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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSIC PRESENTED BY WAL-MARTNovember 4, 2008Ryan PalmerLAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA MARK STEVENS: We want to, first of all, congratulate to Ryan Palmer with a great win for you last week, and I know you said they had a little party for you last night, so I would imagine you've been pretty busy the last 48 hours. Just talk about everything you've been through. RYAN PALMER: Yeah. It's been I guess what you'd expect when you win a PGATOUR golf tournament. Lots of phone calls, text messages, friends, family, people I don't even know sometimes. It's overwhelming, all the congratulatory thanks, the guys coming up to you on the range, the reps, all the caddies, players, it's been unbelievable. We had a little deal at Jerry Folks' house last night. We did it last time I won here in Disney, so we thought we'd do it again, so a little bit more tamed last night. But it's unbelievable, privilege, an honor obviously to win, but just to secure my card and get over that stress part of it and not to worry about it. MARK STEVENS: And then thank the PGATOUR for scheduling the Children's Miracle Network Classic where you've won before, so you're not only happy to come after a victory, but happy to come back here, I would imagine. RYAN PALMER: Yeah, no doubt. Having this week to follow, it's hard to kind of get up for it. Kind of take it easy today, but tomorrow I'm going to play in the morning a full round on Magnolia and really focus on tomorrow and focus on Thursday morning as well so I can get myself ready to play. Just like Cameron Victor said last week, his main goal is to see how much he could focus on playing well, and that's kind of the same boat I'm in. I'm going to try to win back to back. I've never done it before, on this tour or anywhere else. I think it would be pretty neat to do that. Plus there's a chance it might get me into Augusta and obviously the U.S. Open, so that's the main focus now. Q. You're 71. RYAN PALMER: 3, I think. Q. So there's something there, too. That's Invitationals and such for next year? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. I don't know if winning gets you into Invitationals or not. I don't know if it does or not. Top 7 gets you into Invitationals. I think Colonial, from last year, is Top 15. It'll get me into Bay Hill and Memorial hopefully, but just the fact I get to go play in tournaments I missed this year that I love playing in. I love going to the Sony in Hawaii, and I love playing the Hope, Phoenix, and back to The Players. That's a neat feeling to know that I get to go play those events that I've always loved going to. Q. Just out of your emotions that you've experienced, where on the pecking order would relief be, just from not having the ax over your head playing here this week? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. Q. Ron Taylor was kind of saying the same thing, three guys moved inside the number last week. RYAN PALMER: It is. I hate to say relief because we're still playing golf, but it is a big lift. You know, there are finals. I think about going to the finals in December, and it wasn't much fun being in this boat this year playing unconditional status because I've played four straight years of 30-plus events and enjoyed playing each event. And when you get limited starts and you don't get the opportunity to go play, you get frustrated and down, and now they've set my schedule and kind of plan for that, it's going to be that much nicer. Q. You actually last week -- did we ever figure out if he's the last guy in? MARK STEVENS: Yeah, I didn't figure that out. Q. Weren't you on the alternate list? RYAN PALMER: No. I ended up being -- I was in by three or four at the deadline. I was teetering around inside the number if I won, but by Friday afternoon, before I was in by like 2 or 3. Q. For those of us that are trying to explain to typical sports fans what it's like to have conditional status, you just alluded to the fact that you may get frustrated. What makes it so frustrating? RYAN PALMER: Well, you can't pick and choose your events. You're having to wait till you get to a tournament, and I could play an event and then wait around for five or six weeks to get in another event. And then when you're watching a tournament on TV that you've played in the past three years, you love going there and playing, like Phoenix, for instance. I finished second there in '05, and obviously being a part of that tournament, you don't like to watch it on TV. Not getting to go to Honolulu for the Sony at the beginning of the year. I always loved playing Bob Hope. I didn't get to go there. You know, it's frustrating because you don't know where you're going to get to play next and you know you got to make 70 or $80,000 to keep your card, and you only get a limited amount of starts, it makes it that much more stressful. Plus like I said, I love playing this game, I love playing all the tournaments that they have out here. It's too bad you can't play every one of them, but if you don't get to play the ones you really enjoy being a part of it, it gets you down and frustrated. Q. You've used the word stress twice. I'm just wondering how does stress and frustration manifest itself when you are outside the line, the 125 line, the last two weeks of the season? Did you see it in other players? Do you feel it yourself? Does it affect your sleep? Are you more short- tempered? Does it affect your breathing? Do you see where I'm going? