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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 6, 2016Davis Love IIIKapalua, Maui, Hawaii ALEX URBAN: Like to welcome Davis Love III to the interview room here at the 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions. You're here by way of your win at the Wyndham Championship, third-oldest winner in PGA TOUR history. Talk a little about what it's like to be back here, this is your 14th start in this event and maybe a little bit about that win last fall. DAVIS LOVE III: Well, obviously it's nice to start your year off here at Kapalua in the Hyundai. It's obviously a goal for everybody when you start the year. Different goal for me. Obviously at my age, you start thinking you're not going to get back to tournaments like this. But I wanted to get back in THE PLAYERS, the Masters and get back in a bunch of tournaments, and this is another bonus from winning. So excited to be back. Mark Rolfing gave me a great start in my career in the off-season events and Kapalua has always been good to me. So I'm excited to be back. Q. How much golfing and how much snowboarding have you been doing? DAVIS LOVE III: I played a lot of golf the last few days. But since the Father Son, neither of us have played a lot of golf. We've been either family, Christmas or snowboarding. I'm not the rustiest guy in the field but I'm in the top 5 probably. I'm looking forward to another round today and three weeks in Hawai'i is a great way to start. But I've done this a lot. I've come to Kapalua a lot right from Idaho. I told my caddie, the first goal was to get all the plastic, the green stuff off the bottom of my clubs because they have been off the mat for a week. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm obviously not in tournament shape yet, but you know, another round today, and it's always fun to start here at Kapalua, you've got some big fairways and a course that I'm used to. So excited about it. Q. When is the last time you played here, after the win at Disney? Does it have a different feel now because there's so many top players in the field this week, as opposed to years past, you have not got that No. 1, No. 2 ranked player? Is it a different feel? DAVIS LOVE III: It's exciting there's so many guys here. The top players are here. Obviously Jason and Jordan and all the guys that are hot right now are here. Across the hall from G-Mac, and I'm seeing all the top players that have played well at the end of the year. Justin Thomas just walked by, guys that have been playing well. The first family I saw was the Kaufmans. Smylie Kaufman is probably the youngest, maybe the youngest guy in the field. So it's exciting to be here with them. And I've already gotten a good start on thinking about how to hang out with these guys this year for The Ryder Cup. It's great for me to be here, the players, the Masters, starting off the year and kind of on top of things, not only with my game but with my responsibilities as Ryder Cup Captain. Q. You've seen this golf course from the beginning. I know I covered you back in the day when you won THE INTERNATIONAL here and you went down to the wire with Mike Hulbert here. How much has this golf course changed over the years and if you could expand on that a little bit, how surreal is it to be back here in this format now? DAVIS LOVE III: Obviously a different tournament. Back in the 80s and 90s, it was an after-the-season event and more of a big vacation and it was a lot of fun. The golf course played a lot shorter when it first opened. It was firmer and faster. It's changed a lot. Seems like the scores haven't really. Seems like the guys shoot low scores here still. But it plays a lot longer. It plays different. But still, it's a fun course to play. I love what Ben Crenshaw does with his designs. We were talking last night at dinner, there's so many ways to play to the hole on some of these greens and si many ways. You hit the ball five different directions in the fairway, it all ends up kind of in the same place. The guy that draws it or the guy that fades it, they all have a way to play it off the tee and into the green. It's fun to play and nice to be back here at a place where I'm pretty comfortable. Q. You mentioned Ryder Cup. I wonder how unhappy you would be to see a lot of the new faces on your team come September, as opposed to there's always that thought that experience matters, but maybe it might be like talking to Justin Thomas yesterday, he didn't want to just be on the team. He says, "I want to win The Ryder Cup." It seems like maybe that is more the attitude that would be beneficial to the new side. DAVIS LOVE III: Well, the new guys certainly have that attitude. They want to be on a winning Ryder Cup Team. They have seen the last three Ryder Cups, or Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, they have been on a team and not won. They want to be on a winning team. And I think from the top, from Tiger and Phil and Jim and Steve Stricker and I, as leaders, we want to be part of the winning Ryder Cup Team. We want to give these guys the best opportunity they can to win. We want 12 guys that say the same thing that Justin said this week. Guys have said to me over the last six months: "I want to be on a winning Ryder Cup Team." They don't say, "I want to make your Ryder Cup Team." I think that's the difference. Our shift is we are going to put 12 guys together that are committed to winning and forget the past. So