	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 19, 2016

Kevin Chappell

Orlando, Florida

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Kevin Chappell, thank you for joining us after a 5-under in a wet day out there. Pretty impressive stuff.

How do you assess the round?

KEVIN CHAPPELL: Just happy to be done. We're under the weather and I guess it's true what they say be weary of the injured golfer, sick golfer. But some good golf.

Tried to make it as stress-free as possible knowing I didn't have much energy and not overanalyze anything and just real simple, hit the shot here, hit the putt there and worked out.

Q. In your opinion, how much differently did the course play when the rain really started coming down?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: The wind moved from three, four different directions all day. I guess that came with the rain. I thought the course still played pretty firm despite how much rain we had and, you know, the greens held up nicely.

There's enough grain in the greens that some of the putts into the grain were slow because of the water but some of the putts down grain were faster because of the water.

So, you know, I thought the course held up nicely and it's hard to say how different it played but that would be my opinion there.

Q. When did you get sick?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: How?

Q. When.
KEVIN CHAPPELL: Thursday morning I didn't feel great. My son and wife came out from the West Coast and he had a bug and now my wife and I both have it and he's great (laughter).

Q. Your year seems to be all over the place, doing well in places where you wouldn't think and not doing well where you should.
How do you explain that one?

KEVIN CHAPPELL: Yeah. Honestly, I couldn't tell you. The fall was interesting. Really thought I played well in Malaysia. Played awful in Frys in Vegas and started showing signs of life at Malaysia.

Got injured, hurt myself working out too soon after getting back from Malaysia just trying to get my body moving and was really bedridden for ten days.

So I withdrew from Mexico and I've always really enjoyed Sea Island and RSM and really tried to get healthy for that event and kind of it was the last intermittent thing. Go and play and flew out there, no expectations and I played great.

Then never really got healthy in the off-season. I'd feel better and go do too much and then be, you know, kind of limited to what I could do for the next few weeks and seemed like my whole off-season was that and all of a sudden I'm teeing it up in Palm Springs again pretty unprepared and not ready to go and it showed with the West Coast that I had and really wasn't enjoying golf. Was probably miserable to be around.

Hired a friend of mine to come that worked out here last year and I said, "Let's just enjoy this, let's find some joy in shooting 76 or shooting 66 and have a few laughs and see what happens."

Kind of got in contention in L.A. and felt like, you know, Sunday wasn't great but it was momentum forward from where I was and last week wasn't great, didn't have much game but got it around and really tried to grow my game and then show up here and all of a sudden you got something.

Q. Kevin, could you talk about the hurdle being a good player out here, trying to get that first win, what it's been like and how ready do you feel to get it?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: You know, fortunately for me the most pressure has been on myself. I feel like the media has been pretty nice to me.

Q. Till now?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: I mean bring it on (laughter). I felt like the media has been pretty nice to me about my shortcomings and especially with how much -- how many opportunities I feel like I've had.

So, I guess the personal pressures are much larger than external pressures and I know not to really blow in here and expect me to win tomorrow but I'm sure going to give it a shot and we'll see what happens.

Q. Do you feel ready for that stage, that next step?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: Yeah. It's something I thought about thousands and thousands of times and I could see myself doing it. It's just a matter of going out and doing it and I can't think of a better place to get my first win, Mr. Palmer's -- the castle that Mr. Palmer built and in front of a world class field.

Q. Going back to what you said about finding the joy in it, was there a key to that, was it just being around your friend, was it a way you were approaching the game?
What sort of made you find that joy in what you were doing?

KEVIN CHAPPELL: I think I just needed to forget about trying to be perfect and really just take the game for what it was. You know, I noticed that when things go sideways I try and make it perfect and by no means was I perfect today, shot 5-under par, 67. Played a great round of golf.

I think it's realizing that when you're at your worse is what allows you to get out of it. By really enjoying the process I felt like that was going to be a bit of a shortcut to turning things around.

Q. Kevin, you said that you flew to Sea Island without any expectations. Were there any expectations this week, was there any sign early in the week that you might have a good week in store?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: I played by myself last week on Sunday and had a blast. I was Snapchatting my way around the golf course. I have like ten followers on Snapshot.

It was hilarious. We were having fun with it. I started noticing shots coming out of the gun the right way and I was like, "Oh, wow, this is kind of fun."

I shoot 71, which I thought was a pretty good round of golf around there especially playing by yourself so I was excited coming here and took my day off and Tuesday my instructor was here, Mark Blackburn, and made a little posture change and he just kind of told me what to feel and then I kind of added my own touch to it, like added my own feel to it. I've gone with it. I've spent minimal time on the range and just try to embrace those feels.

Q. Kevin, you don't see a really high percentage of 54 hole leaders close out tournaments. If you're good enough to be leading after the 3rd Round, why do so few win?
KEVIN CHAPPELL: It's a good question. I don't know that I have an answer for it. I think that there's a lot that goes into it than just the score after 54 holes and I really -- I'll use me for an example.

I was two shots off the lead going into the final round at L.A. On paper it looks great. But if you look at the statistics I scrambled at 90 percent through three rounds of golf. You go to the well too many times there's not going to be water eventually.

So, you got to have it for four days especially out here and you know I think that's probably, I think it's deeper than the question you asked, there's statistics that show where your range has to be to close out a golf tournament and I think going deeper in that you might find the answer.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Kevin, thank you for joining us today. We appreciate your time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297