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AT&T CLASSICMay 19, 2007Ryuji ImadaDULUTH, GEORGIA JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Ryuji Imada in with a 3-under par 69 today, tied for the lead after 54 holes. New position for you on the PGA TOUR. Can you talk about what it's going to be like to be sleeping on the lead? RYUJI IMADA: Well, that's what I'm going to find out tonight. I mean, I don't think I'll be too nervous. I slept well last night, and it's not like I'm waiting by myself. Troy and I have been friends for a little while, and you know, we were pretty relaxed out there talking a little bit, and it was just a fun day, and I think tomorrow is going to be about the same. JOE CHEMYCZ: 6 of 14 fairways today is about the only thing that doesn't look good on your score card. RYUJI IMADA: Well, that's nothing new for me. If you look at my stats, from -- ever since I turned pro, way before, I've never been a good driver of the ball. I've always been a scrambler. Q. Was there any kidding at all between you and Troy about this whole Bulldog/Yellow Jacket thing? RYUJI IMADA: No, there wasn't. It was fun to see people pulling for me as a Georgia Bulldog and Troy, Yellow Jacket. It was a lot of fun, people yelling and chanting. But not between us, no. Q. It was not your usual golf atmosphere, though, was it, the chanting of the fans? Or was it? RYUJI IMADA: Certainly it wasn't. Say if I was a leader at some other golf tournament, I'm sure it wouldn't be like this. But we're in Georgia, we both went to a local school here. It was different, but it was a lot of fun. Q. Will it make it a little bit easier and less nerve-wracking tomorrow playing with a guy you know? RYUJI IMADA: I think so. Definitely Troy -- I've known Troy since the Nationwide Tour days, and we've played quite a bit since. It's not like I'm playing with the top dogs on the TOUR, so yeah, I think I'll be all right. Q. You talk about yourself as a scrambler. After that two-shot swing where he birdied, you bogeyed, it could have gotten away from you. You had the 52-foot bomb and then you birdied the 18th. Is that typical of the way you play when you play well? RYUJI IMADA: I think so. I love to drive it well in the fairway, long, but I don't most of the time. So that's just the way I play. Q. What was clicking for you today? RYUJI IMADA: I got off to a sort of slow start, but again, hit it in the water from about 90 yards on 4. But I bounced back with a great birdie on 5, which was a pretty good hole. I just kind of held a 6-iron up into the wind and stopped it pretty quick, about two feet from the hole. So that was a great jump-start for my round today. Q. A strange question maybe, but if you say you play that way most of the time from out of the fairway or scrambling around, a lot of guys if they get nervous they start to get the ball out of the fairway. Do you have an advantage on them because you're used to doing that, or what happens when you do get nervous? RYUJI IMADA: About the same (smiling). I mean, my average has been about 55 percent for the last eight years. So I mean, that's nothing new. Q. How big was the shot at 18 that you knocked in there? RYUJI IMADA: It was nice. It was nice that I didn't hit it in the water because it was -- it could have been done very easily. I was trying to -- I had a pretty tight lie, and I was on a bit of a downslope, too, so it made it even more difficult. I figured if I just hit it halfway decent, it was going to carry it onto the green or onto the fringe, and if I missed it a little bit, I was going to leave it in the bunker. So that was the plan. And I pulled it off; it was a perfect shot. Q. Are you looking forward to seeing how everything is going to unfold tomorrow, how you're going to hold up? RYUJI IMADA: Yeah, I am. Certainly I'm looking forward to playing well and maybe talking to you again this time tomorrow. But if it happens, great; if not, there's always next tournament. I'm fine with it. Q. Not to throw a jinx your way or anything, but have you ever thought about or daydreamed about what it would be like to get your first win on TOUR, or will that enter your head tonight? RYUJI IMADA: No, not today during my round. I mean, I think about it. I think about it when I'm practicing or whatever, but everybody has got to win their first event sometime. Even Tiger did, Mickelson did, so I've got to get mine sometime. Q. You say you moved here when you were 14 from Japan to Tampa. How was your English at that time at age 14 when you moved to America? RYUJI IMADA: (Smiling) that's it, right here. I just looked at you and smiled. That was about all I did. Q. You were in a foreign country, didn't speak the language? RYUJI IMADA: No, nothing. Nothing. I knew yes, no, my name, that was about it. Q. How tough was that? RYUJI IMADA: It was tough, but when you're a kid you don't really think that much. You just go with the flow and try to learn, and that's what I did. Q. You were with a group of Japanese kids? RYUJI IMADA: Yeah, yeah. JOE CHEMYCZ: Ryuji, thank you. End of FastScripts |
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