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HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2009

James Nitties

IRVING, TEXAS

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome James Nitties into the interview room. 2-under par 68 for James today. A little bit of a bumpy start with a double bogey on your first hole. If we can just get a comment on that start and also your round as a whole.
JAMES NITTIES: Yeah, as I said yesterday, I'm not the biggest morning person, so the 10th hole was straight into the sun. It was a poor shot, there's no excuse. Yeah, it was just the first round getting into the groove of the day. Yeah, so the start wasn't great.
But I played well for the next eight holes the front nine and couldn't really hole a putt. A little frustrating, but I just stayed patient and things sorted themselves out.

Q. When did you feel like -- you said you were solid the rest of that side, but when did you feel like it finally came together and you started putting some --
JAMES NITTIES: I mean, I felt good by the second hole, like my second hole of the day. I hit a driver straight over the green, straight at the pin and over the green and just got an unlucky lie. Then hit it on the par-5, 16, for two and three-putted. So my shot making was still there. I missed about a ten-footer on 18, which was my ninth. As I said, a little frustrating.
But then I managed to hole a good putt on the 1st and the 2nd and I was back to even par right where I wanted to. I was like, now you can go under par. I bogeyed the 3rd but birdied 4, 5 and 6. Just got a little lucky on 4 and then 5 hit a great shot and 6 holed a good putt.
It was all pretty quick, but the whole round I was just shaving the edge, and then a couple holes it actually went in, so it was that quick that it got back under par.

Q. You said yesterday you don't like to wake up this early. What was it like? Did you sleep well or were you anxious about having to wake up this early?
JAMES NITTIES: I slept great actually. I went to bed a little later than I had liked to because I was watching the Lakers game. Actually when I say I'm not a morning person, I did feel good this morning. I was here at 6:00, got a good preparation, and I felt really good.
When I'm off that early now, I've just got to make sure that I'm prepared properly and I'm awake and focused by the time I get to the tee. In the past I haven't really done that really well.

Q. Do you like the Lakers or the Nuggets?
JAMES NITTIES: I was actually going for the underdogs, the Nuggets, because they blew their lead the other night, so I wanted them to win at least one.

Q. How tough is it to shake off a first-hole disaster or double bogey like that? Can that be tough to do sometimes?
JAMES NITTIES: Yeah, I mean, it's not fun, put it that way. You know, you think, I'm going from leading to way behind, but you just can't get in that mindset. I just had to -- because you're going to be a lot more angry if you let a couple more slip, and you're like, what were you doing?
As I said, I just felt like hey, I'm 2-over through 1, how about I just shoot 5-under like I did yesterday, and I shot 2-under. You've got to think of it in positive ways, and I did that. I played well the last 13, 14 holes, so it was good.

Q. Like you said, you've been in this position a couple times this year, but what's your focus going into the weekend, and how have you changed that focus as you've done this a couple times?
JAMES NITTIES: Yeah, I mean, I've done it a couple times and I played well. It's hard for me because I know if I can just win one, then I'll be set. So it's just, as I said, the more I put myself in this position, the more comfortable I get. I don't know, it's a hard thing to say what do I do to change it. I just keep doing the same thing, and hopefully -- it's clichÃ©, but just don't get ahead of myself. I figure I'll be maybe one or two behind and I like being in that position, I like not being the center of the tournament and just going along -- I'm a type of guy that goes down to the range and does my own thing. I like doing things quietly, apart from some of my statements. But no, I think it's just, as I said, I love this course, I love the greens, I'm rolling it well, so just keep doing what I've been doing and sticking to my game plan and not getting ahead of myself is the most important thing.

Q. How much would you attribute to your iron play or your putter your first two rounds? You said you're putting really well. Has that been the key?
JAMES NITTIES: Everything has been good, actually. I've hit a couple bad drives but then I've driven it well. And then a couple bad iron shots, but then I've hit some great ones. And then the same, I put a new putter in the bag last week, and everything was just catching the edge or lipping out last week, and it's been doing that for the last four weeks. It's just tough to say you've just got to be patient. A couple didn't go in -- I missed a couple short ones today. I missed a couple four-, five-footers.
It was good when I started rolling them and they started going in the middle and I started getting my confidence back again, so the new putter has definitely helped out.

Q. What did you change from and to?
JAMES NITTIES: I went from an Odyssey putter to a Taylor Made putter. It was funny because last week the Taylor Made rep was just bringing out putters for someone else, and I was like, this looks good, so I whacked it in the bag.

Q. Is it the Spider?
JAMES NITTIES: I don't know what it is, it's just some mallet thing. Yeah, I've been using Odyssey for two years. So it was a big change for me, and after last week it was the right change.

Q. Were you playing with two-Ball?
JAMES NITTIES: It was like a Rossie Tour putter.
JOHN BUSH: Take us through the double on 10.
JAMES NITTIES: Well, I missed the putt for 5 (laughter). No, it's a wide fairway, and I just put it -- also I put a new driver in the bag, which is exactly like the old driver I used but a big bigger of a head, so it goes a little straighter and launches higher. I came used to aiming down the left because I hit a cut shot, and this thing doesn't do that, and I just called it a bit and caught the left and somehow went through all the trees and went down near the water, and I had to chip out sideways and had a full wedge in. Once again, you're into the wind, you're into the sun and you're hitting 4, and hit that to about 20 feet and left it probably an inch short in the heart.
As I said, you've got to brush it aside and go, well, I'm still 3-under for the tournament. Just make as many birdies as I can and I'll get it back.
Birdie on 1, actually didn't hit a good putt. It was funny, I was hitting all these great putts on my back nine, which was my first nine, and nothing was going in, and I push it a little bit and it breaks back and goes in the middle.
Then the next hole hit a great iron shot down the second hole and hit a great putt from about 15 foot. Yeah, so then I'm right back at even par.
Bogey on 3, I hit a great -- my drive was going straight down the middle and just caught the right -- kicked right and caught the right slope of the fairway and went down into the rough near the hazard. I think I had about a 7-iron from -- I played a 7-iron from like 220 yards or something because we were in the rough. I was trying to hit a flier. Front trap, hit it out to about six feet and missed it.
Par-3, 5th, I hit it a little left of the pin, like just off the green, and had a tough putt that I was just trying to lag and just come out perfect, roll it straight in the middle. It was about 20 feet.
Birdie on 6, driver down the middle, wedge to about ten feet, so pretty standard birdie there.
7, I took 3-wood off that tee like I have every day, so I've got a full 5-wood in, which is perfect. Yeah, I thought it was a little less club than -- I think I didn't have to hit it as good as what I needed to, and I got the false front and it came all the way back down and hit a pretty good shot to about 12 feet and holed it.
JOHN BUSH: James, thanks for coming by, and play well this weekend.

End of FastScripts

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