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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSIC PRESENTED BY WAL-MARTNovember 6, 2008Troy MattesonLAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA MARK STEVENS: Troy, congratulations. Currently a first-round lead, nice little 9-under today. Why don't we start with the eagle to start the round. You had two eagles on the day. Obviously those certainly get your round started well. TROY MATTESON: Well, you know, it's been a long time since I made two eagles in the same round, and I think it was two years ago when I played on the Palm. That was the last time I made two eagles in one round. I eagled 1, and I eagled, I guess 7. This time around it was a little weird. I made a bogey on one of the par 5s that I was really set up to make birdie on. But getting those eagles is just so important in a tournament like this, just with how low you have to go. MARK STEVENS: Go ahead and take some questions. Q. I'm sorry. You mentioned this the other day when we were outside. I can't remember why, you had a really good finish here two years ago, and last year you weren't able to come. TROY MATTESON: At the end of that year, I'd been dealing with some back issues during the middle of the year and I had some at the end of the year. Some of it was fatigue. I usually play quite a few events. I don't play 35 events, but I usually play close to 30 events, and I just felt like it was smarter to take that time off and regroup a little bit. And I was well rested starting the year this year and I started off okay. But this is a tournament I don't plan on missing unless I have to, unless I'm injured or my wife's having a baby or something of that nature, you know. This is one that everybody looks forward to coming to, as you can see. There's a lot of people in the field this week that haven't played in the last several weeks. I think this is just a great place to bring your family, number one, and number two, this is a big tournament. Guys want to win this tournament. Guys want to play good here, so it's a little bit of both. You got the best of both worlds here. Q. You mentioned your family. Is that the primary reason why this is attractive to you? TROY MATTESON: I think for a lot of people it is. For me, there's not too many gathering places on TOUR. You might go to a city where you got a couple of family members, you might go to another city where you got a couple. But this is a great tournament where 15 people can fly in and try to meet up. And two years ago we had a mess of people in. We must have had 12 or 15 people in, all the little nieces and cousins and stuff like that and parents. We just had a big time. Now it's kind of a big kids' trip. I got my parents-in-law, my parents here this week, my cousin, his wife, his newborn. I've got a few people. Q. Does all that make it easier to play well, to relax and play well or is it a distraction? TROY MATTESON: I think it's great. Any time you can get your family to come out. You're doing things at night with them. You get to catch up. And one thing that I've learned that's pretty precious in life is being able to be around your family. This is only my third year on this TOUR, and you just don't get too many chances to be around your family. It's Christmas and Thanksgiving. That's about it. Q. Troy, I was over on that half of the property most of the day. I don't know what it was like over here. Seemed like virtually perfect playing conditions. It was not a lick of wind, and perfect weather, and I guess the fairways were as dry as the fairways here have ever been. There was a little bit of mud. TROY MATTESON: It was perfect out there. The greens speed was perfect. It's not so fast that you're having trouble on the greens. It's that perfect speed where it seems like balls aren't coming up short. Seems like the balls are just getting to the hole or they're getting there with a little bit of speed, which is ideal. That's when guys are going to make the most putts, as you've seen today. Guys made putts to make birdies. There was a lot of low scores out there. There was no wind to really play out there. I don't think at any time there was more than maybe a quarter of a club wind, which is really weird. But you know, when you get those conditions, guys are going to drive it in the fairway a lot, they're going to hit a lot of greens and they're going to make putts. And it's a great day to go out there for fans and watch golf and see birdies and see eagles and stuff like that and maybe not see guys struggling. Last week with the long course it was windy. The greens were fast. It was just a struggle to play, and this week it's kind of nice to get a little relief. Q. What was clicking for you today, Troy? TROY MATTESON: I just started making a few putts. I hadn't really putted well all year. I switched to a new Scotty Cameron this week, and that's made a big difference for me. I've kind of been looking for the right feel, the right look, as we all do in golf. Doesn't matter what kind of handicap you are. It's no different for us. We tinker and tinker and tinker. I got something that looks pretty good to me and I had a few putts roll over the edge of the hole and go in. I think that's what you have to do out here. You can only shoot so low hitting it well. You might shoot five or 6-under by hitting it really well, birding all the par 5s, but to go lower than that, you gotta have that flat stick working a little bit. Q. (Inaudible). TROY MATTESON: Yeah. I picked it up on Tuesday, and you know, it's just great that the guys have tons of putters there for us to work with and hit. And I've just been looking for a little different feel, and I think I've come close to it now, so I'm happy. Q. The eagle, what did that do for the round? Did it change your thinking or your confidence? TROY MATTESON: I think it does. It puts you a little at ease. You know you've already got two knocked down pretty quick, and when you start on No. 1 at the Palm, you're always looking for at least a birdie. If you don't get a birdie and you get a five, then it kind of sets the tone that it might be a long day. But I