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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 11, 2007John SendenSILVIS, ILLINOIS STEWART MOORE: We had like to welcome this week's defending champion John Senden to the interview room here at the John Deere Classic. John, coming off your victory last year, talk briefly to us about what it's been like the last 12 months as a PGA TOUR winner and coming back this week and all the good memories. JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, it's been great memories. You know, my first PGA TOUR victory here at the John Deere Classic was exciting. It's always been a dream to win anywhere around the world, but to win on the PGA TOUR is the feather in your cap. The last 12 months has been really exciting. You know, you get that nice respect from players coming up to you and saying, "well done," and you feel different because, you know, you've actually achieved one of your goals. You know, it's a really nice feeling to come back here, as well. It's one of those tournaments where you've got a great community. The whole Quad Cities and the people support this event great, and all the committee of this tournament are great, and the TPC course is one of the best that we play all year. So it is one of the premier events on the PGA TOUR. I'm happy to come back to defend, and it's exciting, and you know, it really has been something that I've got a great memory of. STEWART MOORE: Earlier this year you finished tied for 2nd at PODS Championship, came close there, tied for 10th at Wachovia. How would you assess the year so far? I know you said earlier it was a little bit up and down, but you've had some good finishes. JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I had the high finish at the PODS Championship, 2nd and only one back from Mark Calcavecchia, and that was exciting. The Wachovia Championship was 10th place. I've had two top 10s, but the rest of it has been sort of consistent performance and not -- I wouldn't say high performances. But I feel that, you know, my game is still improving this year, and I feel like I'm in a better position right now than I was at this time last year. So looking at it, I'm thinking that I'm improving and feeling that this is a good building for me for the future because I see myself as a growing player. You know, you're getting more respect from the players, you're getting more -- improving with experience. You know, next week -- this week John Deere Classic, next week British Open again, and the PGA Championship. So there's a lot of great events I've got coming up now. So I'm really excited about the future. I keep working hard at it to refine and improve and go out and see what happens. Q. Can you talk about -- I presume you've been on the course. You've seen the changes now. Can you talk about how they're going to affect the play? JOHN SENDEN: At the moment I still say the golf course is pretty soft. The length issue doesn't affect scoring a great deal, I think. There is differences in the 18th hole or the 15th hole, but that doesn't -- or the 10th hole, as well, but that's really not going to change scoring. The scoring always comes down to how the condition of the course plays, the softness or the firmness. And I think that you'll still see great scores on this course because it's playing soft. I think with the dry weather hopefully now, I think if it dries out by the weekend, you're still going to see scores similar to what we had last year. Yes, there's going to be possibly more drama on the 18th hole because you're standing on the 18th hole with a driver and a 5- or a 4-iron now rather than a driver and a 6- or 7-iron, what we had before, especially with a back pin on the last day. So that's going to produce a more exciting finish, more drama possibly, which is great. I think the golf course right now is going to be soft, so it's going to play -- you're going to see a lot of birdies this week. Q. They've pinched a few fairways and landing areas. How much difference will that make? Have you noticed that the fairways are a little tougher to hit where you generally hit it? JOHN SENDEN: Well, if it is narrower in places, yes, it's going to be more difficult. But it's still playing -- the golf course is still playing soft at this time. You know, you're going to see it play -- a lot of low scores. Now, the weather looks like it's going to be fantastic, a bit cooler conditions, so that just makes for perfect playing conditions. So I think that you'll see -- I don't think you'll see much difference in the scoring, comparing it to last year's scoring. Q. No more of a premium hitting fairways than it has in the past? JOHN SENDEN: I don't think so, no. I don't think there's much difference there. But as I said to you before, it's about the -- if the fairways get really firm, if it dries right out, well, on Sunday you might see balls just running off the edges slightly more. But not really. I think it's all to do with the conditions of the actual greens, the greens being a bit soft. I think you'll see lots of close shots, lots of birdies and fit for good scoring this week. Q. Having won once now and having that win under your belt, does that help -- the fact that you know how to win, you've done it before, does that help you with the ups and downs and the grind of the TOUR and going from tournament to tournament knowing you have a win under your belt and that you know how to do it? