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PUERTO RICO OPENMarch 6, 2015Alex CejkaRIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO THE MODERATOR: All right. We welcome Alex Cejka into interview room here at the Puerto Rico Open. And 71, 67 here. This is your fifth time out here, leading at 7‑under. Just tell us about your day today and being back here in Puerto Rico. ALEX CEJKA: It's a great day. I mean I like it here. I've been coming here for a lot of years now, and I've been playing great in the past. The results didn't show it, but you know, the last two days I've been playing good. My short game is great. I make a lot of putts when I need to, and I'm in a great position right now. Q. You've had some finishes, like 15th, 18th. I imagine your game is pretty close. ALEX CEJKA: Yeah. It's close. I'm waiting, you know. I'm working hard on the game. You know, I've been playing good in the past couple of months. It's just always something was, you know, missing, but you know, didn't finish third, fifth, tenth. So you know, we're going to change it this week. I'm really positive I'm playing good, and we'll see what the next two days bring. Q. You had what we consider a bad tee time, being late in the day when the wind is stronger. Did that affect you or how were the conditions? ALEX CEJKA: You know, it's windy even yesterday it was windy in the morning. So you can't say. It's windy all day long. Sometimes it gusts a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less. But it's a consistent wind, and since we got here on Monday or Tuesday, all these players, it's been the same. Same direction, same kind of strengths of the wind, so you can adapt to the wind condition. Of course, you know, it's‑‑ we like it may be not so windy, but you know, that's the way it is and we have to play like this. Q. When it's windy, does it keep you in the round more? Like do you have to focus even more because of the conditions? ALEX CEJKA: Yeah. I think you have to focus anyway on every golf course, you know. There's not really golf courses where you can just say, oh, I'm going to play the next three holes. You know, I don't think it doesn't matter on the conditions on the golf course. You go out there and you try to do 100 percent. And you know, sometimes it's a little bit tougher with bad weather, like last week, you know, rain and wind, you know. So this week we have only wind. It's nice and warm. It's perfect golfing conditions, and I like it here. So that's why I've probably been playing well over the years here. Q. Accomplished player you are, success in Europe and of course here on the PGA TOUR. How was the experience on the Web.com, to go through that with the young guys to get your spot back on the tour? ALEX CEJKA: Yeah, it's tough, you know. I could have played in Europe, but I decided to, you know, bite the bullet and just play on the Web.com and that's the only way to go‑‑ or to come back here on the PGA TOUR again. And I grinded it out, and obviously I had a good start. I won in Colombia, second in Brazil, so it was safe, you know. I was safe after these two tournaments. And you know, I was still playing a lot of tournaments. I didn't play them all, but I still played a lot of tournaments to try to finish as high as possible. Q. That drive is still there whether you play at other places? ALEX CEJKA: Yes. Yeah, you know, it's the only way, and you know, as you said, you know, there's a lot of young guys out there, early 20s, and they have no idea what it is to play 10 years, 15 years on a great tour. It doesn't matter if it's in Europe or PGA TOUR and suddenly fall down, you know. So these guys have‑‑ they don't know it yet, you know. So it's tough. Mentally it's tough, but you know, if you're tough enough, you can grind it out. I mean there is a lot of former PGA players playing the Web.com right now, you know. And it's a strong tour, great players. And you know, you have to just grind it out, as I said. Q. You must have brought a pretty good attitude to it to start off that well. Some guys don't want to go back there. ALEX CEJKA: I'll tell you what, I played a year before a couple of tournaments as kind of a warmup, and I was lucky, I was in the wintertime in Asia, and I played a couple of European Tour events. I played a couple of Asian Tour events in Thailand and Hong Kong, so by the time I came to Colombia, I already played four or five events and I was in contention like at three of them. So I was playing well, I had the vibe going, and you know, when I teed up in Colombia, so I had a little bit of advantage because other guys are just sitting at home. That's great, they practice and they play with friends, but it's different than playing competition golf and under the gun and playing great tournaments. So I think that was my advantage last year when I kind of started, and that's why I think I had such a great start. Q. How about the round yesterday and your round today, and you closed with a birdie. Do you think your game might get even better tomorrow? ALEX CEJKA: Well, you never know. You never know what the wind conditions bring, you know. It's different golf course tomorrow, different pin positions, you know. You know, I'm playing good. I've been playing good the last couple of weeks, and I'm just focused. I'm in the zone and I'm trying to play as best as I can for 72 holes, you know. Sometimes it's a misstep. Sometimes it's 15. So I have a good start and I look positive into the weekend. Q. You're playing with a kid tomorrow, Brandon Hagy. I don't know if you've played with him at all. ALEX CEJKA: I practiced with him in Palm Springs, yes. Q. So are you pretty impressed with his length? ALEX CEJKA: Yeah, he's long, but length is not everything. It helps, you know, but you know, it's certainly an advantage in our game right now, but you know, it's just‑‑ you know, I gotta play 36 good holes and then we'll see what happens. Q. How much is the Olympics on mind with Marcel being in contention? ALEX CEJKA: Yeah. It's definitely on my mind. You know, it's not easy. I think Germany gets only two spots, so you know, it's a battle. Marcel, obviously Martin is 100 percent in there, if he wants to play. I don't even know if he committed yet or not. But you know, Marcel is, I think, top 60 in the world, I think. So I have a lot to catch up. But you know, we still have a little bit of time, and anything can happen. But I mean we have a couple of great players from Germany, you know, so it's tough. But it's definitely a big goal. Q. Are you starting to hear more and more about that? ALEX CEJKA: Yeah. I don't hear it that much, you know. But you know, it would be definitely a goal I think for everybody. You know, it's nice to play Asian Tour, European Tour, PGA TOUR, you know, but Olympics, especially the first one, it's something special, you know. So I think for everybody, so we'll see what happens. There is certainly a way still to qualify, but you know, I gotta talk with my clubs. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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