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AT&T CLASSICMay 17, 2007Ryuji ImadaDULUTH, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: Great first round, capped off with a nice eagle at the 18th. Just run us through some of the highlights and a couple comments on the round and we'll take questions. RYUJI IMADA: I don't know if I'd call this a highlight, but I started off with a double on 5. I pulled it off the tee into the bunker, and I had a big tree in front of me and a creek in front of the green. I tried to hit a shot and I didn't, hit it in the water, and chipped it on the green and two-putted for double. 6, I hit a real good tee shot. I had about 225 to the pin, and I hit it just left of the green in the bunker and I hit it to about a foot, birdie. 7, another good tee shot, a little pitching wedge from about 125, about ten feet. 8, I hit a 5-iron to about three feet. 10, driver and a 3-wood just short of the green, chipped it up to about seven feet, made it. 11, hit a little 9-iron. It was coming from the left, and I hit it about 12 feet right of the hole. 13, hit it in the left bunker just short of the green, hit it up to about a foot for birdie. 16, I hit a 7-iron, landed just past the pin and went all the way to the back of the green, and I hit it about seven feet short. From there I had about a seven-foot putt and missed that one. 18, I hit a pretty good tee shot, it got a good kick out to the middle of the fairway all the way at the bottom of hill. I hit a 7-iron on the back of the green and made the putt for eagle. Q. It looked like you kind of got into a rhythm about the middle of the round. RYUJI IMADA: Yeah, I did. After the double on 5, I knew I had to make birdies. But I knew there were three par 5s that were reachable, and once I got to 6 and made birdie, I started feeling better, and my shots showed it. Just a few lucky birdies here and there, but all in all, I played really good from 6 on. Q. Is it hard when you make a double early like that to shake that off? Is that something that you can get rid of or does it stay with you for a few holes? RYUJI IMADA: It all depends. It's always hard to come back from a double, but I love this golf course, I've played well here before, and I knew that I could make up. So I didn't feel all that pressed. Q. What was the key to your round today? RYUJI IMADA: Today my irons were really good. I was able to hit shots to a certain area with the right trajectory and right distance, except for maybe 17. I was in the middle of the fairway and I just came over the top a little bit, and it landed pin high and went over the back of the green, and I knew I couldn't do that. But other than that shot, my irons were really good today. Q. Did the conditions affect your ball-striking at all? The wind kind of picked up a little bit this afternoon. RYUJI IMADA: It wasn't as bad as has been in the last few weeks. I'm used to that now. Q. You have played well here. What do you like about the course or what is it about it that suits your game? RYUJI IMADA: I love the golf course. It's got wide landing areas off the tee, really nice, fast greens. The people are always nice here all the time, so that makes me feel good. I just love this place. Q. How do you like playing here in May rather than late March and early April? How does it affect the course? RYUJI IMADA: I think it's playing a little faster, but I think the weather is going to be really good this week for the rest of the week. I'm sure the greens are going to get really, really firm, so we'll find out. Q. People are talking about because of the change in the date and being at the end of a streak of big-name tournaments like Wachovia and THE PLAYERS that it's going to open things up for the lesser-known players. I'm not trying to put you in that category -- RYUJI IMADA: I am (laughing). Q. But do you feel like this is a wide-open field, that this is a good place to break through now that here in this particular category, the place where Phil has won the last two years? Do the players think about that at all? RYUJI IMADA: You know, not really. You've still got to play really well to be in the hunt on Sunday, regardless of whether Phil is here or Tiger is here. I mean, if you're playing great golf, you're going to be in the hunt unless Tiger plays really well. Of course they give us more opportunities to win the golf tournament when those top three, four guys are not here, but we don't really think about that much. Q. It doesn't affect the way you play shot to shot? RYUJI IMADA: No, it doesn't affect it at all. THE MODERATOR: Thanks for stopping in. End of FastScripts |
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