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. You know, it really wasn't as stressful. Going in, last week, I just told myself I felt like I was inside 150 comfortably, and I just told myself I wasn't going to worry about it. I was going to just focus on playing solid and trying to better my number for next year as far as getting my limited number of starts again, if I have a good week, I'll get my card. I normally go to Q school. I was preparing for it, out of Palm Springs, and it just didn't affect me as much as some other guys, the money list. I just didn't think about it, didn't dwell on it. The pressure is always there. There's pressure every week. I mean I feel that every week when I'm out here, but I just didn't really focus on the money list. I told guys last week when I was doing my interviews, they kept asking about the money list, and I just kind of shrugged it off because I really never thought about it. I just tried not to dwell on, you have to play good, you have to play good. I knew I was playing good. And I knew if I just kept doing what I was doing, it good golf will take care of itself, and if I play well, obviously the money list will take care of itself. It's funny how, I mean I know it's hard to believe that I wasn't thinking or worrying about it, but I really wasn't. And I stretch myself out because I'm so competitive and I beat myself up at times. The stress is when you're not getting to play as much and you're fighting to keep your card on Tour, and when you've been out here for four years, you don't want to lose it and have to think about what you're going to do next, and going on the main tour or Nationwide Tour, although the Nationwide Tour is great and all, but this is where I belong. I know I belong here, and that's where the stress comes in. Q. You won in '04. Is there a difference now? I mean do you think when you win, okay, now I got two years, maybe some of the stress is gone and you relax or now are you ready, okay, let's keep building on this? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. I've been relaxed, today I've probably been a little more than I have. But I'm just trying to take it all in, but I'm really focused on next year. Coming into this year, I told myself I'm going to go work hard and grind it out, and I did, and last week was a great ending to all the work that I did. It paid off finally. And now I just want to work that much harder because I really feel like I can go out and play well, and possibly make the President's Cup next year. That's kind of my main goal for next year, especially to play for a guy that I bought a set of Links clubs the day after he won The Masters in '92 (Freddie). When you're in high school, junior golf watching him play and idolizing him, that would be kind of a pretty cool deal to be able to play for him. But I want to get back to The Masters. I've played there and loved it. And I'm good to go play in another major or two next year again finally. There's a lot of bigger things to go take care of next year, and I'm excited about putting in even more work. There's some more things I want to work on, and I think I can a little bit better and try to compete on a more consistent basis, not just every other five or six events. Maybe week in, week out they can throw my name in there as possible picks when they show them on the PGA TOUR.com, people can start thinking about me a little bit more than just every so often. Q. I wanted to revisit part of the question I asked before. Could you see the stress out here this last week or last month of the players or guys that may not talk to you or friends who may not make eye contact? Is it visible? RYAN PALMER: You can see some of the -- especially friends I know, you can sense it. That's where it's hard. I play with them all the time out here and at home. Q. You rub it in? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. When they congratulate me, you almost kind of feel like I wish I could give you a little bit of this, I wish I could help you along the way; and that's the hard part. But again, you can sense it. I mean visibly, they're good on the outside. I can't imagine what they're going through on the inside. I know what it felt like on my inside, but now after winning, when I saw them today on the golf course, I kind of felt like, what can I do to help them along now. I mean, you know, because you always want your close friends to do well. You hate seeing them down, so they know that I'm here for them, whatever I can do to help them out, and I hope that they'll step up this week and take care of business. Q. Was it a little more meaningful to you last week? You finished 7-under? Is that the winning score? Does that sound right? Most of your other high finishes, as a matter of fact, all of them I can think of off the top of my head, you had a third here, a first here and you mentioned Phoenix. Those are all 20 somethings under. Last week you had to make par. You had to play a tough golf course, and it wasn't just all about playing with your hair on fire and making birdies. There's a little bit of thinking and grinding going on. Usually your better results have been on these types. RYAN PALMER: Right. No. I agree. Usually when I get in tournaments where you get a lot of