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AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AMFebruary 10, 2010Brad FaxonPEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA DOUG MILNE: Brad, welcome and thanks for joining us for a few minutes here at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Wanted to pick your brain about the Shore Course, and also you'll be doing TV. BRAD FAXON: I've been playing out here now for at least 27 years, and Davis Love has always had his Boys & Girls Club Pro-Am at MPCC. We have played both the Dunes and the Shore. Everybody knows that the Shore was a great place to play because it was right on the ocean. If I have my history correct, I think Samuel Morris deeded the land to the club so that it would only become a golf course. And I think I heard yesterday from one of the members that they built the course in 1960 or '61 for $125,000, which is remarkable. Then when the course was looking at all different architects, they hired Michael Strantz, which for a lot of people, they didn't know Michael was or his philosophy, but I think it's the best renovation I've ever seen, anywhere. I think he absolutely nailed it, a seaside course with everything you would want to have. The views are extraordinary on, I believe, 13 out of the 18 holes you can see the ocean or get a glimpses of it anyway, from the first tee. But the look of it is fantastic, the bunkering, the waste areas, I think the shapes of the greens, the variety of the course. It has some quirkiness, like three par 5s on the front and a par 37 for the members. There's three par 3s in six holes, and then there's some long ones and short ones. There's a lot of variety there. I think it's fantastic. It's great for the AT&T. I think a lot of players are going to love playing it. I think it rivals every bit Pebble and Spyglass for quality. After that, I think it's going to be a par 70 for the tournament. So it will be in relation to par, maybe the hardest of the three courses, as opposed to the easiest. I wouldn't like to see it easier for you guys for the math, if it was par 72. You guys don't get that? I thought it was pretty funny. Q. Just going to ask about Pebble and the U.S. Open, do you think there's any advantage or can you glean anything by playing this week for four months down the road? BRAD FAXON: Absolutely. Absolutely. Every time you come here, you learn something about the course, and especially since the last U.S. Open, there's been changes on a lot of the holes. For example, No. 3, No. 6. But you also will see different lines off the tees you have to take on 8 and 11. You know, certainly the conditions will be very different in June, I would hope, and you'll see a lot more rough. We have seen a few added bunkers on holes like 2, changed the bunkering there on 6. 14 is a huge difference now. That's become a very tough driving hole and a hole you used to just hit it as hard as you can. I think it looks a lot better. I think it's worthy of a U.S. Open. Q. Can you talk about the changes, how you like them, like 3, the bunkering there, how does that change? BRAD FAXON: Do I like them or dislike them, right? Because some of the changes, I don't know if they are better. I always thought if you drove it through that fairway on 3 and you had a flyer lie go into that pin, you had no chance. Our players have a better chance of stopping the ball out of the fairway bunker. Not that the USGA's sand is fun to hit out of or easy to hit out of, it's made it a harder tee shot, especially in June, that fairway will be much firmer and it will be harder to stop the ball from rolling through the fairway, depending on the winds. And there's another bunker now that you have to carry off the tee. And that was always a hole you kind of tried to gamble and get it down to the left to keep your angle better. So it's going to be harder. I think it looks cool. But you know, I think this flyer thing, when you get a decent line, you're not sure exactly if it's going to come out smoking or with a little spin and when you land it on the U.S. Open greens, especially if you hit it out-of-bounds on No. 3. Q. How does the line differ on 8 and 11? BRAD FAXON: 8, and I think what they have done at 6, and I think 6 is great, they are making that with the hazard more in play for everybody. I haven't seen 8 yet. I'm going out there now. I haven't played Pebble this week but I was told, I heard 11 was moved over to the right. And the angle for both 8 and 11 is better from the left. The greens open up from the left. So that's the thing, it's the USGA has figured out to make holes harder and players more upset before they even get there. Q. Some guys that are here, if they want to get a look at it with the open coming, and there's a lot -- BRAD FAXON: Yes to both. I think any time you have a major and all of the players, when we have done it, say, I don't know if Riviera was a case in '95, I think they moved it -- but players will always want to check it out, see if there's different looks, if there's been a tree added or taken away or a new tee. I know the tee on 9 is going to be way back. Hope they don't do that this week. And I don't think they will want it as soft as it is. That green is hard to hit with 9-iron, never mind a 3-wood. Q. Talking about how different it's going to be in June, what is the biggest difference? Is it just the firmness? You mentioned the rough. Competitively, how is it going to play this week versus June? BRAD FAXON: Well, I would imagine we are going to play ball-in-hand