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BUICK OPENJune 24, 2008Brian BatemanGRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome our defending champion, Brian Bateman, here to the interview room at the Buick Open. Going back a year, that was such a dramatic Sunday and everyone watching had no idea who was going to win throughout the entire back nine, it was like a last man standing thing, you make a 12-footer and all of a sudden life changes; what are your reflections on that day, and now one year later? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, it's been a crazy year since. I came in here similar to how I've come in here this year, struggling a lot. Although I've had injuries this year, last year it was more just trying something new every week and hoping to find the magic, and for some reason when I arrived here last year, getting off to a good start, my putter was cooperating, which had not been the case for most of the year, and got through Saturday and came through Sunday and there were 20 guys I think within four shots of the lead. So I knew that if I worried about what anybody else was doing, that it was not going to get me anywhere. So I stuck to my game plan, which is for the most part, fairway and greens, which all of this course all of us could expect to do to be successful is to keep the ball in play, and try to make a putt here and there. When it came down to the last three or four holes, I felt like I was getting close to the lead. Still was not looking at the board and did not know where I stood and came to the 18th and got over a 12-footer that changed my life, and couldn't ask for a better finish. It's great to come back. I was here a month or so ago for Media Day for the first time since this time last year. Surreal in a way, seeing the golf course, I guess from a different perspective, because it didn't have the grandstands and the fans and so forth. But this week was the first time I've had a chance to play, obviously, today was, since last year. It brought back some great memories. And I'm kind of going into this tournament, just like I did last year, just hoping that I can stay out of my own way and find some magic because I've really struggled with my left shoulder since December with the mechanics of my golf swing, I haven't had much control of the ball and my putter has been hot and cold. We'll see where it takes me. I think if there's any place I can find some magic again, it would be at this venue because of what happened last year. Q. How is the shoulder and have you made any decisions about what you're going to do with it the rest of the season? BRIAN BATEMAN: It started bothering me in December, and I thought it was just some tendinitis of some sort. On the West Coast where it was a little bit cooler, it was worse than where it was warmer. Just it never got any better. Didn't get much worse, but it never got better. So I did have an MRI a couple of months ago and found that it was torn, had a torn labrum, which after talking to some players out here, I guess it's a pretty common occurrence for golfers. Jonathan Byrd had a torn labrum in his hip last year or the year before, and some other players I've talked to have had torn labrums in their shoulder. The part that's scary for me the most is any time you have an injury and a surgery to follow and the rehab process, it's just the unknown. I haven't made any plans thus far. I thought in the last maybe few weeks that it was time just to have the surgery and then call it a year, but I really wanted to play here and really wanted to try to defend. You don't have many opportunities out here to defend your title, and I thought I owed it to Buick and to the people here at Warwick to at least come back and try and defend. As far as the surgery, it may be in the next few weeks. I may try to play through a couple of the majors and maybe the FedExCup and take the fall off. Q. Is it over certain shots? BRIAN BATEMAN: It hurts on every shot. It's more at the top of my swing when I extend my left arm, if you're a right-handed golfer, you know when the hands get to the top of the swing, your whole left side of your shoulder and your rotator and your left biceps is fully extended, and that's where it grabs. In mechanics of the golf swing, or mechanically speaking, it's caused me to shorten my swing, which has taken me out of my natural golf swing, so my mechanics have changed. Because of that have, my ball-striking has not been very good. Q. I know it's a different pain than what Tiger went through, but can you appreciate what he did a little bit more or be empathetic considering what he went through at the U.S. Open? BRIAN BATEMAN: You know, I'm 35 years old and this would be my second surgery in three years, so I'm aged beyond my years. I had the same surgery he had a couple years back, so I do know what he's going through. I think he's in a little bit better shape than I am, so his recovery time and rehab won't change his schedule up too much. But it's a long battle. You come out of surgery, and you're not allowed to do much other than rest for a few weeks and then you start your slow rehab, and then once you get past that, you can slowly start hitting balls again. When you're playing at the highest level like we are out here each week, if you don't stay sharp all the time, it just feels like it takes forever to get back to where you were, especially after a surgery. He's going to