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PGA GRAND SLAM OF GOLFOctober 14, 2014Jim FurykMartin KaymerRory McIlroyBubba WatsonHAMILTON, BERMUDA JULIUS MASON: Martin, congratulations on a very, very good round of golf today. One shot off of tying the course record, not quite sure if you knew that or not. But a wonderful front nine. Not a bad back nine. Let's talk about the golf today. MARTIN KAYMER: I start, I guess? JULIUS MASON: Yes, you may. MARTIN KAYMER: Okay. Yeah, I started off very well. The first six, seven holes, they were a little bit -- they're not so windy, so I thought you can start off with a couple birdies the first six holes would be really nice. But then I got a big bonus there on 7, it was a very good 8-iron that I hit to three or four feet. Then I played really consistent. I think it's important on this kind of grass that you need to hit a lot of fairways, like I said yesterday. I think that I hit a few today. My putting felt good. I just made one 3-putt today. That's why I made the bogey. But only one bogey is fine. If you make only one bogey on that golf course, you should do fairly okay. JULIUS MASON: Questions? Q. What kind of distance did you have for your second shot at 7 and did you know it was as good as it was? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, when it took off I thought please be long enough, because it was over that bunker. I was actually aiming at the flag, and I thought the wind would bring it back to the middle of the green, and I would have a chance to make three, but at worst you should make four. Must have been 175 meters uphill, it was another seven, so 182. So that's 200 yards. Q. Talking about the approach shot on 7, actually the one the hole before that on 6, which finished within an inch of rolling in. What was that? About 120? 115? MARTIN KAYMER: I played it like a 115 meters shot. So it must have been a little bit longer, because it was down wind. So maybe 125 or so. Once I hit it, it felt really good. I just didn't think it was long enough. And it wasn't. It was two inches short. (Laughter.) But then that was a great shot. It's just important that you don't relax on shots like this, that you try to keep going, because I have to play against players that are not playing on the Challenge Tour, they are very, very good players and you have to keep going. It was nice to back it up with an eagle on 7. Q. So that really kicked your round for you, do you think? MARTIN KAYMER: The first two holes, the second hole you should make birdie. It's a reachable par-5. The first, it was nice to make a good putt right away. But the eagle that helped get me 5-under after seven holes, you know, that's pretty good. Q. How would you describe the conditions out there on the back side? Was it considerably more windy on the back side when you made the turn? MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, when you're standing on that 10th tee box, you know the next four or five holes are going to be difficult, because there are some tricky tee shots, a lot of elevations as well, especially when you're standing on the 11th fairway and you have to hit it down to the green. It's very difficult to judge the yardage or to judge the wind more and therefore to judge the yardage. So the back nine, that's definitely more challenging than the front nine. The first six, seven holes, they're important that you take advantage of them, that you make at least two or three birdies. That helps for the back nine. Q. No. 16, everybody knows how tough it could be. Today you had a par. Almost felt like a birdie today against the rest of the guys that were playing it? MARTIN KAYMER: I don't think it made played that difficult today, because they didn't put the pin all the way back. So I hit a 5-iron. I was aiming at the right side bunker. I thought that if the wind doesn't take it, then I'm ending up short of the green or maybe in the bunker. But, the bunker shot would have been fairly easy. I think I would have had a good chance to make three. It was -- the wind took it a little bit, so it was a nice high draw. So, I think it was not that difficult today. The way it played yesterday was very tough, because I hit probably 2-irons more yesterday. So, three's a good score, but it didn't feel like a birdie, it wasn't that good of a three. JULIUS MASON: Martin, thanks for popping in. See you tonight. MARTIN KAYMER: All right. JULIUS MASON: Jim Furyk in with us next, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for popping in. Tough day out there today? JIM FURYK: Yeah, I actually played a lot better than the score. Obviously, the two bogeys at the finish made it look a little worse than it was. And not birdieing 17. So I pretty much gave