eagled that hole and I kind of made some pars in a row, and before I knew it everyone around me was at least 3 or 4-under. I was thinking, gosh, I got off to a good start. I better start doing something, and I did make some birdies later on. But for me getting off to a good start is really important. I haven't seemed to do that well all year, and this will be a little taste of things to come. Q. (Inaudible). TROY MATTESON: I hit -- on 1, I hit driver, I had 217 yards to the hole, hit 3-iron and it carried right to the back edge and stuck and went into the fringe, and I made a putt from off the green there, probably about 20 feet. Then on the other one was 14, I hit driver there, just crushed the drive. I had 257 hole, I think 228 carry. Only thing I was trying to do there was obviously hit it more than 228, get it over the front bunker, hit 2-iron, landed in the center of the green, went back to pin high, probably had about another 20-footer there and rolled it in. But the pins were very, very accessible today. You had some pins that -- there was a back pin on 1. It was a back pin on 7. It was a back pin on 14, and it was a semi back pin on 11. So if you had decent yardage in there, you could knock four shots reasonably close today. It wasn't like they were giving you a front pin over a bunker and you had 240. You had some good numbers in there today. Q. Troy, you were born in Rockledge. Correct? For those of us who are not too, too familiar with your biography, how long did you live in Florida and does it carry a bit of significance to you that this location is rather close to where you were born? TROY MATTESON: For me I was probably here about a year, and then my parents moved away. This is the saga. I moved from here to Tennessee and lived in the Knoxville area for the next 12 years. Then I moved from there to Austin, Texas, lived there for about six years. Then I moved to D.C. for a couple years, and that was when I first started going to school. Then I ended up going to Atlanta, and I've been there about the last nine years, ten years. And you know, for me I've always had family down here. I still got family that lives down here, and we always made summer vacations down to Disney World. We always made it a point to try to come down here a couple times a year, and I've got family that's going to move back down here, I think, depending on what they do. My family just likes to move a lot, if you didn't get that. But Florida is one of those places where I always want to come down and play well, and it's synonymous with family for me because we spent so much time here when I was a kid. Q. Your family a military family or just -- TROY MATTESON: They were, but not when I was coming up. Mostly just moving because of jobs, and you know, my parents split. I had a stepfather. He had a different job. I mean there were a lot of things going on. Q. Two Top 10s this year in Florida with the T2 at PODS, and then last week. So obviously you play pretty well when you're here. TROY MATTESON: Yeah. I like it here. I need to get a place here. Q. You could move. (Laughs). TROY MATTESON: Exactly. Q. You said at the very beginning you had two eagles around here two years ago, as far as you recall? TROY MATTESON: My memory serves me, it's been a long time since I've had two eagles in one round, and I haven't made a ton of eagles this year. I don't think I've done it this year, and I don't think I did it last year, but I think the last time was two years ago. Q. Here? TROY MATTESON: Here. Q. Same course? TROY MATTESON: Same course. Q. Torrey Pines North. (Inaudible) TROY MATTESON: And you can do it. Two years ago when I played here, I hit 3-iron today and the one on Palm I hit 8-iron two years ago, to almost the same pin. It was a little firmer. It was a little bit more downwind. I hit 3-iron into 7. I hit 7-iron in two years ago. I mean I don't think I've gotten shorter. I'll have to check the stats. Maybe I have. MARK STEVENS: Talk about the bogey on the other par-5 and then going through that. TROY MATTESON: I hit a great drive. I had 223 yards to the front. I had 228 to carry the front bunker. It wasn't a shot I could hit a 2-iron. I tried to squeeze a three, and I think I missed carrying the front bunker by about two yards and ended up on the up-slope. I had a long bunker shot. I had 22-yard bunker shot, which is a long bunker shot for me regardless of the up- slope. It's just one you can't hit very far. And I did what most people do. I dubbed it out of the bunker and had about 40 feet and three-putted. That's one of those where especially when you shoot a low round, you start looking back at the end of the day and go, gosh, I could have shot this. You try not to let that bother you too much, but it was one of those moments I had to laugh at. Q. I believe it's your lowest round on TOUR. TROY MATTESON: I've probably had some 64s, but I don't think I've cracked lower than that. No. Never played good on the easy courses I guess. Q. Does it seem odd at all that this is a tournament that the most fun thing to do off the course is the week that probably has the most pressure with the most things at stake the last week playing for the card or we're mixed this week. TROY MATTESON: I think you have a mix of factors there. I think you have some guys relax, just from the standpoint I've been on the number. I know what it's like to play when you don't have your job locked up and I know what it's like to play when you do have your job locked up. There are so many weird things that happen. The guys that relax relax because they're here with their family. They relax because they're doing fun things. Golf is sometimes almost secondary. They come out and play good. They get balls up-and-down. They hit great shots. And then there's something that I've always thought was interesting on TOUR. There's a lot of guys that are struggling for their jobs right now, and what's amazing is they can be under all that pressure playing right around that number, and they make it happen. And I don't know, whatever you want to call that factor in golf, but there's just something about when somebody puts your back up against