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AT&T NATIONALJuly 1, 2009Lucas GloverBETHESDA, MARYLAND MARK WILLIAMS: Lucas Glover, thanks for joining us in the interview room at the AT&T National here at Congressional Golf Club. U.S. Open champion, you've had a really good year so far. Just talk about the last couple of weeks since winning and your thoughts on the golf course. LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, it's been a little busier, but for a good reason. The golf course here at Congressional, tee to green, it's standard. It's always in great shape, but it's the best I've ever seen the greens. They're firmer than normal and rolling good. I've got a buddy that's a member, and he said they've been good for week, and they're very excited to tear them up now that they're good. Yeah, the golf course is perfect. It's playing great. Q. Are you back down on earth now? Did it take you a while to kind of be settled? LUCAS GLOVER: I'm still excited to play golf. I'm playing well. I had a pretty good week last week, and you know, it's -- I've got a lot of confidence in my game right now, so it's nice to play. But yeah, I'm getting back down a little bit, cloud 4 as opposed to 9, I guess (laughter), but it's been good. Q. Was there ever a moment in the days right after where it was kind of like, holy cow, what did I just do? LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, there were a lot of -- I think I said to myself, "really?" a couple times. But that part has sunk in, and obviously a good feeling. But yeah, it took a few days. Q. It has sunk in, though? LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, I mean, it has. I'm just trying to get back to normal, which is a good routine, and playing golf. Q. A lot of guys win the Open and then kind of take a week to decompress and kind of pull out of their next tournament. You played last week, you're playing this week, the week after that. Why did you keep going? LUCAS GLOVER: I was committed. I wasn't in the British, and I needed Hartford, here and John Deere to try to get myself into the British Open, and that was the reason I was playing. You know, I was scheduled to play, and I won, and I didn't want to change because of that. I'm going to change one event that I was planning on playing after the fact, but you know, I was scheduled to play, and just playing well, so I wanted to keep going. Q. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Davis and some of the interchanges you guys may have had in the last couple weeks? LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, Davis has been great. Jokingly, he's uncle Davis. He had me at the CVS a couple times when I was first coming out. He's been like a big brother kind of. I picked his brain a little bit Monday. We were at the same outing, and I got the pleasure of talking to Zach on Sunday on the golf course and then Davis a little bit Monday. You know, they both offered up different advice. But Davis has been great. He's been a great sound board for me to ask some hard questions, and he gives me -- if it's a tough answer, he'll give it to me. But it's been good. He's always been willing to talk to me, and I'm very grateful for that. Q. Would you be willing to give an example of maybe a hard question that you've had to ask or a hard answer he's given? LUCAS GLOVER: I just asked him Monday, I said, How do I go forward currently and work on my focus for the week at hand instead of two weeks ago? And how do I handle certain things and how do I not handle certain things. He said, We're all different and you've got to figure out the best way to handle it and how to find your focus. I played well on Hartford Thursday and did an interview and I didn't have one question about the Travelers Championship. That's tough because I'm focused on the next day at Hartford, at Travelers, and I've got to go back a week. You know, that's tough, because we're shot-to-shot, day-to-day, and when you've got to go back, that's hard. It was hard for me. Q. Whatever schedule you play the rest of the year, there's going to be people who haven't seen you since Bethpage if they saw you there at all, and they're going to ask you about the U.S. Open. How are you going to deal with that one? LUCAS GLOVER: Just like always, truthfully, and as soon as I'm done with that, refocus on Friday at AT&T National or Saturday at John Deere, whatever it may be. But like I said, it's something I've got to work on and not go back too much. You know, still work on my game and try to focus on the task at hand. Q. Is there a part of you that wants to go back? That must have been a fun week. LUCAS GLOVER: It was, it was, and I'll draw on that when the time comes. When I've got an 8-iron that I've got to hit close, you know what hole I'm going to be thinking about, and that's good. So I'll use it as experience and a successful week and successful shots to fall back on later when I'm under the gun. Q. You addressed it a little bit there, but some of the differing pieces of advice specifically that you maybe got from Davis and Zach and how they handle things? LUCAS GLOVER: Well, you know, Zach right out of the gate, he was one of the first people I saw Wednesday. He said, The only chance you've got to be normal right now is to play golf. I said, Well, I'm doing that. He said, That's good. I just asked him how he handled scheduling and different stuff, and some of that probably should stay personal. But there wasn't any question he didn't answer, and I was very grateful for that. Q. On your mental state after winning the Open, does it make you hungrier, or has your desire remained consistent? LUCAS GLOVER: You know, I said it there as soon as it happened that that was going to be motivation for me. I didn't want that to be it. And whether it is or isn't, I can't think that way. I can't say, Well, I'm done. Springboard, motivation, whatever term you want to use, I