I think what Justin said, you know, I bet with nine holes to go, a two-shot lead at the Masters, he might not want to trade for a Ryder Cup win. But the attitude is right. Hey, this is one of the biggest things for me this year is to be on a winning Ryder Cup Team and that's the attitude we want. We want him thinking that at Kapalua just like I'm thinking that at Kapalua. I'm looking at these guys who, is going to make this team, more importantly, who wants to be on this team to win, not who is going to make the most points. Like we did with Phil in Korea; Phil wanted to be on the team and wanted to win, and that's why he got picked. He was 25th or 30th in points, but he was a guy that wanted to be on the team, wanted to be part of a winning program and wanted to win, and that's why he got picked. And by the way, he played probably better than anybody else. So that attitude is what we want. And I'd love to see Justin, several guys, not to name names, have come up to me and said, I want to be on a winning Ryder Cup Team. It's very important to me. Q. How does that affect your thinking for your captain's picks? Is experience not necessarily your No. 1 criteria? DAVIS LOVE III: Going back to Dave Stockton, he sent me to play some practice rounds at Kiawah, and then he didn't pick me and I was mad. And then as soon as I played one Ryder Cup, I went, I get it. Pit's hard to pick a guy who hasn't played before. So you have to balance that. I was playing very well but I didn't have any experience. Now, that was a tight Ryder Cup on a tough golf course. He probably made a very wise decision to get somebody with experience over a kid that had not played before. But you have to balance that. We need guys that are committed to this plan; that want to be part of a winning team and have the right attitude. So that will be a bit part of it, but you have to have experience, too. It's going to come down to: All right, who is the eight we've got; what are we missing. And of those kind of type players, what's your best choice, who is the most committed to it. But I don't think we're going to have a problem this year. I think guys are tired of losing. They understand what the commitment that Tiger, Phil, Spieth, Tom Lehman have made to this program, and they are ready to be a part of it. Q. How different are rookies when you were a rookie than the rookies of today? DAVIS LOVE III: I think it's a lot different. You see guys like Smylie Kaufman or Justin Thomas or Jordan Spieth, they come out of college or a little bit of college and they are professionals. They are experienced. I know when I was coming out, I was still learning the game, learning my way around. Finding myself. These guys are very mature, very polished. They played a bunch of AJGA events all the way up to U.S. Amateurs and Walker Cups and they are very, very prepared. They are more ready I think than guys back when I was coming out. Q. Would you be more inclined or comfortable picking a rookie than you would have been ten years ago? DAVIS LOVE III: Certainly. They have played more big tournaments. They have been on the stage a lot more. And you know, the TOUR is -- if they are out on tour and they are close to making -- they have been under the fire a pretty good bit that year or the last couple years. I would think now they are more prepared. They have played more big tournaments. You know, the NCAAs is on TV. The U.S. Amateur is on TV. They have been around it a lot more than a guy that came out in obviously the eight tees or the nine tees. Q. Along the lines of this year, will you change your schedule at all, looking guys how they perform; and because the pick selection is different, will you have a different mind-frame, and will you weight the Playoffs more important than the past? DAVIS LOVE III: Only doing this one time obviously with the Olympics to see what happens. But I think we've delayed the picks long enough that we have some flexibility, especially that last one. We can wait it out till the very end. But my schedule is going to be normal TOUR schedule, obviously flat-out, same as everybody, Playoffs, what I'm playing in. But then I can sit back, even if I'm not playing in the Playoffs, I can go to those events and watch and be around. But I'm going to play a full schedule all the way through Greensboro again, cherry pick a couple of Champions Tour events probably. But I'm going to play a full schedule all the way through Greensboro. So, one, I can try to make the Playoffs and two, I can watch what everybody around is doing. Q. What Champions Tour events are you playing? DAVIS LOVE III: No commitment yet. I know I'm playing Mitsubishi in two weeks. There's a few others I want to play just to be supportive and to be around and see the guys. I'm going to play at least a couple. Q. Getting back to your own game and this week and maybe doing a little more snowboarding than playing golf; have you found in your career where you had weeks you went in with no expectations and it's helped you? DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah, if you can take a score out of it and take the pressure off -- the pressure for me this week is I love playing here and I'm ready to go. I've spent a lot of time the last few days getting back on grass. Full swing-wise, I'm fine. Just the scoring stuff I have to work on. Yeah, you come in with expectations and goals sometimes, they can get in the way. Obviously Masters or major championships, you get in your own way a little