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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSICJanuary 17, 2008D.J. TrahanLA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA JOHN BUSH: We had like to thank D.J. Trahan for joining us for a few minutes. D.J., 8-under par, 64, great playing out there today. D.J. TRAHAN: Thank you very much. It was definitely a little bit tough today. The wind was blowing over here and I'm sure it was definitely blowing over at the Classic Club, but obviously very pleased with the round like that in these conditions. JOHN BUSH: Got off to a great start with four straight birdies. Those are always a nice way to start the round, isn't it. D.J. TRAHAN: It sure is, yeah. I actually missed a short one for birdie on the 14th hole to really get off well. But I mean four birdies to start the day, what more could you ask? JOHN BUSH: I'm going to get you to go ahead and take us through your card here real quick and then we'll open it up for questions. Starting on the par-410th hole. D.J. TRAHAN: Yeah, just a 4-iron and a lob wedge in there to about 10 feet, 10, 12 feet. Made the putt. 11 was actually playing back into the wind, so a driver and a 6-iron to about 18 feet there and made the putt. I was below the hole and made a nice uphill putt there. Par-5, playing back downwind, 5-wood just over the green in two, and pitched up to about 10 feet, actually got away from me and it went down the hill, but made a really nice comeback after knocking the chip by for the third birdie in a row. 13, pitching wedge in there about eight feet and made that coming back down the hill for the fourth birdie in a row to start the day. My next birdie was on I believe 17, the par-3. And which was just a phenomenal birdie. I feel like I picked up at least a shot there. It was playing tough back into the wind. I took a 4-iron in there about 10 or 12 feet and made that putt. So that's a pretty awesome birdie there. Bogeyed 1. Drove it in a divot in the middle of the fairway there. And pulled my second shot because I had to get real steep on it and I just dead pulled it coming out of that divot and unfortunately made bogey there. Third hole was a par-3, we hit 6-iron in there about 15 feet behind the hole. 15, maybe 18 feet behind the hole and had a pretty straight putt and knocked that one in. 5, I think, yeah, 5, the drive on the par-4 I drove it in the green side bunker and made about a 5 or 6-footer for birdie there. Then turned around and birdied the next. A long par-4 back into the wind. Hit a 4-iron in there about six or eight feet and made it for birdie. 7, the par-5, we laid up and hit a lob wedge in there about eight or 10 feet in there and made birdie for the last birdie of the day. JOHN BUSH: All right. We'll open it up for questions. Q. This is a tournament, I don't know how many times you played here and you can go to that a little bit, but some people don't like the whole format, the revolving teams, the courses, have you, you obviously shot two good rounds, can you adjust to it and have you ever played with the celebrities and would you like to. D.J. TRAHAN: I don't mind the format. I think, I feel like I'm a pretty personable person or individual. So is I feel like I can go out there and talk with my players, playing partners and still focus and play good golf. There's a lot of guys I think that like to keep to themselves on the golf course and that's just the way they work. And I feel comfortable playing with amateurs and chatting and helping them out, maybe reading putts or whatever. So this format doesn't really bother me too much. The fact that we play four different courses certainly makes things a little bit more difficult on us because you never can really feel like you're getting comfortable with any one course because every day you get switched to another course. But I always try and say it is what it is. The tournament's been this way for a long time they have been playing four different courses for probably since the inception of the tournament. So guys know that coming in. And I think that once you are coming into the week you kind of just have to accept that fact and try to get your work done and get as ready as possible and just go about your business. To finish your question off, I wouldn't mind playing with the celebrities, no. I mean obviously this tournament is actually probably more about them than it is about us. The fans love to come out and see the movie stars and TV stars and any other form of celebrity that they have got here. So I wouldn't mind playing with them. It would certainly bring a little bit more attention to each PGA player that does play with them, but I'm all for it. I think it's fun. Q. Also, obviously SilverRock is new, had you, did you get a practice round in, what do you think of the golf course? D.J. TRAHAN: I did get a practice round. I played over here Tuesday afternoon. And as far as the golf course, I like it. It's definitely a long golf course. Several, probably two or three of the par-4s they actually played us up a little bit on the tee, I think maybe because of the weather forecast here. Knowing that it was going to be blowing the first two or three days. But it's a long golf course, and I think that they did a pretty good job over here. Obviously I think a lot of guys will tell you they might be a little bit more in love with Bermuda Dunes, a little bit, it seems to be a golf course that would be a little bit easier to score on, but this golf course isn't terribly difficult. It is not an easy layout, but it's not brutal by any means. So