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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 26, 2009Jerry KellyNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA JOE CHEMYCZ: We'd like to welcome the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Champion, Jerry Kelly. In addition to winning the tournament for the first time in six-plus years, I know it's been a long haul for you, Jerry, and we just want to congratulate you and just get your thoughts on what is an absolutely good day for you. JERRY KELLY: Thank you. Well, my caddie came up to me and the first thing he said was, well, you've got to stop saying the last time you won was '02 long ago. Because it was in '02, and now you can say, '09 divine. So I'll go with his thoughts on that one. Can't feel much better than to win a golf tournament outside of my family life. This has been a long time coming. It has a lot to do with family and my brother-in-law, Jim Schuman, who helped my swing so much for me to go forward now. Steve Stricker this week took time, again, to help me so much with my putting. You know, he's been such a great friend to me. You know, I hope he can say I've been a great friend to him through the years as well. But to have someone special like that out here, I can't say enough for the man because he's been there for me, so. My family has done so much for me. My wife, right now, is packing you up our house as we're moving, building a new house. This will go a long ways to help with that, I'll tell you that, too. So I'm just happy I get to come back here to New Orleans twice next year, media day and tournament. Q. At what point did you know it was yours to have? JERRY KELLY: After I made the last putt. Pretty sure that was the only time I knew it was mine to have. I messed up a lay-up with my 4-iron yesterday, put it in the right bunker just over the water. So I knew when Steve hit it in that left bunker and there were no other 13s on the golf course, that I just had to put my head down and play. Not look at the boards anymore. I knew where I stood. So basically I was playing against myself and against my nerves. I did very well with them until the final putt. The final putt had me drained because I thought I hit a good first putt, and it came up to short. I thought how did I do that? They say the hardest thing in golf to do, it isn't really (laughing), is to lag so you can win on on your next putt. I wasn't trying to lag, but I knew I had gone by the hole the last few holes on some great putts. I just wanted to snuggle it up there a little bit. Q. You talked over the last couple of days a number of times about how in your recent past tournaments you've been able to get in contention but haven't been able to finish. Does this give you some reassurance that you have the ability to finish tournaments? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, I think the swing held up fantastic. I played better on the back side than I did on the front side. I really didn't miss many shots on the front. I gave myself a wide berth on some of my targets because of the wind, and I really hit two pure shots that didn't turn over as much and go through the wind. I was happy with the way I struck it on the front, but I struck it even better on the back. That's a testament to the swing that is getting better all the time. Q. How far was your first putt on 18? JERRY KELLY: First putt was only about 16, 18 feet. JOE CHEMYCZ: This says 11' 3". JERRY KELLY: Baloney. I would have gotten a ten-footer closer than that (smiling). Q. You said you've been working on your swing for three, three and a half years. During that process, what was the lowest point? JERRY KELLY: You know, I'm a good chipper and putter around the greens, so I never really hit a true low. But last year I missed so many cuts. I mean, I might have taken second twice and a third. But I missed more cuts than I'd made, and I never, never expected anything like that. Again, I had come back this year putting better than I ever have thanks to Stricker. That held me in it early, and let my game come around before I got into any kind of funk or over trying the situation. My putter saved me a lot this year. It takes a lot of pressure off on of your game when you know you're going to make some putts. The up-and-downs aren't as hard and then you make more birdies. So it's really been a big thing for me to turn the putting around so I could feel comfortable striking the ball. Q. You talked about watching the leaderboard. Could you tell us about when Howell went out on 15 and you had the two bogies? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, the worst I saw was I was two shots back. I knew what the back side had been doing to everybody all week. And I had actually been playing the back side better. So I wasn't as worried about not getting a hot start, because I had done better on on the back than the front. My caddie, Eric Meller, said the back's yours all week, let's go take it, and he was right. So I wasn't concerned, I was a little disappointed after 10. I mean, I had 274 yards to that bunker, and I had a utility with crosswind. You know, I've never -- I don't think I've hit it as far as I have this week ever. Just the solidness, if that's a word, of the way I was striking it was much better than I've had in the past. So I don't know how that happened. Q. What's been your approach on 18 this week? Obviously the golf tournament was yours coming into 18 today. Did it change, and what was your approach of the rest of the week? JERRY KELLY: No, I did the same thing yesterday. The 4-iron when I might have been able to get there. But my lie was worst yesterday. I just made a fluffy rough. Any time the pin is in the back for me, there's no sense in -- I'm not a long hitter, so I would have been hitting utility or 3-wood. Well, I would have been hitting 3-wood. Never would have held the green, and I would have had to sling it out over the water to get it on the angle of the flag, otherwise it would have been on the other side of the bunker. So we put a lot of thought into it. And I knew you get me right in front of that front bunker which is where I was hoping that 4-iron was going, it ended up laying back a little bit farther. But I knew it would just be a bump-and-run, and that was my favorite shot. So, that played into my strengths the way I played that and didn't give myself a chance to really stuck on the foot. Q. You have the oysters up there. Coming up 18, you were rubbing your belly. Talk about your love for the charbroiled oysters? JERRY KELLY: I don't think I love any food any more than these oysters right here. I've told everybody, you know, when I was playing well and in the hunt in a lot of tournaments, and they knew I was going to the Masters I got a lot of questions. What are you requesting to have for your Masters dinner? Every time I answered them, I said I'm going to start with Drago's charbroiled oysters. And then I'll go with some Wisconsin stuff after that, but these I know I'm putting on there. Q. When you walked away after the first putt on 18 and you went over to the side, what were your thoughts as you stood over there by yourself? JERRY KELLY: The heart started beating a little bit more. You know, you hear things in the crowd. Two different people yelled, Miss it. You know, that right there made me turn my focus to the putt. And that was probably the best thing I could have heard because I'm not going to give them the satisfaction, I'll tell you that. There's a lot more great people in those stands that wanted me to make it more than the people who yelled that. So, you know, hey, we're in the sporting world. You're going to hear everything, you better suck it up and do your job, and I did that. That's all I was trying to do is kind of collect myself. My heart started beating a little bit faster, so I had to calm that down a little bit. I calmed it down until right before I took it back. Q. You said yesterday you do watch the scoreboard and you're one of those guys that pays attention. Did you see how well Charles was playing and did you feel any added pressure seeing how well he was playing and moving into a tie with you? JERRY KELLY: Well, you can look at it like maybe it took the pressure off me. You know, it wasn't my tournament to lose anymore. It was my tournament to go get. And that's the mindset that I took after 10. You know, I really focused down. Eric gave me a hard time. He said, I'm glad I wasn't in front of your eyes on that tee shot. But I was just trying to focus. You can say I try to get a Tiger-like stare going. His stare is so great. I love looking at it. I hope I can look at it more. Q. Did the last putt on 18 rattle around a little bit more than you would have liked? It looked like it afterwards? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, it did more than I would have liked. It probably hit left center, but I hit those fairly firm, so they end up looking like they lip in. But it was centered, but it was in the back of the hole pretty good (laughing). Q. Heart skipped a beat? JERRY KELLY: I mean, yeah. My M.O. is hitting it so hard it will hop over the hole. So I was just trying to have a nice -- when I saw it going on that line I was like don't be too hard, and it wasn't. Once it went in, I was fine. Q. How did you calm your nerves? You mentioned that last putt and your nerves? JERRY KELLY: Deep breathing. I do some yoga stretching morning and night, so I know how to breathe down in the diaphragm and really low in the stomach. That really helps. The more you breathe up in your chest, you're actually restricting your heart, making it work harder. So the second you can get your breath all the way down into your lower lungs and into your stomach, it takes the pressure off your heart. Q. You haven't had time to really think about it yet, but what does this win mean, aside from the drought, what's this mean and the way you did it. What's that mean to you? JERRY KELLY: I've