up three shots on the last three holes. I drove the ball well today. Actually hit the ball pretty well. Really one of the strengths of my game, really, is from 120 yards in with my wedges, and my wedge game was awful today. Maybe one of the worst rounds of the year with the wedge. I had a careless 3-putt on 12 from about 15 feet. I'm sorry, 11. Really, all in all, didn't play that poorly, but got absolutely zero out of the round today. Just kind of let everything come down and ended up 1-over. Scratching my head because I thought I could play better than that. JULIUS MASON: The last couple of victories, you were either leading going into the final round or tied for the lead at the Grand Slam of golf. You're not done by any means, are you? JIM FURYK: No, but I'm going to need a lot of help. Being seven shots back, I feel like I'm playing well enough. I can fire a good number tomorrow. But, obviously, if Martin goes out and shoots 4-under par, that definitely takes me out of the equation for winning. But I'm going to give it a go tomorrow and go out and play as hard as I can and try to shoot a good number. JULIUS MASON: Questions, folks, for Mr. Furyk. Q. Do you feel like you had to give up some ground to these guys at the par-5s? JIM FURYK: Not at all. 17th is very reachable for me. The 7th is an iron shot for me in for a second shot. The only hole that I might give up ground on, is No. 2. But, I just played the fives really poorly. I drove it bad on 7, I did hit a bad drive there. A bad second shot on 17. I hit a good bunker shot, missed the putt. Hit a bad wedge into No. 2. I had it laid up perfect. No, I didn't take advantage of the 5's, but it's not really the yardage. Two of them are very, very short. They're long par-4s, really. Then the second hole is not going to be reachable for me unless it gets real downwind. But, I need to do a little better job with my wedge game. It's not a power -- this golf course, power has nothing to do with playing well on this golf course. I realized those three are all very long, but they're also very good at scoring. Bubba can hit a lot of shots and work it into the wind. Rory's obviously able to do that, being the No. 1 player in the world. And Martin is a good ball-striker. So, the power isn't part of it, but they can move the ball better than I did today. Q. Talk about the silver lining shot today from the bunker. You hit a beautiful shot there. JIM FURYK: Yeah, trying to hold a drive into the wind there, and it -- just the wind never touched it. Hit it a little straighter than I thought I could. Got a little bit of a bad break underneath that lip, but had enough room to work with and hit a gap wedge from about 105 and it came out. You're just trying to get on the green and get out of there with four, and it came out perfect, and I left myself probably about a four or five foot putt for birdie. JULIUS MASON: See you tonight, Mr. Furyk. Thanks for coming in. JIM FURYK: All right. Thanks. JULIUS MASON: Rory McIlroy, ladies and gentlemen. Joining us after the first round of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Rory, bit of a roller coaster out there today. Are you happy at the end of the day with your round? RORY MCILROY: It was okay. Yeah, around the turn there, there was a few sloppy shots and left myself with some difficult positions, but couple of birdies on the back nine. It was okay. At one point in the round, it felt like Martin was leaving us all behind. But I'm still -- get off to a good start tomorrow, you never know what can happen. JULIUS MASON: Questions? Q. What did you have for your second shot at 17 and can you talk about that putt for eagle. RORY MCILROY: I had 205 to the pin into the wind. I hit a 4-iron. Obviously, a really good shot. I think Jim's putt before me just put me off a little bit, because his seemed to break quite a lot. So, I started mine outside the hole and it didn't really move. But, yeah, still nice to bounce back there. Would have been nice to make eagle, but still a good birdie after the bogey on 16. Q. Was there anything specifically that you can put your finger on today where you felt it was a little bit off? RORY MCILROY: I wasn't 100 percent on, that's for sure. I started pretty well, and then the two bogeys on the 8 and 9 sort of took the wind out of my sails a little bit, and I just found it hard to get going after that. Q. When you're out there, obviously you're concentrating and playing and it's important to win. But, is there a bit of back and forth between you guys, anymore than normal? RORY MCILROY: Of course. It's a very relaxed atmosphere out there. We're not -- we're still concentrating, still trying to play good golf and ultimately try and win. But, yeah, it's more