here this week with the rain we have had. So it's always easier to control how far the ball is going to go when you have a great lie. Certainly it will play a little bit longer, but soft greens and soft fairways always make the scores go down, even if the course does play longer. I think that's something the general public doesn't understand, you know, you might see during the U.S. Open a guy wallop a drive 350, say, if he gets it over the hill on 9, it will run down 30 or 40 yards; oh, this hole is too easy. Well, in order to hold that ball from going in the right rough, say, you have to make sure you're down on the left side and the line is correct. So you know, a hole like par 3 12, when Kite made his great birdie putt across the green, that's because he was aiming out to the right and he had the long putt. That's the kind of thing I think Pebble Beach is so underrated about, the difficulty of some of the pins. You know, that Sunday pin, say, on 12 won't be tough this week because you can just shoot it up in the air and it's going to stop wherever it hits. But come June when you're playing to the 14th hole and the pin is on that front left, you've got to think about, hey, how far do I want to leave this back; how much spin do I want to be able to put on it. And if you hit a bad drive there and you're hitting 5-iron into that green, you've got no chance. Q. You played the 2000 Open here? BRAD FAXON: Yes. Q. Just wondering what you saw, you're talking about it now, how much harder the course was from the 2000 Open or other years you've played it with these new changes. BRAD FAXON: Comparing it to the AT&T setup? 2 becomes a par 4, which is a reachable par 5 for us. There was one other tee, 11, has a new back tee now, they are going to use that this week I would guess. I think, you know, the U.S. Open setups are always so difficult because of firmness and rough. Those are two things we don't see this week. I don't think we really ever hit a shot out of the rough this week where it's a penal shot. You know, you might have to take one more or one less club, but it's never really a pitch-out. You know, and it's kind of a paradise for a guy that can whale away and know that when it lands, it's not going anywhere. I don't think that's the case, you know, come in June. And the weather is always unpredictable in June, too. It could be cold like this or it could be foggy or you could get that windy/sunny day that I'll never forget the round when Kite played and chipped in, that shot on 7 and Gil Morgan was there and blew a big lead or whatever. That can happen. Q. When you look at this Shore Course, is it like anything that's on TOUR, any other courses? BRAD FAXON: We don't play much seaside golf other than here and Torrey Pines. They used bentgrass in the fairways there that are very tight. When we played Monday in the Pro-Am, we took carts down the fairway and it was fine. You didn't see any water coming up. And typically those greens are faster than any course out here. They slowed them down for the tournament. You know, but they have gone back, Michael Strantz has kind of gone back to the golden age, architecture style there that Gil Hanse and Crenshaw and Doak have done, the ragged-edge bunkers, didn't do a lot of shaping out there. I just think it's a great natural look, and it should be out there. That's what a seaside course should look like. You know, I can't think of a PGA TOUR event that plays a course that looks like that. You would have to go to a few special places out on Long Island to find something that looks like that. Q. The comparison that you mentioned Long Island, this and Shinnecock or any of those out there, they are more linksy because, I think they were underneath water at one time. BRAD FAXON: The linksy courses are usually sandy-based soils, and unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case here where the ball is scooting like it does over there. But it has the look, you know, and I think that at certain times of the year, it will play fast. And the course was designed that way. I mean, there's some great, great holes there. Q. Will you be at the U.S. Open one way or the other this year? BRAD FAXON: I will be. And the great thing about the deal I have with NBC is if I qualify to play in some of those tournaments, I can play in, and so I can be out there, come back on; here is Faxon about to hit a 6-iron. Q. Did you have to be talked into that or are you looking forward to? BRAD FAXON: I did some, I guess you would call it, auditioning last year for NBC and Houston at the Shell, and I think they were looking for a new person. I'm 48 and 5/12ths and they are probably looking for a guy that's probably trying to make a decision. This is a great test for me. It's a test for NBC, really, to see if I can be a guy that can fill that role. So I don't know what's going to happen after this year. I hope I do well at it because I enjoy it. Q. (Inaudible.) BRAD FAXON: Is that a serious question? I love the game. When I'm at home I watch on television and I kind of listen to all of the different announcers on all of the different channels. I think it's more difficult than what people think about announcing. You know, it's hard to say the right thing. It's hard not to say too much. I don't think you want to talk over the action. You know, I think NBC is building up a pretty good team, headed by Johnny, love him or hate him, and half the people turn on to watch him and half the people, to bash him. But I think a guy like Dan Hicks or Gary Koch, the whole team