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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 9, 2015Ben MartinPONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Ben Martin to the interview room. You're 9-under par through 54 holes. Talk about the tournament so far and your round today and how you feel going into tomorrow. BEN MARTIN: Yeah, just three rounds so far, 68, 71, 68. I really have been treating every day kind of as a fresh start, not looking at it as compounding, but going out each day trying to play the best round that I can. I think that's what I'll do going into Sunday, tomorrow, is another fresh start, put another good 18 holes together, and add them up at the end. Q. Ben, first-timers at this tournament generally don't fare all that well. Obviously there's a lot of you guys at the top of the leaderboard now. Are you surprised at that at all, and how do you think the pressure will be ramped up tomorrow? BEN MARTIN: To be honest, I haven't really looked at like the history of first-timers and winning or playing well. Even though it's my first time playing the tournament, I've played the course eight or ten times before, so I had a feel for it and kind of knew the layout a little bit coming in. So I really don't feel like it's my first time playing. And you know, they say it's the fifth major of the year, so a big tournament, big crowds out there. But in a perfect world I think I play my best kind of when I keep my head down and don't really worry about all the things I can't control. I think the more relaxed I am, the better I play, so really I'm just excited to kind of be on the top page of the leaderboard. That's really why I love to play this game is to be right there on Sunday. Q. You said you'd played eight or ten times here. When was the last time you played here, and of those eight or ten times, what time in the season did you play? BEN MARTIN: I think the last time I played, I played the Web.com TOUR championship, or final event of the year, 2012, and I played the pro-am on the Stadium Course, where we played the Valley Course in the tournament. So it's been, I guess, two or three years ago since I played it. That was in October. I played a college event in February on the Stadium, and then I had come down in the winter and played down here probably in December. It's probably not quite as firm or fast, but I've played enough where I had an overall sense of the layout and I knew all the shots and shapes of the holes. I guess any course is going to change under tournament-week conditions. Q. You've been maybe a little bit more consistent this year than past years on TOUR. Is there something in your game that has improved? BEN MARTIN: I think my whole golfing life since the time I started playing, it never was one thing that clicked, it was kind of just every year I felt like I got a little bit better. I was actually looking at my year on the Web.com TOUR in 2013, and that was really what I felt was my most consistent year I've ever had as a pro. But I think coming to the PGA TOUR, a little bigger stage, a little better competition, I'm learning, I'm growing. I feel like I'm getting better each year. I think that for me, it's just kind of a step in the right direction, and hopefully consistency is one thing that I kind of look at guys like Zach Johnson or Kuch and guys that seem to be hanging around the top 10, that's kind of what I would like to emulate in my career. Hopefully I'm just moving in that direction. Q. What have you done well this week to fare well? BEN MARTIN: I'd say I drove it in the fairway. The two 68s I shot I drove it in the fairway for the most part because with the rough up today, it's hard to hit it close if you're not in the fairway. I think I putted well. I think putting is usually one of my strengths. It's actually -- this season overall has probably been the weakest part of my game, but I think my putter is coming around this week, and I've made a lot of good -- whether it's 10-, 15-footers for birdie and a couple for par. No one thing over the other, just kind of a solid, consistent round. Q. Do you plan to rely on any thoughts or memories from Vegas tomorrow coming down the stretch, having been in that position before? BEN MARTIN: I'll probably draw a little bit from Vegas. You know, any time you've had success in the past, I think that those are good things to draw from in the moment when you're on a big stage. But yeah, I think I've got -- my wife writes down a Bible verse in my book every week, and this week it's from Peter I, and it talks about -- the end of it says, kind of give your anxiety to God because he cares for you. That's very comforting for me. Any nerves out there, just kind of let them go. But you know, I'm just really looking forward to it. I think I'll draw from times I've played well on Sunday. I finished third here in the Web.com event on the other course, so I got a good feel at Sawgrass and some good things to draw from. Q. Kevin was in here earlier, and he said that the first-timers got together earlier this week and kind of had this poll like if you didn't win, which other first-timer -- BEN MARTIN: Yeah. Q. And he picked you. BEN MARTIN: Did he? Q. Yes. Did you participate in that, and who did you pick? BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I picked Danny Willett. Actually, I don't know Danny really at all, but he played well in San Francisco, so I went with the guy with the hot hand. But I appreciate that from Kis. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everybody. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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