|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
CAREERBUILDER CHALLENGEJanuary 19, 2018Tom WhitneyLa Quinta, California Q. Front nine obviously you were 5-under today, that's fantastic. What was working for you out there? TOM WHITNEY: Pretty much everything. I realized early on that fairways are a premium out here, so there was a lot of target golf, there's a lot of laying back off the tee even though I didn't really want to. Hitting 3-woods on 460 yards par-4s is always a tough decision. But, yeah, I don't recall missing a fairway on the front and my putting finally came around today. Mentioned it yesterday where I hit a lot of lips and same thing happened today on the back, I started the back with a bunch of 2-putts, but, yeah, overall a great day. I'm happy with it. Q. Pretty exciting, you put your self in a pretty exciting position, certainly close to the leaderboard, in great position to make the cut. Are you, are these some of the goals you had this week? TOM WHITNEY: Yeah, so the goal was to play on Sunday, I'm definitely in great position for that. New goal might be to head down to San Diego after this, maybe we can bump that up. But, yeah, I'm going through different new set of nerves that I've never really experienced before. I held the lead in a WEB.COM event, a little different than being in the hunt on the PGA TOUR, I feel like, so... Q. Speaking of nerves, your shot on the 18th hole there. Was that a case of, wow, look at that grand stand there? TOM WHITNEY: Not really, I hit a heck of a shot on 17, never left the flag, and hit the number exactly what I was trying to do. 18, I just, it is what it is and I would rather do it today than on Sunday. Q. So even with that, you consider that obviously a successful day, of course. TOM WHITNEY: Absolutely. I view Stadium as the toughest course out here. Obviously La Quinta plays the easiest, that's my favorite track of the three and I have that teed up tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to what I have going on. Q. Looking to what is consistently considered the easiest one, you haven't played that one yet, so your position, you must feel good about it. TOM WHITNEY: Absolutely. Q. What about the crowds out here? TOM WHITNEY: It was fun hearing people calling, my high school mascot from the grandstands and I got teachers and coaches and high school buddies and teammates and family. I flew my wife out last minute so she's out here supporting me, which is awesome. Q. What's her name? TOM WHITNEY: Jessica. Q. How many people would you say you have out here? TOM WHITNEY: I probably handed out about 40 tickets. I saw probably 20, 25 out there today. I'm sure the number will grow once people aren't working on the weekend. Q. Safe to say this has exceeded your expectations half way through? TOM WHITNEY: Absolutely. I didn't really know what to expect teeing it up in my second PGA TOUR event, being in my hometown, what my nerves were going to be like. But overall I've been pretty comfortable and it's a lot of fun seeing so many familiar faces. Q. Your first PGA TOUR start, but how many -- TOM WHITNEY: Well, second. Q. Sorry. How many times have you played these courses growing up through high school? TOM WHITNEY: Not a whole lot, maybe a half dozen for each of them, but that was 10, 12 years ago. So I could remember the track, I couldn't really remember contours or lines on tee shots or anything, and of course I was a high school kid back then hitting driver everywhere. Q. You don't feel like you retained a lot of course knowledge, you're kind of re-learning some of these courses over again? TOM WHITNEY: Totally. Q. What can you say about this whole experience, the tournament, Lagardere giving you the sponsor exemption and you justifying getting the exemption? TOM WHITNEY: I can't even express my gratitude to them giving me the opportunity and then to be able to represent them in a positive manner and be in the hunt is just icing on the cake. Q. You mentioned nerves. How do you feel you'll manage those nerves tonight going forward to tomorrow? Do you have a routine? TOM WHITNEY: Yeah, just try to do what I do on a regular basis. The stage isn't much different than WEB.COM. I've said it before, bigger grand stands, bigger crowds, but it's the same golf, the same players, so... FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|