	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 4, 2010

Michael Connell

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: A bogey-free 5-under par 65 and you are tied for the first round lead of the Honda Classic. Very nice round. Congratulations. Maybe some highlights of the round and then take us through your three birdies and eagle, and if you had a good save in the round, tell us about that, too.
MICHAEL CONNELL: I started off on 1 and made a good par, and then did the same on 2. On 3 I hit it a little left off the tee in the left rough but had a very good lie and hit a 3-iron that ran up in there about, I don't know, probably eight or 12 feet, something like that and I made it for eagle.
And then I made a good save for par on 4. I hit it right of the green and made probably an 18-foot putt for par.
And then the round was kind of pretty -- got a little easier from there. I started putting it in little better spots. Made birdie on 8. Hit it up in there really pretty close, about six or eight feet probably.
And then like I say, I was kind of just hitting it in the right spots. It was a pretty simple round. I was making some putts and then birdied 12. I hit it in there probably about eight feet.
And then the media showed up and I got a little bit skittish (laughter) as I got on 13 tee. Hit a poor tee shot out to the right but had a very good lie. Hit it in there probably 20 feet, 25 feet left of the hole.
And then hit it left on 15 -- no, no, 14 off the tee and didn't have much. Was trying to get it on the front right of the green. Hit it in the bunker. Probably had about a 35-yard bunker shot. Had a great bunker shot to ten feet probably and made it for par.
And then got up on 15 and hit it about 20, 25 feet below the hole just to the left. Thought I made that. Actually I ran it right over the right lip.
16, I pulled it left off the tee a little bit and it kind of crossed the wind. And then pulled it left on the second and that was another one of those precarious spots. I really didn't have much as far as a chip went and I hit it about ten feet and made that for par.
And then on 17, I hit it about, I don't know, probably 12 or 15 feet just left of the hole and made that for birdie.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: What did you hit on 17?
MICHAEL CONNELL: I hit a 6-iron, not much of one. Trying to hit like a 170, 172 shot and ended up playing 186 to the hole.
And then on 18, I hit a good tee ball, a good second, a good third in there probably about six feet right of the hole, a little dark. I didn't see it breaking as much as it did and missed it just a little bit left.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Can you tell us maybe the last few years, what you've been doing and how you got to this point?
MICHAEL CONNELL: Sure, sure. I played on TOUR in 2006. Didn't have much success. I struggled a little bit early and didn't get many starts and then got a bunch of starts at the end of the year. I played okay when I started getting some starts kind of in late June, July, kind of after the U.S. Open. Then just kind of got tired after the end of the year. I was working with Dick Harmon at the time and he passed away in February. And so I was a little lost as far as instructor went and kind of searched around for that a little bit.
Went all the way from the TOUR back to playing in mini-tours in 2007 and 2008. I got married in 2007 and we moved in 2008 and so kind of just bounced around playing 12 or 15 tournaments a year on mini-tours, splitting time between kind of the Hooters Tour and the Tight Lies Tour. And then went back through all three stages of Q-School again last year, and here I am.
This is my fourth start this year.

Q. Had you played the Honda before?
MICHAEL CONNELL: I've never played the Honda.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: We had Alex Rocha in here earlier in the day and I understand that you and he were teammates at Mississippi State.
MICHAEL CONNELL: Right, right. He was a freshman -- I guess you call him a freshman. He came in after playing a year of amateur golf. I don't know how y'all are with world golf stuff. When you're in foreign countries, they tend to play a little bit more organized amateur golf than as opposed to going to college. He played a year for like the Brazilian team I think and then came in as a freshman, kind of my junior year at Mississippi State. We played two years together and then he played two years after that.

Q. Can you talk about just how you felt as far as confidence coming into today, and also, how did the wind play throughout your round?
MICHAEL CONNELL: It was a little gusty. But confidence-wise, the golf course is an A to B kind of golf course. Really just trying to put it in certain spots on the fairway regardless of what the wind is doing and just kind of decided that's how I was going to play the golf course is just try to put it in a certain spot regardless of what club that meant I was hitting off the tee or anything like that, and just try to play to kind of the fat side of the green, the center of the greens from there and putt from there. And just happened to hit it close to the hole you know a few times and then got away with my mistakes today really. I putted well enough when I got into a little bit of trouble to make up for it.
That's kind of pretty much all I was really trying to do, like I say, is just play the golf course like I see it.

Q. Was it an advantage going out later today in any way?
MICHAEL CONNELL: I wouldn't know because I wasn't out here until noon. It seemed like it was obviously probably cooler this morning, judging from what I've seen the last couple of days. It was obviously probably cooler this morning. I don't know about the wind conditions.
From what I saw in the weather report, it was supposed to be windy pretty much all day, maybe a little gustier this afternoon. I would say it probably started to die down a little bit possibly about our last three holes, maybe after like 5:00, 4:30, 5:00, it started to settle down a little bit.

Q. How much fun is it for you and Alex to be bumping into each other in the top of the leaderboard?
MICHAEL CONNELL: It's funny, I saw him at lunch the other day. I keep up with him -- he's been playing over in Europe.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: He said Asia he's been playing a lot?
MICHAEL CONNELL: He played over there in Europe a couple of years and this year he's playing in Asia. I keep up with him in e-mails and mutual friends, and when I ran into him, we double-checked phone numbers and stuff. It was nice. He told me that he had been reworking his game a little bit and it's awesome to see him playing well. I think the guy -- I remember when I played with him in college, the guy had a ton of talent. So it's fun to see both of us playing well, yeah.

Q. What kind of expectations do you bring to this tournament when you stepped on the tee today?
MICHAEL CONNELL: I don't really try and put too much expectation on it. You get a little bit ahead of yourself and obviously you cause yourself a little bit of problems. Like I say, really just trying to play the golf course as I see it, trying to play well, obviously.
I'm trying to work myself to a full-time player out here, but I've been playing okay this year. Kind of have one round a week that kind of gives me trouble, so expectations are as they have been all year. Really just trying to play solid golf and work myself into playing out here full-time.

Q. Were you always in this event, or did you have to wait on the reshuffle?
MICHAEL CONNELL: I reshuffled into this event. I was out of the event until we reshuffled.

Q. When was that?
MICHAEL CONNELL: Reshuffled on Monday after Phoenix.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Continued good luck. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297