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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 20, 2008

D.J. Trahan

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Well, congratulations, D.J., for the 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic champion. Second victory on the PGA TOUR and an awesome round. You ought to be really proud of yourself.
D. J. TRAHAN: Yes, I am very proud of myself. I obviously knew starting the day it was going to be a long, hard-fought day with Justin having a four-stroke lead. But I did what I knew I had to do. I knew I had to go out and shoot a low number, and fortunately, I was able to put some good shots together and make some putts. And it's a wonderful feeling.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Questions, please?

Q. How much of a key was it the way you played the par-5s today?
D. J. TRAHAN: I think it was a big factor. Obviously any time you tee it up on a par-5, you're thinking of it as a scoring hole. You feel like you need to make birdies to get -- I wouldn't say keep a round going, but obviously momentum on par-5s is big. It boosts your -- it's how you shoot low numbers. Obviously, it's tough to shoot 7- or 8-under if you're not birdieing the par-5s. So that was a big factor in my day today. I birdied all four of them. You can't ask for anything more, obviously. Except maybe an eagle, but... (Laughter).
But that was huge today for me.

Q. You trailed by four. You said yesterday it's tough. You had to have him play a so-so round and the rest of you guys play well. You're still trailing by four after seven. Are you thinking, it isn't going to get done and then bang, you pick up four shots and, of course, two on that one hole. Can you go into that?
D. J. TRAHAN: Yeah, with 11 holes to play, obviously you're not thinking there's no way you can come back. Four shots is not an insurmountable lead by any means. As I said earlier in another interview, you certainly don't feel particularly optimistic about it when you're playing against a guy like Justin Leonard. I wasn't playing against a rookie who was in the lead for the first time. He's won a Major Championship, Ryder Cups, I don't know how many times he's won on TOUR, but it's definitely more than me.
And so it's one of those situations where you don't feel like you're that far behind the eight ball, but obviously you know you've got your work cut out for you. And as you said, after the 11th hole, it was all square. He bogeyed 10, I birdied 10, and then he bogeyed 11. So four holes later, we're tied.
So it's an amazing thing how just a couple of putts made or just one little mistake from somebody, and you can kind of get you yourself right back in it. And that's what happened to me.
Obviously, I would have never thought that after 11 holes we would have been tied up, especially since he was playing the front nine -- he played just as solid as he could. I don't think he missed a shot. So at that point I was thinking, Wow, I need to make a lot of birdies. But bogeying 11 was obviously big for me.

Q. That front nine really set that up for you, didn't it? You kept right up with him.
D. J. TRAHAN: Yeah, obviously he shot three on the front, I shot 4-under with that birdie on 9, and the birdie on 9 was what kind of really sparked me a little bit, I think. I thought to myself, Wow, he didn't knock a wedge in close here, didn't capitalize and make birdie and I was able to make that six- or eight-footer there, and I thought, Well, okay, three shots going into the back nine.
Then when you stand up on the 10th tee, and obviously 10 and 11 are just really brutal par-4s, especially tee balls, they're just not easy tee shots. And to have played those two holes 1-under par, and for him to have played them 2-over, obviously, my thoughts were, Geez, I could really make up some ground here if I can play well on these two holes, because anything can happen, and sure enough, he did bogey those two holes.

Q. Dual question on your background. You grew up in South Carolina. Did you play -- did you start golf very early and did you fall in love with the game early and were you good at it? I know you were at Clemson. You were very good there, and you got to the Masters. Secondly, how did you get the nickname when your middle name, I don't believe, starts with a J?
D. J. TRAHAN: Which nickname are you referring to?

Q. "D.J." I mean initial --
D. J. TRAHAN: Oh, well, that's the polite nickname. But...

Q. What's the impolite?
D. J. TRAHAN: We're not going to go there. But D.J., Donald, Jr., I'm a junior. I've been so blessed with my father's name, so I'm a junior and that's how we got that.
I did start at a very early age. And for me it's always been fun. My dad was -- he's been my coach. He's been my teacher. He's been the one who got me started in the game. But I think a lot of parents, maybe especially nowadays, with the heavy focus on athletics and athletes in general, maybe ride their kids too hard, and I was so fortunate and so blessed because my father was never that way.
He told me to play because I loved to play, not to play because I had to play. So if I wanted to go to the golf course, I could go to the golf course. If I didn't want to go to the golf course, I guess I could do something else. And I think that was big for me because he never pushed me. I never felt like I had somebody riding my shoulders and bearing down on me. And he was always there to give that helping hand and that was big for me.
I think that's part of the reason why I did fell in love with the game. And then growing up in Hilton Head, every year I watched the guys come through at The Heritage and what can you say?
You watch the best players in the game every year come through your hometown and play in your home course, and you love the game already. And then you see what they're doing and it's just kind of like a domino affect.

