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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 12, 2008Jay WilliamsonSILVIS, ILLINOIS STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Jay Williamson to the interview room here at the John Deere Classic after a spectacular round of 62 out there, 29 on the back nine, and you started the day eight shots out of the lead, which I believe would tie the largest 36-hole come back in this tournament's history, and you go out there and play what you described as the round of your life. Talk about that. JAY WILLIAMSON: I wish it was Sunday (laughter). For some reason I was in a really good mood this morning. I just felt good, my body felt pretty good. I feel good about my game. It was a little cooler, we had a little rain last night. You know, I felt good. I birdied the first three holes, which is always -- allows you to be confident, to be positive going through the round. Made a bag bogey on 4. I hit that darned tree, told my caddie to go to Lowe's tonight and cut that thing down because I hit it behind it yesterday and I hit it -- hit the tree again today. So I don't like that tree. I don't like trees in the middle of the fairway. But other than that, it was just -- I don't really know where to start because the day was so good starting on -- even on the 5th hole, I had opportunities on 5, 6, 7, 8, I made a good par on 9, which is always a good 4, and then I made -- I think I had a 112-yard shot on 10 and I made 3, which is always nice. I made the shot from the fairway. And then I birdied 11, hit 7-iron in about eight feet, made the putt. And then 12, my daughter came from St. Louis and I wanted to hit a shot for her, so I hit it about a foot on 12. I figured she could probably make that one, so that was a nice birdie. I parred 13, birdied 14 and 15. I just kept hitting them close. It wasn't like I was making 20-footers. You know, everything set up for me well today. I drove it well, I was in the fairway, and the golf course is in tremendous shape. The greens were almost too good today. The golf course was there for the taking. I would figure there would be a lot of low scores today. And then to birdie 18 like I did was very gratifying. I made, I don't know, a 20-footer. 18 is not a hole you want to play every day, and to get on top of it is always very gratifying. STEWART MOORE: Your caddie outside mentioned an unlucky break on 17 or we could be talking about a 61. JAY WILLIAMSON: Well, you know, yeah. A lot of good things happened to me today, and I'm just very thankful that I was able to go out there and have the strength to -- I'm not exactly in the best situation right now. I made the mistake of looking at the -- as you referred to, the FedExCup points list or whatever it's called. I look at the Money List. But I probably made a mistake doing that because it took me an hour to come to grips with the fact where I am on the Money List. I think this is the 12th cut that I've made, and I haven't performed well on the weekend. Obviously to do this today hopefully is an indication of my game coming around. It's not that it's been bad, I just haven't played real well on the weekend, especially Sunday. So tomorrow we're going to give it another shot and see what happens. Q. You talked at Hartford about how frustrating it's been on Sundays for you, and the numbers bear it out, 74.2 scoring average. How do you get over that frustration and keep that out of your mind as much as possible going into tomorrow? JAY WILLIAMSON: I just have to go out tomorrow and try to hit the first fairway. Seventy-four point two, I'm probably trending down because I've had a couple decent Sundays lately. I think if I can shoot 68 tomorrow, 67, 68, I don't know what the guys are going to do this afternoon, seemed like the wind was picking up a little bit. If I can go out there and hopefully play with Kenny Perry and shoot 67, 68 and just show myself I can do it -- I think the putter is going to help me because I haven't putted well on Sunday, and if you watch Tiger play golf, which I'm sure you do, Tiger doesn't win with his driver on Sunday, he wins with his putter. That's kind of what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to putt better and to keep the momentum going when things aren't going my way. Q. You say you looked at your standings in the FedExCup points list. Did that put more pressure on you or inspire you to go out -- JAY WILLIAMSON: It's a good question. It's probably a little bit of both. It frustrated me, and it also -- you know, it was a kick in the pants. Again, I haven't done anything yet. I'm tied for the lead after Saturday, which I don't want to get ahead of myself here. It's fun to be sitting here, it's fun to come in the media room and talk to you guys and tell my story, but the fact of the matter is I've got to go out tomorrow and perform. Q. When did you take that look? JAY WILLIAMSON: When I got here on Tuesday. They've got it above the urinal there. They don't have it at every tournament, and they've always had it here, and I looked. I'm like, God, there aren't that many guys