been wanting to win, basically, so I could get some recognition to my coach, Jim Schuman. He's worked his butt of off. He's done everything for other people in golf. Played for a long time. But, you know, he's so selfless. What he does for the kids and the University of Wisconsin, you know, I became a volunteer assistant Head Coach so I could help him out. Besides my wife and son, he has done everything to change my game. You know, I don't know if you can see it. I can sure feel it. I mean, you'd know. You've follow me from the start. I don't know if you can see it. But like I said, I can sure feel it. And I don't think -- I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, period. And it's just time he gets recognized as one of the best teachers. Because if he can do to my swing what I'm feeling, I'm telling you, I had a bad move. It's great timing. Q. Do you feel like you're back to playing Jerry Kelly golf or even something better than what it was? JERRY KELLY: I think a little bit better. You know, to the extent where Jerry Kelly golf maybe a lot of greens in regulation and actually making a good amount of birdies. But always saving that -- those saves are the big ones in my mind that I've always done. That's kind of what I call Jerry Kelly golf. So the other part might be better (laughing). As long as I keep doing the safe part, we can call it that. Q. George Karl says that you're more competitive than the average golfer. Does that competitiveness get in you after you fell from behind? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, on 10. And I actually brought up Coach Karl's words last night in my head, literally. When he said, you know he said don't put your head down, just go forward. I can't remember his exact ones, but all I knew is he looked over at me and said, hey, you're a hockey player, go kick some butt. It was great for him to take some time out before he had to go and film with his other coaches and to come over and have a few drinks with us at Bourbon House. You know, he's a great guy. I've had a lot of fun with him over the years. I think he's doing fantastic. He's a great coach. It was just nice of him. That's two of my wins to me have been helped out by basketball coaches. Billy Cunningham helped my first win at the Sony. He was my mental guru before I went over there to Jupiter Hills, and George Karl last night kicked me in the butt, so that's good. Q. How many three putts did you have over 72 holes? JERRY KELLY: I think one. Q. One three putt? JERRY KELLY: If I had one. Q. You feel like you're in better position now with your swing in order to make a run at the Presidents Cup team this year? You've always been a team guy wanting to get on those teams? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, you know what I do to myself. If I start turning my thoughts that way, I'm going to overtry. I think everybody in the world knows how much I like to play in those things. How much emotion drives my game, and how much that is the perfect scenario for me to kind of show what I can do. But I've got a lot of work yet to do. And the best thing I did today was take winning out of the equation out there. And I really went through the process. You know, thoughts come up, but boy, they were gone quick, and they never made me nervous. I just got rid of them and went on. And that is the same kind of thing. The Presidents Cup is going to drive me, but it's not going to rule me. JOE CHEMYCZ: Jerry take us through birdies and bogies. Birdie at 5. JERRY KELLY: Birdie at 5 was a nice full hook driver into the left. Had a nice pitching wedge from about 141. Landed front edge, and rolled to about 4 inches. That was my best putt of the day. Bogey on 8. You know, I just barely left my -- I think I landed up on top and kicked down into the bunker with my utility wood. I mean, I was about three inches from being a perfect drive right there. It came in sideways, so it was sitting underneath the level of the sand. I hit a decent shot to get it up where I did. Just hit the chip a little too firm. Rolled through. Got a good bunch of the hole on that putt. That putt let me know I could make a bogey, but I didn't really do a whole lot on wrong when I made birdie. 10, I hit a utility club that I hit so good I went 275 to that bunker, which I don't know how. I certainly wasn't a 3-wood on the shot. But that's just two bogies, and I knew that wasn't going to kill me. As long as I came back and got some birdies on the back side. I thought I was going to need three. I was even thinking if I needed to shoot 3 under, but I was happy to at least get a couple and get it back to 1 under. 11, actually reached the green. Hit 2 at 11, driving 3-wood just to the right. Chipped it up 8 feet and made it. And then hit a great 7-iron on the 14th hole to about 6 to 8 feet and made that one. JOE CHEMYCZ: Jerry, we appreciate it. Congratulations. JERRY KELLY: Pleasure. End of FastScripts |
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