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I think that's right. I think you need to keep believing in that and be able to, when you're coming down the stretch, recreate those feelings again and be able to know that you can do it rather than -- and pull from that experience that I had this time last year and from other tournament victories that, you know, you can do it. And that's something that I always have in the back of my mind at every single event, thinking that, well, I'm here to win the tournament and I'm here to do my very best and give my best performances, on and off the golf course, and to be as professional as I can. So I think that is -- you need all the ingredients to win a golf tournament. You don't just need to say, I'm going to pull on my experience. You need to be able to look at every single part of your -- the outlook of the game, be able to act professionally, and you know, that can help you or hurt you in ways if you're not doing that right. I think that that's one asset that I think that I got pretty good at, and that's helped me along in my game. Q. You talked about the dramatic shots on 18. Have you ever hit a more dramatic shot coming out of that bunker last season? JOHN SENDEN: No, exactly. Coming out of the bunker -- on the second shot I was sort of feeling nervous because of the situation -- not shaking nervous but just anxious about hitting the shot. And when you're a little pumped up, the ball went five or ten yards farther into the trap. I was thinking I was going to be just in that short right-hand area, and it did go in the trap. Then when I hit the shot in there, I just thought, well, don't worry about it, just go up there and play it because that's all you can do. I tried to really be calm about just seeing the shot as it is, going in there, looking at my lie - I had a great lie - and go in there and hit the shot. I felt actually quite calm in that bunker. And until the ball went to this far (indicating ten inches), and then my legs started to shake because I knew it was over, you know? So that's the difference of how you feel coming down the stretch and making it as dramatic as you can be, I guess. When the leader of the tournament misses the green on the last hole, you think, well, this is going to be good. Q. Is that what you'll remember most from your first win, that particular sequence? JOHN SENDEN: Not really, no. Q. Years from now? JOHN SENDEN: Yes, I do remember that, but it's not the only thing. Yeah, I mean, the whole week of this tournament. You know, I felt good all week. I had a really good weekend at the Western Open the week before of good putting and good scoring, and that led into some confidence in being able to mentally let it go better with my game. And standing up on a golf course like this one where birdies are premium, well, you need to be able to have a lot of birdies to be on top at the end of the week. And it's going to be the same this week. It's going to be a low-scoring affair, especially with the rain that we've had on Monday night I think it was and Tuesday night. So I think that this course will -- you'll see some great scores again this week. Q. When you play a course like this that's soft, do you change your strategy right out of the chute? Do you think you've got to be more aggressive because guys are going to be making some birdies? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, you can be aggressive on a course with soft greens because you know that where it lands generally is where it's going to end up. If not, it's going to be spinning back at you. On soft greens you've got to be able to control that, especially with a lot of wedges in your hand. You can get a lot of spin on the greens, and you need to be able to play the shots necessary to control that, have your distance control correct. Q. It sounds like your confidence level is way up going into this week, the way you're talking. Is that accurate? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I feel good. Look, last week I had an up-and-down week at Congressional. I finished 40th. But I shot 3-under on Sunday. It wasn't so much dissimilar to the Western Open last year when I played well on Sunday, as well. I had some good feelings going into it. I practiced pretty well yesterday, and today we have the Pro-Am, so I'll have another look at it today. So I think that, you know, there's nothing stopping me from shooting some good numbers again this week. Q. Do soft conditions favor long off the tee? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, it does. Yeah, I mean, if you have a really firm, dry golf course and you have a really long hitter, well, sure, it's going to be -- you're going to have less control, whereas hitting shots off the tee on the soft ground, and a long hitter -- anyone can -- it advantages basically everyone because it's easier. It's softer and it's easier. So I think that it will produce -- someone is going to go out there the first day and shoot 8-under, guaranteed, or better. Especially with the great weather we're, I think, going to have. I mean, the golf course is in fabulous shape. It's never been better. The greens have got a beautiful surface on them. There's not a blade of grass out of place out there on the fairways, so there's no reason not to have great scoring this week. Q. The average golfer might not understand or a non-golfer wouldn't understand the difference between a 4- and a 5-iron and a 6- and a 7-iron. Can you explain how much difference that actually equates to in terms of accuracy? JOHN SENDEN: First of all, the distance is -- if you have a golf club that's got more loft, it's going to be easier to hit, comparing to a 3-iron and a wedge, right? So the difference in those clubs are the loft, and more loft is easier to hit. Like the difference between