	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

THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY ROLEX

July 30, 2017

Corey Pavin

Royal Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom

Q. Assess your play today. You came up a little short but you still beat Bernhard in the final round.
COREY PAVIN: I'm just glad I made that putt on the last hole. I made a mess on the last hole and made a bomb. That was a nice way to end the tournament and get solo second.

I've been playing better the last few weeks, and it's just nice to keep improving. I wasn't pleased with everything certainly but a lot of good things, as well.

Need to hit some better shots. I had a couple short putts that I misread. I was pretty pleased all in all but there's always room for improvement.

Q. You got off to a decent start. You pulled within two fairly early. Did you feel like you missed some opportunities to put pressure on him?
COREY PAVIN: Yeah, I felt like there was a few putts and a few holes that I missed opportunities. I drove it in the bunker on 6, and even my third shot wasn't that hard but I hit a poor shot. I had a putt on 8, could have put a little pressure on.

10 was an interesting hole. That was a bit of a swing. I hung in there and I was proud of myself for doing that. Could have gotten down after bogeying 13. But just grinded it out and just did the best I could.

It was tough conditions today. I didn't think anybody was going to shoot a good score with the wind blowing like that. If I could get a good score, it would mean a lot to me.

Q. Early on in the final round, you were able to put a little bit of pressure on Bernhard Langer, but did it feel like a missed opportunity on the back nine?
COREY PAVIN: Yeah, I definitely had some turning points where I could have put a little more pressure on him. I think 10 was a big one. We both had 10-, 12-footers and his was for par and mine was for birdie and he made his and I missed. That was one opportunity.

I lipped-out on 12 for birdie. That would have been a nice one to go down, but then I turned around and bogeyed 13 which hurt. I could have done some things. I didn't play my best golf today but I hung in there and I played tough. That's all you can do on a day like this when the wind is blowing and it's a little chilly out there.

Q. Overall with the condition and how well you played this week, you have to feel pretty positive about your game now?
COREY PAVIN: I feel better. The last few weeks have been better. It's just been progressively improving. I would have liked to have played a little sharper today but even 57-year-old people live and learn.

Hopefully next tournament, I'll play a little bit better when I get in this situation and we'll see.

Q. For somebody like yourself who has played golf at the highest level your entire life, when you watch Bernhard Langer and see what he's been able to accomplish especially on this tour, what do you say about the number of wins?
COREY PAVIN: It's pretty incredible his run on the Champions Tour in general but you look at his whole career, it's amazing. He's been playing exceptional golf. He's always going to be tough. He rarely beats himself. I know he did a couple weeks ago, but it doesn't happen very often.

Having said that, I still had to go out and just play my game. I didn't have to like watch him. I wasn't watching him at all really. I was just trying to do the best I could and if I could make a run at him, it would be great. But just didn't happen today.

Q. How much did you enjoy the challenge of chasing down Bernhard Langer today?
COREY PAVIN: Well, I wasn't really worried about that today. I was out there just trying to deal with myself more than anything else. I just wanted to play the best round I could and hit each shot the best I could.

There was a couple opportunities there I could have gotten a little closer to Bernhard and I didn't. Some opportunities that I let slide away, which was disappointing. But all in all, if you said I was going to finish second going into this week, I probably would have taken it.

Q. Did you have a number standing on first tee you thought you had to shoot?
COREY PAVIN: I didn't think about that at all. Generally I knew it was going to be a tough day because the wind was up. I knew the scoring was going to be real low but I didn't really think about that at all. I just tried to hit each shot the best I could.

It's tough out there when the wind is blowing 20, 25 miles an hour and it's hard to get the ball close. When you do have an opportunity to make a birdie, you try to capitalise on it and get it up-and-down because you're going to miss some greens.

There was some points I thought could have put a lot more pressure on him. 10 was a big point when he made a 10-footer for par and I missed a 10-footer for birdie right after that. If he miss, I make, I think we're tied at that point, I believe, or maybe I'm one back.

Bogeying 13 was not a very helpful thing for me. All in all, I was really proud that I hung in there. I played tough. I didn't have my best game today but I hung in there and got it up-and-down here and there, and I'm glad I made the long putt on the last hole, too.

Q. How sweet to sign off like that?
COREY PAVIN: It was really sweet because I kind of messed up the last hole and ended up with that long birdie putt, and to can it was a very nice way to finish the tournament.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297