want to be there again. I want to have more chances. You know, I've got a lot of room to improve. I know that, and nothing is guaranteed in golf. I've got to use that as motivation and try to improve my game and try to get back. Q. You mentioned this golf course. How do you think it does set up for a U.S. Open and do you think it's a worthy course to host that? LUCAS GLOVER: Absolutely, it's long, tight, the greens are undulating, and they can hide the pins. It's a great golf course. I think we saw that in '97. But there's some new tees out there we've seen and will see, and obviously we're going to have new greens. But it's an impressive test. It's tough. Q. Did you take a look at a couple new tee boxes out there today? LUCAS GLOVER: I saw 3 yesterday, and I didn't remember it last year. I don't recall if it was there or not. And then 11, we see that one. But I didn't go back and look at any angles or anything. You know they're there. Q. Before you won the Open, was there somebody -- did anybody say something to you or there was a moment maybe where they said something to inspire you to keep going? LUCAS GLOVER: Not really. That was just my first week out of what was going to be a long stretch, and it got longer because I was in the British. But not really, there wasn't anything. There was a lot of "play wells," but I was practicing at home. I take my grandfather out when I practice and I was hitting the ball before, and before I leave, I always go by and say hey, and he patted me on the shoulder and said, "Boy, you playing good," and if he says that, I know I'm playing pretty good. Q. To even take that back maybe a year or like somebody that really inspired you to hang in -- LUCAS GLOVER: I was quitting last year and nobody was telling me to hang in. Not really. It was an odd year last year. Q. You're aware I'm sure of some of the things that have happened to guys that have won major championships, some of the pitfalls and all that you have to avoid. How are you going to learn how to say no to sponsors and other people who might be wanting you to do more? LUCAS GLOVER: I don't know. I think that's experience. I've never played much in -- I guess we've coined it the silly season, and I don't see that changing much. There's one or two I've always wanted to play, and if I'm in, I'll play. But I'm not going to go everywhere. I'll play this TOUR. This is before I belong and where I feel comfortable. I'm not the best international traveler. But I'll keep it to a minimum. Q. And you are pretty secure in knowing what your limits are as far as travel? LUCAS GLOVER: Yes, sir, absolutely. Q. Growing up with your grandfather being an outstanding football player, did he ever put any pressure on you to play football or was he pleased that you were a golfer? LUCAS GLOVER: I pretty much played every sport through eighth grade and then played basketball for the church league through high school. But we both knew I wasn't very good at football, and it was kind of between golf and baseball. I was a catcher, and I got hit a few times where it didn't feel great, so I pulled the plug on that pretty quick. You know, I was a short, dumpy kid. I was wide, and so I played line in football, and I didn't like to be on the bottom of the pile. So he knew right away I didn't have it for football. Q. It's changed because you obviously aren't a short, dumpy adult. LUCAS GLOVER: About the time I quit all those other sports. Yeah, I grew a foot. I can't remember exactly what age, but I grew about ten inches to a foot in a pretty short span. I've had the same -- my shoe size and my age were the same from when I was 7 to 14, so if that tells you anything about how much I was growing. Q. As much as you want to keep it sane, it seems like you want to take advantage of this, too. LUCAS GLOVER: Sure. Q. How do you try to find that balance do you think? LUCAS GLOVER: You know, I don't know. I don't know yet. Those are some questions I'm going to have to ask some guys that have done it before. Again, like we were talking about earlier, I'm lucky I've got some guys I can bounce some questions like that off. I still need to do some stuff like that, because I don't know, and I won't know. Q. Coming off this major championship win, how do you feel you've gained more attention? How do you feel you stack up against some of the premier golfers such as Tiger Woods and Vijay going into this event? LUCAS GLOVER: Those guys are there every week. I've done it once. I've got a lot of room to improve. I get to see the best the next two days. Q. Do you feel that you've gained more respect, more attention than you've been able to handle from this win? LUCAS GLOVER: I don't know. Attention, yes, when guys come up to me, congratulations, a lot of phone calls, a lot of emails. Respect? I don't know, I have no idea. I hope so. But I don't know, I can't concern myself with that. Q. Now that you've played your way into the British Open, what would it mean to play well there, and what do you know about Turnberry? LUCAS GLOVER: I haven't been to Turnberry. I just know it's traditional links and a lot of guys I've talked to like it, say it's one of the best of the rotation. British Open is one of my favorite events. I like -- different golf for us. For them it's real golf. But no problem, I don't mind keeping the ball down or chipping and all the cliché stuff you have to do at a British Open, but I enjoy the week, enjoy the fans. I'm going to go over there to play well. I'm going to prepare to play well. I think that's the same as everybody else. Q. Talking to Mac, he had an interesting description of you. I asked him to compare you to somebody, and he said, Woodrow Call from the movie "Lonesome Dove." Have you ever seen that, and what do you think of that comparison? LUCAS GLOVER: I don't know. I'm going to have to go back and review the movie. Q. The idea of an honest Texas ranger type, sort of an honest guy. LUCAS