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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 19, 2007Tim PetrovicGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA CHRIS REIMER: Well, Tim, probably not the finish you had absolutely hoped for but I think given the conditions and how you played coming out on the front you got to be pretty proud of the turn tournament as a whole? TIM PETROVIC: I needed to play the front nine again. I think I was -92 on the front nine and I don't know what I was on the back but, no, I did everything I could today. I did a great job just hanging in there and I got a little overheated on 12 and 13, the heat kind of got to me and kind of got my legs back under me for a couple holes and hit a great shot the. Best shot I hit all today was on 16. Hit a little 4-iron in there about six feet, made the putt. Just gave myself a chance. CHRIS REIMER: You spoke a little bit about the beginning of the week being here to earn some points for the FedExCup playoffs. You accomplished that. TIM PETROVIC: At least I'm guaranteed the first two. That was one of my goals. I just kind of had an off year and I saw signs of life, my game starting to get a little better. I played good in -- had good Sunday rounds and I know I've been putting good Sunday rounds up my last few tournaments and I knew I could do it. I just needed to stay in the moment and that's probably the thing I did best today was stayed in the moment, shot by shot. I don't think I looked at the scoreboard. I could pretty much tell, you know, where everybody was. It wasn't a surprise. Everybody was making a lot of birdies. Just had to hang in there and give yourself a chance at the end. Conditional page break: 2 CHRIS REIMER: Is it fun being in the hunt today? TIM PETROVIC: It would have been more fun if I hadn't overheated. That is no fun. It's kind of a helpless feeling. You're out there. If you got --you're not playing in a golf tournament it's tough. When you're playing in a tournament you've got to try to concentrate. I had Billy read some of my putts. I was trying to stay upright for about three, four holes and get it in the house. I was really proud of myself the way I hung in there. I didn't tear it up on the back 9 but, you know, I only made -- I think I only made five bogies all week, you know, and with the way I started this tournament, you know, 3-over after two holes and finish 20-under, that's pretty good. CHRIS REIMER: How about some questions? Q. Tim, what were you thinking standing at 17 and watching his putt go in? TIM PETROVIC: I was trying to stay cool, over with the gallery underneath the driving range. I saw him make the putt. He's been playing great all day. Wasn't a surprise. I mean I know it wasn't a 10, 15-footer, a good length putt and I knew what I had to do at that point, hit it on the green. I did. The wind came up. I left myself a little bit short. I really made a good swing on 17. I almost holed the putt. It was like a 60-plus-footer. But you, know, I knew what I had to do. Everybody out here is making birdies today so it wasn't -- I wasn't mad, wasn't shocked. I was just kind of ready to go and do my own thing. Q. So it was the wind kicked up right when you -- TIM PETROVIC: It's been bouncing around a little bit. It was gusting to 15, 20 maybe but it was blowing consistent ten miles an hour and it was into me. I hit it -- I just put a nice smooth swing on a 2-iron. I got it up a little too high. The wind got it on top of the trees. Then I was fortunate the ball did stay up on top of the slope. I was surprised how short it went but I made a nice 2-putt there and 18 I made a terrible swing. Didn't really surprise me. My legs were going. This is probably the first time I felt my age turning 41 this week. I used to love playing in the hot weather. I think for the first time -- I don't know who is over 40 here but for the first time, 41 is a lot different than 31 I found out. CHRIS REIMER: Next question. Q. Can you talk a little bit about when the heat kicked in on you? Was it 12, you said, and what you did? TIM PETROVIC: I lost my focus a little bit on 10. I hit a tee shot to the right. Then I hit it out to the left. Played a conservative shot out of the rough. I missed 4-footer there for par and that was -- not so much a wakeup call. Lapse in concentration. Then the heat started to get to me a little bit. The heat of the tournament was fine, I was fine with that. I knew what I had to do. When you get in that little hole over there on 11, 12, there's really no air blowing around in there for some reason, walk down to the green on 12, there's just nothing blowing there. I just got overheated. Same thing happened to me on Thursday almost in the same spot. But I was still sweating. That was a good sign. I took a few electrolyte pills and that probably just gave me enough to get in. CHRIS REIMER: Let's go over a couple real quickly your clubs on the birdies and bogies here. Birdie on 2. TIM PETROVIC: Birdie on 2. Missed the fairway and laid up and hit a nice little 50-yard pitch shot. Made a nice putt, about a 12, 15-footer there. Just started getting it going on 6. I hit a really, really nice 7-iron on 6. That might have been better than the 4-iron I hit on 16 but I hit it about a foot away. That kind of got me going a little bit and then 7, hit a nice wedge shot in there about six feet, made a nice left to right putt there. 8 -- I hit a lot of good quality shots. That's probably why I made a lot of birdies. You still got to make the putts. 8, I hit a nice 5-iron left of the pin. The way the wind was blowing it hung in there. Got a nice little bounce. I made a really nice putt there. 9, hit a great drive there, got to the green, made a nice up and down out of the bunker and 10 I 3-putted but came back on 13 with a birdie putt, caught the low side and went around the hole and in. That was nice to see. 16 with the 4-iron, and only the two bogies. But I was very pleased and, you know, Brandt played great. He played great. Guy shoots 63 you got to take your hat off to him. He won it. I didn't lose it. CHRIS REIMER: Anything else, guys? Q. If you had gotten into a three or four hole playoff -- TIM PETROVIC: That's where I like it. I've never lost a playoff. I like being in the playoffs. CHRIS REIMER: Even in the heat? TIM PETROVIC: I'd go out there for that. That's for sure. I would have loved to have been in a playoff. Cooled off a little bit and got back out there. That would have been awesome. Would have been great for the fans to see a playoff, too. Q. Not really related to the tournament but can a tournament like this survive in this kind of a date with this kind of weather and draw a field in the future now that you guys have seen it like this? TIM PETROVIC: Well, yeah. It was hot. It was unusually hot last week, I think over 100. I'm not sure. I think this is probably still a little bit hot for this time of year. With the new system, I mean I think everybody has got to be somewhere and I think Wyndham has a good shot here. It's the spot like your last chance to -- before the playoffs starting to get points. I think as time goes on you're going to see -- you're going to see guys -- I mean the Top-10 guys obviously, you still could have a few guys up there that need to play this tournament to get the points. So I think it will continually draw a strong field. I know Davis was really sad he couldn't be here being the defending champ and being from North Carolina and being the designer of the golf course, but I don't see that being -- I don't see that being a problem. You got a great sponsor. Wyndham is going to be a great sponsor and the I think the tournament is going to go fine. CHRIS REIMER: You and Brandt certainly showed what you can do in the last week to help your cause for the FedExCup. TIM PETROVIC: Absolutely. The way they had the course set up, they did a great job of keeping the greens alive. They weaned the greens down a little bit as the week went on. They got up to speed moreso yesterday, better today and I think it was fun for the fans to see all these birdies being made. Guys making eagles and making birdies. At Oakmont -- hate to pick that one out, great golf course but just terrible setup, just terrible. You want to go out and watch guys make bogies and double bogies and hurt their wrist. That's a great golf course. It doesn't need to be set up like that. Hopefully they could take a page out of what they did at Olympia Fields in '03. It was a simple golf course. They set it up fair. You weren't grabbing your lob wedge if you missed the fairway trying to hack it out. You had yourself a chance. I thought it was more fun for the fans that way being in a Major championship. CHRIS REIMER: Anything else, guys? Tim, congratulations and good luck the rest of the way. TIM PETROVIC: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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