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BUICK OPENJuly 1, 2007Brian BatemanGRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN STEWART MOORE: We would like to welcome the 2007 Buick Open Champion Brian Bateman to the interview room. Congratulations on a great day. We'll get some comments on the round. You picked up 4,500 FedExCup points today. You move from 205th to 44th. If we could just get some general comments on the day and then how you're feeling and we'll take a few questions. BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, I'm still trying to figure out what I did. You know, I felt good all week. I felt like I was giving myself a lot of chances at birdies. I was patient just about every day and it just seemed to build. When I got out there today, I got on the range, I felt good about my swing again. I've had some trouble the last few times that I've been in this position playing well on Sunday. My Sunday final round stroke average has not been very good. So I had a lot working against me, other than believing in myself. I didn't want to know where I stood. I tried to just maintain my game plan. I had a feeling the last two or three holes that I knew I was getting close, based on crowd reaction, some of the things I was hearing from people going down the 16th fairway, but I didn't ask my caddie at all how I stood until I stood in the last fairway and I asked him what we needed. And he said birdie to win. I got my ball in the fairway, had a perfect number for an 8-iron from a little draw back left pin, hit it just where I was looking and really had a tricky putt, but I saw the line the whole way and the rest is history. Q. A lot of players had missed that, they hadn't read it right all day long. You obviously did; it fell. You are the champion. Along with that comes an invitation to Augusta. A lot of people have asked you about that. That's got to be something you're excited about. BRIAN BATEMAN: Absolutely. I've been out here for six years and I've only played in one major and that was in '04, the PGA. It looks like I'll probably get in the PGA again this year. I've only played in one major. I've never been close to playing at Augusta because I always battled through Q-School every year. That means a lot. It's a life-changing week. Life-changing putt, but like I told someone outside, my wife and I are pretty simple people and I doubt this is going to change us much. Q. You're a pretty calm person. What was going through your mind when you walked up the 18th fairway knowing you had that putt to win, and were you nervous over that putt? BRIAN BATEMAN: I wasn't really nervous today. I was a little anxious, if there can be a difference in a golf tournament. I was fighting my golf swing a little bit. There are certain things I have a tendency towards when I get under the gun, but making those two putts on 16 and 17, I knew that I had it in me and I kept telling myself on the back side, you have to believe in what you're doing. There's no reason why you can't win this tournament. So when I got to 18 I really felt like it was my time. I felt this was my one chance since I've been on Tour to have a putt on the 18th hole to win. You don't have many of those chances, at least I've never had that chance. It's something you tell yourself as a little kid on the putting green, "This is to win." I was anxious because I didn't make any putts early. I had some chances. I hit it close on 1, close on 2, and I kept telling myself -- then I had some easy wedges inside 120 yards and in on the first four or five holes, and I wasn't hitting it close either, which was kind of the opposite of what happened the first three days where everything seemed to be -- I was just around the hole a lot, and I had a lot of chances at 10, 12, 15-footers. So early on I was a little anxious because I thought guys were going to make birdies today. It seemed like around the turn, the greens just got difficult. They were burnt out and fast and had a lot of slope to them, and Scott Verplank and I were laughing that it was tough to putt. Literally, a 20-footer, you had to concentrate to get your speed right. There were some greens spots and some brown spots. It was difficult to putt. After I made the long one on 14, I felt that got me in position. I felt Scott and I were going back and forth. The par save on 16, after a really nervous third shot. It wasn't that hard of a shot, and to peel that off in the bunker was one in a hundred, but I really showed myself some heart by getting that up and down. And then 17 the same thing. It's very gratifying to know that when you have it, when you come up short so many times and you haven't had that many chances to pull it through -- and I was telling my wife this morning before I left the hotel to come out here, I can't act like this is my only chance to win, because if I do that, that's going to be way too much pressure on myself. I'm going to have more chances to win, although I haven't given myself many chances. At least if I address that issue and know there are going to be other opportunities, it's not hell or high water today. So that was my attitude. Q. You said the crowd noise picked up around hole No. 16. That putt on 17, what was the reception like, and what do you think about that hole in general? BRIAN BATEMAN: That hole is a lot of fun. I think the crowd obviously gets into it there. It's not the easiest of shots. It's downhill and the wind swirls in the trees, especially when the pin is down in the front. A good solid iron shot can leave you above the hole. I don't know if y'all watched the first couple of days when the pin was down front, but it's fast as lightning, it's probably the fastest putt on the golf course. I think ironically the easiest pin on that hole was today, all the way in the back. I know it gets us closer to the action, to the crowd, but a normal shot there, you're straight uphill the whole way. The crowds have been great all week. They've always been great here. I think the players know that coming in. This is a special week for the area and for the people here at