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TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 17, 2010Corey PavinPALM HARBOR, FLORIDA MARK WILLIAMS: We welcome Corey Pavin, the United States Ryder Cup Captain, to the interview room at the Transitions Championship. Thanks for joining us. Let's just talk about your game right now, you made the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year, and you've played here several times, you had a top 20 in 2008. Just talk about your game and what sort of shape it's in. COREY PAVIN: I've been playing a little bit better. I played well down in Newport Beach on the Champions Tour. Game is coming along. Switched putters; I went from my Bulls-Eye to my blade and that was better. So I like the way that's heading. I love playing here at Transitions. I think this is one of best golf courses we play on TOUR. It tests everything about your game. Scoring is never extremely low here, which is a good thing. It's a hard golf course, and a very solid golf course, very fair. I always liked coming here. MARK WILLIAMS: You're going to have some interesting decisions to make later in the year. Obviously you playing on the Champions Tour, you're seeing a lot of good golf out there right now with Fred Couples, and obviously Tom Watson has played well, and Tom Lehman, too. Talk about whether you'll consider them and thoughts they may have coming up. COREY PAVIN: I think anyone who is an American citizen is a consideration, preferably if they are golfers, as well. I'm looking at everybody; just because there's guys on the Champions Tour, it doesn't preclude them from my list. Obviously Freddie is playing very well, and Tom has played very nicely. You know, I have to see how those guys play when they are against their own age group or against a younger age group. So I'm hoping that Tom plays a little bit more on the regular tour, or plays a few events, obviously he's going to be playing the Masters and probably the U.S. Open I would think, and the British Open; I'll say the British Open since we are here, otherwise it's The Open Championship. I'll watch all of these guys. There's nobody that's not on my list right now. I haven't scratched a single name off, and those guys I'm definitely looking at. So we'll just have to wait and see how they play and how everybody else plays and who the eight are that qualify after the PGA Championship, as well. Q. We know where Tiger is going to play the first one, I don't know that anybody would even begin to guess how much he's going to play after that, because he's got some clean-up to do at home, maybe he plays a half dozen times the rest of the year. If he's outside your top eight, do you envision a scenario where he doesn't play in The Ryder Cup of his own volition because of, I don't know, maybe the reception he might receive over there, or any circumstances like that, or are you pretty much figuring that he's going to be good to go? COREY PAVIN: Well, you know, I don't know. I don't have the answers. I will have a time where I'll sit down and talk with him. I think that's still a long way away from now. And I won't treat Tiger any differently than any other player. I'll sit down with all of the players that I'm thinking about and talk to them and see. We will have that conversation at some point, Tiger and I, and see what's going on. You know, right now, he's coming back to play at the Masters, which is great, and I'll just have to wait, just like you, and see where he plays, how much he plays, how he's playing, and make my decision as captain from that evidence and talking with him, as well. Q. With so many Europeans now in the Top-10 in the World Rankings, and, we are going to be playing on foreign soil, would it be unusual if you're going to go over there, and you're going to be the underdog? COREY PAVIN: No, I don't think it would be unusual at all. I think they are going to have a very strong team, I feel. They have got a lot of solid young players that have been playing great for quite a while. It's hard to go over there and play, No. 1. It's difficult to win overseas. It's been since '93, since the U.S. has won. That in itself speaks volumes. They play The Wales Open there, and they will have some experience playing the golf course under tournament conditions, which is another aid for them, as well. But you know, Team USA is going to be good, and we are going to try as hard as we can and try to get a victory over there. I mean, that's what we are going over there for. So I expect The Matches to be pretty close. It's going to be a very competitive -- and we'll see what happens Sunday night, see who is holding the trophy. Q. What tips or tricks or observations did you make at Valhalla in terms of how the guys related to each other, things that Azinger did, and that you want that to be a part of your formula? COREY PAVIN: Well, I think the best thing that happened there was the guys played very well and made a lot of putts and chipped well. That's what you need to do to win The Ryder Cup. The pairings are fun and everybody can guess and second-guess and say good job or bad job, but the bottom line is that players have got to play and they have got to perform, and whatever I can do to putt them in a position where they can play the best golf they can; and that's my job, and obviously to pair them as best as I can, as well. They have to go out there and play. They