GLOVER: It's funny, one of my pro-am partners today said, Man, I'm glad I don't ask you too much, you'll tell me the truth, won't you? I said, Yes, sir. That's just me. That's the way I've always been, and that's not going to change. It would be a pretty good comparison, I guess. Q. The other question, you said you're not a good international traveler, but New York and Manhattan is kind of like that. You've thought of getting an apartment there; is that correct? LUCAS GLOVER: No, we haven't thought about it. We would like one. That's a little out of reach. I don't know, I'm not the most patient traveler in an airport, and I like my certain kinds of food and stuff like that. So the other stuff -- I'm not saying I won't go or just absolutely will not go, but I've had reservation of going certain places just because I'm probably a little nervous and scared to go. But you never know until you try it, so we'll see. Q. They say that golf is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. How do you keep yourself from getting distracted or thrown off by a bad drive? LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, just -- for me it's been a long battle with that. It used to be a big deal. But it's just a patience thing for me. Just try not to let it get to me and just move forward. Bogey is not the worst thing in the world, and there's a lot of people that would like to be where I am. Q. You touched on it a little bit, but I just wonder how important it is for you to win another major now that you've done it once. There's a lot of guys that have won one and never done it again, Davis certainly being one of the guys. How important is that to you? LUCAS GLOVER: I think first and foremost, the most important thing is to get back into contention, and with that, I can fall back on a couple weeks ago as experience. That's what I was saying earlier about motivating to get back into contention. So I feel like if I got back in, I would know what to do and know how to handle it. And I think that's where the comfort might come. But again, nothing is guaranteed, and I don't have any expectations for that right now. Q. Do you think you're a different golfer having gone through that, or was that just a week -- LUCAS GLOVER: I think different -- my golf swing isn't any different, my club stroke isn't any different. Maybe my belief in myself might be a little different. I performed at the highest pressure, and that was very gratifying and I was very satisfied with that, maybe more than anything for the week. I fell back on Charlotte this year, Quail Hollow. I played well on the last day in the last group, and it was the first time I've done that. I didn't win the golf tournament, but I didn't give it away, either. I fell back on that a lot on Monday at Bethpage. So going forward, I think I've got that in the back of my mind that I can do it. Before I had a little void there. Q. Speaking of voids, if you were to look at your record until you won the U.S. Open, you had won one tournament on a 40-foot putt from the fringe and holing out a bunker shot. Up until that point, did you see yourself as an underachiever based on your record? LUCAS GLOVER: Yes. I'd always had high expectations of myself, and that's where my attitude issues came from, my anger stuff and all that. Q. Late last year? LUCAS GLOVER: Yeah, my whole career until this year to be honest. I worked hard and I had success every level I'd been at, and I wanted to come out here and do well. You know, I wasn't -- any good player is never satisfied. When you shot 63, I missed that eight-footer on 1 or whatever. But I had high expectations of myself. Maybe lowering them for this year might have helped. Q. Do you think you got kind of off the hook in those four years in terms of I don't recall you getting hammered too much or criticized too much on television or in print or being Lucas Glover, great underachiever. Others have. LUCAS GLOVER: I agree with you. Maybe so. Q. Was that bothersome at all, the fact that you weren't getting -- LUCAS GLOVER: No. If you're not playing well you don't want anybody to point a finger at you. Under the radar when you're not doing good, that's great. Q. But if they're pointing a finger at you, that means they know about you. LUCAS GLOVER: That's also true. I don't know, that's a fine line. I don't know. Q. Have you talked to any other guys who won the Open, especially who have won it when they weren't favored or expected to about what they did over the next year or two so it became a good thing for them? There have been players who played too much, got sick, whatever. LUCAS GLOVER: I actually haven't, and I probably should. I have a pretty good relationship with Corey, and we've spoken a couple times. But I haven't. That would probably be a good question to ask. Q. How much different do you think it would have been a year ago? You mentioned a lot about patience and getting angry with yourself. You started out this U.S. Open with a double bogey, yet you just walked to the second tee and went about your business. Do you think a year ago it would have been a different story? LUCAS GLOVER: I'd have been down the road Saturday as soon as the second round was over. Seriously, I'd have pitched a fit going to 2 and made a bogey there, and goodness knows what. You know, I had a couple instances of the week of The Open that I could have done that, and I didn't. I turned it around. You know, whether it was attitude change or telling myself patience or perspective I gained a little bit last year, whatever it was, it worked. Other than like I talked about earlier, playing well under pressure, that was probably the second most satisfying thing of the week was getting it back after having a couple bad holes. MARK WILLIAMS: Appreciate you coming in. Thanks for your time, and good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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