guys can still come out here and if they play well, you're going to score well, because the greens out here are just, they're like they're great greens. So if you're hitting it well and putting it well you're going to make a lot of birdies. Q. You won out here at a fairly young age, it's hard for guys to win in their mid 20s out here. What did it do for you, do you think being able to win after only a couple of years and how do you feel that now on a week to week even round to round basis about from a confidence standpoint and a mental standpoint? D.J. TRAHAN: Well I think that definitely by winning when I did obviously you would like to think you could win every week or you're trying to win every week, but until a guy actually goes out and wins, I'm not going to say that a player doubts themself, but I think there may always be that seed planted in the back of your mind is can I, will I get the job done given the opportunity. And I think for me winning solidified in my mind that obviously I could win out here. And it takes guts coming down the stretch, especially if you're in a close situation. Guys that go out and get their first win by four or five or six shots down the stretch, you know, obviously the pressure's kind of let off them a little bit because they played so well to get that lead. But I think you really have that gut check when you're coming down the stretch here and you're grinding and trying to win a close one. And then of course that's the way it was for me two seasons ago in Mississippi. So I think it's just, for a lot of players it just helps them truly know and believe that they can win out here on any given week to go out and play some good golf and you've got the ability to take a victory. Q. Could you talk a little bit more about your putting today. I know even the holes that you didn't birdie you were very close, No. 1, you just missed. Number four, you had about a 40-footer uphill that you just missed. Did you feel very comfortable over the ball today? D.J. TRAHAN: Today and yesterday, to be honest with you. 5-under yesterday, but I burned the edge, it must have been six or seven times I burned the edge yesterday. The same today. I mean, so far it's been a good week. And it's like you said, being comfortable over putts and I've been working hard on my putter, obviously I know now this is my fourth year out here and I know that it's been the club that has certainly been holding me back from becoming a better player and having better results hopefully winning more. And I've kind of newly rededicated myself to working my butt off with that club so that I can get it where it needs to be because obviously I think everybody know that is a lot of guys hit the ball really well out here, it's getting the ball in the hole that matters the most. So I've really tried to work as hard as I can to fix the putter and get it working for me. Q. You played obviously as a winner you played in the Mercedes last year, I believe you won in 2006. You don't play this year, do you pay attention to the tournament or it's just, okay, I'm waiting until I got out there? D.J. TRAHAN: Pay attention to the Mercedes? Q. Yeah. D.J. TRAHAN: I didn't watch maybe 20 minutes of the whole tournament. I really wasn't paying attention to it, I was back home playing golf relaxing and hunting with my friends and for the most part just trying to get myself ready to go out obviously for last week's Sony Open. And in all honesty it's probably 20 minutes I watched of the whole tournament. I don't watch much golf when I'm not playing. I think that I try to create separation in my life from golf when I am not out here on TOUR. I think it kind of keeps me fresh and keeps me in a better state of mind. I try not to be too obsessed with the game on a total basis. I do my work and I work hard, but I like to try and create a little bit of separation. Q. Justin said on television earlier today that he feels like this is, a big part of this is a putting contest. Given the fact that putting hasn't necessarily been the strongest part of your game, going into this golf tournament do you think, wow, this may be tough for me to win a tournament like this if it comes down to putting on these perfect greens? D.J. TRAHAN: I think that, definitely. The main concern for anybody coming into this week is obviously you always need to hit the ball well, because that gives you the opportunity to make birdie putts and to have putts that are makeable for birdie. But Justin's right, traditionally in this tournament it is a putting contest, it comes down to who is going to make the most birdies and that means who is going to make the most putts. So do I feel like that puts me at a disadvantage? No, because I'm going to believe that I'm getting better with the putter every day. And obviously the results are starting to show. I just got to keep working hard and keep heading in the right direction. But I don't think you can ever, I don't see any point in teeing it up in a tournament if you feel like you're behind the eight ball before you even put the tee in the ground the first day. So obviously my mindset was positive and always is on Thursday or in this case, Wednesday, for the first round. I didn't really truly believe, I mean you probably shouldn't be playing if you're thinking that way. Take a week off and go work on your game or do whatever you need to do, but don't tee up with a negative mindset. JOHN BUSH: D.J. that does it. Thanks for joining us. D.J. TRAHAN: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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