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MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP 2008December 31, 2007Brandt SnedekerKAPALUA, HAWAII DOUG MILNE: Just open up with a couple comments, just kind of what you've been working on and doing in the off-season and some of the highlights. BRANDT SNEDEKER: After the TOUR Championship I took eight weeks off and that was kind of nice, being home, just kind of getting lazy a fat for a few weeks. Then went down and played two tournaments in Japan and two tournaments in Australia, and I had a blast. It was a very good learning experience for me. But I played some good golf in Japan and lost by a shot in the Australian Open, so learned a lot about kind of -- it was nice to get back in the competitive flow of things and get back in the heat of the battle on Sunday. And then came home for the holidays and got the flu. I spent my Christmas in bed and am still trying to get over it right now, so hopefully it'll warm up and I'll get it out of my system. Q. When you played in the Australian Open, when you went over there were you that aware of the rich history of that event? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I remember watching it -- Golf Channel used to carry it on TV, and I remember watching it every year, and I remember Norman winning it all the time. When I got over there I had a chance to see Nicklaus and Palmer and all those guys won it, so it was something that was very important to me, trying to put my name on that trophy. Unfortunately it didn't work out, but it was a great experience to go over there and play some golf overseas. Q. Where does that fit in as far as trying to become a global player, playing in Japan and Australia? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Eventually I'd like to be able to do that. Obviously the most important thing to me is the PGA TOUR and playing well over here. But if I do that and keep doing what I've been doing, then hopefully I can have the opportunity to get overseas and play some. That would be very exciting. I love seeing different parts of the world, seeing different golf courses and experiencing different cultures. It would definitely be something I'd look into. Q. When did you get here? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I got here two nights ago, Saturday. Q. I saw you on the putting green yesterday. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, thought I'd come out and knock the rust off. Q. Did you hit balls, putting, chipping? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I was bedridden for three days so I hadn't touched a club for about six days before I got over here so I wanted to see what I had. Surprisingly it was okay. I still feel a little dizzy, which is scary. I'm going to try to see a doctor this afternoon and get the health squared away. Q. Have you been out and played on the course yet? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I have not, no. It's going to be interesting to see. I'm interested to see where my fitness level is. The course is really hilly and I'm struggling getting in and out of bed, so we'll find out. Q. On the heels of the TOUR Championship didn't you have a huge run going through there? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I think I played seven straight weeks. It was time well needed, kind of got the body recharged and mind recharged and real excited about getting back out there and playing again. Q. You said you're still a little dizzy? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, it's kind of worrying me a little bit. I shouldn't be this dizzy this long after having the flu. Q. When did you get sick? Christmas Day? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I spent Christmas Eve in bed and Christmas Day was the first day, and I've been sick since then. I was feeling good until I got on a flight over here, and I think it kind of knocked me down just enough. Q. Do you think you maybe lost some weight and stuff, too? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I've had about three meals in about eight days probably, six days. So I'm just eating in small bites. I don't have an appetite. It's kind of hard to keep your energy level up when you can't get the food down. Q. What are you going to try to do today? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I'm going to hit a few balls and try to play nine holes. I can get a cart today so I'm going to try to see the golf course. I'll try to find a doctor this afternoon and get some medicine in me and hopefully get this thing taken care of. Q. Do you feel maybe more in golf shape -- obviously being sick not, but the fact that you played at the end of the year? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, it was very important for me to go over there and play because it got the rust off and I didn't feel like I was coming into this tournament not knowing where my game was. I got a good idea of what I'm doing wrong, where my golf game is right now, so that was exciting. I felt like I was moving in the right direction, so hopefully six days off hasn't killed me and I'll be ready to go. Q. It shouldn't. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I'm one of those guys that likes to hit balls every day, so we'll see. It's getting better. Q. When did you get back from Australia? BRANDT SNEDEKER: The 17th of December. So kind of on the heels of that. Q. They love you down there. BRANDT SNEDEKER: I don't know why. You know, a dumb American. For some reason people down there are really nice and I love the culture and it was kind of right up my alley, real laid back and not too many worries down there. Q. Had you been? BRANDT SNEDEKER: That was my third time. I had been to Adelaide twice, but that was the first time on the east coast. Q. During the Nationwide did you go there? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I went to the Jacob's Creek two years in a row and play well there one year. The golf courses there are they phenomenal, firm and fast and fun to play. Q. You went there for the Nationwide. What was it like to be on the varsity tour, if you understand what I mean? BRANDT SNEDEKER: It was nice. It was definitely different to go down there and be playing at their International Open, playing their version of the U.S. Open. Playing a tournament like that, a great event. It's a great golf course, and it reminded me a lot of Tulsa, to be honest with you, kind of a real tough golf course. It played soft all week so that's why the scores were so low, but it was a really fun track to play. Q. Anything else about Australia remind you of Tulsa or just the golf course? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Just the golf course (laughing). Q. The flies? BRANDT SNEDEKER: The flies there are bad. They're unbelievable. You see people have flies land on their eyes and they blink and they're on their eyeball. There's thousands of them over there. Q. Could you recap a little bit the finish there? I knew it was close obviously down the stretch. