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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 17, 2015Mark MulderXander MulderSTATELINE, NEVADA THE MODERATOR: Mark Mulder and his son, Xander, joining us here today. Xander, how old are you? XANDER MULDER: Seven. THE MODERATOR: All right, seven. Mark, nice round. You've been one of the guys over the years that's had a an awful lot of potential. Everybody keeps talking about you being in the media room every year, and being in the hunt, and you've been close a couple of times. Why don't you take us through your round, tell us what it was like out there? MARK MULDER: Started on 10 and couldn't get anything going through the back nine. And made the turn, birdied three, and I was‑‑ I had 8‑iron into No. 4 and chunked it into the creek, made bogey. And, you know, for me to bogey a par 5 with the length as far as I hit it, it hurts. So just tried to shake it off, and I birdied 5, 6, 7 and 8. Kind of got it going there. Bogeyed 9, got a little flyer out of the left rough on 9, otherwise it would have been a really good round. Q. What do you think you would have shot stroke‑wise today? MARK MULDER: Probably 3 or 4 under, right around there. If I would have played a cleaner round it could have been a little better. But the last couple of days in the pro‑ams I hit the ball about as well as I could really hit it. So I was a little disappointed with my start, obviously, starting on 10 as easy as those holes are. But for the most part I'm pleased with it. It's round one. I was just looking for 20‑something, to be honest with you. Q. Billy Joe said you can't win it on Friday but you canlose ‑‑ MARK MULDER: That's exactly right. Q. Looks like you're tied with, who are you tied with? You're tied with Wagner and Billy Joe is one back. So you're in good company. MARK MULDER: Like I said, I just wanted 20‑something today, instead of 15, 16, right around there. I think I had 8 or 9 at the turn. So I was very pleased to get the back nine going and to finish at 26, I was very happy with, especially after just round one. Q.  I think is this your best opening round? MARK MULDER: I think so. 23, 24, I think I've had before in round one. But to have this, it's a plus. Q. How do you feel now? You've been in this event a few times now. You're pretty calm. Getting a little nervous? MARK MULDER: I feel very comfortable now. That's why I was so disappointed with my start. The past few years I felt very comfortable, very confident with what I'm doing. I know last year I was five months out of a ruptured Achilles. So last year I was very pleased with how I played, all things considered. And this year‑‑ I mean just ‑‑ I'm looking to win it. And I'm going to be disappointed if I don't, because I know my game's good enough and I've worked on it enough to try to be prepared to do that. Q. Xander, did you watch your dad play today? Yeah? What was the best shot he hit? Do you remember? XANDER MULDER: Probably the one on 18, yes. Q. Mark, it's great to see you with your two boys and your little girl. I mean, some of the best moments on the course we've seen here. Is it calming you down? Is it making you play better to have your family with you? MARK MULDER: It is. I didn't have the younger two out here today, just because I didn't want anybody to get anybody's way. And I know nobody whether it was Saberhagen or Gagne, they've met Xander before and I know he can stay in the background. I don't want it to be a distraction to have my kids out. But it's also a really cool thing the last couple of days to have them hitting shots on 16, 17 and 18, that kind of stuff. It's not something that you get to do every day. It's a once‑a‑year deal where I'm put in this position to hit shots with a crowd like this and stuff like that. So I want my kids to be a part of it. And it's nice to see that American Century is allowing that. Q. Is that a new rule, because I've noticed that more contestants are‑‑ MARK MULDER: Nobody's ever said anything to me that you can't. And I don't know that anybody, I've never heard anybody say no kids out there. But I kind of kept him at a distance today. But just said, hey, stay by my buddy, who is caddying for me, just stay by the bag, stay back, stay out of the way. But the other two ‑‑ my youngest, my three‑and‑a‑half‑year‑old, he would have been a little too loud out here today, so he stayed back at the hotel. Q. Mark, you have new holes at 8 and 9 this year. How do you like them? How did you play them today? MARK MULDER: I birdied 8 and I bogeying 9. I got a little flyer out of the rough, out of the left rough at 9, which went over the green. The hardest part about those two holes is not knowing what the green's going to do. In the practice round, 8 was very perceptive the first day, the ball landed and checked. Nine, the ball kind of landed and rolled out. Today it kind of did the same thing. You just don't know what you're going to get with those two greens because they're a little firm. And you don't really have that long of shots in there because they're not that long of holes. So you're trying to spin something with the ‑‑ knowing that, hey, this might not check up. But two days ago, I think the Wednesday pro‑am, my ball stopped right next to the hole. So it's just that little inconsistency with those two greens. They're different than the rest. And that's the biggest issue. Q. Xander, are you taking notes so you'll be able to caddie for your dad next year? XANDER MULDER: Yep. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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