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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 19, 2015Mark MulderSTATELINE, NEVADA THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the 2015 American Century champion, Mark Mulder, and his son, Xander. Congratulations. Sixth time here playing in the American Century Championship. First‑time win.  How does it feel? MARK MULDER: It feels amazing. I'm not going to lie. It's something that I think about all year long, I guess, leading up to this. I think anytime any of us ex‑players, whatever sport we play, to be able to compete at a high level like this, I know I dwell on it. I know I think about it. I know I'm excited about it. So my whole year, as far as golf goes, leads up to this, and it's fun to finally close it out. The last few seasons I've kind of put two and a half rounds together, the last few years, and to be able to put three complete rounds together feels really nice. THE MODERATOR: You came within two points of the all‑time tournament record with 82. Billy Joe had, I think, it was 84 back in 2010. You had it going there pretty good. I think if you made birdie on 18 you would have tied the record. MARK MULDER: I really did. And I missed a couple short ones. I missed a four‑footer on No. 8. Missed‑‑ obviously‑‑ 3‑putted 18. That's not the way I wanted to finish. But I knew what the record was, and I had a little wager with my caddie. So I lost that bet. But I felt really good about what I was doing coming in this week. THE MODERATOR: I heard a rumor that before today's round you predicted a victory; is that true? MARK MULDER: Kind of. I saw Notah Begay ‑‑ I knew Notah Begay from years past. Pat Perez, who's a PGA player, is one of my good buddies, and he's been at Pat's house during the Phoenix Open a few times, and I saw Notah Thursday night at the dinner at the clubhouse. And I said to him, I'm going to win this. And he kind of looked at me and, oh, really. And that's the way I felt. I knew Wednesday and Thursday morning‑‑ Wednesday when I got on the range for the pro‑am, my first couple of shots I knew things felt good. I was in kind of the groove and knew I had an absolute chance. Because in past years I've had a chance and I didn't play as well. So with the way I was swinging I was confident with the way I felt. Q. It begs the question went to 8‑‑to‑1 odds did you do better than $125,000 check? MARK MULDER: There's a very long story to the fact that I did not bet on myself. But that's part of my parents being too cheap with the chips and didn't want to go gamble and go over to the sportsbook because I was busy with my wife and kids to walk over to Harrah's, because we're staying somewhere different. My parents, it's kind of the way they are. They didn't want to gamble any chips. But they should have. Now they regret it. Q. Mark, it looked like the three of you were just three guys playing just a regular round. Did that help you‑‑ you obviously were comfortable with your group? MARK MULDER: Without a doubt. I know Gagne, he lives right by me. He lives five minutes from me in Scottsdale. I've know Scobee, Josh, the last couple of years. Without a doubt playing with the two of them‑‑ not against anybody else‑‑ but having the two of them in that group today, it was just another round. That was exactly right. It was a lot of fun. Neither of us took it that serious but yet we're there to win, all three of us. And it was fun playing with those two guys. They put a lot of pressure on me at the end. I knew they were going to make a run because they didn't play that well in the first 12, 13 holes. And both of them got it going there a little bit late. And I was lucky to hold on. Q. You said this really is the pinnacle of your golf year. I know a lot of guys look forward to the camaraderie. Do you actually look forward to coming to compete or just see your friends? What excites you the most about it? MARK MULDER: I think it's a little bit of the both, the competitiveness. I think when you're a professional athlete and your career's done‑‑ and mine the way it ended early, you don't get to compete at a high level anymore. So just that competitiveness, you kind of miss that. And to be able to do this, whether I played good or bad, I enjoy it. And I love that nervousness. I love that feeling. I love that grind almost, the mental grind. Because that's what it is. It's who can stay mentally stable out there and who can control their emotions the best. And that's what I think is the greatest part about it. Q. I heard you say immediately after your round that you weren't playing‑‑ you didn't feel like you were playing that great when you arrived, even though you had the confidence. How do you prepare? You look forward to it all year, what's your preparation to play? MARK MULDER: You know what, we spend our summers in Flagstaff, Arizona. And it's about 7,000feet, which is similar to this. So I play probably two, three days in a row playing 36 each day before we come here, which helps me with the yardages because the ball goes so far here. So that helps a lot. But that's really about it. With three little kids I don't have time to play every day and practice every day. It just doesn't work out