Q. You're real good at Clemson, I guess national collegiate player, you won the NCAA's, right?
D. J. TRAHAN: Sure.

Q. And you won the Public Links, was it, when you stepped out on to the pro TOUR, the expectations were very high from other people and from yourself that you should do well?
D. J. TRAHAN: Yeah, I think so. With the college career I had, obviously I felt like my game matured and blossomed to the point where I felt like -- obviously I was disappointed when I didn't make it through Q-School when I first came out. I felt like I belonged out here and that I could play out here. I missed by a couple shots that first year.
And just to correct you, I did not win the national championship, my team won the national championship. But when you have a career like that in college your thoughts are, Okay, I'm playing against the best Division I players in the country, Mickelson played college, Tiger played college, everybody -- most almost everybody played college. Obviously, I guess you're seeing more young kids turning pro before they go to college now, but for the most part, all the guys that you see out here on this TOUR right now at one time or another played college golf.
And when you reach the top level of college golf and you're one of the top players in college golf, obviously you've got to believe that you're good enough to go to the next level because that's where all those guys were before they got out here.
So yeah, I had high expectations, and obviously, hopefully now I'll continue what I'm doing and because I certainly -- you can't meet higher expectations than winning. That's pretty awesome today.

Q. You referred to Justin's credentials earlier, how much more meaningful is it for you to chase down a player of that caliber to win your second TOUR title?
D. J. TRAHAN: It means a lot. I totally did not expect Justin to fold at any time, and why should you expect him to? He's got a fantastic track record. He's, as I said before, a Ryder Cup, a Major champion, he sank the long putt that pretty much won the Ryder Cup for us at Brookline.
So, you know, the guy's clutch and he's a great player. So to have run him down today and win the golf tournament means a lot.

Q. I know you don't wish a fellow golfer any ill, but when he hit into the water on 18, what were your thoughts?
D. J. TRAHAN: My thoughts were, I'm not going for the green now. But after hitting a good drive myself and teeing off first there, I was obviously very happy about the fact that when you're coming down the stretch and you're tight like that, and you're going through a pressure packed situation, if you're playing first, it's like an advantage.
So when I hit my ball in the fairway, I was very pleased that I was able to hit a good tee ball there because obviously, in turn, he had to know that he needed to hit a good tee ball there.
Obviously, like you said, you don't ever wish any bad things on anyone, I suppose you have to be not a nice person to do that. But when he hit that ball in the water, obviously the only thing that it meant to me was my game plan was going to change, because par would win me the golf tournament. I didn't need to do anything stupid and finish with a heroic shot to the green and knock it on in two. There's no point in that. Why bring the chance of hitting a ball in the water and then being right back in the same situation that he was.

Q. You talked about what your first victory did for you as far as confidence and stuff like that, this victory, what does this do for you?
D. J. TRAHAN: This victory right here basically -- well, obviously, it's probably not quite as satisfying as the first one because the first is always the sweetest. It's like your -- it's like saying, Okay, here I am, I belong.
But now I feel like hopefully that I can use this as a stepping stone to take my game to where I feel like it can be. Obviously, I'm going to be playing in the Masters, so I didn't get that opportunity after my first win. So I'm really looking forward to that.

Q. You led the tournament in putting this week. I know we talked with you a lot about that throughout the week. What does that mean to you after the work you've done?
D. J. TRAHAN: Pardon me for smiling like that, but I've never heard anybody tell me that before, so...(Laughter).
It obviously means a lot. It's the reason I'm sitting here. After the first round, I think somebody interviewed Justin Leonard and they asked him a question about what it took to win here, and he said it's a putting contest. And it truly is. The greens here are perfect on all four golf courses and it really is just simply a birdie contest out here. You have to make a lot of putts.
Obviously, the reason I'm sitting here is because I led the field in putting. Now that doesn't mean that the winner every year is going to lead the field in putting, but he's going to have to be pretty darn close. Because you got to make a lot of birdies to win this tournament.

Q. So the emotion of that given your past, what does that mean?
D. J. TRAHAN: Oh, I don't know how to tell you how happy I am about that. Usually I'm right around 115 or 130, somewhere around there in putting every week. So it means a lot to me because obviously I set a goal for myself to work on my putting, and it's obviously went in the right direction this week. And I can only hope that it will continue to go that direction.
And I tell people all the time, champions win because they not only do they set themselves up, but they make the putts, they hit the shot and they make the shot when they have to. And obviously the greatest example of that is Tiger Woods. When he needs to make a putt, he makes a putt. And so everybody knows that you win, you definitely have to get from tee to green, but at most tournaments, they're won with clutch putting and clutch short game.

