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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY KITCHENAIDMay 21, 2015Lee RinkerFRENCH LICK, INDIANA Q. When is the last time you have been a part of a day like in scoring for the entire field? One person under par? LEE RINKER: God, that's a good question. We knew going in the course was going to be difficult. I guess it's at some U.S. Opens, I can remember at Oakmont I think the leader was even par after two rounds, something like that. But, yeah, it's just, you got narrow fairways, there's not a lot of rough, but it's just thick enough that if you're playing out of the rough, the greens are small, most of the greens are small, there's a few big ones. But it's just a very demanding golf course. It's just very easy to make a lot of bogeys or even have some, if you're not careful, if you hit a bad shot, you can make some big numbers. But, anyway, it's a challenge. Q. Now, were you here in 2010? LEE RINKER: I was. Q. So you're one of 18 club professionals that were here in 2010, had a chance to see what this was like at that time and obviously warmer, but it's still tough, no matter what conditions? LEE RINKER: I know I didn't make the cut. I didn't play well on this golf course. I played pretty well on the Donald Ross golf course, but I didn't play very well on this course. I actually hit a lot of good shots, but the few shots I missed, I didn't get around very well. Today I was able to scramble a little bit. When I did miss a shot. And save some pars. I made a few birdies and I was able to get in in a decent score. The thing about this is if you can make four or five birdies, obviously, you hope that you don't make that many bogeys. But if you can make some -- but it's certainly -- Q. The thing about anybody that wants to do well on this course, it's a matter of patience and you understand that there are angles that Mr. Dye has already put in your shots for approaches. LEE RINKER: Yeah, a little built. You got to have -- today I was fortunate. I made a mistake early on and made a double bogey early on and it really wasn't -- it was on a par-5 when I had a fairly short iron in my hand and just kind of butchered the hole. But then I was fortunate, the next hole's a very tough par-3 and I hit a really good 3-iron to about 10 feet and made it for birdie. So that kind of made me feel a little better. It's real easy to double -- I mean, you could bogey the next hole or get on a bad run. I made a nice putt for birdie on 17. And then when I made the turn, I birdied 1. I ended up making -- I made a bogey with a sand wedge in my hand on another par-5. So I played the par-5s 3-over today, which is -- not that they're easy par-5s, these are some tough par-5s, really. But still, you don't -- that is certainly not any excuse. To be 1-over playing the par-5s 3-over, I'll take it. Q. I asked Mike Small, the fact that we're reversing the nines, and he sort of said, okay, that's interesting, because he thought the front side had just as tough of landing areas for those drives as the back. And he's done better on the back, he said. And you finished on the back. Do you follow me? LEE RINKER: Right. Q. It seemed strange. LEE RINKER: I don't know that there's one side that's harder than the other. There's some really, golly, 18 is such, the new 18 is such a good hole. But, yeah, there's some -- that first hole, that 10th hole, down the hill, that's a tough tee shot. And then narrow little green and 11 is a heck of a tough hole. And then 13's a great hole. 14. You're probably right, that, he said he did better on the back? Q. He said he does better on the original back. LEE RINKER: Yes. The original back probably. Q. Which you just finished on. LEE RINKER: Yeah, the back nine that we're playing this week is, when you look at it, there's some really, really tough holes. Q. The par-5, No. 16. In today's rotation? LEE RINKER: Yeah, and even 16, it was playing a little downwind, but I couldn't get to it. The pin was on the front, it was straight down wind, it was kind of hard to get to that pin with the front pin placement there. Then 17 was a long hole, but it was playing straight into the wind. It was a tough wind today. Q. Kerry Haigh said obviously they switched the nines for the spectators, so they have a better view. LEE RINKER: Yeah, that last couple holes are beautiful there. Yeah, it does. It's a little easier to get people around that, from the 18th and that and then the par-5s and then No. 9 there. But, no, yeah, that makes sense. Q. How much preparation did you have before coming here? LEE RINKER: Not a lot. I haven't really been playing a lot. I had a little bit of a back issue for a while and I didn't play for a month. And I just started playing again a couple weeks ago. So I had a little tournament I played in last week, actually a section event. I didn't play particularly great, I played a whole lot better today than I did in that section event. But you know what, it was good, and I played and I felt like I didn't play great, I felt like, okay, I'm kind of getting a little bit of a swing. I think the key is, I mean, I actually got here and I just played like nine holes a day. This is the first time I've played 18 holes. Q. You don't want it wear yourself out. LEE RINKER: The golf course is hard to walk and I haven't been doing that much or playing that much, so I know that the thing starts on Thursday, not on Tuesday and Wednesday. So you need to be fairly rested. Q. The other question I have to ask you about is, your sister is in the KPMG PGA Championship. LEE RINKER: That's right. Q. So it's going to be fun to maybe cheer for her, too, a little later. LEE RINKER: Yeah, she actually won a tournament here last year, on this golf course. She won, they have a big Legends event and she won and two years ago she finished second. So I have her, I have her caddie who she said was the great green reader. He did a great job today. Q. And he is? LEE RINKER: Caleb Powers is his name. He was a, he just got out of college and he was, he's caddied here as a college student. Q. Where is he from? LEE RINKER: He's from right here. Q. French Lick? LEE RINKER: No, not French Lick, but local, I'm not sure. Q. This general area? LEE RINKER: Yeah. Q. Caleb Powers. P O W E R S? LEE RINKER: Yes. Q. Okay. Good. LEE RINKER: Anyway, he's a good kid and I normally don't have my caddies read the greens for me. But I was using him this, I was using him quite a bit. It really worked out pretty well, actually. Q. And despite the par-5s, you did pretty darn good. LEE RINKER: Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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