the wall, a lot of guys out here excel. They hit great shots. It's like Boo Weekley earlier this year coming down the stretch chipping in. When you need it the most, it happens. I don't know what you want to call that, but if somebody could coin that phrase or whatever it is, it's just amazing what you see guys do. You know, a guy will be 136 on the Money List, coming in here knowing he's gotta make -- he's probably gotta finish fourth all alone or better, and he does it. I mean that's a lot of pressure. I mean that's a lot of pressure, considering just your probability, all things equal, you know, it's a small, small percentage chance that you're even going to finish in the top four. But it does happen. Q. And if you're 151 on the Money List this week, you probably aren't bringing your wife and parents and four kids. Probably have a little different attitude. Probably come by yourself. TROY MATTESON: You might. You probably see a lot of guys do that, but for me it's just nice to have people here, relax, go do fun things, go to neat places to eat, and really just enjoy it. Q. Have you ever had a successful back-against-the-wall kind of story like that where -- TROY MATTESON: Oh, yeah. This was on the Nationwide Tour. This was even worse because out here you can have a bad year and still make a lot of money. Out there you're just -- you're not necessarily just paying the bills, but at that point I was just paying the bills. My wife and I -- this was in '04 on the Nationwide Tour, on my first year out there, we were looking like we were going to have to give up our apartment, sell one of our cars. And we had a Fifth Wheel at that time. We were just going to live in our Fifth Wheel. We were going to just nomad it all the way around the country and just cut down as much as we could. And I made like 45, $46,000 and I had two events left in the season. I was outside of the top 70, so I was going back to First Stage, and I had put my Q-School application in and hadn't had a good tournament all year. Could not wrap my mind around how guys were making over $100,000 on that Tour. Could not figure it out. So I played Phoenix, and I played good. The first round I shot 6-under. Second round I shot probably another 6-under, and somebody was at like 17-under after two rounds. Well, I kind of came back a little bit. And the last day I knew I had to go play good. I knew I had this round and next tournament to play good, and you show up at the golf course and it's blowing 15 to 20 mile an hour. It's not exactly the way you planned it. And I think I made six birdies on my front side. And you know, even looking back on it, I just couldn't believe I made six birdies, and I went to the back side and kind of held on. And I got on 18 and it was so close, I had to finish second alone. I was pretty sure I had to finish second alone and not tie for second, and I plugged it in the bunker off my tee shot. And I kind of dubbed it out and hit it over the green. So now I'm looking like I need to get up-and-down for bogey just so I could finish second all alone. Of course, what do I do, I chipped it to about 15 feet. I hit terrible chips. Now I've hit four bad shots, and I need to make this putt to hold onto my card, and I was shaking so bad when I hit this putt, just terrible. I don't even know how I drew the putter back, but I drew the putter back, and I whacked it, and sure enough, it went right in the center of the hole. And it was like winning. It was like winning a big TOUR event. And I just remember how much better I felt after that, after playing. And it turns out I could have finished tied for second, but at the time I thought I needed second all alone, and I just really -- I relish that experience because you know, you need those experiences to kind of press on. So that's been good for me. Q. Which course was that? TROY MATTESON: That was at -- on the Nationwide Tour, that was at -- I'm losing my mind. We played at -- there was Crooked Cat, and what's the other -- it's out at the -- I'm trying to think of the casino on the edge of town there. They don't play there anymore. MARK STEVENS: We could look it up. It's like south end of Phoenix, I think. TROY MATTESON: There's a casino out there on the edge of town. I want to say it's like Whirlwind or something like that. Starts with a W. MARK STEVENS: We'll look it up. TROY MATTESON: But they don't play there anymore. But you know, it's just amazing, like I've got friends that still play out there, and I watch them pretty close, and it's just amazing what you see guys do when they really need it bad. Q. Desperation. MARK STEVENS: Stay desperate the rest of the week then. Q. You didn't have any desperation here in your round today? TROY MATTESON: I've been working all year just to try and knock down a few more putts, and at some point it's going to click and it's going to turn. It seems like putting is really a funny thing. You don't make this gradual progression. It's like you have 30 putts. You have 31 putts. You have 30 putts, you have 30 putts and then all of a sudden you have 22. Or you knock down four 20-footers in a row. It just happens like that, especially when you see guys get on a roll. I thought Kirk Triplett rolled it great today. I played with him. And he birdied the first three holes, or he hit it on the green on 1 and two-putted. After that every putt he hit was close to going in. And I've seen numerous times this year where a guy makes one putt, Tom Pernice, I played with him earlier this year at Memphis, and he said he hadn't putted good all year, and he knocked down like a 30-footer. Then he knocked down a 60-footer. Then he knocked down another 30-footer, and he ended up shooting 65 or something at Memphis, which is tough to do, now with the greens being different. And he moved all the way up into the Top 5 or 6. He came off the round saying, gosh, that's the first time all year I've even knocked down any putts, and the guy shoots 65 on a course that 71 is a good score. MARK STEVENS: Thanks. Good luck the rest of the weekend. TROY MATTESON: Appreciate it. End of FastScripts |
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