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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 16, 2008Bart BryantORLANDO, FLORIDA LAURY LIVSEY: We'd like to thank Bart Bryant, runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, for coming in for a few minutes today. You played a heck of a round of golf and came up a bit short. Can you talk about your day. BART BRYANT: Well, yeah, it was a very good day. I'm very satisfied with 67 other than I came up a shot short. No. 11 was kind of my bugaboo today. I had a fairly decent yard age to the green and left it just a little right. I had about a 25-footer and 3-putted, and that kind of ended up being the difference-maker today. But from there on in, I played about like I thought I was supposed to, and I felt if I could play the last four holes well, I could put the pressure on Tiger, make him make a birdie coming down the stretch. That's why Tiger's Tiger. Q. We saw your reaction, kind of chuckled when it win in; were you thinking he was going to make the putt? What was going through your mind? BART BRYANT: You know, it didn't surprise me one bit. You know, you've still got to chuckle, even though you're not surprised. Anything he does anymore doesn't surprise me. You know, obviously I'm extremely disappointed, and I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wish he had not made the putt. I really wanted to be in the playoff. But you know, what are you going to do? It was in his hands, and obviously hit a good shot and a great putt. You know, I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer, but I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play and he has habit of making it when he needs to. Q. The second shot on 18 is tough with the water. Were you thinking you wanted to play the safe shot? BART BRYANT: No, I did play the safe shot. And honestly, where I played is how you're supposed to play that hole today. But the last two years, I've hit it off those rocks on Sunday. One year, it bounced over the green into the bunker, and the other year it bounced over the green, it was where I got lucky to be dry both two years in a row, but I hit it off the rocks. And I told myself on Tuesday what I played my practice round, on Sunday this year, I will aim left of the pin and I will be long. (Laughter) That was just the way I was going to play the hole and I wasn't going to change that. I felt like even playing it that way and making sure I get the par, maybe I'll roll in a birdie. But nevertheless, I'm going to put the pressure on Tiger to have to do something. I felt like that was my best chance at that point to kind of put it back in Tiger's court. Q. You had taken about six strokes in the final round at TOUR Championship and made it look easy, what was the difference between that Tiger and this Tiger? Or maybe it was you -- BART BRYANT: No, I think at THE TOUR Championship when I ended up beating him by a few, I had him by four shots, first of all, going into the last round. And then I just happened to play an extremely good round. And honestly, I don't think Tiger was playing his best golf at that time. You know, the Tiger we saw the last two days is pretty strong. Even though he finished second that year in THE TOUR Championship, I think if you asked him, he would say he wasn't totally on his game; by evidence of -- I don't know if you remember, but on 16, he hit his ball way right in the woods and made a double-bogey. And Tiger doesn't do that when he has a chance to win down the stretch. Just at the time I was four or five shots ahead, and I think that was the difference. Q. Is it possible to step outside your own disappointment, because you played so well, and just take a look at what he's doing through the last five or six months -- BART BRYANT: Well, I talked about that yesterday. It's just to us out here on TOUR, we understand what he's doing, the magnitude of it. I think true golf fans who understand the game understand the magnitude of it. I think the golf public in general doesn't get it to be honest with you. Because what he's doing right now, I mean, you can't even hardly fathom it. You can't explain it. It's just incredible. Just what he did today is another evidence of this weird zone he's in, and he's been it like his whole life. (Laughter) I don't know how to explain it. I think people, you know, it was funny, like he shoots 72 here -- or 70 the first day, even par and people are like, boy, what is wrong with Tiger, he's terrible. I mean, he shoots even par on a tough golf course and he gets ridiculed. It's amazing. People don't realize how tough it is. But again, there he is getting off to not a great start and comes back and wins the golf tournament. Q. Did you hear the reaction before you saw it on the video screen? BART BRYANT: There wasn't a video screen in the trailer but I told John, our scorer: "I'll sit here and listen, I'll know if he makes it or not." And I heard a big cheer and I got up and left. (Laughter). Q. Did you think 67 going into today would have been -- BART BRYANT: No. I didn't. I thought I would have to shoot 4- or 5-under to win; although, while I was on the course and I was playing the last few holes, I really started thinking 3-under would have a possibility of at least getting in a playoff, and it did have a possibility of getting in a playoff. Conditions meet have been a little tougher. I think what it was is that pin placements were extremely tough today. It was hard to get a birdie putt up the hill. You were always putting down. You have this memory bank of how fast they are, and it was hard to make the transition even though it was the fourth day. It's hard to make the transition of still hitting your putts downhill a little bit firmer, and I think if my speed would have been right today, I might have shot a couple strokes lower to be honest with you. Q. So you didn't see his putt at all, you just heard? BART BRYANT: No. There wasn't a TV in the trailer. Q. Have you seen it yet? BART BRYANT: No. Q. Do you know how far it was or anything about it? BART BRYANT: Yeah, it was about 24 feet, two inches, a little right and a little long (laughter) and I can visualize where he was and I can visualize how it went in and what he did; I don't have to see it. (Laughter) Q. You're one of the only guys as we talk about that seems to be able to stand up to him when you've had an opportunity. BART BRYANT: Well, I haven't had a whole lot of opportunity. A lot of these guys are trying to compete with him week-in and week-out. I'm lucky to get up there and compete with him every now and then. I think the difference is when I'm competing with Tiger, I'll really playing well. Some of these guys have the ability to be there on Sunday and compete Tiger and then maybe not be at their best and then it kind of shows up. But honestly if I have a chance to win a golf tournament and I'm competing with Tiger, I'm probably pretty much on my game like I was today. Q. Is that true with Memorial and TOUR Championship? BART BRYANT: Absolutely. Absolutely. LAURY LIVSEY: Bart, thanks for coming in. Appreciate it. End of FastScripts |
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