|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIPApril 29, 2008Brandt SnedekerCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: We'd like to thank Brandt Snedeker for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center. We were just talking about how you played Hilton Head, had a good start in Hilton Head, and then you had a week off last week. I'm sure that was well-needed. Back at it again here at the Wachovia Championship, which is a great event. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, can't wait. You know, Wachovia does a great job this week. Obviously it's a big week for us. It's one of our big tournaments of the year, and a lot of FedExCup points available, so need to get started. Got a jump last week after my week off, so need to start playing better. Q. Do you have any explanation for all the 20-something-year-olds that have been piling them up this year wins-wise? BRANDT SNEDEKER: No, it's good to see. You know, I think that's what golf fans want to see. It's obviously what we as 20-year-olds want to do is try and put some pressure on Tiger and the top guys in the world and not just let it be experience playing out. It was great to see Scottie win last week. He hung in there through three playoff holes, made a great putt. It gives all the young guys out there more confidence when you see guys in their 20s winning and being able to get over that hump and win for the first time. And we obviously need a lot more of that out here. We need some more young guys trying to challenge for majors and tournaments titles and that kind of stuff, so hopefully we'll keep pushing each other to do well. Q. Why is it so important for somebody to come riding in on that white horse and punch Tiger in the nose and give him a run for his money? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I think it's because everyone wants to see Tiger get driven a little bit. I think Phil is doing a great job, Ernie is doing a great job, and those guys have been there, but I think they want a new face in there trying to challenge Tiger, somebody different to see him there on Sunday. Trevor obviously did a great job at The Masters and obviously Scottie is right there with him waiting to jump into that elite category, as well. Any time you have a chance to jump up there and put your name in the mix at a major or a big tournament and try to stay toe-to-toe with Tiger is something you need to do, and these young guys, especially me, it was a great -- a good amount of experience at The Masters, being there on Sunday and playing and seeing how well -- obviously in my case not well I held up under pressure. So you've got to put yourself in situations to learn. Q. As you analyze how you played during the week at Augusta, what conclusions did you draw as to what you have to work on, what you need to do better? BRANDT SNEDEKER: You know, I hit it extremely good all week. Sunday unfortunately my short game kind of left me a little bit. I missed some short putts. I drove it in a few squirrelly spots on Sunday. All in all, I hit it great. Looking back, there were a few shots that I lost. Obviously 13 was key on Saturday and Sunday. I've relived that the last two weeks about 150 times in my mind trying to figure out what I did wrong. We were close, and you've got to learn from that. That's what Tiger does so great is when he gets into contention and loses, he learns from it. Unfortunately you're going to lose the majority of golf tournaments you enter, and you've got to learn to live with it and move on. I feel like my golf game is great right now and I'm looking forward to this week. Q. You mentioned your short game. Was there any particular reason why you think that may have not been up to your usual -- BRANDT SNEDEKER: I really don't. I feel like I put some -- you're just going to have days when putts don't go in. That's what it was. I hit some good putts that didn't go in and I didn't get up-and-down the way I needed to. I didn't do the stuff you're supposed to do to keep yourself there. That just comes with experience, with working on your mental game, working on your fitness, working on everything. Maybe I was fatigued, maybe there was a few moments where I didn't think as clearly as I should. All that stuff was addressed. I took a week off last week to kind of take a good overview of the Masters and figure out what I did and what I did well and what I didn't do and came up with a new game plan to get me ready for the U.S. Open, so looking forward to it. Q. How would you describe your mental state after Augusta, playing Heritage and where you've recovered, kind of going into this week? I'm assuming Heritage was kind of going through the motions? BRANDT SNEDEKER: No, I mean, Heritage I was playing great. That's why I was excited to be there. I didn't realize how fatigued I was, mentally and physically drained I was that week, and that's really what hurt me. But I was swinging -- I was excited about being at the Heritage because I love that golf course and I was swinging obviously very well at it and felt like I was putting good. I guess all the good breaks I got at Augusta went away and all that, and I got all the bad ones that week at the Heritage. I still played very nicely and got a bunch of bad breaks. That's the way golf is. I think you saw it with Trevor last week; you don't really realize how much it takes out of you until you take a week off and sit back and you relax and you try to unwind and you're just still kind of unwinding. I still feel like last week was my week off and I slept a ton and tried to get as much rest as possible, I still feel semi-fatigued mentally just from the strain of that major, putting yourself under so much pressure. I feel good. That week was very much needed. I feel a whole lot better, so hopefully this week we can get up there again and try to win a golf tournament. Q. I'm sure you were asked about it a lot during Heritage, but did you kind of feel a little bit more of the eyes on you? And you've kind of come onto the scene; obviously you've been out here, but to the common golfer that didn't know you before, you became a little bit more well-known. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, it's been a little weird the last couple weeks. At the Heritage people didn't really know how to react. They kind of felt sorry for me and didn't know what to do. I joked about it, it's okay, nobody died, I finished third, made a bunch of FedExCup points, made a bunch of money. We're okay. It's kind of been more of the same. I've been kind of overwhelmed with the amount of support I've gotten. I really didn't expect it. People have been great. Even today people coming up to me and saying really nice things, keep your head up and we watched loving you play at the Masters and keep smiling and stuff like that, which was great to hear. It's what makes me want to work hard and practice hard and get in contention more and try to win. Q. Is it more what you get is people being uncomfortable not knowing what to say -- BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I guess, you know, when something bad happens to somebody, you really don't know what to say. You don't want to say the wrong thing. That's what I'm getting. I get more smiles and people just not knowing what to say. They've gotten over that and said great playing, and it's been very nice. People have gone out of their way, and I can't really thank them enough because it's really helped me kind of move on from it and try to -- hopefully try to play better and win it next time, you know? Q. When you get right down to it, it seems like everybody kind of micro-scrutinizes these things. You had a bad round on a hard golf course. In theory it should be pretty easy to let go of, other than the grand scheme of things is kind of what gets in the way. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I guess it's just because everybody -- that's the one tournament a year -- it's our first big tournament a year. Everybody in the world watches it, and you're on TV for six hours on Sunday, and it's like the Super Bowl for us is the best way to put it. A lot of people saw that debacle my last round and obviously felt for me a little bit, which was nice. It was nice for people to go out of their way and send me notes. I got a call from Tom Watson last week at the Heritage, and he kind of consoled me a little bit. Stuff like that has been fantastic. It's really kind of helped me get over it and want to work hard and get back in that situation. Q. Did you get to talk to him? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah. Q. Or was it just voicemail? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I got to talk to him. Q. He blew a few in his day before he got over the hump, too. BRANDT SNEDEKER: That's a nice way to put it, he blew a few. He was very nice. You could not have asked for somebody to do that the way he did. He called and we talked for about a half hour, and he was one of the nicest -- probably one of the highlights of my life was having him tell me he watched the round on Sunday and tried to help me out here and there, what he thought I did wrong and where I could improve on it. He said I played great, hold my head high. He told me about losing his first Open when he was in the last group and shooting 81. That was very welcoming and it was very -- I don't know how to put it, but it made me feel like I had somebody to talk to about it, somebody that does the same thing, and he was very nice and he told me if I had any more questions to call him, and I'm probably going to wear him out. He's probably going to change his phone number because I'll call him so much. Q. You're risen pretty quickly, 33rd in the world. Has it set in for you, the extent to which are a world-class golfer? BRANDT SNEDEKER: Not at all. I had a week off last week and people came up to me in the airport or people came up to me when I went fishing for a couple days down in the Keys. It was weird. I didn't know how to react and I still don't know how to react. I'm the same person, I just happened to have a day before everybody was watching me play golf on national television. It's been great. I don't know how else to put it. People were so nice, and I had no problem taking my time and making sure I get all the autographs signed and if they had any questions to ask me. It's been great. The week off was very much needed and it let me get refocused and realize that we're here at the Wachovia trying to win a golf tournament, trying to get up there in those FedExCup points so I can get in those Playoffs again and try to play in that TOUR Championship. Q. Did you play here last year? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I did, yes. Q. Can you talk about those last three holes here and what it's like to try to get off the course? Statistically those are the three hardest holes on the regular TOUR. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, it's got to be one of the toughest stretches in golf, up there with THE PLAYERS. Just a fantastic finish. You know going into this tournament, this golf course, the way they set it up, they do a great job. It's in beautiful shape. There is no way to fake it around this golf course, no way to scrape it around or not hit your best golf shots. Coming down the stretch on Sunday if you're there, you know you're going to have to hit three good tee shots on 16, 17 and 18, three good approaches, actually on 17 a good tee shot, but greens are severe. There's no way to miss them. There's no bail-out on any of the holes really. It's just a great finish. That's what you want coming down the stretch of a golf tournament I would think. If a guy is leading by one, you want him to win it, and the only way you're going to win it is make par those last three holes or maybe make a birdie if you get lucky, but it's a tough way to finish. Q. You mentioned PLAYERS. 16, that's a birdie, eagle hole if you execute shots. You've got water there obviously, and 17 is probably, what, a 9-iron -- BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, 17 is -- Q. Actually you can make up shots there. Seems like here there's only one way you can go and that's backwards. BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, people say 17 is just a 9-iron but come talk to me when you're sitting there on Sunday and you've got a one-shot lead. I played my first PLAYERS last year, played a practice round, it was not a big deal. I'm like, this is just a wedge; it's not even a hard hole. I got up there in the first round and I was about ready to throw up because I was so nervous and it was such a hard shot. So that's another great stretch. But like I said, here, you're right, you've got a long iron into 17 with water everywhere and you can't miss it right because it's a tough up-and-down. And 18 is probably one of the toughest par-4s we play all year and it's probably the toughest finishing hole we play all year, right there with THE PLAYERS. It's just a great way to finish. It's a beautiful clubhouse, the way they've shaped it around that hole, and hopefully I'll have a chance to play it late on Sunday afternoon. Q. Did you ever think if you walked through the airport and you shaved your head you'd be less recognizable? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I need a haircut, it's obvious. It's getting a little long. Q. Did you see the pictures? BRANDT SNEDEKER: I have some good ones. I'm getting a lot of grief from my friends at home and for crying and all that kind of stuff. It's been fun, though. Everybody has been super-nice, and I do need to get a haircut, but it's not going to happen this week. Q. I'm not telling you to. BRANDT SNEDEKER: That's okay. It's not going to happen this week. JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|