have to go out and make putts and perform. If they do, I think we'll do fine. Q. When you're playing PGA TOUR events, does it make it difficult to also do evaluations and concentrate on your own game at the same time? COREY PAVIN: No, it's not that hard for me. You know, it's kind of fun for me in a lot of ways, when I'm not playing or I'm practicing, hang around the locker room or just hang around the putting green and just talk to guys; I enjoy doing that. That's fun for me, just to sit around and shoot the stuff is fun. So I like that part of it. I've really enjoyed that aspect of being captain. You know, do I watch the scores absolutely. Do I watch TV a lot? Do I watch a lot of golf on TV? Absolutely. A lot more than I ever have, and I will continue to do that. Everywhere I can get information, I will gather it and use it to the best of my ability. Q. Would you be playing the Champions Tour full-time if you were not The Ryder Cup captain? Are you playing PGA TOUR events because you want to get out here to see these guys? Be honest. COREY PAVIN: Be honest? I'm always honest. Why would you say that? (Laughter). Q. Because you looked like you were hesitating? COREY PAVIN: No, I was just trying to think of a funny answer. I couldn't really think of one. I would play a few less regular events. I've added a few to my schedule that I probably wouldn't have played before. But I think that if I wasn't captain this year, I would probably play two or three regular TOUR events, as opposed to the seven that I have planned right now. But I think it's very important for me to be out here, see the guys, talk to them, let them know that I'm thinking about it quite a lot, and have conversations with people. And there may be a week or two where I come out on TOUR where I'm not playing on the Champions Tour just to hang out and I won't be even be playing. That's a possibility as well. Q. Scouting? COREY PAVIN: Scouting, yeah. Q. Is there any advantage at all -- four years ago a bunch of guys went to Ireland. Does it matter to have to go over there to see the course before Ryder Cup week? I know schedule-wise, it's going to be very tight, but are you encouraging them to go or on their own, or does it not matter? COREY PAVIN: I think if guys would want to go over there and play before, say, the British Open for a few days, that's fine. I'm not going to say you have to do it or anything. If they want to, that's fine. I'm not going to hold it for or against them whether they go or not go. The golf course itself is a very straightforward golf course. I don't think there's a big learning curve out there at the course. We play it three times before The Ryder Cup starts, which is plenty I think to learn the golf course. If guys want to do it, that's great. It's not going to give them brownie points if they go over in my book, but it would be fine if they do. Q. You'll be leaving out of Atlanta, I guess Sunday night? COREY PAVIN: That's the plan right now, leave Sunday night. Q. So potential for four rounds if you wanted? COREY PAVIN: Monday is going to be a tough day, flying overnight and getting there whatever time, I don't know the exact time, but we'll probably arrive at eight or nine in the morning. You know, jet-lag is tough, and everybody handles it differently. I assume that things are probably the same -- Monday is probably a non-gallery day; is that correct? JULIUS MASON: First ticketed day is Tuesday. COREY PAVIN: If guys want to go down and hit balls, chip, putt, play nine holes, that's fine. I'll give them the option to do whatever they want. It's important for the guys to stick with their routine that they normally have when they go over seas and if it's for them taking a nap for three hours during the afternoon is fine, if they want to go out and practice, that's fine, too. So Monday is going to be kind of a free choice day. Q. I know you've said in the past that Tom Watson is one of the guys on your radar, so to speak. I'm wondering, have you actually had a conversation with him about possibly being on the team or is it still wait and see? COREY PAVIN: It's still wait and see. Tom is a pretty smart guy and he knows that I'm thinking about him without me even saying anything or that he's on my list. So it's nothing that has to be spoken. He knows. Q. No conversation as of yet? COREY PAVIN: No. Not about playing. I mean, he's probably -- I've said a few things, and maybe he's read what I've said, but you know, I think that he knows what the situation is, and he knows what he would have to do to impress me, so to speak. Q. It's a tremendous honor to be a Ryder Cup Captain, but is it a little bit frustrating in the knowledge that you can do the absolute best job that you could do, and it not be good enough, because a couple of putts didn't fall or a couple of other guys played way over their heads; is that frustration something that you worry about? COREY PAVIN: No, I don't worry about it, because that's nothing that I can control. I can control everything I do to prepare and give the guys the best situation to play the best golf they can. I can't make them make putts and make them hit shots, just like I can't make myself hit great shots all the time and make every putt that I have. So for me, as long as I do the best job that I think I can do, and have done that, I'll be satisfied. Would I like to be holding the trophy? Absolutely. That's the goal. And