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HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 19, 2009

Matt Bettencourt

IRVING, TEXAS

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Matt Bettencourt into the interview room. Matt was the winner of the Nationwide Tour Championship at Craig Ranch last year right here in the Dallas area, so Matt, first of all, we'll get you to look back at that win and what it did for your career and also your rookie season on the PGA TOUR.
MATT BETTENCOURT: Yeah, it was a special time for me. It was great to go out there and compete on the Nationwide Tour last year and graduate. Finishing No. 1 is huge. I get to set my own schedule for the first year. It got me an exemption into every tournament, plus THE PLAYERS Championship. It basically set everything. I received an exemption right away 20 minutes after from Peter Ripa at the Colonial, which is awesome. It's a fabulous event in Fort Worth close to here.
Salesmanship Club ran our event last year, the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC at Craig Ranch. It was just a great job that they did the whole week long, and you kind of see it this week, as well. It was just a mini version there to what's going on here, so it's fantastic.
JOHN BUSH: Talk about your season. You've turned things around as of late with some top 25 finishes, including one in Charlotte, playing well of late.
MATT BETTENCOURT: Yeah, that felt good. For me it's putting. I'm a very streaky putter. Last year at Craig Ranch I got hot. About the last month on TOUR I got really hot and played some really good bentgrass greens.
The biggest difference that people don't realize about this TOUR and the Nationwide Tour is the type of grass we putt on. The Nationwide Tour, other than four weeks all year, putts on bentgrass the whole year. That's what I grew up on is bentgrass. Charlotte, Quail Hollow, was the first event we played this year with bentgrass. This is number two. So I'm really excited. I've got a nice three-week stretch coming up on bentgrass, which I'm real comfortable with, which is here, Colonial and Memorial. I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks. Nothing against Bermuda, but I'm not the greatest Bermuda putter, and obviously the West Coast is bumpy poa. It's nice getting on some really great bentgrass greens, and this course is awesome and the greens are fantastic.
JOHN BUSH: You had four Top 5 finishes in your last six tournaments last year on the Nationwide Tour. Michael Sim is doing basically the same thing. Have you followed his season so far?
MATT BETTENCOURT: It's unbelievable. I actually live in Greenville, South Carolina, so he won the tournament last week. It's phenomenal. It's a streaky game. When you get on and you believe in yourself, the hole is as big as a basketball hoop. He's a great player.
Chances are he'll be out here in the next three weeks, four weeks. I think it's one more win, right, and he's out here? He may be two weeks away from the PGA TOUR.

Q. Have you gone out to Craig Ranch since you've been here?
MATT BETTENCOURT: You know, I haven't. I'm playing Gleneagles Country Club tomorrow, which is in Plano, or so I've been told. British Open qualifier is on Monday.

Q. Getting ready for that, you're going to try to qualify for the British?
MATT BETTENCOURT: Yeah, the finals is Monday and the top eight players advance to the British Open this year at Turnberry. There's some of the top players. It's going to be a great field there at Gleneagles on Monday. Actually I'm playing there at 8:00 in the morning there and then I was going to go out to Craig Ranch and see those guys tomorrow afternoon, so I will be out there tomorrow. Bring back some good karma and good some memories.

Q. I was wondering if you were superstitious?
MATT BETTENCOURT: I'm really not superstitious but I figure it can't hurt, so I'm going to go out there tomorrow afternoon and check it out and get some good feelings back.

Q. We talked a little bit about you being a bent greens putter. I grew up around here, so I kind of understand what you're talking about. For people that don't really understand the difference, talk about how different it feels. For you guys it's everything.
MATT BETTENCOURT: Growing up playing on bent looking at the slope, that's how you judge your putt, how much it breaks, speed. Bermuda you have to read the grain. When the grass grows it's such a thick blade, it grows a certain direction. A lot of times it grows toward the setting sun; other times it falls towards the water; sometimes it rides the slope. Different shininess, shiny to dull, and that predicts and speed and the break. I need to get better at it, I know that.
I'm going to spend a lot more time this off-season in Florida, but it takes time. Guys out here have so much experience and they know the greens out here. That's so key. Your first year is obviously the toughest getting acclimated to everything. I feel like I'm doing a much better job right now, and I'm ready to play some really good golf.

Q. And when you mix in the poa annua, is that the toughest to judge?
MATT BETTENCOURT: Yeah, once you learn Bermuda it's not so difficult. A lot of guys master it and it's great. I grew up playing with Tiger a little bit in junior golf, and that's the one reason he moved to Florida, other than taxes. But as far as the golf aspect, he knew he needed to play on Bermuda greens and to get better. Now he's the greatest probably ever, or one of the greatest.
Anyway, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting on these greens out there and getting started Thursday. This course really fits my eye well. It's very challenging. If you drive the ball well, there's some opportunities out there.

Q. Can you talk about the week at Craig Ranch and kind of how you played and that whole week you had a lot going on.
MATT BETTENCOURT: Yeah, that was an interesting week, a lot going on. Wednesday I had a great time in the pro-am, played with four great guys. We had a blast. I stay in touch with a couple of them.
Anyway, there was a dinner, Commissioner Finchem flew in, had basically dinner with all the players in the field that night, said good luck, blah-blah-blah, this is what you're going to expect on the PGA TOUR, and I wasn't feeling well during the dinner. I had some abdomen pain, was just struggling, wasn't doing well. I went back to the hotel, and I just laid there.
It was about 10:00 o'clock at night and my caddie J.J. was staying a couple rooms down from me, and I called him up, and I said, "I think I'm going to die right now, something has happened. I don't know what it is, you've got to take me to the hospital." I'm a wimp when it comes to doctors. I don't like doctors and hospitals.
Anyway, went into the emergency room there in Plano, and I had kidney stones, so I ended up spending six hours or so in the hospital. I don't recommend it. It's very painful.
So I didn't know at that point if I was going to play at all, or if I was going to live. I didn't know what it was until they did a dye test and said you have kidney stones. Fortunately it passed about 4:00 in the morning. I was in quite a bit of pain, went back and took a bunch of Advil. I don't know how many. I think I was out of it for the first round, but hobbled around and gradually as the week went on I got much stronger and the pain went away and I focused on winning and just had a great time.

Q. Not the way you'd recommend to win one, but kind of that wounded golfer thing --
MATT BETTENCOURT: Whatever it takes, you tell me, I'll do it out here. Absolutely. If I have to have them again and revisit the same hospital, perfect.
JOHN BUSH: Matt, thanks for coming by.

End of FastScripts

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