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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 14, 2007Nathan GreenSILVIS, ILLINOIS STEWART MOORE: Nathan Green, thanks for spending a few moments with us in the interview room at the John Deere Classic. I know you want to get out there and hit a few balls. Fantastic round today, your first 54-hole lead going into tomorrow. How are you feeling? NATHAN GREEN: I feel pretty good. Saturday is usually a really tough day for me to get through. I got off to a great start on the front nine. I don't know, probably just lost concentration a bit on the back nine. But overall pretty happy with the way I executed shots and that today, just missed a few putts. Q. You've been in similar situations with the Buick Invitational, with THE PLAYERS earlier in the year playing with Phil and everything. What do you draw from those experiences? NATHAN GREEN: Just the way they do it. They manage to just sort of stay relaxed and try not to let outside things bother them. I think they just go out there and play. That's sort of what I've been trying to do. It is tough. It is hard to commit 100 percent to shots when you're so worried about the outcome. But this week has been, I don't know, a little bit different. Today especially on the front nine, I know I pretty much hit most shots where I wanted to hit them. Hopefully I can do more of that tomorrow, and hopefully today was more my poor day. Q. Why are Saturdays usually difficult for you to get through? NATHAN GREEN: I'm not sure, it's just sort of -- I don't know, it became -- it wasn't something I ever worried about, and then people would say to me, why can't you play on Saturdays, and then I sort of looked at it and realized I wasn't too good on Saturdays and then it became more of a mental thing more than anything. Yeah, it's sort of a day where you've got more to lose than to gain, I think. I probably had a good chance to put a really good lead in, but yeah, just -- I don't know, you probably start playing a little bit too careful, something like that. I don't really know the reason why, it's just -- I think most of the guys would say the toughest day. The first two days you've got to make the cut and get into position; Sunday it's just more not to shoot yourself in the foot sort of thing. Q. Did you do anything specifically today to make sure that didn't happen? NATHAN GREEN: Not really, just tried to keep the same game plan and commit to my shots. That was how I got through the first two days. Yeah, I think hitting a couple real close on the front nine didn't really have much pressure on my putter. I had a few tap-in birdies. That was sort of a relief. If you're under par early, that sort of does relieve the pressure a little bit. The back nine, I'm not too sure what happened. I prefer the front nine around here for scoring, but the back nine here, I just didn't really commit and there was a few tee shots there that I just sort of let go and a few putts that I just came up out of, sort of a lack of commitment. Hopefully at the range this afternoon I'm going to just work out a few things and just try and take that into tomorrow. Q. You had the three weeks off in Australia to relax and to rejuvenate and get golf off your mind, and you played the first two rounds very relaxed. Was it hard to maintain, or did you feel the nerves starting to creep back in as the day progressed? NATHAN GREEN: Probably a little bit towards the end. I was pretty relaxed the front nine. My caddie (Shannon Wallis) is pretty good at keeping me in that frame of mind. Yeah, I kept trying to think of -- I came into this week not really expecting much at all, I said just keep doing what you've been trying to do, and see what happens. If I play well tomorrow, so be it. If I play poorly, it's not the end of the world. But that's sort of my focus tomorrow, just do the best I can and try and make someone have to shoot a good score to beat me. Q. When you're in the lead, is it harder to stay in the moment and not think about the big picture? NATHAN GREEN: I suppose it is a little bit. Yeah, I'm not too sure. I think you probably look at leaderboards a little bit and realize -- you're always curious about what's going on, whereas if you're behind you're trying to make as many birdies as you can. I think a little bit, especially toward the back nine tomorrow, you sort of have to play a little bit according to your position. It's not really worth going at every pin if you're going to finish off the lead and that sort of thing. You have to go after a few things if you have the lead. Overall it is a course that with a one-shot lead you still have to make a lot of birdies tomorrow, so that's going to going to be the plan, just keep hitting a lot of greens and give myself a lot of shots at it. Q. Can you take us through the Buick? Who did you play with and what did you take from that and who did you play with in Australia? Was it Adam? What do you take from that? NATHAN GREEN: I'm trying to think, the Buick I played -- the last year I pretty much played with everyone. I had Phil the final round at the Buick and Olazábal -- I can't remember who it was, in what order. Then I had Greg Norman in Australia, the first two rounds of the Australian