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FRYS.COM OPEN

October 25, 2008

Paul Goydos

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: We'd like to thank Paul for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the FRYS.com Open, another solid round, and it looks like you're going to be two strokes back of the lead.
PAUL GOYDOS: Yeah, good day. I just kind of did my thing, just kind of didn't press anything and let the birdies happen and didn't try to -- stayed patient, which is very rare for me. So all the good things you're supposed to do on a Saturday and hopefully on a Sunday, I did today.
It worked out well. 4-under is a good score. It's hard to follow up a low one with another low one, so I'm pretty happy shooting 4-under and in good shape for tomorrow.

Q. You have two teenage daughters. Is that why you lack patience?
PAUL GOYDOS: No, they teach me all about patience (laughter). They're very good at it.

Q. You said following up the low round is tough to do. What went through your mind before you started today?
PAUL GOYDOS: Well, I'm playing good. Don't press it. I parred the first three holes and had short irons in every time, and that's not necessarily a great thing, but don't press it and just let things happen as opposed to trying to force things to happen.
When I start forcing things, I start struggling. I just kind of mosey on down and keep the ball in front of me.
I made a nice little five-footer for birdie on 4 and made a nice 20-footer for birdie on 9 and made a good par save on 10; just kind of did the things that I need to do to keep a round going and just kind of worked out there. Actually missed about a five-footer on 18 for birdie. I hit a good putt, it just didn't go in, which happens.
It was just a good, solid day. My basic attitude was, hey, you're playing good, there's no reason -- the day shouldn't really matter.

Q. Did something change for you even between the summer and now in terms of your golf game?
PAUL GOYDOS: No, I think that I'm just learning. We're constantly learning about ourselves and our game, and I've worked a little bit with a pro, a guy named Jamie Mulligan, who works with Mallinger, and he works with Merrick and a whole bunch of young guys. I've known him for a while. Just learning more about the game, and I think I've just gotten better. I'm more comfortable on Bermudagrass. They have Bermuda greens here, and in Texas I played relatively well and that's Bermudagrass. It just seems to be a comfortable place to play.

Q. Have you been this high up on the leaderboard since THE PLAYERS?
PAUL GOYDOS: Texas I was in the last group on Saturday, believe it or not. I think I had a finish in the Top 10 maybe at Colonial. But kind of a typical year, a couple good weeks and a bunch of mediocre weeks. We're trying to change that, but it's a process.

Q. The pressure you faced at THE PLAYERS, was that the most pressure you've felt on a golf course?
PAUL GOYDOS: I think pressure tends to equate with how you're playing. I feel more pressure when my game is a little shaky. Like I've kind of done it with smoke and mirrors, and all of a sudden I'm near the lead when the game doesn't deserve to be near the lead.
There I felt good. I was hitting the ball good, putting the ball good, chipping the ball good. To me that's less stressful than when you're kind of struggling and barely hanging on.
Today -- I'm always nervous. If you're not nervous, you're dead. Today I thought I handled that pretty well, didn't really hit anything squirrelly. I would say no. I would say that my game is good enough where you can handle it better.

Q. Do you have a time where you can tell us about where you were that close to choking like a dog?
PAUL GOYDOS: I think you're always choking. If you don't think Tiger is out there choking like a dog, you're kidding yourself. He just controls it better than everybody else, and that's why he's successful. He's nervous.
I think the worst nightmare for a professional golfer is you step on the tee on Sunday and you're not nervous. I think that's when you've got a problem; you've lost why you're standing on the first tee. So I expect to be nervous tomorrow when I wake up, when I tee off, when I walk down the first fairway.
It's part of why you play, to keep yourself out of a comfort zone in a sense, testing yourself, putting yourself in harm's way and seeing how you deal. That's really kind of why we play.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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