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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

July 28, 2016

Jimmy Walker

Springfield, New Jersey

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 98th PGA Championship. We are joined by Jimmy Walker.

Jimmy, real nice round today, 5-under 65, included six birdies, one bogey. That had to feel good to have things clicking today.

JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, it did. To start off playing just solid, lots of fairways, lots of greens, got some putts to go in, hit some quality second shots into greens, and had not been making a lot of putts this year. The last weekend and today, I felt like I was gaining some momentum and starting to see some go in. So it was nice to keep that rolling today. It's felt good.

JOHN DEVER: You had such a good year two years ago. Did it feel like 2014 again? Was it just making a few more putts?

JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, definitely. There were shades of that for sure. Playing well. I mean, played tough and I hit lots of good shots. Just kind of kept it right out in front of me. It was fun.

Q. Could you just sort of expand on that? Results haven't been that great the last month or so. Has the putting turned around or any other changes that got you going this week?
JIMMY WALKER: I felt like it's been all year, it's just been real stale and stagnant. It's just ebbs and flows of golf. Just haven't been scoring. Haven't been making the ten to 15-, 18-footers you need to make to start running up the leaderboard and to have high finishes. Just a lot of even par to a couple under golf, and it's equated to a bunch of 20th place finishes this year. Definitely different than the last couple.

Q. How frustrating?
JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, it's frustrating. I would have loved to have had a better year than I've had so far to this point but I know there's always time to play well at the end of the year. I haven't really done that yet, play well at the end of the year. I feel like I've started strong and just haven't quite capitalized on the end of the year.

So it would be nice to flip that around. I've really been working hard, and that hasn't been the case. I have been cranking away and busting it. It just hasn't showed which kind of happens sometimes.

Q. Do you feel any urgency as we get closer to the end of the season?
JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, maybe a little bit. Last two or three years haven't been accustomed to sitting where I am on the FedExCup list. So yeah, I would like to keep jumping up. I like jumping inside the top 30 and going to THE TOUR Championship. I mean, that's what you're looking forward to.

I definitely wanted to play Ryder Cup this year and I don't know how much time there is left in that, but I know we do a lot of picks this year and the picks keep going. So solid play at the end of the year could get you the nod. Those are definite goals. I've been working hard to get there.

Q. The Ryder Cup, double points this week; as much as you enjoyed your Gleneagles experience and double points this week, it's not that far out from No. 29. How much do you think about it or not think about that?
JIMMY WALKER: I don't really think about it. I know I'd like to be there. I'd had it sewed up last time it came around at this point. But playing good at the end of the year would be nice. I feel like you kind of run up in there and grab a spot.

Q. What made that week so memorable for you, other than obviously playing well?
JIMMY WALKER: You always wonder what it would be like when you watch it. When you watch it -- what are the emotions you're going to have. You hear all the stories about how tough it is and how mentally draining it is and how exciting it is. And it lived up to everything I wanted it to. I know playing well really helped. I felt like it made it a lot, I'm sure a lot more enjoyable.

I felt like at Presidents Cup last year, I didn't have quite The Presidents Cup I wanted to, and you do feel like you kind of let your team down. It's not a great feeling. You let everybody down. So playing well in those, it sure makes it a lot more fun, personally.

I can't imagine what winning a Ryder Cup would feel like. Winning The Presidents Cup was awesome and it was very exciting coming down the stretch. Watching Bill do what he did and his dad, it was pretty storybook, very cool.

Q. You mentioned your play over the weekend in Canada, but has there been a single moment or turning point the last few weeks where either in practice or a tournament, you felt like things were going to be coming around for you?
JIMMY WALKER: No, I feel like I'd have little things that would happen and I'd be like, okay, that feels pretty good. I'd do something to kind of counteract it in a negative way.

The last round in Canada felt great. I felt like coming down the stretch on Sunday, I ended up finishing 14th, but I felt like personally, I did a lot of things right, and that's what I've been kind of looking to do that I haven't been doing.

