see him. Q. Specifically has he done anything to your swing in terms of technique or confidence, instilling lots of momentum into your game? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, not much with the swing, but definitely was always there mentally preparing us to do well and always gives us the positive reinforcement that we need. He's a great coach. Q. How much did it mean to have the BYU team here this week with you, supporting you, watching you play? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, that was really cool to have them there. They're playing in a tournament just down the road, so it was nice to see some familiar faces. Q. Zach, how long will you be reminded how one week can change everything quickly? How long will those last? Will those feelings last with you for the rest of your life or at least a month? ZACH BLAIR: I guess we'll just kind of wait and see how it goes tomorrow, but yeah, it's been a great start so far. I'd like to go out and play well tomorrow and finish it off. Q. When you got to Jacksonville, if I remember correctly, you had done cut, cut, cut‑‑ ZACH BLAIR: Four. Four in a row. Q. Sorry about that. But three in the finals. ZACH BLAIR: Yeah. Q. Were you at all resigned to anything going into Sawgrass, and what was it like coming out? To go from zero to card? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, that was the great thing about that format. The whole time through I knew that one good week kind of changed everything, and that's what ended up happening. I played well when I needed to that last week, so obviously took some of that momentum coming into here, and keep trying to play solid. Q. (Inaudible.) ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I kind of joke around with it, with my friends and family, like it's been a pretty crazy four or five months, but it's been great. It was nice to have a spot to play down there. They play some awesome places, and then got my chance on the Web.com TOUR, and that was a great experience, as well, and now it's great to be out here. Q. (Inaudible.) ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I feel prepared, just got to go out and do the same thing, hit some good shots, and stay in the right frame of mind. Q. (Inaudible.) ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, it was just like a little fun tournament down there. One of my dad's courses. Q. Did you win? ZACH BLAIR: I did not, unfortunately. Q. What's your dad's name? ZACH BLAIR: James Blair. He general manages a place called Sun River down there in St.George, but the tournament was at Sand Hollow down there, as well. Q. Did he ever play on TOUR or just stuff in Utah? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, he played a couple years on TOUR, maybe had his card a couple of years but just kind of got into a few events and never really kept it. But it's nice to have someone like that that's in your corner. Q. Any sage advice before today or before tomorrow maybe? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I keep in really close contact with him. He always has some positive words for me, so I'm sure he'll have some things to say. Q. Who's the greatest player in the history of golf from Utah? In your opinion, of course. ZACH BLAIR: Probably Johnny Miller. I don't know if you'd really consider him from Utah. He lives there now. But yeah, I don't know. Maybe my dad. Q. What's the season like? ZACH BLAIR: The season in Utah? Q. The golfing season. ZACH BLAIR: Just kind of depends where you are. In southern Utah where he is, he can play all year. More northern Utah you get some‑‑ some years you get one month of snow, some years you get six months of snow. It just kind of depends. I live kind of both. Q. When you went to Latin America, did you ever do Canada? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I played one event up in Canada before I played the U.S. Open qualifying up there. They were just kind of right next to each other, so went up there. Q. Maybe I'm missing something here, but why Latin America instead of Canadian? ZACH BLAIR: Right when I turned pro, Canada hadn't started yet, so the Latin America went seven events, stopped, then Canada starts for 12 or 13 events, then Latin America starts back up again. Q. Why Latin America instead of trying for a spot on the Web? ZACH BLAIR: You know, my number wasn't great. It was good enough to play down in Latin America every week, so I figured I could go down there and play a solid, full schedule down there and get my card. That was kind of always the plan was to go down there and play well enough to either get a card or get exempt into finals of Q‑school. To be where I am today is pretty nice. Q. Are you a leaderboard watcher? And what did you take from four days at Pinehurst? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I like to look at a leaderboard or two out there. They're kind of right there, so it's hard not to look at them. What I took from Pinehurst was just kind of got to stick to your game plan, not get too mentally frustrated or anything like that. I played with Graeme McDowell the last day, and that was a pretty nice lesson out there getting to watch a major champion like that play. He had some nice words of advice, so it was great. Q. You went to Q‑school as an amateur, then played amateur golf at the start of the year. Was there any reason for that? ZACH BLAIR: I was going to go‑‑ I went and I was going to turn pro if I had a good number and knew that I could get some starts. Obviously I didn't play that great at Q‑school and really wasn't going to get any starts, and I kind of knew that. And really the only reason I turned pro is because I happen to see a few of my friends that I had beat at Q‑school getting into the PGA TOUR Latin America events, and I kind of was talking to my dad and saying, hey, these guys are getting in from their number at Q‑school, I should go do that, and I kind of begged him and said I think it would be fun for me. He had my back and we ended up going that route. Q. What was the backup plan or what were you going to stay amateur for? ZACH BLAIR: The amateur events, you got a full summer of great events, great golf courses, pretty good competition, and you obviously want to have a successful amateur career kind of leading into a professional career. It makes it a little nicer. Q. So you would have gone to Q‑school‑‑ ZACH BLAIR: Yeah. Q. You wouldn't go get a job or something? ZACH BLAIR: No. Q. How old were you the first time you beat your dad? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, he's still pretty good, but maybe like 14. 13, 14 years old. It was a‑‑ Q. Big moment? ZACH BLAIR: Yeah, I think he was pretty devastated. I mean, he's still pretty good. We battle it out there in St.George when I'm down there, so it's fun to play with him. Q. What was the yardage on (inaudible)? ZACH BLAIR: I think it was like 311 or something to the pin. I hit 3‑iron down to about 90 yards. DOUG MILNE: Zach, congratulations on a great three rounds so far. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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