behind me, we've got to pick this thing up. But it's been frustrating. I'm going to take a shot here because I finished in the Top 125 last year, and to not get in THE PLAYERS championship, to not get in Colonial, to not get in Memorial, to not get in Tiger's event last week, we could sit here all day and no one can explain to me how that happens. But I was a non-member on the Money List last year. Somehow I was eliminated from those events because they were trying to eliminate foreign guys from doing what I actually did last year. So it's been a little bit frustrating and it's been something hopefully that the TOUR will look into going forward because I don't think it should work this way. Q. Does that make it a little more difficult to get momentum going when you sit out so many tournaments? JAY WILLIAMSON: Absolutely, especially the bigger events. Like I said, I've had my opportunity, though. I don't want it to be sour grapes because I've had every opportunity this year to play well on Sunday. I've had five or six opportunities, and I haven't gotten it done. But to not be in those events, it just doesn't make sense to me. Q. As a winner last year, how was your status different from Kenny's or -- JAY WILLIAMSON: I beg your pardon? Q. How was your status different? You were a winner last year -- JAY WILLIAMSON: No, I lost in a playoff in Hartford last year, but it's a long story. I was a Nationwide Tour member before that. I hadn't made 150 cuts. Now I've made 150 cuts. It's a story that's very confusing and only someone very close to the TOUR would understand. But now I did make enough money at the end of last year to be in the Top 125, but I wasn't on the Money List. So in effect I was the invisible man, and I still am to some degree. So my status is different than Kenny's because he won and he was on for a couple years. Hartford was Hunter's event unfortunately. Q. That said then, what would it mean for you to come through with a victory tomorrow here? JAY WILLIAMSON: I don't even really know that I could express in words what that would mean because this year has been very difficult, as difficult as last year was, even getting back to the TOUR, this year has been even more difficult because like I've mentioned, I've had so many opportunities and I just haven't been able to take advantage of them. So a win here obviously -- I wish I could sit here and say I was 24, but I'm not. I do feel like my best golf is in front of me. I do feel like I'm a better player now than I ever have been in my life. If I can make some putts tomorrow and keep the ball in the fairway, I'll be all right. Q. How long have you been using the broom? JAY WILLIAMSON: Two weeks, off and on for 15 years. As my wife said, she said, "You need to commit to this; you need to marry the long putter for better or for worse," and that's really what I've done. I hit some putts today that I didn't like, but I know at the end of the day that I have a better chance to make a putt with a long putter than with a short putter. I don't want to use it, but I'm a better player with it, so I can't fight it. Q. Why don't you want to use it? JAY WILLIAMSON: Because it just doesn't seem athletic to me. It seems like -- it almost seems like cheating (laughter). But it's not, because there is some -- there is a way to use it. I mean, if it was cheating everyone would be using, obviously. It's just for the way my body style is, I think I set up better with it. As I can tell, I've given it a lot of thought. I've stayed awake at night trying to figure out how to putt better. But I really do think at the end of the day it's a better way for me to compete. Q. You mentioned the possibility of playing with Kenny tomorrow. What do you think it would be like to play with someone who's been so good in final rounds this season? JAY WILLIAMSON: Well, I'd love to play with Kenny. In fact, I had dinner with him Tuesday night. I think Kenny is one of the nicest guys out here. He's a true professional. For him to -- I think to be honest with you, the TOUR needs more guys like him. I know that he's not going to the British Open and that whole jazz, but he's made a commitment to this TOUR because he knows that this TOUR has put him where he is, and I think other guys need to take a look at what he's doing because he's taken a lot of heat for that. I think at the end of the day, I've said that a few times, but he's a guy that really values what this TOUR means to him. Q. Were you one of the guys walking up to him on the putting green rubbing him for luck? JAY WILLIAMSON: No, I just respect him a great deal. It's not easy out here playing with the young kids. I mean, he's got, I think, two or three daughters. Two of them are, I think, in college. There are a lot of guys out here that just got out of college, maybe are still in college for that matter. It's a different -- it's a lot different the older that you get out here. Q. Did he say anything to you Tuesday that has brought out this good play in you this week? JAY WILLIAMSON: No, again, I haven't played that bad. I just haven't shot 62 on Saturday very often. And