So carried that into today. I felt going into today, after yesterday, I had really good nine-hole, 12-hole matches with the guys I played with and played solid. Continued feeling good with the golf swing and keeping the lower body quiet. It felt good.

So I felt like I was ready to go, I honestly did this week.

Q. Just to follow up on what you said before about you've been working as hard as ever, and it has not paid off. That's kind of like the nature of golf. How do you deal with that? How do you keep yourself going, keep your attitude and your mood up when you're working as hard as you can and you're not getting the results?
JIMMY WALKER: Sometimes it's hard, I'm not going to lie. It's tough. You feel like you're killing yourself and you're giving it all you've got and you're just not seeing it. Sometimes hard work doesn't pay off. But over time, it will I think.

Q. From a golfer's perspective, I find it's hard to convey to my readers, a traditional PGA TOUR event versus a major; 18 holes, it's a tough game. From a player point of view, how would you describe the difference between the two, aside from media attention and spotlight?
JIMMY WALKER: Personally for me, it's still just golf. You go out and hit the shots. Doesn't matter if you're playing Hawai'i at the beginning of the year or TOUR Championship or you're playing Augusta. It's still just golf.

I think for me, once you've done them once or twice, the newness kind of wears off a little bit, and I think you just kind of settle in and say like, it's golf, let's go hit the shots. Let's go make the putts.

I do know that on Sunday with a chance to win, it will feel a little more -- it will feel bigger. So I look forward to having that chance. It will be fun.

Q. I wouldn't think you'd go through too many lulls with your putting. When you do, is it more of a technical issue or do you find it becomes kind of a mental hurdle to kind of get on the other side?
JIMMY WALKER: They just haven't been going in. For whatever reason, they just haven't. I hit a lot of good putts and they all look like they have got a good shot. For whatever reason, they lip out or quit breaking. I just haven't been making a whole lot. You can tell, stats, birdie average has been down a little bit. Just haven't been making as many putts.

Done a lot of good stuff this year stat-wise, so just -- I'm a good putter. They say like good shooters, just keep shooting. I'm just going to keep putting, you know, and they are going to start going.

Q. You must like the current trend of first-time Major winners. Has that crossed your mind at all that maybe it's your time now as you've seen Dustin and Stenson lately?
JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, I had not really thought about that. I mean, all the guys that have done it this year are great players. It seems like anybody that's out here playing in this championship or any other major has a right to be there; it's because they're good.

Three first-time Major winners this year, I don't think it's coincidence or anything. They are all good players and it was just a matter of time. So just keep that rolling.

Q. You lost me a little bit on those nine- and 12-hole matches. Where were they, who are they with, how does it work, birdies and bogeys, all that stuff?
JIMMY WALKER: First day played a 12-hole because you guys wanted Rory at 1:30, and it played so slow, we decided to have a 12-hole match. So Rickie and I played Rory and Andy Sullivan. Rickie and I came out on top in that one.

Next day, played a nine-hole match. Snedeker and I played Rickie and Rory, and they clipped us. They clipped us and then we won the press. So it's kind of nice winning the last hole. Kind of makes lunch taste a little better and gives them a frown, so it's kind of fun.

Q. Whose interview got in the way that day?
JIMMY WALKER: Nobody. Nine-holer.

Q. Could you just go over the clubs you hit and the birdies you made today?
JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, so looking back, so 1 today, good drive, wedge in, made a 15-, 18-footer, whatever that was.

7, 8-iron over the back of the green. Putted it in from off the green. Kind of having a hard time remembering there in the middle. I hit a good 9-iron into 15, made that putt. I had about a 6-footer there.

16, a good 5-iron to like, that that was a tough pin to get to. I think I made like a 15-footer there.

18, knocked it on in two and 2-putted there.

13, I'm struggling to remember what happened there. Oh, I remember. Great drive down the middle. Sand wedge to about ten feet. I hit 5-iron in.

JOHN DEVER: Jimmy Walker, 65, top of the leaderboard. Thank you for your time and have a great week.

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