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TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP

October 1, 2009

Tim Petrovic

VERONA, NEW YORK

MARK WILLIAMS: Tim Petrovic, thanks for joining us, a great round today, 66, 6-under par. Looked like you did most of your scoring on the back nine, which was your first nine, and kind of a couple birdies towards the end of the round. Just talk about it today and what it was like first thing in the morning.
TIM PETROVIC: It was cold. It was raining. We didn't have the Trifecta, though. The wind was down, which was the only thing that was saving us out there. I just tried to drive it in play. It really didn't matter if I was hitting it 250 or 260 with my driver, I was just trying to keep it in play, and it left me a lot of longer shots.
But it was a good feeling to know we could tee the ball up. But I hit a lot of really good long iron shots. I think I made three birdies, three or four birdies maybe, from 200 yards or right around that.
I probably hit the best shot of the day on the last hole. I had 218, hit a little 2-iron in there and hit it about four, five feet. So that helps the cause. That was my best swing followed by my worst shot of the day; I hit a wedge and missed the green on 8, just got in there and looked good under the ball and just got some water in there, but that's what can happen.
MARK WILLIAMS: Kevin Stadler was in earlier, and he said with lift, clean and place through the green, it just gives you an advantage hitting it at the flag, and if you miss it it's not a big deal because you can get it in your hand and place it where you want. I guess that's a big factor.
TIM PETROVIC: Right.
MARK WILLIAMS: This is your third 66 in the opening round this year. I guess your best finish was a T5 after one of those 66s so maybe some good little mo'.
TIM PETROVIC: Yeah, it would be nice to get a victory at the end of the year. I've been close a few times. The first half of the year I played terribly. I had my worst West Coast Swing since I've been out here. Kind of hitched up my trousers and picked it up a little bit in second half and had some good finishes.
A little disappointed in the FedExCup, missed the cut at Deutsche Bank, but I was out of gas. I was ready for a week off. That's the way it goes sometimes, but it was nice being able to go home and recharge the batteries a little bit more a couple of weeks.

Q. I'm wondering like the radius of being able to pick your ball up and finding a spot that was dry. Were there holes where you had like ten yards, or what was like that out there?
TIM PETROVIC: Well, you had to think before you marked your ball, or you had to think before you took your relief because your nearest relief may be in the rough, and you didn't really want to go in the rough. It took a little bit of time to stomp around and find a good spot.
A couple times I just had to hit it, unfortunately. I really couldn't go anywhere. I was in the fairway most of the day, but a couple times -- I think I hit two balls in the rough today and was able to tee it up there, but even there, there was a lot of water where I was standing, but I didn't really have anywhere to go.

Q. The putt on 9, not at all an easy putt. Can you talk about it?
TIM PETROVIC: Yeah, it went right in the middle. It was an easy putt. (Laughter).

Q. Well, downhill --
TIM PETROVIC: It was a little downhill. I played it probably about a ball outside the hole, and it was a little quick. The greens are -- everything is really wet, but the greens still have really good speed on them. They're really in good shape. I just got it going on that line and just trusted it, and it went in.
I hit a lot of good putts today. I chipped in twice, so I guess I wasn't putting that much. A couple little chip-ins that helped. We got to tee it up there a little bit. It was nice to see a couple of those go in, especially when it was downpouring.

Q. Are long irons and woods strong part of your game, or just today it was?
TIM PETROVIC: That part of my game has improved drastically since I got out here on TOUR. I'm a much, much better long iron player than I was about five, six years ago it's been. I was kind of a slasher. I would just get up and try to hit it hard. Now I'm learning fairways are better. It only took 20 years to figure that out.
But on a day like today, it's a good lesson learned, just don't try to over-hit it and just put it in play and give yourself a chance. Fortunately I did hit a lot of good long irons that were on line. I almost holed one out I think on 14. But it was a battle. It was a battle out there. You just had to suck it up, I guess.