bit more. You can come in relaxed. I think that's what's good for me. In the off-season, working on my swing in the mirror, rather than trying to perfect hitting golf shots. Takes the pressure off a little bit. But certainly this is a week to do that, to just come in and say, hey, this is a bonus, a great way to start and relax. I know we get out and we want to play to win, but sometimes just get out of your own way is the best way to do it. Q. What part of your game is the most vulnerable? DAVIS LOVE III: Swing is okay. My body gets tired from making the swings and gets stiff. It's the same thing for me. Putting is going to be the key. My two best putting weeks last season, I won and had another Top-10. I just have to putt well. It's 100 yards and in. But it's tough -- well, it's tough in a net for a week and then it's tough here to get a whole lot of good wedge work done. That's what I spent most of my time out on the course the last two days was maybe from 125 yards and in, getting control. Because downwind and into the wind, you go from a wedge to an 8-iron from 125. I spent a lot of time doing that and that's where I'm going to make my points this year is from 100 yards and in probably. Q. (No mic). DAVIS LOVE III: It's always been the game. Back when Jack Nicklaus realized he wasn't going to dominate with his full swing, he had to go find Phil Rodgers and work on his short game some. He realized the guys were beating him from 100 yards in, couldn't just overpower every golf course. Now, there's so many guys that hit it so good, that -- the difference is strokes gained putting, basically. You have to gain strokes on the field with your putter or not lose them. I spent a lot of time in my career, a lot of weeks losing to the field with my putter but beating them with my full game. Well, almost 52 years old, I'm not going to beat them with my full game. I have to beat them with my short game, as well. I mean, it's easy to say. You have to have every aspect of your game working out here to win. And Drew and I hit a bunch of bad wedges at the Father Son and we lost. That's what the difference was. Drew was pounding down the middle for me every hole. It was just we didn't hit enough wedges close to the hole. This week, it's going to be hitting uphill, straight putts, rather than 20-footer, downhill breakers. You're going to have to hit the wedges or short irons in the right place to get a whole bunch of birdie putts and then obviously you're going to have to make them. That's going to be the focus for everybody. Look at the guys who have dominated over the last, whatever, ten or 12 years. What do we talk the most about Tiger Woods? How many putts he made for that stretch. Jordan Spieth, how great he's putting. Jason Day, we saw last year, just putt after putt after putt after -- just long putts going in. That's what it boils down to is who gets hot with the putter along with a whole bunch of really good ball-strikers. Q. You've been here so many times and you know what to expect here. We've had two really good days of weather, and then today rainy, overcast. How much is your complete knowledge of this place weather-wise, course-wise, how much might that help you this week? DAVIS LOVE III: Well, it helps to be patient and to know what to pack in your golf game; that you'd better be ready for anything. You don't ever leave the clubhouse without your umbrella here. Even on the nice east day, a shower could pop up. I've hit a lot of shots into these holes where it's 120, but it doesn't play 120. It plays 160, and you have to hit it behind the hole consider and let it comeback into the wind and downwind you have to land it short of the green. It's a good experience course, but if you're hitting it well, as we've seen it over the last few years, some guys that have popped in here and played pretty well. If you're hitting it good, it's a good bomber's golf course. I like Dustin Johnson and Jason Day around here. It's a good course for them if they play well. Q. Winning Greensboro -- (on good courses for Tiger.) DAVIS LOVE III: I think he and I talked about that going in, and then when we played that practice round there, that's a good course for him. He obviously, some British Opens, I remember one, I can't remember he hit one drive there the whole week. He will play the golf course the way it's supposed to be played; that incredible strategy. Places like Hilton Head, Colonial, Greensboro would be good for him because he picks apart that golf course and it's a 2-iron on this hole and it's a 3-wood on that hole and it's a 3-iron on that hole. I think that's good for him. Sometimes we all get on a course like this where it's just bomb's away every hole and you lose control of your concentration or your focus. He can get the scramble swing going rather than play the game. It's amazing, five times at Hilton Head, I've played well at Colonial, I've played well at Sedgefield. I've played well at golf courses like that because it does focus my concentration a little bit. Q. (No mic.) DAVIS LOVE III: I think you learn that you can play any golf course if you attack it right. That's what we're learning about Tiger and Phil and Hazeltine; how we prepare for this championship and we figure it out. Yeah, I think the little courses versus the bigger courses, it just requires more strategy. ALEX URBAN: Thank you for your time. Good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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