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QUICKEN LOANS NATIONALAugust 2, 2015Troy MerrittGAINESVILLE, VIRGINIA AMANDA HERRINGTON: We would like to welcome our newest Quicken Loans National champion, Troy Merritt. Got your first win in dramatic fashion with some tournament records here. Pulled away from the field today. Like to start by asking how you're feeling right now about getting that first win? TROY MERRITT: Relief. Billy was playing really well early, I think he had it to 17-under at a point and Rickie in true Rickie fashion, he never gave up after he birdied. I figured he would get to 16. As a result we thought we needed one more. We wanted a little bit of a cushion coming down 18 and that 8-iron on 16 was pure. It would have been fun if it went in. It would have been nice for Quicken Loans to give out a million dollars. Nonetheless, it was really nice coming down that final fairway with a two shot lead not feeling very much stress. Trying to make as good a golf swing as I can. As a result, nice to have only one putt. Q. Troy, is there anyway you can explain five missed cuts and you win? TROY MERRITT: Absolutely. Players out here are really good. Ever since the summer started I've had two over-par rounds and I've missed every cut. The problem is that I've been shooting even par and 1-under par. That gets you lapped out here especially on I would say easier courses that we play and, you know, there was just something that wasn't quite there and I kept telling people that, "It's really close but there's just something that's not quite there" and we found it Tuesday afternoon with hand position at address and the ball-striking. It gave me just that little bit more freedom in the back swing, little extra time and to hit a lot of quality golf shots this week. Then we found something Saturday morning with the alignment of the putter. The shoulders needed to squared up a little bit. We found the hole a lot on Saturday and that's why I'm here. We found two little fixes and I told Sag right after we found that little tweak on Tuesday I said, "I'm very unhappy if I have 37 birdies this week now." But I didn't make it 37 but I am happy to be the champion. Q. What was your attitude like over the last five events where you had missed the cut? TROY MERRITT: Frustrated, but still peaceful. I knew I wasn't playing poorly. I haven't exactly made a bunch of cuts in my career and a lot of times it's not close. But this year I've missed more than half but a great majority of those have been by one or two shots. So I've been there to make the cuts which I mean isn't any better than missing it by 6, 7, 8. Always positives that I took from each week. For the most part, it was the putter, short game that kept me in, gave me a chance a lot of weeks because the timing wasn't right with the golf swing. This week we matched up the swing to the putter on the weekend and it worked out. Q. Is there a lesson in this that you can learn and is there a lesson in this that other players can learn from watching what you've been through recently and what you've done this week? TROY MERRITT: You just don't give up. I mean if you feel like things are close, you keep grinding because there's just that one little thing. Like Tiger has been saying, there's the one little shot for him to get his round going and keep him going. We found that one little thing. That's all it is. It's always close and just need to find it. Q. As you're going up the 18th there was a loud ovation and you acknowledged it. What's going through your mind at that point and how do you reign in your emotions so you can make that birdie putt? TROY MERRITT: To be quite honest, I wasn't trying to make it, I was trying to lag it, and if I had two feet left I was going to be lagging that one as well (laughter). I wanted to make sure I got it in in 3. Nonetheless, it had pretty perfect pace, that putt. Walking up I just wanted to show my appreciation for the people that came out to the event. I mean obviously we don't play without the fans, all the volunteers, spectators, sponsors. I just wanted to give them their due diligence, you know. They all came out to see us. It wasn't the high profile final group that I'm sure they were expecting but I really enjoyed it. Q. I'm sorry to keep revisiting this but did you get down on yourself over the last five, six weeks and how do you continue to battle through it? TROY MERRITT: No. I was never down on myself mainly because I never give up. Even when I was three, four shots out of it -- out of just making the cut on the back-9, I always grinded it back down and gave myself a chance. As long as I'm on the golf course I'm going to give it my best effort. I don't just go out there and half ass throw shots away. That's not what I do. That's now how I was raised. That's now how I played any of the other sports. So I always go out there and give my full attention even if I'm out of it, even if I'm five shots off the cut line. Even if I'm tied for 50th on Sunday afternoon