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PUERTO RICO OPEN PRESENTED BY BANCO POPULARMarch 15, 2009Michael BradleyRIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO NELSON SILVERIO: Michael Bradley, a little bit has happened in the last hour. Why don't you take us through your thought process right now. What's going through your mind. MICHAEL BRADLEY: You know, it was definitely a -- it was a grind, especially the last couple days with the wind conditions being as they were, and just the circumstances. So I really didn't know what to expect today, to be honest with you. I didn't know how I would react being in the final group. It's been so long since I've been there. And you know, my short game was good this week. It cured some ills that I had, some off-the-tee and some iron play, so I have to credit winning this to chipping and putting. That probably won the golf tournament for me. Q. ...putts were 27 per round. MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. I knew I putted well. I mean my M.O. normally is hit it good and don't make anything. This week, maybe hit more on the weekend, maybe a little more suspect, driving it and iron play and then chipping and putting like a fiend, like a Mickelson. NELSON SILVERIO: Take us through that last putt. MICHAEL BRADLEY: The eagle putt or the birdie putt? NELSON SILVERIO: The birdie putt. MICHAEL BRADLEY: You know, I left it so far short, I didn't really think I hit that bad a putt. I thought it was a little short when I hit it, but I didn't think it was going to be that far short. And just made sure I had a good read on my birdie putt, and fortunately I hit where I was aiming. It was a good read and it was fortunate it went in the hole. NELSON SILVERIO: Maybe a little two soon, but you are in your two-year exemption now, you have 250 FedExCup points. What's your plan for the rest of '09? MICHAEL BRADLEY: I don't know. I'm just ready to get home and see my family. That's enough to, be honest with you. NELSON SILVERIO: That's fine. MICHAEL BRADLEY: I don't know when I'll play again. I really don't. I just want to go home and celebrate it with my wife and kids. NELSON SILVERIO: All right. Questions? Q. You talked a little bit how it's been a while since you've been in this position. Can you talk a little bit about keeping your emotions in check when you were out there playing? There was a lot of guys on your heels. MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. Fortunately I am a little bit older, and I guess that's the perk of getting a little older. You have more experience. And yeah, I have been there and won and experienced it. So I guess in that respect it makes it a little easier to accept that maybe if you don't get it done today. So but you just try to pull on all the past experiences that you've had, regardless of whether they're on TOUR or NATIONWIDE Tour or playing with your buddies for $10 in Nassau or whatever the case may be. Pressure is pressure. It doesn't matter. Comes in all shapes and sizes. The circumstances might be a little different, but pressure is pressure. Q. How does it feel being back a winner? MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. You know, like I said to The Golf Channel, I'm almost 43, and you don't know how many opportunities you're going to -- (interruption.) Like I said, I'm almost 43, and you don't know really how many opportunities you're going to have. You're not like Tiger that every week you play you've got a chance to win. He usually does. I'm not Tiger Woods. So when I do have an opportunity, come a Sunday, that maybe have a chance to win, it's probably a little more special. Q. Is it your first tournament this season? MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yes. Q. Good comeback. MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. Good way to start the year off. NELSON SILVERIO: I hate to put him on the spot, but your caddy had a pretty interesting tour of Latin America or Puerto Rico. MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. Money clip. What was the story there? (Inaudible) NELSON SILVERIO: Any more questions? Q. Well, last year Kraft won the tournament, the first tournament that he won, and this year, it's you. Ten years past from this win. How do you see Puerto Rico, and is it a good tournament for you to come back? MICHAEL BRADLEY: I just think it's a good tournament. It's not necessarily a good tournament for comeback. I just think it's a great tournament. It's a great facility, great golf course. You guys have a lot to be proud of with this tournament, and I hope it moves onto bigger and better. So yeah, you guys should be proud of the event you guys have hosted this week. Q. I'm a golfer from Canada, by the way, and Michael and I have played and I watched -- I was at a tournament in Saskatchewan, Canada where he shot a 59. So I always knew the boy could play. I know he's won before. I was doing a little story for the Washington Baltimore crowd and doing an Internet blog about teamwork, and some of the great players out here and their caddies, and you guys seemed like a nice team this week. How is the bag? How is your boy holding up? MICHAEL BRADLEY: Yeah. Noah [Zelnick] and I, we became friends in 1994. And probably over the last -- probably over the last ten years, no one's played more golf with me than him. I mean he knows me. He knows my game. He knows my tendencies, so yeah, that definitely makes a big difference. And you know, it's someone to hang out with when you're on the road, traveling. Sometimes when my family can't come, it gets a little lonely, so it's nice to have a good friend with you to just kind of break the monotony or the tension or whatever the case may be, just to try to take the focus off what you're doing and try to focus on something else. Q. One point on the 18th hole you guys were joking and carrying on, having a great time as you waited for the tournament to clear. Jason Day, a young man half your age, a world of experience ahead of him, and you guys battling it out, and it made it into a real cliffhanger, and then fortunately you sank your putt. And Jason was just talking to Chi Chi, he didn't realize where the rainforest broke, and he didn't play the break the right way. I think he shocked himself. However, you guys have played together before? MICHAEL BRADLEY: I played with Jason a few years ago at Turning Stone when he was like 18, 19 years old, and I could tell then that the kid could play. And we've become friends. When we see each other, we're very cordial and always high-fiving. And yeah, we were very supportive of each other, and I stated yesterday in here if I couldn't win, I wanted Jason to win. If I couldn't win, I would love to see Jason win. Q. I played with Eric Compton this week, and we played with Jason the first two rounds, and Eric kept talking about, he said, this kid's got everything. MICHAEL BRADLEY: He does. Q. And he told Chi Chi, this kid's going to win this week. He's really on fire. MICHAEL BRADLEY: He's a good player -- he's a good person. That's what I admire most. He's a good person that has a hell of a golf game. Q. Congratulations. NELSON SILVERIO: Michael Bradley, congratulations. MICHAEL BRADLEY: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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