home

jobs

	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

EDS BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 12, 2006

Omar Uresti

IRVING, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Omar Uresti for stopping in after a second round 66 here at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Omar is sitting at 7 under through two rounds, a very nice position for you after your start to the season. This is just your sixth start, but you have to be happy with where you sit.

OMAR URESTI: I'm very happy with the way I'm playing so far this week. You know, I played pretty well in New Orleans a few weeks ago when I got in there, and it's just nice to be able to get in the rhythm, that's the main thing.

Early on in the year I played a week, then I had two or three weeks off, then I finally got to play again, just mainly because the Nationwide Tour hadn't started. It was hard to get in a rhythm, and over the last month or month and a half, I finally have been able to get in at least a rhythm, and the competition, getting that frame of mind or the competition, just being able to get focused, it's been helping a lot.

TODD BUDNICK: You and Joe both seemed to take advantage of your back nine today. That's where you did your damage at least.

OMAR URESTI: Yeah, you know, I actually hit it a little bit better on the front nine. I just couldn't make any putts, kind of like Joe. I gave him that little pep talk, I guess, on the 6th hole and all of a sudden he started rolling it in, and I looked at our sign board and saw he was right there on my tail, and I was like, I'd better step it up. Then finally I was able to roll in a few.

So it was kind of nice, and for both of us to be able to finish where we have and be tied, and hopefully we get to play again together. We're both competitors and we both enjoy each other's company, so hopefully we'll just drive each other further on.

Q. You talked about the pep talk. I guess it eventually ended up helping you, as well?

OMAR URESTI: It did, it did. He was getting a little frustrated where I was hitting good, solid shots. I was hitting okay putts and just not quite hitting my lines. You know, like I said, after he had made a couple and I just gave myself another little pep talk to get going, and just to have a friend right there with you, it's like he knows he can play better than me and I know I can play better than him, so let's go out there and have a good time at it.

Q. Did you have somebody different on your bag today?

OMAR URESTI: I did, actually a sports psychologist Fran Pirozzolo. He caddied for me here last year the first round on the same golf course, on Cottonwood, and I believe I shot 7 under with him on the bag.

Then my regular caddie, Michael Collins, will be back on the bag for the weekend.

Q. What's the difference?

OMAR URESTI: He just basically the way I was struggling early on this year, and then last week I struggled pretty badly at Virginia Beach in the Nationwide event. He just wanted to be out there to see how my mind and working and my attitude and all that. Basically what he was just doing was telling me to stay in the moment and not think golf all the time, like in between shots to kind of get away from it.

Q. What do you think about in between shots now?

OMAR URESTI: We talk a little bit of baseball, stuff like that, football, Texas sports and all that type of stuff. You know, it does help.

Q. Would you offer him a raise if he'd stay on your bag this weekend?

OMAR URESTI: No, I haven't done that yet (laughing). He saw a couple times where I started to tighten up a little bit. He came up to me and said, "Come on, this putt is not we don't have to make this putt. You're going to make it, but you don't have to" type of thing, just to relax me a little bit.

Q. Can you sum up the difference? What's the different vibe that you get when he's trying to help you with the thinking that you're trying to carry over into other rounds?

OMAR URESTI: Just the main thing is it just gets me a little bit more into my routine, a good, solid routine, I think. My routine is pretty solid and stuff, but sometimes my mind might tend to wander, whereas not being focused on golf the whole time and taking your mind off it, it makes it a little bit easier to concentrate on the shot, rather than being kind of concentrating the whole time. Sometimes at the end you might lose it.

Q. So this is two years in a row you've kind of made a mark at this place. What do you think it is?

OMAR URESTI: Well, I've been striking the ball pretty well here. Last year I hit the ball really good pretty much all four rounds. Funny enough, last year I made putts the first day and the last day and didn't really putt as well the second and third days. Yesterday I made a lot of good putts, today I just kind of putted okay, but hitting a lot of good iron shots, a lot of good tee shots, just trying to keep it in play.

It's not a course that you have to overpower. Some of the newer courses that we have to play are really long and fairly wide open to me because the trees are 30 yards from the fairway. Sure, there's rough, but the longer hitters, they don't have to if they hit it in the rough they have a shot and they're able to muscle it out, whereas I have to take my medicine and pitch it out and hit my next shot to the green.

I like to have trees in the way because it tightens up my target a little bit, and if you miss the fairway you have to hit shots around the trees or over the trees or under the trees, so in my opinion it makes it more fair for everybody.

Q. You play here at Spanish Oaks, right?

OMAR URESTI: Actually my home course is Barton Creek and UT Golf Course, but I get out there with Joe and play Spanish Oaks with him.

Q. You being with the guys down there, does that help, get some good games going down there?

OMAR URESTI: Mostly I've played with Wes Short and Joe, I've played with Beemer just one or twice there in Austin. Actually right before right at the end of the year last year we went out to Horseshoe Bay, and Ramrock out there, which is one of the tougher courses in the area. So we do get some pretty good games over the winter holidays just to keep us in that competitive mode.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's just go through the round, Omar. Birdie on No. 2.

OMAR URESTI: Yeah, I think it was like 160 something yards, a little downhill, downwind, I hit an 8 iron and hit a foot behind the hole. I got a nice little roll, so that was a nice tap in there to get me going.

