	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2008

Arron Oberholser

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Q. Talk about 14, 16 and 18.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: 12 as well. Yeah. Yeah, they were all good birdies. Good birdies. I had a little rough patch on 9 and 10. I hit good shots on all -- as you know you can hit really good shots around here and still make bogeys pretty easily. Especially when the golf course gets firm and fast like it's playing today.
So I just, my caddie reminded me you just got to stay patient around this place and just give what the course -- or take what the course gives you. And I did a good job of that on the back nine because I'm kind of going the Zach Johnson route this year, I'm not going to go at any par-5s. It's just, it doesn't do me any good. I'm going in with longer clubs than most of the bigger hitters are. If they hit good drives on 13 and 15. And I can't stop those clubs on these greens. So it doesn't make any sense.
Hell, I couldn't stop a lob wedge from 75 yards out of the first cut on 15. So it's playing difficult, so we'll see what the weather brings us tomorrow and the next day, but if we don't get any rain, it's going to play firm and fast, obviously the rest of the way.

Q. Were you pretty close on those birdies? Short putts?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: No, 12 I made it from just in the first cut of fringe, the little, that stuff there from about 20 feet behind it.
Then on 14, I, yeah, 14 I was close. About four feet.
16, I was 10, 12 feet behind it.
And then 18 I was four feet as well.

Q. You talk about playing with one arm and you're putting up good numbers. How are you able to do that? How do you accomplish that?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, it's the Masters, No. 1. I don't think I would be doing this at any other regular PGA TOUR event. And this place is special to me, so I just decided that to tough it out as best I could and it's working out, it hurts on every swing. Not immensely, if it was immensely, I wouldn't be playing, to be honest with you, but it's enough to where it bothers me. Actually the funny thing is when I make good swings, that's when it hurts the most, because that's when I have to, I make a really good solid pause at the top and that left hand has got to be solid on the club and it doesn't feel good.
So just got to -- I hit so many shots with it like this at this point that I know what to expect. So if anything happens to where it gets more painful, then I'll have to make a decision, but it hasn't gotten any more painful than what I've been able to play with.

Q. So you know what you're going to feel?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: I know what I'm going to feel each time. It doesn't feel good, but at least I know it's consistent, it's not going from, it's not going, it's not getting any worse out there. Thank goodness.

Q. Is the hand worse or shoulder worse?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: The shoulder's not bothering me too bad, to be honest with you. It's more the hand. The hand is not feeling good right now. It's weak, and it's real bad when I wake up in the morning, real stiff, extremely sore. And I do some treatments on it in the morning before I come out here and it makes it feel a little bit better. But the first few balls on the range hurt real bad and then it actually gets a little bit better as it gets warmed up. But cold weather is brutal on it. Is real brutal. But I've been lucky because it's been warm. It's almost like a tendonitis issue that I have with this hand right now.

Q. Do you think, because of that, do you think that maybe that the decreased expectations help you?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: The funny thing is that when I'm out there I don't feel like I have any less expectations, I'm just, I really honestly feel like I can -- I just put it out of my head and realize that, yeah, I'm hurt, but I can still play. I can putt and chip and as long as I can get the ball around the golf course, and keep it in the proper areas on the golf course, then I can score out here if my putting -- and my putter's been fantastic. I've been putting really well. I've been making all the putts between seems like between four and 10 feet that I need to make. I've been pretty solid around that distance this week.
So if I can continue to do that, and just keep putting the ball in the right spot on the greens, then I don't know if I can win, but I think can I give it a good shot to finish high up there.

Q. How do you do this? Same way as at the Open?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, same way Zach does it. We can play out of each other's bags pretty much. And David Toms and all those guys, we all have to do it the same way. Same as Furyk. We got a, if we have got, we're going to have 5-irons and 6-irons into some of these par-4s and you just got to play -- you got to find a low spot and play to that. And if you got a 40-footer uphill over a ridge, you got to putt it. Can't go firing at flag sticks on top of mounds.

Q. Are you surprised how this has all played out? You didn't sound like you were too confident the other night when we were talking, now here you are, you're five shots from the lead.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, that's a lot. That's lot of shots. And there's a very, very good player at the top of the leaderboard who I played with at the WGC at Doral this year and he wasn't having his best tournament there, but I saw flashes of what that guy can do.
And he is a phenomenal ball-striker. He's patient beyond his years. And when his putter's working, he can beat anybody in the world, in my opinion. But he's a phenomenal ball-striker and in my opinion I think he's got one of the best swings out here on TOUR. Just a phenomenal, tight, compact swing. And he can hit it both directions. Fade it, draw it, which is what you need on these greens.
Most of the tee shots are draws out here, there's a couple fades, 1 and 18. But when it comes to the greens, then you need to think whether you want to fade or draw it into a pin. And he can do both.
So catching him, I'm not even thinking about it, I'm just going to go out and play golf, I can't go out and do anything but concentrate on my own game.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297