Open, and that's pretty much as big of a crowd as I played in front of. I had Phil in San Diego. But I think that was probably the best thing I found was at the Australian Open last year playing with Greg in the first two rounds I was able to sort of relax and played some really good golf. Yeah, I think hopefully as you get older you learn a bit more and to become more experienced in those situations and try not to panic as much as I used to. Q. Looked like in the Australian, the front nine in the last round got away from you; you were a couple over par and then you rallied on the back nine. Everyone talks about the back nine tomorrow, but how important will the front nine be tomorrow to keep your momentum? NATHAN GREEN: Definitely, yeah. Well, you've definitely got to get off to a good start around here. Usually someone will come out and birdie 1 and 2 and you get two good looks there. I don't know, for some reason the guys seem to be shooting good scores through sort of the first 12 holes around here. You're going to have to come out early and play good, otherwise you're going to find yourself having to come from behind, and it's going to be pretty tough to do tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not too sure. STEWART MOORE: Just a note on your front nine for everyone, you had 13 birdies and 14 pars in three rounds on the front nine, and you've birdied 1, 5, 8 and 14 every single day. So you like the front nine? NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, I do (smiling). I didn't even realize that. I think the front nine with the wind we've had, it sets up a little bit easier, the tee shots for me. The back nine, I don't know, there's a bit more danger lurking on one side it seems like on the back nine. I think from 10 you've got a bit of water, 11 is a tough tee shot, and then 15, sort of 14 and 15 are both pretty tight little tee shots. I just think you have to be shaping your ball a little bit better on the back nine. It's probably not quite -- you sort of can't hit as many dead straight shots. I think both guys will sort of find that each week they play a certain nine better than the other nine. Yeah, hopefully I can improve on the back nine tomorrow. Q. 17, is that the hole that you kick yourself about more than any, making bogey there? NATHAN GREEN: Not really. I hit a good drive with a tough wind, a slight left-to-right breeze, and then hit a reasonable second shot that I just lost a little bit right. But from there I just had a fairly hard sort of tight lie and was trying to cut it up, and I don't know, I was sort of committed to the shot -- well, the club sort of bounced up into the ball a little bit. Yeah, commitment-wise I probably tried to hit every shot, gave every shot 100 percent, so I can't really complain. It was just a little bit of a bad execution. Yeah, it probably wasn't the most disappointing shot of the day. Maybe the second shot on 11 -- 11 and 12 I hit two shots that I didn't really have a plan for. Q. Those two bogeys could have led to a disaster, but are you proud that you came back with a couple of birdies right away and straightened -- at least salvaged -- NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, definitely. I played the 13th hole really well. I had a good drive and put the second shot where I wanted it and hit a good putt. The next hole was a bit unfortunate. I hit a terrible drive, a big duck hook and ended up with a terrible lie and managed to hit it to a foot. Q. But what I'm asking is are you proud that you didn't let the wheels fall off and you came straight back? NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, I sort of thought, well, in four days of golf there's going to be a certain patch where you don't play well or you're going to have a couple of bogeys. I just sort of tried to brush it off as that and tried to get back on and get back to where I was the front nine, just trying to hit fairways and trying to hit a few close. Q. In the position you're in now, and I don't want to put any pressure on you, but is it the kind of thing where in addition to playing the course, you're going to have to battle yourself, battle your own nerves and stay focused? Is that going to be a trying thing for you? NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, a little bit. Like I said, I don't want to try to put too much pressure on tomorrow. I've played well to get into this position, and hopefully I can go out tomorrow and keep swinging the same. If I do, it'll be tough to have a bad score. Yeah, just -- I don't know, it's just try and -- as I said before, try and take as much pressure off as I can and just try to commit to shots and just get the ball in play all day and hopefully come out with a good score. That's all I can do. Q. Are you surprised at all to be in this position given the way things went at the U.S. Open and the layoff? NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, definitely. It's the first time I've actually not practiced for three weeks. I had three games of golf in that whole period and they were just sort of cart golf with a few beers. So to come here and play and to sort of get over the jet lag and play this well is probably a little bit of a surprise. But I think it gave me