Made a bunch of good pars, didn't really struggle. I guess the 1st hole might have been my toughest par, but then after that hit a lot of good shots and had opportunities to make birdies, just didn't.

Then 11, the par 5, hit a pretty good drive and the wind pushed it across the fairway into the rough. I thought I hit a good lay up and it ended up in the rough. I hit a good shot and it landed on the front of the green and rolled up to about ten feet and I was able to make that putt for birdie, so that was kind of nice.

13, hit a good tee shot, had 145 to the hole into the wind, hit 8 iron about probably 20 feet short of the hole and had a little uphill over a little ridge, and it went right in the center.

Bogeyed the next one, I hit 3 wood was trying to hit down the right side of the fairway and the wind was blowing right to left, and the wind just kind of caught it actually the wind didn't help it, and it I pushed it just a little bit, so it stayed in the rough, so I had to try to hit wedge up over the tree. I got it over but I was still short of the green. Then I hit a pretty good pitch shot from about 50 yards, and it landed in a new patch of grass and it just died, so I had like a 40 footer there, and I left that about six feet and was able to make that for bogey, so that was kind of nice.

Decent tee shot on the next hole. The official came up to me and told me he was going to be timing me, so I was able to just kind of go, okay, instead of trying to rush myself I kind of stayed with it and hit a like 5 iron up there to about 12, 15 feet behind the hole, and it was straight downhill. I hit it right where I wanted to and it was picking up speed, and fortunately it hit the center.

16 I hit it in the left rough, thought I hit a good tee shot and the wind caught it and pulled it in the left rough. Fortunately I had a fairly clear shot and a decent lie. I hit my 19 degree Halo out of there, and it landed just short of the front bunker on the right side of it and kind of hopped up the side of it and got onto the fringe. I was really fortunate there and just kind of bladed a little sand wedge, a little belly chip to about a foot and tapped that in for birdie.

Then I left a good opportunity out there on 17. I think I hit it in there about 12 feet and barely mis hit my putt.

Q. How did you get guys get to where they were timing you as fast as you were getting it in the hole?

OMAR URESTI: Well, I think that bogey kind of I had to take a little bit of time there. The hole before, Joe was in the rough and it was into the wind, and just choosing a club out of rough, you know, it takes a little bit of time sometimes. For a couple of holes in the row we were in the rough, so we had to decide what to do and how to play it. I think that's how we fell behind.

Q. Are you usually a pretty quick player?

OMAR URESTI: I'm actually kind of right on the bubble. Usually when it's my turn to hit, I'll have my club ready and my yardage so I can get going, but as far as standing over the ball and going through my routine, I'm right on the bubble. That kind of, I guess, gets me a little bit.

Q. A lot of people it's very popular to criticize slow players. Can you explain why it's necessary for you obviously to take your time and do what you do for your pre shot?

OMAR URESTI: It's just something you get used to. It's your own personal rhythm and your time clock, and it takes a while to speed your routine up.

They used to get on Sergio for so long for regripping it as many times as he used to, and working on it and trying to cut out those regrips that he did, it takes a while. I think he's still trying to still concentrate on it quite a bit, and I think it might be hurting him just a touch, but he's still able to play good golf. He's a great player, and he's got great creativity around the golf course. He'll be able to get it.

But it's important for all of us to try to speed up because we've got to get these rounds done. That's the problem. A few of the fields at the end of the year, they've shrunk because it takes us so long to play, and without daylight, as much daylight, it kills us. At the end of the year, some of the players aren't getting in as many events as we used to five, six years ago because they've cut the field because it does take us so long.

Q. Sounds to me like you're making a few changes or something to try to get it quicker?

OMAR URESTI: You know, the only thing that I do to try to be quicker is just to have my club ready and be ready to go when it's my turn. I mean, I'm walking down the fairway and I'm doing my yardage as I'm walking down the fairway. I don't wait until I get to my ball, and I don't wait until it's my turn to hit to get my yardage. I have my yardage and my club ready to go when it's my turn. That's the only thing that I've really tried to do and concentrate on as far as trying to speed up a little bit. But my routine is pretty much in between 30 and 40 seconds, and we're allowed, I think, 40. I know I'm right on the bubble. It's just a matter of getting comfortable, too. Sometimes it takes a little longer to get comfortable over a shot than others.

Q. You've played with Joe a lot obviously. When he says he's putting bad, how good is his bad putting, or is it as bad as he makes it out to be?

OMAR URESTI: His bad putting is only missing by a millimeter (laughing) it seems like. He hit a lot of what I thought were pretty good putts yesterday and early on today, and he was just barely missing the hole. And then finally like on that 6th hole he made one right in the center from about five feet there for birdie, and then after that he started rolling in everything from it seemed like 10 to 15 feet. He made a handful of those at least coming in. So his bad putting isn't really that bad. It's kind of like watching Ben Crenshaw; Ben Crenshaw putts bad and he's still in the Top 10 in putting.

Q. Sounds like you guys could be pretty tough to beat in alternate shot.

OMAR URESTI: Yeah, we get along pretty well. He hits it out there a little bit further than I do, and most of the time I might hit it just a touch straighter. But he's hitting it good right now. If he keeps that putting up, he's going to be tough to beat.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297