relaxed, you chat a little bit more, and it's just a nice friendly four-ball out there. Q. The distance on that eagle putt on 17? RORY MCILROY: It was like six feet. Q. Were the conditions considerably different by the time you got around the turn? Can you speak about that? RORY MCILROY: I thought the wind was pretty similar the whole day. It stayed pretty consistent in terms of strength, I guess. Just on the back nine a little bit, you're hitting a few shots. You're hitting from elevated tees or second shots and the wind can affect the ball a little bit more. So I think that's why I think the back nine played a little trickier. Feels like the front nine was a little more sheltered, especially those first few holes. Q. Martin said that 16 didn't play as tough today, but how would you rank that hole the way it played today? RORY MCILROY: What was it, three bogeys and a par? So it was still playing pretty tough. Yeah, it was playing tough for me. I hit it in the hazard. But, thankfully, it stayed up. I was sort of in two minds whether to play it or not, but decided to play it. Actually turned out to be a decent four in the end for me. JULIUS MASON: Rory, thanks for coming in, look forward to seeing you tonight. RORY MCILROY: Yeah. Thank you. JULIUS MASON: Bubba Watson, ladies and gentlemen joining us after the first round of the PGA Grand Slam of golf. I guess, after your travels here, you're in at 4-under, you got to be pretty happy with your play today, right? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, very solid. The only hiccup there was on 16. I thought I hit a great shot. Came up short though. Tough bunker shot. I made a quick bogey there. But other than that it was a solid round of golf. Nothing too scary. Not too many wayward shots. So, yeah, good day. JULIUS MASON: Questions, ladies and gentlemen? Q. Can you talk about your thought process at 10? Are you able to get a good line on where you want to hit that driver? BUBBA WATSON: Well, it's a tough one because of the fact that I have to cut it. So I'm cutting it up against the wind. If I cut it too much or something, it could easily balloon and get out of bounds quick. Today I just pulled it. Hit it too far. So today I was trying to hit a little cut, but I pulled it a little bit. So I knew it was too far as soon as I hit it. It was over the crowd and way down the slope there. Q. I've asked about the signature hole, every player that comes in. What did you play on 16? BUBBA WATSON: I hit a 5-iron. We had came up with 212 front, 223 hole I think it was. Roughly. That's what we came up with. Perfect 5-iron. Thought the wind was crossing with a slight help, never hurting. For some reason my ball, maybe it was just I didn't catch it as good as I thought I did, but it came up way short. But it was a perfect line. It was a perfect line, just like on 17, I hit the perfect line and came up short again. We guessed the wind a little wrong. But other than that it was good. Q. What did you have for yardage and club on 17 and were you surprised that it came up short? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, that's what I was saying, just like 16, 16 the wind was coming the other way, 17, the wind was coming across the opposite direction. I hit a 4-iron. It was 213 roughly, with all of our numbers figured out, it was 213 hole. So I tried to hit a slight cut in there to hold it and again it came up short again. I think it's just, the wind just held my ball differently. That's the only two times all day that we didn't guess right on the wind, because I played solid all day, except those two. I got up-and-down on one of them though, at least. Q. It's obviously quite a relaxed atmosphere out there this week, do you guys bit of back and forth, bit of banter, getting on each other or no? BUBBA WATSON: No, we don't really, we don't really banter, like picking on each other or anything or making fun. Martin did. Every time he out drove me he said, "Look, I out drove you again." And I told him, I'm trying to hit the fairway, I'm trying to learn how to hit the fairways like the other three guys. So that was really it. It's the end of the year -- well, start of the year, whichever way you want to look at it for the PGA TOUR. So, for us, we're just out here just talking about, when are you playing next, what are you doing, how is the family doing, what are you doing for Christmas, things like that. Just basic stuff. Just small talk. Because we're all friends. No matter what's going on out there, we're all friends and pulling for each other. JULIUS MASON: Bubba, see you tonight. Thanks very much. BUBBA WATSON: All right. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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