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U.S. BANK CHAMPIONSHIP IN MILWAUKEE

July 18, 2008

Nick Flanagan

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

STEWART MOORE: Nick Flanagan, thanks for spending a few moments with us here in the interview room at the U.S. Bank Championship after a great second round 63 out there today, tied the low round of the tournament so far, really kind of a ho-hum day to start. You par your first five, which I'm sure on this golf course must have felt like you were losing ground and then all of a sudden you birdie 7 of your last 13 and here you are tied for the lead.
NICK FLANAGAN: Yeah, I didn't really mis-hit a shot in my first five holes, either. Just middle of greens and a couple of putts that lipped out. For once stayed patient and knew I had a couple of easy -- well, easier par-4s and par-5s to come in and got through that with a couple more birdies and then just really, really played well on the back.
STEWART MOORE: Last year three wins on the Nationwide Tour, you got the three-win promotion I believe last September, if my memory serves me right. What's your first year been like on the PGA TOUR?
NICK FLANAGAN: It's different. The second year out on the Nationwide I knew the golf courses and I knew where to stay and travel arrangements and things like that, and then I'm doing that all over again this year, out on the main TOUR.
It's just learning the golf courses. It's really been a bit of a struggle for me this year, just a few swing problems and I haven't been hitting it anywhere near as well as I did last year, so it's good to kind of get that form back and hopefully go out there this week and give it a bit of a run.

Q. You said it's been a bit of a struggle, but I assume it's been getting a little easier the more you go through this?
NICK FLANAGAN: Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously not playing well doesn't make it much easier, either, because you're constantly having to find things to do on the weekend.
But yeah, it's -- I mean, I've been a professional now for four or five years, and been traveling the States for five or six years. So I know how to get around. But it's just learning the golf courses is a little different.

Q. Just curious why you put Milwaukee on your schedule this year.
NICK FLANAGAN: Well, I was going to try and qualify for the British Open, and I just hadn't been playing well at all and just decided to pull out of the qualifier and really kind of have a good little stretch here before the FedExCup, and Milwaukee fit in great to my schedule. It's a golf course that I'd heard would probably suit me, a little bit tighter off the tees, and greens can get firm out there. And the field, as well, it's going to be -- there's a lot of guys out here that haven't played much golf this year.
But I think the golf course is great, and it suits me a lot, so hopefully I can keep going.

Q. If it's been a bit of a struggle, what turned it around the last two days?
NICK FLANAGAN: It kind of turned around last week at John Deere. The first two rounds I hit it really well. I struggled again on the weekend, but I kind of got a quick lesson from one of the teaching pros out here, just got in to have a quick look at him. I haven't been able to see my coach that much this year, and he kind of reinforced something that I've been working on with my actual coach that I haven't seen for a while.
I just really got a good feeling in my swing for it, and it's working this week, and I worked really hard on my putter and I've been hitting a lot of golf balls lately and just putting a lot of work in.

Q. What is it that you've been working on?
NICK FLANAGAN: Yeah, my swing has been getting really flat on the way back, so once I get to the top it kind of goes around and down, so I'm hitting -- getting very steep on the ball coming down and just hitting a lot of pulls and kind of squirts out to the right. I've been trying to get it steeper on the way back, and that's been causing my hands to go out early and then come in late, so I'm pretty much doing the opposite, going in early and then come up late. I don't know if that makes any sense to you. It makes sense to me and it's working, so I'm going to keep doing it.

Q. Three wins last year on the Nationwide, kind of lit up that Tour a little bit, and then you come here a little bit and kind of struggled. How have you learned to handle the ups and downs of this game and the frustrations and keep it level emotionally?
NICK FLANAGAN: I guess the best thing for me is I've done it before. I've had years where I've struggled. My first full season as a professional I struggled a lot, and I had no Tour to play on for a year and a half. I know where I've come from, and I'm out here on the U.S. Tour and there's not too many 24-year-olds out here doing it.
I really just haven't played the way I would have liked this year. I don't think it's got anything to do with feeling intimidated out on this Tour. It's just my swing hasn't been cooperating with me, and it's just a matter of getting that little bit of thing sorted out and getting my confidence back, and once that's back, it just goes to show I can still go out there and play good golf against the best players in the world.
STEWART MOORE: If we could briefly go through your seven birdies today, the clubs you hit and the yardage.
NICK FLANAGAN: 1st hole, I hit an 8-iron to about ten feet, holed that.
On the 4th, I hit a really good 6-iron in. That was a long one. I hit a good 6-iron to about 15 feet, a little right-to-lefter and holed that one, too.
Then hit a good 7-iron at the next hole to about ten feet and holed that.
And then 9, laid up on 9, the short par-4, and had a perfect yardage for a lob wedge, hit that to about 15 feet and made a good putt there.
15th, knocked that on to about ten feet, lipped out for eagle. That was my first birdie of the day.
And then 17, that was about a ten-footer, as well. I just hit driver off the tee and a pitch in.
And then 18, knocked it on with a 3-wood and two-putted.

Q. Just kind of curious, how well do you know Jon Turcott?
NICK FLANAGAN: This is the first time I've played with him, first time I've met him, yeah. He's been out on the Nationwide Tour for a little while now, but we never played together out there at all.

Q. What do you think of his game?
NICK FLANAGAN: Unfortunate three-putt he had on the last, but he played really well today. He made a lot of putts early when he had to, and obviously being a hometown, he probably had a fair bit of pressure on him and he handled it well.

Q. Those last two putts that he had to close each round were kind of cruel, weren't they?
NICK FLANAGAN: Yes. That's not the way you want to finish two rounds of golf in a row, but it's going to happen more to just about everybody. It's going to happen to everyone at some point. Hopefully that will sneak in and he'll make the cut and be able to be out here on the weekend. It's kind of hard when you don't get many opportunities to play on the U.S. Tour, and when you kind of finally get that invite to play out here, there's a lot of pressure on you, and I know what it feels like to be grinding to make cuts.

Q. Did you kind of feel like there was a little bit bigger gallery out there following you, knowing you were playing a local guy?
NICK FLANAGAN: Yeah, there was a few groups out there. You could hear a lot of the later groups that had invites and guys that had Monday qualified. Jon had obviously a lot of his friends and family out, and they were cheering him on. Hopefully that gets him over the line.

Q. Did that at all get you going at all a little bit, knowing that there were some fans with you during the day?
NICK FLANAGAN: Yeah, I enjoy playing in front of people, the more people the better. So I guess it was just a little bit better atmosphere when you've got people watching what you're doing. Yeah, to play well, I guess, it's always good to play good in front of a lot of people.

Q. I know you've only played a couple rounds here now, but a lot of guys come here and kind of find their games. It's happened year after year where guys find their putting stroke and play well. It kind of spring boards them. Is there anything about this tournament, the field, the greens that would lend itself to guys getting kick-started here?
NICK FLANAGAN: I'm not too sure. A course like this is a course that I like mainly because you've got to be accurate off the tees, and the fairways are a little firmer. Hopefully the greens firm up and it doesn't storm too much on the weekend. I guess it's a lot like courses that I grew up playing, so it's a little bit -- I feel more comfortable out there, and the weather was perfect out there today, as well. I'm not too sure, I guess. For me it's just a comfort factor. I've played a lot of these golf courses and I've played on greens like this a lot.
STEWART MOORE: Nick, thank you so much.

End of FastScripts

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