coming down 18, I'm going to put a hundred percent focus into the golf shot because that's what I've been taught to do. Q. I guess you have two over Rickie now. TROY MERRITT: He mentioned that. Q. Five years ago you win that Kodak Challenge thing, million bucks, and I recall you got pretty emotional about it probably mostly because you got your card and sort of locked up your card, if I remember correctly, but compare I guess the emotions of that rookie year and so forth and to actually five years later you get your first win and the emotions of what that's like. TROY MERRITT: I would say the emotions -- I mean they are in there and they're going to come out when I talk to my family but that Kodak Challenge the day I finished 125 on the money list my dad was there, my mom was there, my wife was there and my dad is a big softy, goes six-foot-four. I inherited his soft heart. I have a tendency to tear up and be a emotional. It's been a long journey the last five, six years. Several life changes, couple moves, two boys but I wouldn't have done it any other way. I mean I want to be a family man, I want to be a dad. I'm a golfer down the list. When I go home, I'm with my wife, I'm with my boys. I'm not at the golf course. When I'm out on the road I'm at the golf course. I separate my life pretty well and, as a result, it really hasn't paid off in success on the golf course but it's the way I'm doing it. I'm a family man first and foremost. Q. Did you think it would take five years to get the first one? TROY MERRITT: With how good the players are these days it could never have happened, to be quite honest. I mean the level of the people that are out here are tremendous. These guys are the best players in the world and they're only getting better. So you have to go out and have a great game plan, pure it all week, make some putts, get some good breaks and luck and maybe have a guy or two stumble at the end. That's how good the guys are out here. I don't think you're going to see guys winning tournaments by 8, 10, 12 shots as much as we did five, ten years ago. They are just that good. It's always going to be close, I think. Q. Among the ways to be good in golf though is the ability to go really low all the way back to Boise State setting a record there, two 61s, the six days you led the qualifying tournament. Have you always had that knack for when you got it, really taking advantage of it and what does it feel like? TROY MERRITT: It's -- you know what, it's a calm feeling but it's also slightly a nervy feeling at the same time. Because I mean you're making birdies, you're taking it low. You've caught the leaders but now you want to get a few more because you want that cushion. You don't want to be tied or have a one shot lead. You want to be up by 3, 4 because you never know what's going to happen out here and that's why I spoke about at Hilton Head playing with the fear, the fear of being caught and had it today. I was watching the scoreboards. I grew up playing all the other sports, football, basketball, baseball and you know where you stand at all times. You're always looking at the scoreboard. Golf is no different for me. I want to know where people are. I want to know what they're doing and, as a result, I don't usually modify my game plan to what they're doing but I just like to know where I sit. Q. When you were walking to the 18th tee or slapping hands with people on both sides of the ropes and stuff, was that maybe just an indication of how comfortable you were? TROY MERRITT: You know, they came out here to watch us. We're nothing without our fans. You might as well acknowledge them. I mean I would have struggled as a kid because I was a shy kid. I wouldn't have been asking for autographs. I wouldn't have been putting my hand out for a high five. It's nice to see people wanting to interact with you. So even if it's hey, good job, keep it going out on the golf course, look at them, smile, say thank you, acknowledge that they're there and they'll be lifelong fans and that was just -- I was in the moment, I was thinking about what I was going to hit off the tee on 18 but I was just real appreciative of the people there and they're cheering for what we're doing. Q. When the putt dropped you kind of turned and kind of shrugged your shoulders or whatever. What were you thinking there? TROY MERRITT: I wasn't. It's amazing how you know you can dream about winning a golf tournament your entire life and you got it scripted and when it happens, you're not thinking. You don't remember what your name is. You just reacting. That's all that was. It was just it's finally over, played this golf course 7 days in a row, 18 holes everyday in the heat, in the afternoons and I was just tired. It's over with. I don't have to hit another golf shot today. I was just really happy. Q. Kind of touched on it just then but at what point did you realize when that final putt was traveling that it had a shot at going in? TROY MERRITT: Probably about the last three, four