Q. Kenny Perry was talking about a farm that you have your eye on. Does this go towards that?
D. J. TRAHAN: I enjoy hunting and I have had a little piece of land that I've been looking at, and I wasn't going to allow myself to partake in that until I felt I deserved it. So maybe now I might do that. I don't know. We'll see. But, yeah, it's -- I'm excited about it. If I do it.

Q. Where is it?
D. J. TRAHAN: I live in South Carolina. It's about an hour from my house.

Q. You mentioned this win was not as satisfying as your first win, do you feel like maybe because it's the beginning of the year, does it maybe give you just a really good momentum for the rest of the year as compared to your first win which was more toward the end of the year?
D. J. TRAHAN: Yeah, well, I think, obviously, for two reasons, my first win was more satisfying. This one, I don't want to say it's any less satisfying, but when I won in Mississippi, I had struggled that year. Obviously, main reason being the putter, and it had just been a really frustrating year. And I was struggling at that point to keep my card, my TOUR card and to not go back to Q-School.
So that win maybe meant a little bit more, not only as a first win, but it was almost like a get-out-of-jail-free card because I really had -- you know, it's so easy to get down on yourself out here on this TOUR because you're playing against the best players in the world, and if they're not beating you up, you're beating yourself up when your year is going like that.
So for me to have won there was obviously much more gratifying in the sense that I was in a different place. This week, like you said, it's early in the year, not a lot of pressure on you as far as what's on the Money List, where do I stand, you know, as a lot of guys will be facing down the road this year.
But either way you look at it, didn't quite -- maybe not quite maybe as satisfying, but very satisfying nonetheless.

Q. Your two previous appearances here, you had only one round in the 60s. Was that all putting or what was that all about?
D. J. TRAHAN: Absolutely. I can specifically remember last year I think I hit 16 or 17 greens one round and shot 71. I mean, it's -- that's just ridiculous. You can't -- and for this event, it's even more ridiculous. There's some events where you can maybe get away with that kind of a round. But obviously to put yourself in contention here this week, you need to hit the ball well and just make a ton of putts.

Q. You have been working with Stan Utley?
D. J. TRAHAN: No, I have not been working with Stan.

Q. Who do you work with on your putting?
D. J. TRAHAN: Actually, a guy who takes lessons from my dad. His name is Jack Moore. And he's a fantastic putter. And we're working on his long game. But the man can putt. And he's kind of just brought me back to basics and really working on some simple fundamentals. And it's amazing how sometimes when you kind of lose focus, I think a lot of guys maybe just go out and hit putts, and I felt into that all I would do is go out to the green, drop three balls, and just putt around. And I finally realized I'm not getting any work done here. My putting is not going to improve just by sitting out here and putting around for 45 minutes.
So we worked on getting a good practice routine and working on fundamentals and it's been a big boost for me.

Q. Did you come into today with any specific game plan? Obviously the conditions are so much different. The amateurs have all gone home, or were you just trying to continue what you were doing previously this week?
D. J. TRAHAN: I think definitely just trying to continue what I had been doing. Obviously I was a little bit disappointed yesterday only shooting a couple under at PGA West. I made four bogeys and I thought to myself, You know what, no big deal. I'm still 19-under par, there's still a chance for me to win the golf tournament.
And obviously I had played well up to this point for the week. My game plan was, "Please shoot a low number", because I felt like obviously I was going to need to do that to catch Justin. And I was able to do that.
I played well here on Wednesday when I played the Classic Club the first round. And so I had some good vibes, I had good feelings about it. And I just felt like if I could go out and just do what I've been doing throughout the week and maybe cut back on a few of those mistakes, that I, unless Justin just ran away with the tournament I hopefully would have a shot and it turned out I did.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Can you kind of compare when you won the Southern Farm Bureau classic you were in the lead and then Joe Durant, you had a really incredible three hole playoff. And then today you were three strokes back or four strokes back, came back to beat Justin, could you compare those two days at all.
D. J. TRAHAN: Well, obviously it's different playing with the lead than coming from behind. When you're playing with the lead I guess they say you're the guy that's trying to hold on. You're trying to fend everybody off. Joe actually -- I think I shot 71 or 70 that final round and Joe shot 66 or 65. And so he came from behind to catch me. Then we just went back and forth in that playoff and, yeah, it was a par-5 and I hit three good drives. And he actually missed the fairway the first time, laid up and made -- I mean it was amazing because we just, it seemed like, I thought to myself, my God, this may never end, because it just went one birdie after another and it's like neither one of us was going to miss a shot. And it was just like, I mean we were both -- and obviously he was dialed in because he played a great round of golf that day. He could have been the low round that day by several shots at Annandale. So I, it's -- the only difference in the two obviously is that I was in the position that Joe was in instead of being the front runner.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Talk about maintaining the intensity.
D. J. TRAHAN: Well, it's weird because I wasn't even playing with Joe, so the intensities here today was much, much, much higher. Because I was in the final group, obviously again, but I was playing with the leader. And I was the leader in that instance and I think Joe was two or three groups ahead of me. So to have not been playing, to have actually been playing in the final group and trying to chase Justin down was definitely more, much more intense today.
GEORGE LOPEZ: Congratulations on your victory?
D. J. TRAHAN: Thank you, George.
GEORGE LOPEZ: Are you prepared to shave your mustache and goatee like I did on Friday?
D. J. TRAHAN: I saw that on TV. I'm not going to go with a dry shave though, I've got an electric razor and all that. I might do it though, yes.
GEORGE LOPEZ: Congratulations.
D. J. TRAHAN: Ironically, I had a goatee when I won my other tournament so I don't know if I should.
GEORGE LOPEZ: Don't shave.
D. J. TRAHAN: I don't particularly like facial hair, but if I'm going to win with it then, you know.