has done a great job, so I'm actually flattered that they would ask me to do it. A lot of players have said it's helped being in the booth to help them play better golf. I don't think that's my motivation for that. Q. A lot of TV people were looking at you and Billy, making the transition; have you spoken to Billy about it? And what do you think as a student of watching and playing the game, what can you bring differently to it that maybe because you've watched it? BRAD FAXON: I don't know what I can bring differently. I think I have a pretty good perspective for having a long career out here and I feel like I know most of the guys from still having played recently. I think the hardest thing to do is, you know, when you put an announcer on the spot and say, here is Rich Beem's swing, he hit it in the right rough, tell us why; you see right there on the clubface -- you have to make something up, because his swing he hit right down the middle looks exactly the same. So I guess you have to play that game a little bit. But I talked to Billy a lot about what he's doing, and he's got a different role than I do. He's sometimes in the tower on 18 and he's sometimes in the tower on different holes and sometimes walking the course and roving. I'm going to be -- I don't know if it's exactly the 16th hole every week, but I won't be on 18, because that's where Hicks and Miller are, Koch is on 17. And so I'll be on 15 or 16 is my guess. Q. Tiger's absence on TOUR now -- (Inaudible.) BRAD FAXON: That's what I bring to TV, right? Q. Phil is one of the most recognizable, popular tours now -- BRAD FAXON: I think he is the most recognized and popular player, and by far. Well, I think it's natural that everybody gravitates towards him and his every move. What I appreciate about Phil is he does it in his own way. He doesn't do it Tiger's way or somebody else's way. People want to criticize, if only he worked out more or if only he hit it straighter or if only he played less conservative. Well, the guy has won 36 times, 37 times. That's a lot more -- second or third guy, and people loved Arnold Palmer for the way he played. If he played a different way, would he have won more or would he have won less? It's kind of like Bruce Lietzke, would he have won more if he played more. You know, you could argue that forever. But is he scrutinized more because Tiger is not here? Yeah, because he's the most popular guy out here now. I think that's good. I think we all, you know, it would be great if some other players can step up in Tiger's absence. Q. How do you think Phil has handled things? BRAD FAXON: How do I think Phil has handled things? I didn't play in San Diego, and you know, I think Phil is one of most talented guys with a wedge we have ever seen. And I actually practiced with him before the TOUR started. I went to his house and we were just hitting shots and played a few holes. You know, he likes to spin the ball and have that control, which we all like to have, and the new rules take that away. I was surprised to see him use that wedge. But when you go from -- he had aggressive grooving in his clubs before, and you take that away, that's a big difference. So I think he's handled it fine. Obviously Scott McCarron apologized, didn't mean to call Phil, whether he directly called Phil a cheater. He said it's like cheating; it's kind of the same thing. It's semantics. I thought Phil handled himself well. I think Scott was very apologetic and felt sorry and wished he had never said a word. But I wish none of the players would use them. I think we have tried to make everybody play from the same rules. I hope that -- I think the USGA and Solheim are talking today, if I'm correct, about that. So I hope they can come to a reasonable conclusion without it involving legal matters or something else that changes. It's not helping them. They are not selling anymore clubs. Q. Do you notice any difference in your game with the grooves that are dictated this year? BRAD FAXON: Absolutely. Absolutely. And everybody has. Q. In the rough or the fairways? BRAD FAXON: A little bit out of the fairways. The lie you have in the fairway can make a difference. You know, with the new sharp v-square grooves that we used to use, we always tore our paint off the ball. You rarely do that now. But in rough, drive rough is when you see the biggest flyers in dry, bermudarough. Here you might get an occasional flyer, but if it's damp, I don't think you get as much of a jumper. Q. Whenever Tiger does come back, what is your thoughts or any concerns of how the gallery and fans are going to conduct themselves? BRAD FAXON: Well, I think that's depending on how Tiger comes back and what he does before he comes back, if he does anything. If he just shows up at a tournament and I'm not going to talk about anything, I think there's going to be a lot of people that might take offense to that. I think if he opens up the door and says, you know what, here is my story, that that will make a difference, too. I want him to come back. I think he's great for the game. I hope this is going to make everybody appreciate him and him appreciate the TOUR. I have no idea, like you do, what's going on behind closed doors, but it's just sad. It's sad for him and it's sad for his wife and family. Q. And the galleries -- BRAD FAXON: It's the nature, Phil was being called a cheater while he was playing at San Diego. That wasn't McCarron, though. DOUG MILNE: Okay, Brad, thanks for your time. End of FastScripts
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