if we don't and I've done everything I can do, then I'll be satisfied to that level. Q. Tom Lehman said he won't change a thing; he did everything that he thought should be done. It just didn't happen for him? COREY PAVIN: Yeah, obviously I was there, as his assistant and I thought did he a tremendous job. The guys just did not play that well, and it's as simple as that. I thought everything he did in the hotel and behind closed doors, so to speak, was fantastic. I watched it all very carefully, and had my own advice -- I don't know if he took it or not. I thought he did a great job as captain. And you can do that, and not win. The opposite can happen, too. You can do a poor job and you can win. But you know, I haven't seen any captain that's ever done a bad job; everybody who is captain loves to do it and they want to put everything they can into it and make it the best Ryder Cup that's ever been for their players. So I wouldn't be frustrated in that regard. If I looked back and said, gosh, I should have thought of that or I should have done that; that would be frustrating to me. But I've had a lot of time to think about all of these things, and I would be surprised if I felt that way at the end of it. Q. What's the best advice that you have gotten from a past captain, and also, what do you take away from when you were assistant? COREY PAVIN: Well, if I told you what the captain said, I would have to shoot you or something I think. All of that's kind of private. But I've had advice from all sides of the spectrum. It's been interesting to hear what everybody has had to say. You know, there will be some captains that are totally, you know, immerse yourself and every detail has to be perfect, and others said, you know, don't worry about it so much. Just go by your gut and do whatever. So it's been a very interesting spectrum of advice that I've gotten. And I'll keep getting it, and I'll just plug in what works for me and the way I want to be a captain and the way I want to represent myself to the players. And what was the second part? Q. When you were assistant, any one thing that you took away from that? COREY PAVIN: I think, you know, it's hard. As an assistant, I watched Tom and what he did, and I thought he did a great job, and the guys just didn't perform that well. You know, I think the one thing that I want to make sure that I do when I'm captain is to be very flexible as The Matches go on. I don't want to have anything set in stone, and I'm not saying Tom did; I'm not implying that. But that's one thing I learned as an assistant, is it's okay to change pairings around. It's okay to move things around -- even if a pair wins twice, it's not a bad idea to split them up. That can be done. Flexibility is very important from the pairings standpoint, I believe, within the days of competition. Q. You might have just answered this, but where do you lie on that spectrum of being a captain who gets into the fine details of planning or a captain that says, I need to let my players be themselves. COREY PAVIN: Well, the captain is doing all of the details, and Lisa is doing all the of the really big details, all of the details for the team room, everything. She's doing a lot of that. And that frees me up to be more of just the captain of the players, which is very helpful to me. I'm not a very detail-oriented person when it comes to that kind of stuff, the other stuff. She's very organized. She does that well. And I'm very pleased that she wants to do it and is very gung ho about it. But for me, it helps me to just be able to talk to the players. I'm kind of more of the relaxed guy when it comes to all this stuff. I'm not going to be stressing. I'm not going to be pulling my hair out and staying up till three in the morning or four in the morning trying to figure stuff out. I've had two years to work on that and figure it out, and I'll have it figured out by then. I hope that answers your question. Q. Do you feel like along those lines, do you feel like there are any personality traits that are developing in Captain Pavin that the players might notice as being different from the Corey Pavin they have known? COREY PAVIN: I don't know. I guess you have to ask them. I think I've made a big effort to walk up and talk to a lot of guys and get to know a lot of people. And there are some people that could be on the team that, you know, are pretty young guys that I don't know very well and I've made a big effort to get to know them, play some rounds with them, talk to them on the phone, text them, call them, that kind of thing. Obviously that's not something I would normally do, but that's part of being captain. I'm just trying to be a lot more accessible to guys than maybe I haven't been before, just because I need to talk to people. I need to hang around the locker room. I need to hang around the putting green. Otherwise I would be playing, hang around a little bit and then go home. But I hang around a lot more, and that's good. I want the guys to get to know me. I want them to know me for who I am, and how I am going to be as a captain. That's very important. And most of the guys know me pretty well, anyway, because there's a few that I need to get in touch with and talk to. MARK WILLIAMS: Captain Pavin, thank you for joining us and good luck this week at the Transitions Championship. End of FastScripts |
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