say a 7-degree driver and a 12-degree driver; it's a lot easier to hit that 12-degree driver because of the more loft. It enables the ball to get in the air easier, and you can -- a lot easier to -- as I said to you before, it's a lot easier coming into the 18th hole with a 7-iron rather than a 4-iron, especially coming down the stretch. And that's why I think you'll see -- if viewers are listening on the TV and the commentators are saying, well, this is a much more difficult shot because he's got a 4-iron in his hand rather than a 7-iron, and that difference is obviously the longer club, the more distance it travels, and obviously less control on say a 4-iron than a 7-iron. Q. You'll be having a great time this week, defending champ and you're back where it all happened for you last year. JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, it is a great time. You know, look, I rolled into here on Monday and I was greeted graciously by the people at the airport, the transportation people. You know, Clair Peterson and his team at this tournament have been fantastic. They've treated me fabulously throughout the whole season of the past 12 months, and arriving here and seeing them all again, and the TPC as the golf course and the whole community, it's just been great. I had a practice round yesterday with Zach Johnson and a couple young fellows, Jonathan Moore and Philip Francis, and those young guys are great. I really enjoyed my practice round yesterday. Zach was great. I haven't played with him for a number of years, and it was good to watch him play again after his two victories this year, and especially in Augusta. That was fantastic. And those other two young fellows there, they're great, too. Jim Flick was walking around and I had a bit of a chat with him. I had never dealt with him at all before, and it was good to talk to Jim. I look at today I'm going to be playing with Bob Lane, who's the CEO, and he's obviously a No. 1 man this week who's putting up all the support for the tournament, you know, and I think he's flying in from Brazil today. He's been over there on business, I guess. I'm not sure how he's going to be feeling after sitting on a jet all night (laughter), so we'll see what happens out there. You know, it's going to be -- I've really been dealt with graciously this week, and it's a good feeling to come back as the defending champ. Q. How much additional pressure is there as the defending champ, and is it lessened any by having Zach in the field as The Masters champion? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I think -- look, Zach is obviously the highest-ranked player, I guess, here, I believe. He is The Masters champion and a multiple winner this week. I mean, that is just fabulous for a player of any standard. And also him being almost a local player in this area, he's probably going to be a No. 1 player this week that people are probably going to -- I noticed it yesterday with the fans out there; they're really loving Zach being out here and playing and watching him. We had a great day. We had lots of kids and that. But I think that it's great to have Zach here, and I think that it's -- he's definitely an asset to this tournament and the TOUR. Q. Can you talk about your pairing tomorrow, what you know about Mark Wilson and Brian Bateman, who won a little bit earlier this year? JOHN SENDEN: Yeah, I've played with those guys before. They're great. I played with Mark earlier this year, and they're great to play with. Mark and Brian had great wins this year at the Honda and the Buick. I think that we're going to have a great time. It's going to be a good tee time, late the first day and then early Friday. I like that pairing, like those tee times. You know, both Mark and Brian are playing well, so we're going to have a great time out there. Q. You talked about Friday. It is the 13th. You don't have any superstitions, do you? JOHN SENDEN: No. Q. I wanted to ask about today. You're playing with one of the top CEOs in the country and some other guys that play a lot of golf, but I'm not sure they all play a lot of golf. How do you approach a Pro-Am, as practice? JOHN SENDEN: Both. You've got to approach a Pro-Am in the respect that those guys that you're playing with, especially Bob Lane today, you know, he's the CEO of John Deere, so he's a very important man for this tournament and for this country, as well, because he supports -- the John Deere Company supports a lot of the agricultural equipment around this particular area and also worldwide. So he's a very important figure. But today is going to be a day where we're going to have some fun, you know. I'm not sure how Bob is going to feel playing, but you've got to be able to -- I treat it as an attitude of giving back to the sponsors, the people that want to support the PGA TOUR, support the John Deere Classic, and they're the types of people that -- with Bob Lane right there, and he's got probably two of his major clients playing today. So I think that we're going to have a good time. It's going to be fun. It's another practice round for me to have a good look at the course and feel the change in the condition from yesterday and today. I guess with no rain yesterday, or maybe they had a little, the conditions will be -- I played early yesterday, and today I'm going to play late, so I'm going to see the difference of the two conditions and be able to evaluate that and work out my strategy for Thursday. STEWART MOORE: On that note, go warm up for your Pro-Am, and best of luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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