Q. When did you grow this?
D. J. TRAHAN: This has been just a solid month. And I started this -- I actually had a beard from when I've been home hunting. And you just get lazy when you're home doing that. So I wasn't shaving. And then I shaved it into this terrible looking thing.

Q. But you won.
D. J. TRAHAN: But I won again.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Can we run through the birdies and bogeys real quickly. You birdied No. 1.
D. J. TRAHAN: Yeah, I hit a nice drive there and actually only had a sand wedge in. Wind was coming in off the right and I pulled my sand wedge into the fringe about 18 feet. But hit a beautiful putt. Couldn't ask for a better way to start the day. Because it really wasn't one of those putts that you look and say, "This is makeable." It had 9 or 10 inches of break left-to-right and I hit a great putt and it was a good way to start the day.
3 was -- I hit a tee ball in the right rough, then I hit it over the green. And it, obviously I was looking to hopefully just to make four and not lose any ground. And I made a putt, hell, I had eight yards of fringe to put through there up the hill and made it. So that was a present for sure. Because I obviously wasn't expecting to make three there.
5, that was a good great birdie. That hole was playing back into the wind today and we hit a 3-wood and 5-iron. Actually had 5-iron in there today. I hit it about seven or eight feet left of the hole there and to a back right pin. So that pin doesn't really suit my game. But I hit a wonderful shot in there and made an eight-footer.
6, green side in two, hit what I thought was a little bit better chip than it ended up, but it came up about 10 feet short. And had a pretty straight putt down the hill and knocked it right in the heart.
Bogey on 7. I was a little torn between clubs on the tee and went with a 3-wood instead of the 5-wood. And that was probably my only mental mistake in -- my only actual mistake with a club today. I should have hit that 5-wood and I just came out of that 3-wood and hit it in the right bunker. And didn't draw a very good lie. And then hit it in the green side bunker, bad lie there, and missed about a 12-footer for par.
9, hit a sand wedge in there, six or eight feet right of the hole and knocked that one in. It was another pretty straight putt.
10, that was definitely best birdie of the day. That hole was playing very, very tough today with a back right pin and into the wind. Driver and a 5-iron. Right into the back fringe. And boy that had to be close to a 40 foot putt there. 35 or 40 feet. So again, that, just like the third hole, that's a putt you certainly don't expect to make, you're just trying to make a solid 2-putt and get out of there.
Birdie on 14, took the lead there and obviously I'm not going to say that was the turning point, it was nice to have made that birdie and take the lead, but Justin and I were both only a couple feet from each other behind the green there. And again, as you say, he's got fantastic short game. So I'm standing over my chip thinking, okay, he's definitely got four, I need to make a good shot here. And it turned out that I made the birdie and he didn't. And I took the lead there.
Birdie on 18. Like I said, after Justin hit it in the water off the tee I laid up with a 5-iron and I had about 67 yards to the hole and pitched it in there about six feet and made putt.

Q. How far on 14 were you?
D. J. TRAHAN: Oh, putt on 14? Eight feet maybe.

Q. Your putts went in that you expected to go in and some you didn't expect to go in went as well.
D. J. TRAHAN: Well, my theory on that is simple: For the guy at the end of the week to be sitting up here in front of y'all he's going to have to make some putts that he doesn't expect to make. Especially over the course of five days in an event like this. You can't hit it 10 feet all day. You're going to have to make a couple long putts here and there to come out on top of the end of the week. Its just, it's kind of a factor in golf. Especially at this level. Because the competition's too stiff. You got to expect to make or you need to make a few of those putts over the course of a tournament to win.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Congratulations. Thank you for your time.
D. J. TRAHAN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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