Q. What's your mindset going into these last few tournaments? As you say, it's been a long year. A lot of guys are kind of tired out. What's your mindset going into these last few tournaments?
TIM PETROVIC: I feel good. I've been working hard second half of the year and my mindset is good. I feel like I'm doing everything -- I really don't feel like I have a weakness in my game right now. I feel like I'm doing everything pretty well, some things better than others, but I think the game is kind of well-rounded and I feel I'm ready to do something special.
Was I surprised at shooting 6-under out here today? Yeah, I didn't really -- we were just out there trying to survive basically, and I guess sometimes when you're not thinking about trying to -- you're not grinding every hole out trying to make a score and you just go out and play, it seems to work good for me, and that's kind of what I did the second half of the year. I've just been letting myself play a little bit.
I'm in a pretty good mindset. I feel rested after the FedExCup. I needed a couple weeks off. I would have definitely been running on vapors if I had gone to the BMW.

Q. Are you going to play all the tournaments this fall?
TIM PETROVIC: I'm going to play -- well, I think I'm playing four of them. I've committed to all of them, but I usually -- we've had a couple issues out there with guys showing up and forgetting to commit to a tournament. I won't mention names. But I'd rather forget to uncommit than forget to commit.
MARK WILLIAMS: You mentioned hitching your trousers up, and you walked in here with the pink socks, which was quite comical, but today it's not comical; everyone has got the pink-out going on. Do you want to talk about that a little bit and the cause and showing your support by wearing pink?
TIM PETROVIC: I mean, today was the official pink-out, and it's for breast cancer awareness. It's a shame with today's technology that we really haven't found a cure for it. I think on a day like today where everybody wears pink, it makes everybody aware what's going on because sometimes I think we forget about the little things like that.
When it hits your family, it really hits you hard. It's for a good cause, and hopefully we'll find a cure soon.

Q. Just talk about what you felt went right for you today and how you feel after round 1.
TIM PETROVIC: I felt good out there. I was just trying to keep my hands warm. I think that was the key. I got a little hand warmer I kept my hands in, and that was the key. I really didn't put the umbrella up too much today. I didn't care if I got wet on top, I just wanted to keep my hands warm.
But I felt pretty good out there. Pace of play was good. Everything was wet, and we just had to make the best of it. You know, it was a good day out there.

Q. This is a course that tends to favor longer hitters. Are you confident enough in your long irons and your woods to play short drives off the tee and hit the longer stuff into the green for the rest of the week?
TIM PETROVIC: Well, not short. I'm probably average -- actually my driving distance is down this year, but my fairways are up. There you go. I can get it out there far enough where I'm leaving myself some 4-, 5-, well, 3-, 2-irons on a couple holes, and they had the tees up today, too, which was nice. The course setup was good considering the conditions. They put the tees up a little bit. They don't want guys hitting 3-woods into a lot of these par-4s because you're not getting any roll.
No, I feel good about my chances. I'm striking the ball pretty good. I had a good practice last week at home. It was just a little warmer. It was about 95. (Laughter.)
But actually, funny you ask that, we did have -- in Austin we had three days before where it dropped down to like 65 degrees and we had some rain, so I took all this -- and it was raining out, and I just took all the gear I have on now and I put all the gear on and I went out and hit balls for three -- I went out and hit balls with all the gear on. It was probably about 65, 70. And I think that actually helped me because coming out here today I put all the stuff on, had to keep my hands warm. I remember it was cold last year, so I think that helped me out a lot.
MARK WILLIAMS: Do you anticipate 66-under being tied for the lead, leading, one behind, given the conditions?
TIM PETROVIC: There's so many good players out here, no score is safe. It's a four-round tournament. I'm happy. Anything under par I think is a great score today. There's a lot of great players out there. I would not be surprised if someone came in 7-, 8-under. Maybe some of the guys are hitting it up there; Dustin may be hitting a 7-iron in where I'm hitting a 4-iron in, so that will help a little but. You've still got to knock the putts in, but I would not be surprised.
MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks for your time. Appreciate you coming in.

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