like that. So inpast ‑‑ and then, plus, with me doing the ESPN stuff, when I'm doing Baseball Tonight, sometimes they schedule me right before this tournament. So sometimes I don't get that preparation that maybe I had this year. Q. I'm struck by‑‑ well‑‑ a couple things‑‑ I'm struck by the last couple of days you talked about being relatively nervous, kind of like with quite a bit of humility. Do you think that you can relax now, having got this under your belt? MARK MULDER: I'm going to sleep so well tonight. To be honest with you, the last couple of nights I didn't sleep terrible, I just didn't sleep that great. And people don't understand, this isn't what I or any of the other guys, this isn't what we do for a living. So, You put me on the mound in front of a hundred thousand people and I could care less. You put me in front of a couple thousand people and it's a different animal. I don't think people understand that. I see guys make fun of PGA Tour players when they hit a bad shot. People don't understand how stressful this is and how difficult this is. It's taken me a few years to kind of understand what it takes to win this. I played with ex‑winners or previous winners in previous years, been paired with them. I've seen what it takes. So I think that's all part of that preparation for today, I guess. Q. And I was wondering if you were going to give Steph Curry a run for his money? MARK MULDER: I can't mess with him. He's got everything going way too good right now. I wish he could have been here, though, because he played really well those first two days last season. With everything that's going in his career, it would have been awesome to see him here. Q. I was talking about the press conference. MARK MULDER: No, not in that way. He likes it a little quieter. Q. It was obvious that you and Eric and Josh liked each other. And your caddies liked each other as well. Did you have any idea they were going to run that about 40 yards away and‑‑ MARK MULDER: No, that's why I dropped the bag. I told my caddie he had a chance to make 500 bucks and he ruined it. That's his problem, not mine. I'm not giving it to him now. Q. I'm thinking there's about a $50,000 difference between first and second, and you guys are goofing off and they're goofing off? MARK MULDER: That's why I thought today was so great. Having those two guys‑‑ like I said, I knew Eric from a long time ago. I live near him. I've known Scobee the last two years. I couldn't have asked for a better threesome in that final group. And I think ultimately that helped, it really did. That's nothing against the other guys in this field, but when you know your two other playing partners that well, that helps a lot. Q. I asked the two other guys that were in here about you threw a lot of darts out there today from 150, 160 yards. Were you laying back on purpose off the tee and just trying‑‑ because you hit a certain club better? MARK MULDER: No. For the most part, some of the holes I hit rescue or 3‑wood just because it doesn't feel right. I used to hit rescue or 3‑wood on 8. Now that they changed that I hit 4‑iron off the tee. I'm okay ‑‑ to be honest, I don't think I ever hit anything on any of these holes more than a pitching wedge other than the par 5s. So all the other par 4s and all par 3s, it is pitching wedge or less. So it's 54 or 60. And I have confidence in that. And, so, no matter where I'm at, any of those yardages‑‑ some of those holes are kind of set up for a cut and I play a little draw. So I hit a small little cut off 16, and Scobee and Gagne were laughing at me because they said that ball actually moved right. That was one of the first ones I hit that moved right because everything falls to the left. So, some of the holes just don't set up right for me. So laying back, that's kind of why I have to do that. Q. You talked about how you were able to be mentally tough when you wanted to be. On No. 12 today, you had that‑‑ I think it was about, like, a 35‑foot putt. And then after the first putt you had, like, about, what, maybe 30 to 40feet left because the ball swung all the way to the bottom of the green. MARK MULDER: Yep. Q. But you were able to rally for the bogey. How key was that to keeping your round together? MARK MULDER: Well, I birdied, what, 10 and 11. So I was feeling really good about myself, to be honest with you, is what happened. And I just got a little carried away trying to be a little too aggressive on 12. I felt good about it. I hit it a little too hard. And the second I hit it I knew it was too much. Then it went down that slope. So it was, like, okay collect yourself, let's make a two‑putt, make bogey. The thing that took me a couple years to understand is 18 pars is 18 points here. Nine birdies and nine pars is 27. And that‑‑ when I kind of understood that ‑‑ I'm okay with bogey from time to time. Because if I make my birdies, you still have a chance to win this tournament. Q. Mark, looking back there, I notice two things: One you have the trophy. And the second one, your wife has the check. MARK MULDER: Would you expect any different? I mean, let's be honest. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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