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TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP

October 1, 2009

Kevin Stadler

VERONA, NEW YORK

MARK WILLIAMS: Kevin, thanks for joining us here after the first round, an opening round 68, 4-under par. It's got to feel good to be in out of the cold, miserable weather. Talk a little bit about your round today and what it was like out there.
KEVIN STADLER: It was wet. You know, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. It was wet and cold, but playing here last year, I just remember it being freezing. It was a little windier last year, and there was hardly a breeze to speak of for the first 15, 16 holes. It picked up just a couple miles an hour there at the end. Thankfully that kept the frigid stuff away, and it was fairly playable.
The course was very wet, but the greens were still running great, and you know, like you said, it's just nice to be done.
MARK WILLIAMS: It looked like a round that the putter was going hot, 21 putts and you got 7 of 18 greens in regulation.
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, the putter wasn't hot, the chipper was chipping them close. I didn't really hole a putt to speak of until the last two. Made a nice one for birdie on 17 and then about a six-footer on 18. I chipped in on the 1st for birdie and then holed out a wedge on 8.
It was just kind of one of those days that I don't have very often where I get more out of it than I deserved.
I didn't hit it too poorly, but every time I missed a green, it was just hardly off the edge, and playing lift, clean and place everywhere, it was fairly simple to get up-and-down from the spots I was in.

Q. Can I ask you about the weather? How do you prepare yourself to come out here? Do you just steel yourself to the idea it's going to be a long kind of a sloggy day, and are you more patient? What do you do?
KEVIN STADLER: Strangely so, it's not my strong suit. But I really didn't do too much. I didn't play Tuesday; it was pretty miserable out here all day Tuesday. And I didn't play the pro-am. I've just been staying indoors for the most part.
You know, I grew up in Colorado, just kind of some crummy fall and spring weather I've played in before. You just kind of know what you're going to get. It wasn't raining too heavily. It was just kind of a nuisance, but it wasn't raining to the point where it was really affecting a lot. I don't mind the cold. Just as long as you're not drenched, I don't mind this stuff. It's all right.

Q. Do you have big gloves or hand warmers or something?
KEVIN STADLER: No, I think I'm built pretty well for cold weather. I don't know. Cold doesn't bother me. I much prefer this to a hot, sticky day for sure.

Q. Is this one of these days where knowing what you're going to be playing in, you're just happy to come out of it in good position and then just forget about it?
KEVIN STADLER: Pretty much, yeah. You know, I was really just kind of happy to be done. It's one of those days where I not really thinking about score. I knew it was going pretty well, but without really playing too well, I was scoring pretty well.
I birdied 17 and hit it close on 18, and I saw the score, and I was like, hey, this is all right. I'm very happy to be done with it, and kind of in the back of my mind I'm hoping it's going to be miserable for the rest of them this afternoon.
It was, it was good. All three guys in our group played well, and it was nice. It was pretty -- I don't want to say easy day, but we had some good flow in our group. I mean, everybody was doing a good job with it.

Q. On conditions, from the fairway, is it so wet that you're really having to pick the ball, or were you able to hit down on it, or is it draining enough?
KEVIN STADLER: No, you pretty much had to pick it, which I've had the last three weeks off and I was not hitting it the flushest, so it --

Q. It played into your strength?
KEVIN STADLER: I was picking them around there just right. The front nine it was saturated. The majority of those fairways were pretty much under water, and we were struggling to find a dry spot.
The back nine they were in better shape. We had a few holes on the front nine where the three of us ended up pretty much hitting from the same spot. We were all in the fairway and about 15 yards spread apart and you're just looking for the one little dry circle that you could move to. But even that had a little bit of water. But there were some very wet parts out there, but I'm sure they're doing all they can to get it dry. It's soaked, but it's still playable.

Q. On the other side of things, I know the greens are rolling pretty well, but you were able to fire at pins I take it?
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, definitely. Having ball in hand in the rough, it really felt like you could kind of hit it anywhere. It was pretty necessary just because it was hard to find a dry spot in the rough. But it definitely helps to be able to shoot at pins. I mean, knowing that you're going to have a good lie pretty much everywhere throughout the day, and then if you miss a green you're going to be able to put it on a tee again. I know they probably didn't want to do it, but it was definitely a necessity today.

Q. With your dad's nickname being the Walrus, do you earn a nickname of similar stature today?
KEVIN STADLER: Somehow I have not acquired one in 30 years. I'd love it, though. (Laughter.)

Q. It looked like there was some scores to have on the back nine. Was the back nine playing easier because of the course the course is set up or because, as you said, it was somewhat drier than the front nine?
KEVIN STADLER: I don't know, I scored lower on the front. Probably because it's a tough drier. I mean, the front nine there were a lot of shots that you're just going to splash them out of the fairway. The pins were pretty tough on the front nine, too, to be honest. It wasn't like normal Thursday pins I don't think. But I think they were trying to put them in some higher spots. They were definitely more accessible on the back nine.

Q. About the driving average, you're above driving average on TOUR. Do you think longer hitters have an advantage in this weather, or is that a plus for you?
KEVIN STADLER: Yeah, for me not so much. I'd say I'm probably average. I mean, I don't know where I rank. I know I'm not in the upper echelon of guys you would call long hitters out here, but I'm not on the short side, either. Like Dustin and guys that just bomb it, it certainly helps them.
The short hitters are going to struggle with it. They're going to have long irons out of the wet stuff. It's a long enough golf course -- they've moved a lot of tees up to make it pretty playable, but whenever you can -- especially when you're placing it in the rough, if you can hit it as far down there as you can, it's going to be a big advantage.

Q. Is your dad playing on the Champions Tour this week?
KEVIN STADLER: I believe so.

Q. Do you have a bet with him?
KEVIN STADLER: Well, he hasn't started yet, so I might see if I can get one in.
MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks, Kevin, for coming in. Keep it going.

End of FastScripts

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