my putting is better. I think I saw some glimpses of that at the Buick Open in Flint, and I think we're on the right track here. Q. Did he buy you dinner? JAY WILLIAMSON: Actually we were there with a couple other guys (laughter). I'll just say yes just to make him good look (laughter). Q. Lift, clean and place, did that factor in? First of all, was it a good call? JAY WILLIAMSON: It was definitely warranted. It was wet out there. We got a lot of weather last night surprisingly. We got a good amount of rain. I think it was a good call on the TOUR officials' part because there was a lot of mud on the ball and there were a lot of areas where it was borderline casual water. You know, to actually have to put your ball in your hand and play on this golf course right now is really -- that is true cheating because the bent is in such good shape. We're just very fortunate to be playing a golf course in this good a shape. Q. How many guys do you think could have had better careers if they had not been stubborn about the long putter? I'm thinking of Tom Watson in particular. JAY WILLIAMSON: I don't know, he had a pretty good career (laughter). You know what, I don't know. I don't know, it's a tough leap of faith. It's tough to get over that leap mentally. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'm going to putt with the long putter for the rest of my life, but I know for me today, it's better. But I can't answer that about other guys. Seems like everyone else makes putts, so I don't know (laughter). Q. Does it get any easier out here? JAY WILLIAMSON: Easier in what respect? Q. Overall, I mean, playing on this TOUR. You've been out here a good while now. JAY WILLIAMSON: I think this was my 160th cut, and I can promise you a cut today is tougher to make than it was when I first got out here. First of all, the competition is much more difficult, the golf courses are much tougher. I think that said, the competition is tougher. But then you have a whole other world that no one really understands and that's trying to make all the pieces fit together, making sure that I see my daughter enough, plus I have two other young kids, making sure my wife still knows who I am. It's not as glamorous as it seems. It might be for the kids playing this week that are still in college and I'm sure they're having a wonderful time this week. But it's a very difficult grind, especially if you're in my position where you haven't won and you're just trying to get better every week. Q. Has your family been with you all week? JAY WILLIAMSON: No, they just drove up today. Q. By that same token, you talked about looking at the leaderboard and stuff. Do you get frustrated reading maybe the last three or four weeks, the national stories, woes of the TOUR, no Tiger? It's going to be a heck of a finish? JAY WILLIAMSON: I appreciate you saying that, and I think more of you guys need to say that. Tiger certainly is great for the TOUR. I mean, he's great for me. We're playing for three times as much money as we probably would be. But the fact of the matter is there's still guys out here that have committed to doing this. I mean, I don't know, I'm a sports fan. I've played different sports. Golf isn't the most exciting thing to watch. But hopefully Kenny Perry or whoever it is that I'm playing with tomorrow can put on a good show and people can talk about it. It's not going to be Tiger and Phil, but I think that the golf still -- I think we have to move past Tiger and realize that there are guys still out here who can play. Tiger is phenomenal, don't get me wrong. I think he's incredible. But he's not here. Q. I see looking back you had a 62 in Vegas four years ago. Were you thinking about that at all today? JAY WILLIAMSON: I really wasn't. Actually that was on my mom's 62nd birthday, too, by the way, which was very strange. But I wasn't thinking about it, to be honest with you. I was just trying to get the ball in the fairway on 18 and get it on the green and not hit the tractor. It looks a lot easier than it really is out there, trust me. And that's -- I marvel at guys like Kenny Perry that have been out here 20 years and won 11 times. I played with Bob Tway for three days. The guy is a consummate professional. I very much enjoy playing with him. Q. What do you remember about that round four years ago and what was similar that you were doing well compared to today's round? JAY WILLIAMSON: Making putts. Hitting the ball in the fairway. Obviously when you're playing in Vegas it's a different atmosphere. The golf courses weren't as difficult back then as this golf course is today. I think this is -- every year this golf course gets better. Shape-wise, certainly, but they've made a few changes here and there. It's just a really good test. Q. Was that with the short putter back then? JAY WILLIAMSON: Yes. It might have been a belly. No, that might have been the claw, I don't know (laughter). Trust me, I've tried everything (laughter). STEWART MOORE: Jay, thanks for coming in. Good luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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