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah. Actually, I had to call a penalty on myself on 14. I was one back and the ball moved on me, and I made a bogey there and birdied two of my last three to lose by one. Craig Parry made a great par on 17. It was a reachable par 5, kind of laid up and made a nice easy par on 18. If it was anybody else I'd root against him, but Craig is a good guy so it was good to see him win. Q. What was the situation with the penalty? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I had a leaf on the front of my golf ball, and normally you kind of touch a leaf and see if there's any weight of the golf ball on it without it moving, and it moved it and I shook my head and I knew what I did and called a shot. It was quick and easy, nothing -- it was going to happen. I wish it didn't happen the one time I needed that shot, but I'll learn from it and hopefully won't do that again. Q. When you look back on the whole season, it was a really strong year for you. Do you see improvement, where you can improve? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I hope so. Q. I know you can improve overall, but what specific areas maybe you'd like to? BRANDT SNEDEKER: My driving accuracy last year was terrible, to put it lightly. When I played well, I drove it well. That's something I want to kind of make sure I improve on this year. Every part of my game is loose right now. I mean, I'm a rookie on TOUR. Nothing is refined yet. Everything needs improvement. I'm just going to keep working on it and hopefully I'll get there. Q. How good do you think you can get? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Pretty good. I think I can get pretty good. Q. The goals you're setting for yourself, how much different are they than what you did last year? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Very different. Last year my main goal was to keep a job for this year. This year I want to obviously put myself in contention a lot, give myself a lot of chances to win and be there in some majors. On Saturday and Sunday I want to be there in majors and see what it's like, get myself under some fire and see how I react. That's why I'm practicing. I have a much more specific game plan this year, much more specific regimen of what I need to do to get ready for golf tournaments. The main thing I learned from last year is how to prepare, so hopefully it will manifest itself this year in some good golf. Q. Would Ryder Cup be on your radar, too? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Definitely. That's my main goal for this year. Valhalla is two and a half hours, three hours where I'm from in Nashville, so it would be a great place for me to hopefully make a Ryder Cup debut. Obviously the most important thing on my radar is to play good golf and get into that. Q. Is drug testing on your radar at all? BRANDT SNEDEKER: As you can tell, I've gotten pretty big in the off-season. I've been trying to get it in the last six months before we go into drug testing. Q. With the stuff you deal with already in terms of figuring out tournaments and travel and lodging and all the other stuff, how much has the kind of preparing yourself, learning about it, I guess, cut into your time? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Not a lot, last year just more than anything else learning to go through a week out here on TOUR, learning how to go through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday so that by Thursday you're ready to go, you're prepared, and you're not run down. That's the biggest thing for me, to figure out how to get myself ready to go on Thursday. If I'm going to take a day off on Monday or get out there and hit some balls or play 18 or Tuesday play nine, or Tuesday, whatever it may be, and this year being in the Pro-Am every week is going to be something new for me, as well. Just kind of learn how -- I know guys like Tiger and guys that have been out here for 19 years, they know their routines, so I'm just trying to figure that out. Q. What about the actual drug testing? Have you read the manual or are you at all concerned -- do any of us really know what's in our bodies? Is there any kind of apprehension? BRANDT SNEDEKER: None whatsoever. Unless Sudafed is on there, I think I'll be okay. I don't think there's anybody out here that's worried about what's on that list. I don't think anybody takes anything that will be put in that position. I'm glad they did it. I'm glad some people are off our backs from saying that we have to do it before it becomes a problem, but I don't think anybody is going to get a positive test this year, or any year for that matter. Q. The fact that you get to pick and choose your schedule, what do you look forward to the most? BRANDT SNEDEKER: The majors obviously. We get to play against the best in the world and see where your game stacks up. It's obviously something that's very special. First time as a pro. I played there in '04 as an amateur so it's nice to be back. World Golf Championships are another place that's going to be very exciting. I'll have match play events. Match Play early in the year is something I'm very excited about. I'm excited to get there and hopefully play some good golf and try and make it as far as I can. It'll be fun. Q. How many majors did you play last year? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Two. I played the PGA and the U.S. Open. Q. Are you looking forward to the U.S. Open this year at Torrey Pines? You did so well there last year? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Definitely. I have a bunch of good memories and I can't wait to get back. Hopefully I'll have a lot of good memories going in since last year, so definitely looking forward to going back there. Q. I've been wondering, there have been a couple of tournaments, Torrey being one of them, Disney being another one, and frankly the TOUR Championship the way the course was this year, is it possible that there's such a thing as a cheap 59 do you think? The reason I ask you is because the North Course is truly a pitch and putt, although you still had -- BRANDT SNEDEKER: It is. That's not an insult at all. That's no such thing as a cheap 59, not on the PGA TOUR. Obviously there's courses that are set up to play easy and where you can make some birdies. But you're talking about making 11 or 13 birdies in a round of golf. That's pretty damn impressive. That's birdieing more than half the holes. If there is such a thing as a cheap 59, there's only been how many on TOUR? Two? Q. Three. BRANDT SNEDEKER: If there was there would be a lot more of them. Q. If you shot 59 where Geiberger did -- BRANDT SNEDEKER: I've played there. How he did that is beyond me. Probably one of the best rounds of golf ever. Q. Where was that? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Colonial. Fantastic golf course. Q. What's your best there? BRANDT SNEDEKER: The 67 I shot there at the U.S. Open qualifier, and I played great. Q. You played great and shot 67? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah. Q. You've played PGA West? BRANDT SNEDEKER: PGA West, that's another great one. Q. That was Duval's 59. BRANDT SNEDEKER: That's pretty impressive, too. DOUG MILNE: Brandt, hope you feel better. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Thanks. Appreciate it. End of FastScripts |
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