feet. It straightened out just a shade and looked like it was maybe going to miss on the left side and it wiggled just enough right the Golf Gods decided that's just enough for this week, this one is going in and we'll go celebrate. Q. You mentioned yesterday I think, I didn't hear you so I didn't know the tone of it, that you had been chased it so many weeks in a row. When you missed cuts you got to make a buck the next week, got to keep chasing it. Did you almost mean a little bit of that joking how you were hoping for a day and a half or two at home to get back? TROY MERRITT: The only way that I would not be going home tonight on a 7:20 flight was to be in the final group and the only way I wouldn't be playing in Reno this week was to win and be playing in Akron. So I was just looking forward to flying home, being with my boys Monday, most of Tuesday and then driving down to Reno. I mean I saw them the week of The Open we were up at my parents house in Minneapolis. I seen them the week before they came out to the John Deere. My family doesn't travel. We like to have them at home, live their own lives. It's kind of not exactly the real world what I do out here. They have more room to run around at home. So that's their life. I get to see them everyday. I was excited to see them and I told my wife yesterday after the round I said, "You know, honey, if I happen to win this I'm not going to be home for two more weeks and I apologize for that." "Well, you got to do what you have to do." She understands. We've come a long way and I guess we wouldn't have it any other way. Q. Having missed cuts you got to follow the checks. TROY MERRITT: You have to play, especially when you're right on the bubble to keep your job for the next year trying to get in the FedExCup Playoffs. I was just looking for a good week. I was looking for something positive, 20 plus points, take the stress off the next week, get a couple points next week, make it manageable in Greensboro, try to play well because I didn't have my A game. I was just trying to get it around and get it home, make a couple cuts and just caught lightning this week and it was great. Q. Troy, like asking this question after guys get their first career win. Best perk of this you can think of so far, the paycheck, is it the exemption, is it getting into the Masters, is it Kapalua next year, going to put that on your mantle? TROY MERRITT: It is having a secure job for the next two years and being able to set my schedule next year. I can be at home. I don't have to play 26, 28 events. I can get it back down to the low 20s. Spend some more time at home. I'm still going to be competitive when I'm out on the road but I want to see my boys grow up. Q. With the discovery of things that you made with the putting stroke and your set-up and stuff, how might that change the way you think about going into the next tournament and what your prospects are for success there? TROY MERRITT: I know I was a little bit still behind the 8 ball this week just because a lot of the guys, especially on top of the leaderboard hit it so much further than I do off the tee and I hit few drivers, a lot fewer than they did. They were 50, 60, 70 by me in some cases. But I put the ball in play. I knew exactly where the ball was going with the irons and I had a lot really good looks. I think this week was probably one of my best weeks as far as proximity to the hole. So it just gives me that confidence that I don't have to be the biggest hitter, I don't have to force things. I can play my game and things will work out even on long golf courses. I can hit my iron shots in there, they're hitting 9 irons, I'm hitting 6 irons. I'm going to hit it 15, 20 feet, they're going to hit it the same, the way I putted it the last 15 months I like my chances. Q. I think you said at the end of your round yesterday you didn't think you would still be at the leaderboard with a 14-under. How much did you scoreboard watch after the round yesterday and being in that final pairing, was there anxiety going into today with that? TROY MERRITT: You know, not so much. I went back to my hotel after I wrapped up at the course and I turned the golf on because I'm a fan. I like to watch golf and I like to watch -- Tiger was playing, he was one of my big role models grow up. My buddy Rickie was playing. I had played with Ryo Ishikawa the first few days. He played great. I wanted to see how he was doing. I wanted to see how the golf course changed from the morning to the afternoon because I knew I was going to have a late tee time on Sunday so I could start to prepare how the greens reacting, how the balls are rolling on the greens so that it wasn't a big shock when I got to the golf course today and I think that helped out. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Thank you for your time. We'll let you go celebrate. TROY MERRITT: Thanks guys, appreciate it FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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