Warwick Hills and we always love coming back. Q. Jason Gore was in here and said that anybody who would tell us that they didn't look at a leaderboard was full of it, in his words. Did you really not look at the leaderboard? And if so, why not? BRIAN BATEMAN: Honestly, I did not look at a board -- I looked at a board one time when we made the turn from 9 to 10, and I saw that I was one back, but I did not look again until my caddie told me on the 18 fairway that we had to birdie to win or we were going to be in a playoff. And it was kind of funny, I said, "A playoff with Jason?" And he said yes. And when I got to the green, I looked over to the board and saw that there were three or four of them. And I thought, I don't want to get into a four-way playoff. So that changed it a little bit. But no, I didn't look. I've never looked. I know what I need to do on a golf course. If I have to shoot at a pin on 18, even if I wasn't tied, if I had a one-shot lead, it was the same shot I was trying to hit regardless. It was a perfect flight for my ball flight, perfect pin position. If the pin had back right it would have been harder because working it that way is a little bit more difficult for me. I don't think that changed my game plan on the last hole, birdie or not, I just had the perfect shot. Q. It wasn't a perfect shot at 17. Talk about that, please. BRIAN BATEMAN: I hit a decent shot there, but there again, there are certain things I fight in my golf swing when I'm under the gun. I've been fighting left quite a bit off the tee and with my irons, so I had a little bit of the anti-left working today with my swing. And 17, you know my heart is beating and I know I'm close and I know the crowd is there and I didn't want to be above the hole. There's a lot going on. Scott hit first and made a great shot. Maybe that calmed me down a little bit. But I had a tricky little chip there because I had a bit of shoulder in front that I had to bounce it through. The one thing I was telling myself, at least leave it below the hole where you have a straight uphill putt, and then I converted it, so it worked out well. Q. This tournament has been a launching pad for a lot of careers, a number of guys have won their first PGA event here, and it seems they come back and contend every year. What is it about this course that guys seem to fall in love with it and play well here year after year? BRIAN BATEMAN: I can't answer for them because I've never had success here. I've always loved the golf course. I think it's pretty straightforward, and I think in this day and age with all the golf courses being built that are 7,500 yards and tricked up, and pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway and that kind of thing, nontraditional, if you will, that I think guys know when they come to Warwick Hills it's going to be a traditional golf course that's right in front of you. The crowds are great. There are a lot of birdie holes. There are a lot of positives this week. I was talking to Justin Leonard earlier in the week, we played a practice round on Tuesday, he said he always loved it here, always felt he had great vibes here. And then Scott Verplank the last two days said he always felt like he was in a good frame of mind when he came here. They've had success here. I've never really had success here, other than enjoying the course and enjoying the people. Q. (No microphone). BRIAN BATEMAN: I really can't explain that, other than I didn't want -- I wanted to try to play out here. I think some people would probably disagree with that, that maybe I needed to be under the gun a little more and go play some Nationwide Tour stuff. But my wife and I just bought a house and we just moved in six, seven weeks ago, so I've been involved with that when I've been home. A lot of time at home, we don't do much at home. We cook and we drink wine and hang out together, have friends over, have company all the time. So I stay busy at home. I don't play a lot of golf at home either because I feel like I'm not as focused at home. I'm the world champion range player at home and I can go out and hit balls for an hour and never miss a shot and get to the next week's tournament and fight my swing. My caddie and I were talking about it a couple of weeks ago -- who, by the way, Jeff Wolette (phonetic), did a tremendous job this week keeping me calm and keeping everything on the up and up for four days, I can't thank him enough, but we talked about changing our attitude, not spending all day long on the practice tee, on the putting green, because I have had some success at Q-School the last six or seven years, and my philosophy at Q-School is, I show up, I hit balls to get loose, we tee off, play, and I go back home. I don't sit around the range. And it was his idea maybe we should do that more out here. So I haven't been practicing that much on-site in the tournaments that I've been playing, and likewise at home. So a lot of free time at home, not a lot of golf, but I haven't played any Nationwide Tour stuff. I don't know, because I'm home I like to spend time with my wife and my family and it's kind of hard to get me out of there. Q. When a player has his first victory he thinks about who helped him get to this point. Tell us about that. Who influenced your career? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, there's been a lot of people that have been involved in my career. My father, for one, got me started playing the game. I had the same golf teacher starting at a young age who just passed away three or four years ago at home in Monroe. It was at a nine-hole muni course. It was the only teacher I ever had from age eight or nine until I was probably 20 something, a very traditional teacher, followed Nicklaus to a tee, taught out of Nicklaus's books, was very strong on fundamentals and kind of engrained that in me, as long as your fundamentals were set you were okay. So I feel like my fundamentals, or the base of my swing is about as good as I can do. Once I turned pro, I kind of got off on my own and tried to go at my own pace, had some struggle -- I've had a lot of down time in my career. I feel like I've been a tremendous underachiever in my career. I haven't -- I've just struggled. Besides Q-School, I've really battled each and every week to stay above ground, and you throw in your token one good tournament a year kind of deal, and I don't know if it was confidence, I don't think it was too much mechanics, I think more than anything else I got ahead of myself and was hard on myself. And maybe that was the key this week, I tried to take it easy and enjoy it. And as nerve-racking as today was and as anxious as I was, I tried to have as much fun as I could and just act like it was any other day. Q. Jason Gore said you're a pretty level-headed guy. And he expects you'll celebrate by buying some new pots and pans and a new guitar, is that pretty accurate? BRIAN BATEMAN: Yes, I'm a fairly simple guy. I do enjoy my wine when I'm at home and I do collect guitars. If there's one thing that parallels golf as much as I love being out here, I love to be in the kitchen. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I spend a lot of time watching the Food Network and I collect cook books. I probably cook four or five nights a week. I'm always looking for a new recipe to try. I'll invest in a few pots and pans, although I pretty much have every one in the catalog. Q. Early on you called it life changing, can you speak to that? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, I think any time you do something you've never done before in our profession, every player out here, from Tiger Woods all the way down to Brian Bateman, had to win their first tournament at some point. I don't think it's going to change me as a person or my wife as a person or us as a couple. We have a baby on the way in December. I think that would be considered life changing. This is very important to us and it's been a big part of our marriage and a big part of our lives, but who knows, I don't know how I'm going to react to this. I can't wait to get home and see all my friends. I think the confidence I showed myself the last three or four holes today, that maybe my confidence will carry me forward and I'll become a different person. Q. Does this allow you to be a little more comfortable financially? BRIAN BATEMAN: I don't know financially. It's a tremendous check. It's a tremendous bonus for us as a family, but that wasn't the most important thing. Although I haven't played much this year, I still had -- even if I didn't do anything this week, I still had 13 or 14 events left to secure my card. That's kind of a by-product of what you do. I remember Tiger saying when he first came out that the money titles and Player of the Year titles and so forth all took of itself if he played the right kind of golf. I think that's how we all feel out here, if we play the golf we know we can play, everything else will take care of itself. Q. What was it like after you made the putt and you walked over and embraced your wife? You were a little emotional. BRIAN BATEMAN: It was hard not to. I teared up in the fairway on 18, knowing I was finally giving myself a chance. As my caddie was walking off the number, I told myself, you have golf left to play, this thing is not over yet, you have to finish the race, so to speak. When the putt went in I was thrilled to death, it seemed like it took forever to get to the hole, but it went right in the middle. I just went blank. I just threw my hands up and said, Man, I finally did it. Q. You just called yourself a little while ago a tremendous underachiever. What are you now? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, I think I could lose that label, I guess. What I mean by that, I've always felt I had the talent to play out here and had the drive and had the support from people at home and friends and caddies and so forth. It seems like I've always -- hell, I've always lost my card, except for one year, and so I don't know if I'm not an underachiever anymore now that I've won. There are many guys that have never won a golf tournament. I feel a lot better now about my career. I don't know if it got off to the best start, but I think here on out it's looking good. Q. How many Q-schools? BRIAN BATEMAN: Don't quote me on the number. I'm guessing eight or nine. And I've gotten through six straight years with around '04, I think I got through three straight years and then I kept my card in '04, and then I've been the last three years, but I've been to it nine times. It will straighten you up. It's something that doesn't get enough credit for being as grueling as it is and as cut and dried as anything I've ever seen. Q. Let's run through your card. You shot a 69 today, we'll do birdies and bogeys. The first birdie today was 5. Give us clubs and yards. BRIAN BATEMAN: No. 5, 30-footer, 3-wood, sand wedge. No. 7, par 5, I hit a little bit right and punched it down there. I had 8-iron, I believe, and it was 20, 25 feet. That was a big putt for me, by the way, because that hole has given me problems all week, for being a reachable par 5. STEWART MOORE: Your only bogey of the day came at the par 3 No. 8. BRIAN BATEMAN: I three-putted there from the right fringe. Like I said, that was about the point where the greens started to look like they were turning brown. But the No. 8 green was plush and green and it looked great. I didn't think it was going to be that fast and I ran it by about eight feet and missed it coming back. Birdie at 14, the short par 4, that's where things, I started feeling like it was my day, my week. I laid up with a 3-wood there and what I thought was a pretty decent chip, but the pin was up on the top tier and it just caked out and I ran it by 25 feet to the back fringe. Scott hit a good chip about two feet and I made my coming back, which kind of got me started for the last few holes, I think. That was a big putt. STEWART MOORE: Brian Bateman, congratulations, 2007 Buick Open Champion. I know it's a lot of emotional highs and congratulations and we look forward to seeing you down the road. End of FastScripts |
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