a chance to just put golf back into perspective a little bit. I was taking it a little bit too serious and thought it was all sort of life and death out there. But I tried to come back and tried to get a little bit of enjoyment back into the game and try and smile a little bit. Things have sort of gone better this week. Hopefully it's something to do with that and I can do that in the future. STEWART MOORE: Can you go through your birdies and bogey? NATHAN GREEN: Yeah, I hit it to about six feet on 1, made it with a sand iron. 5, hit a good wedge into about sort of six feet left of the hole and made that. Wedge on 6, probably about a foot. Then made about a 12-footer on 8 from right of the hole. That was one of the best putts during the day. Bogeyed 11 and 12 from -- sort of a three-putt on 11 and a poor tee shot on 12 and a poor putt. 13, drive and a good 9-iron to about 15 feet. 14, bad drive and a lob wedge to about a foot, two feet. And then the bogey on 17. Q. One follow-up, for guys like yourself, and Jason Dufner, a young kid who hasn't been in this position a lot, is part of the new reality having to deal with us, having a lot of reporters waiting for you when you come out of the scoring trailer, having to come in here and talk, explain yourself, what you're thinking, what you're going through, et cetera, et cetera? Golf being an introspective game, does that throw you off your stride at all? NATHAN GREEN: Last year I was sort of thrown into it early on in the season. The first TOUR events it was definitely something different for me. But you kind of get used to it when you're in contention, something that's sort of expected. You sort of half plan for it because you know you're going to have to do it. It's fine. The more you do it, the easier the speaking then becomes. Yeah, you sort of -- I don't know, I used to sort of fear doing the media stuff and that sort of stuff, and now I've tried to sort of embrace it because it means I'm playing well if I have to do it. Q. What was your position at the Buick? NATHAN GREEN: I think I was maybe 1st or 2nd, I think, going into the last round. I'm really not sure. Q. What's your confidence level at right now? NATHAN GREEN: It's sort of reasonable. As I said, it was a few bad shots I hit out there today, and having not done a lot of practice, I'm not really sure why. I'm not really too sure what I'm doing in my swing. I've just sort of concentrated on good rhythm this week, especially off the tee. I don't know, hopefully it sort of hangs in there for one more round and I can put it on video next week and find out what I was doing so I might be able to repeat it. I don't know, I think with a good break, you sort of try and forget a little bit about the bad things that creep into your game. Q. How did you handle sitting on the lead last night coming into today, and how do you expect to handle it tonight into tomorrow? NATHAN GREEN: Well, it was fine last night. I think having sort of a little bit of jet lag, I think I've -- I sort of get tired pretty early so I'm not having a great deal of trouble getting to sleep, which would usually be the problem. Hopefully I'll do the same thing tonight, have an early dinner and try and get a good night's sleep. Yeah, I think the last sort of probably year or so, I've sort of become more relaxed at that sort of stuff or at least being in contention overnight. It's becoming a little bit easier. Q. Do you like being in that lead, or would you rather be chasing on Sunday? NATHAN GREEN: I don't think it really matters. There's a certain level of discomfort whether you're leading or one or two off the lead. I think you're definitely going to be thinking about it overnight whether you're in either position. Being in the lead I think at least you've got the chance of being able to make a mistake and still being right in there. I think if you're off the pace and you make an early mistake then you're really pretty much done for the day. Yeah, leading or being tied for the lead or one off the pace, it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I think if I can go out there tomorrow and get off to a good start, it makes it a little bit harder for the other guys. Q. Sunday mornings a lot of the guys I've heard that people that sleep on the lead have to fill a lot of time before they tee off at 1:00, 2:00. What time do you get up and what will you do tomorrow morning? NATHAN GREEN: I usually get up around 8:00 o'clock and get online and read the Australian newspapers, the local papers, and see what's been happening and check a few sports results and that sort of thing. By the time my wife gets up, it's almost time to go. She's good. She keeps it pretty low stress. We'll get here probably two hours before the round and have lunch or breakfast or whatever it is and then have a light stretch and head to the range with an hour to go. I think 12:45 being the last tee time tomorrow, that's not as late as some that we have, so there's not as much time to fill in. There's always something to do, watch a bit of TV and that sort of thing, try and just relax and get ready. STEWART MOORE: Nathan, great playing. Good luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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