come back stronger than ever; we all expect that. But I think the one positive he has going for him is that he's in extremely good shape to start with, so his rehab will probably take a little less time than most of us. Q. You talked about finding the magic here at Warwick Hills; if you're able to do that this weekend and defend that championship, can we expect that you're going to move into town? BRIAN BATEMAN: I would probably think about a summer home here. I don't know about a winter home. But you know, I love it here. It's comfortable and it's a lot like where I'm from in Louisiana, similar-size town, big enough where you can disappear but small enough where you still know most of the people. This golf course is a lot like the course I grew up on, old, traditional, not overly long, you can work the ball both ways, big trees, fast greens. Maybe that's a part of the reason why I had some success here last year; in a small way, I felt like I was back home again. Q. Last time you were here, we didn't know that they had Casper's Corner going up there with the champions' area there, have you had a chance to look at that and see your name, and was that surreal for you? BRIAN BATEMAN: Yeah, that's great. When I was here for Media Day a month or so ago, I was talking to Robb Grainger, the tournament director and he said that was in the works. I think that's great. It's just a reminder of the tradition of this golf course, of this tournament. It just speaks volumes for what this tournament means to the TOUR and what Buick has meant to this TOUR. I tell people all the time, I think this tournament has it's -- trying to think of the phrase -- it's never going to change, it's never going to lose its luster because of the golf course, because of the venue, because of the people. And that's why year-in and year-out, we have a great field here. There are not many courses we play anymore that aren't changed or can stand the test of time. This is one of them, and that's a reason guys come back here every year, because they know what to expect. They know it's going to be difficult and they also know there's some birdie chances, and it's just a fun golf course to play. Q. What knee was it that you had operated on? BRIAN BATEMAN: Left. Q. Also the left. So it's the same. BRIAN BATEMAN: Which I guess you could have an argument both ways, but to me the left knee, it takes the most pressure off when you come off your left side, when you take your backswing, when you start out, the brunt of your energy goes to your left knee and your left shoulder. So for a right-handed golfer, to me, the left side, the left knees, the left shoulders are the ones that can be injured the easiest; but also better be the healthiest because they take a lot of the energy. Q. Did you either today or during Media Day go over to 18 and recreate the putt? BRIAN BATEMAN: I did today. I did not during Media Day. We were just doing press conferences in the clubhouse. I did walk over. Someone had stuck a tee in the green where the hole will most likely be on Sunday, and I did stand over that 12-footer and I hit the tee. So I did make it again. But it was neat being back to hit that putt, because I've watched the tape a few times; I've re-lived that putt a million times in my memory, and it's something that no one can ever take away from me. To birdie the last hole and win a PGA TOUR event is a great feeling, and I think that's how all of us would like to do it, at least for your first one. Q. As you were playing today, what other part of the golf course or what other shots kind of stood out as like, yeah, I remember that shot? BRIAN BATEMAN: I think what stood out most today was the rough. I think there's more rough this year than we had last year. The golf course is nowhere near as fast this year as it was last year. It's a little bit softer and the greens are a little bit softer. Hopefully during the week it will firm up as it goes on, but will depend on the weather. I think the rough will make it more difficult. Another thing about these greens is that although they are soft, they slope so much from back to front that sometimes it's tough to get even short irons close to the hole because all of us spin the ball out of the fairways and it's easy for them to come back racing even from the front of the green. That's the great thing about this golf course, soft or hard, fast or slow, it always brings out the best in whoever wins here. Q. How many guys on TOUR would you say have something wrong with them, whether it's a shoulder or a knee? Can you put a percentage on how many of you guys actually go out and play with something wrong? BRIAN BATEMAN: That would be tough to guess on that. I would say the number would be surprisingly high. There's just a I lot of torque in your body when you make a golf swing and when you do it day-in and day-out you're going to have aches and pains and sore muscles and joints. I think there's a lot of pain relievers taken every morning I would say by more than half the field. But it's a part of what we do, and I think that's a reason that a lot of guys have gone in the direction of the gym to be a little bit sharper, to be a little bit more flexible. All of those things in a small way add up to being more healthy and being able to take more injuries. I've never been a gym rat, never enjoyed that. Maybe I need to try it because I've had my share of injuries, but you know, to each his own. I've just never wanted to go in that direction. I've always tried to live halfway clean, but not out of a gym. I think that's the reason you see more and more guys heading in that direction. Q. Last year with your win, you became the first player since 1999 when Tom Pernice, Jr. won, and didn't play in the final pairing, and also, first-time winners, Tom Pernice, Jr. in '99. When you drained that putt on 18, what was the thought process then from that stage through when you realized that was good enough not only for the win, but you were a first-time champion? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, like I said last year when I finished, I was as surprised as anyone. I had been struggling so much coming in. I had pretty much thrown expectations out the window. I've had my share of success over the years at every level, but I feel like I've always underachieved at every level as well. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations coming into the tournament, but not looking at the board I think helped because -- and I'll jump back for a second, when I got home after a month or so and saw the tape, when I was on 14 or 15, there were 12 or 15 guys within three shot of the lead. So if I had been watching the board, based on the success that I've had through last year and what I knew would have come to the last hole with the pressure and so forth and what it would have meant to win, the pressure would have been probably something I would have been uncomfortable with. I'm a fairly laid-back person, but that jolt of energy and adrenaline may not have been that good for me, so it was a blessing in disguise I didn't watch the board. Once I got to the green and my caddie told me where we stood, that's when I looked at the board and saw four of us were tied and at that point, all I could do was focus on the line of the putt, tried to start it on-line and let it go and see what happens. Halfway through, I was not sure it was going to get it the hole or not but had it fell obviously it was a tremendous relief knowing I had done it and done it in a cool way, I guess, too. But I didn't really think about the perks until after we left here and my wife and I went to dinner that night and sat down and took a deep breath, had a glass of wine; that's when we started talking about all of the things that were coming. Q. Taking next step, your approach going into Buick then versus the events that followed, knowing that you knew the blueprint for winning on the PGA TOUR, what was your mind-set over the balance of the season? BRIAN BATEMAN: Well, I had an extra load of confidence. I was playing in some prestigious events. It got me in the Bridgestone. I knew that the Masters would be looming the next April. I got to start the year in Maui. But for the rest of the summer, it was really nothing but congratulatory comments from other players and equipment reps and fans, which kind of solidified what kind of accomplishment it was. I was the ultimate underdog last year, and to pull out on top was nothing I really ever could imagine would have been happening, especially at the point where I was in my career through 2007. But it also showed that people pulled for the underdog and I think Rocco showed a lot of that at the U.S. Open. I think that's why he's kind of the media darling right now and the one that people want to watch, because he was the underdog and he put up a fight and he came close and he almost pulled it off. I think the underdog in sports gets a lot of love because of that. Q. When you pictured your first win, were you thinking winning by a shot or were you thinking you would rather win by five or ten shots? BRIAN BATEMAN: Oh, I'd love to have six or seven putts on the last green. But there's only one guy who does that routinely. All of us out here will take it any way it comes. You just hope to give yourself a chance. I think that's what's been the most disappointing for me since I've been on TOUR is that I have not had that many chances. Now conversely, not being many chances and converting what few chances I've had at least once, I've got a pretty good percentage working. But it's hard to win when you're not in a position to win and you don't have a chance to win. I think that's the goal of all of us out here, including Tiger, is to give yourself a chance on Sunday and the more opportunities you have and the more chances you have, odds are you'll one out here and there. Q. Clearly more attention on you this week, do you like having all that attention than in a normal week? BRIAN BATEMAN: I'm not an attention grabber and I'm not an attention hound dog. I do enjoy this week because it meant so much to me and my family and my friends and family at home last year. It's something I've never felt before, not necessarily the attention, but trying to represent the tournament and be the defending champion, being the marked guy, if you will. It's been great. I've enjoyed. It I got to meet Billy Casper a month ago when we did Media Day and I think he's coming in tonight for the ceremony tomorrow. There's a little piece of history that I'm happy to be a part of: The 50th anniversary of the event; being on the first tee tomorrow with Billy Casper for the flyover; and all of the special festivities that they are going to have, it will be a special experience. STEWART MOORE: Brian, good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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