birdies, I play well in a lot, but that was a very special win because of the situation, because of the conditions, just the way I saw that I handled myself through adversity, through the penalty shot, through the double on 11, through the wind. I just never really forced too many. I played smart. My short game came to the rescue more times than it would have, and you know, playing the wind shots I needed to play. People say you used to play in the wind all the time. Well, every time I've played in the wind out here on Tour I've struggled, and to come through in those kind of conditions for a 7-under win on the golf course, that proves to me a lot that I can go play tough golf courses and play tough conditions. That's what you gotta do to perform in all the majors. And that's where I want to get to where I can go play consistently and have a chance to compete and get some high finishes in major championships, and I think this is a big step in the right direction, and hopefully some more consistent play and more chances to win will come. Q. A guy who's 126 right now, is some of the pressure alleviated because he has the 126 to 150 to fall back on? He has the Q School to fall back on? Is it maybe not as much pressure as there used to be because of those safety nets? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. I think so. I mean you never want to lose your card. I mean when I got into 50 events, I finished 144th last year. I mean he'll get in 20 events easy, I think. And plus you go to finals, and you have that chance, but it's definitely a lot -- I think it's a lot less pressure than it would be if you're 135th or maybe 145, or maybe even higher than that. But you never want to lose your card. I don't think folks realize, because when they show on TV, they make it seem like it's do or die. If he doesn't finish 125, he's done, but realistically he's got a job next year. He's got 20 events. He's going to get his chance to play. So I think there's a little bit less pressure for that guy than there is when you're 149 or 150. Q. Just a part-time job. RYAN PALMER: Yeah. Part-time for sure. But I think those guys sitting around 120 to 125 would be, just because knowing how quickly you can lose out. I mean you've seen in the past three, four, five weeks how many guys have moved out, how fast it shows. I think there's 37,000 between 126 and 125, I heard. Q. 37,000. That number moved 50 grand last week. 125 changed like 50 grand last week. RYAN PALMER: That's going to be interesting to see. It's hard, I know, but fortunately it's easier now. Q. You talk about gaining confidence by winning on a difficult golf course and how that could translate, let's say, to a major. I don't know if you could put in words, you're on the fourth hole at the U.S. Open next year and it's a tight fairway. Does your win give you a different feeling inside your body or does it tell you that you can do it? I mean what does confidence mean transferring it from one event to another? RYAN PALMER: Yeah. It's hard to say because you stand up on these tee boxes last week and you could hit it anywhere and play. You stand up on the U.S. Open and you hit it a foot in the rough and you're dead. So it's a little different there. Just dealing with the conditions, just knowing the conditions, making the putt that get you down on the greens the confidence in that translates as huge because you're going to miss a lot of greens in the U.S. Open golf tournament. Having that confidence, knowing I've played in windy conditions, knowing I've played under pressure like I did and during difficult days and during that round, it's just going to help me move along. And the things that I learned from myself, how to handle myself personally with each shot, hopefully I can take that to each week and when I get to the Majors not being over-anxious or excited about being in The Masters or the U.S. Open. Just try to treat it as a normal golf tournament. It's just a matter of controlling the emotions, and you know, not making mistakes on a harder golf course. Q. Could you tell us one thing that you did learn about yourself? RYAN PALMER: One thing I think last week that I learned is in previous tournaments, I hit a lot of doubles. They struggle with making a lot of birdies. I didn't do that last week. I learned how to pace myself shot to shot between green and tee box. And talking with Randolph Harrison about his rhythm one day, his walking and how he controlled his pace and his pre-shot shot routine, how his pace was, his walking. One day in Scottsdale when I was in the qualifying, that's all I focused on is my rhythm. I find myself walking fast and I slow down. I find myself rushing at the tee box, I slow down. We got put on the clock one day last week, and I slowed down even more, just to make sure that I'm not rushing. And it actually helped me with bogey and when I made that tail gun in last week, the ball is moving and I make double on 11, I don't think you can tell a difference that I just made bogey and a double. I went from a two-shot lead to a one-shot deficit. You couldn't tell a difference. That's how much I felt and how confident I felt that this is still going to be a good weekend. And it paid off in the end. Q. So it sounds like one of the most important things you learned was how to see yourself. (End of interview inaudible) End of FastScripts |
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