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FUNAI GOLF CLASSIC AT WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT


October 24, 2004


Ryan Palmer


LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA

NELSON SILVERIO: Welcome, Ryan Palmer, 2004 Funai Classic champion, shot a brilliant 62 today to take the title. Why don't you just give us some general comments on your round and your feelings right now.

RYAN PALMER: My feelings right now are pretty unbelievable. What an unbelievable day. James and I talked last night about a number to shoot, and we figured if we can get to 20, we'll see what happens from there. I got off to a fast start and birdied five of the first six holes and had some things going my way. I think when you win you need a little luck, and I had a chip go in and made a long putt.

I played great, just unbelievable, and what an unbelievable feeling, and this is going to be something I'll cherish forever.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Fortunately I got to play with Lucas Glover, who's a good friend, and we have such a great time when we play together; we're just hanging out. To go out with him today was a big help. I mean, I think he played well. Unfortunately he didn't come in strong, but fortunately he finished top 10.

Playing with someone like that, it can relax you a little more. You talk, you joke, and it just keeps you relaxed a lot more. Trying to draw on my experiences in Jackson, Mississippi, and my win last year in New Zealand, I tried to think about those things and try to enjoy myself. Actually Brandel Chamblee after Jackson told me, "You're supposed to be serious and you're having fun laughing, what's up with that?"

When you're out here doing what you love and enjoying the game, it's hard not to have fun.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I thought I hit -- the speed I thought was good. I didn't pay attention to how fast it was going. Once I got within ten feet, it was right in the center, and I thought, "This is going to be really good." When it was a couple feet from the hole and it was dead center, I knew it was going to hit the bottom.

I've been struggling all week on my long putts going down grain and having those ten footers come back. When I saw it go in, I thought, "That's justice." Because I had had so much trouble with them and we had practiced on them after each round. To make that was just an unbelievable -- I really wasn't paying attention to how fast it was going or how hard it hit the hole.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I'm sure it was going to be at least five, six feet by because I know how the grain works when the ball gets going.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I thought I needed to birdie 18. I felt I needed to birdie 18 to give myself a really good chance. I knew I had -- I guess it was two shots at the time when I finished, and I knew Vijay was coming on strong and Briny was playing well, as well, so as we were sitting there, we were watching inside, and when I found out Vijay had bogeyed 16, I guess, I knew what he had to do, and probably watching -- when Briny three-putted -- missed a birdie putt on 16, I knew he had to make birdie on 16 coming in, so once he missed the birdie on 16 -- or 17 maybe it was, I knew then.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: A little bit of both, I guess. On 18 on that wedge, I tried to stay relaxed and waiting on Lucas, just tried to keep swinging and stay relaxed. I felt comfortable. It was a great day, just a matter of finishing. It was an awesome feeling.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Coming here to the tournament? To win, pretty much everything. My game has been solid the last three or four weeks, and my wedge game -- I knew when I had a wedge in my hand, I felt like I was going to make birdie every time, and today I hit some wedges within a couple feet. I would probably say that and my putting. I probably saved a lot of pars from five, ten feet. Just my putting has been great and my wedge game has been superb. My short game has come a long ways, and that probably saved me this week.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: You know, now that you say that, I don't think there was a time I felt I was going to make bogey. It was one of those days that -- probably the chip shot I hit on 16 -- well, 15, the par 3, it hit the pin pretty hard, I think. Fortunately I got my way, but I never really felt I was in jeopardy of making a bogey. It was one of those days where everything was clicking, you're getting a little luck here and there, and it was one of those days.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Yeah, that's true. To beat the No. 1 player in the world for a guy like me, obviously a rookie out here, and trying to just -- I kept my card a couple weeks ago, but trying to win for the first time and beating the No. 1 player in the world who was pretty much unstoppable the last few weeks was just awesome. I know I can play with the best now. That's awesome knowing I can go out and beat the best player in the world.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: One of my main goals was to give myself a chance to win. Whether I could win or not, we'd have to wait and see. I knew I could win because I won the year before on the Nationwide Tour, which is one of the best tours in the world next to the PGA TOUR obviously. I knew I could win. I had been through it, and I've won on every level, so I knew I could come in this year -- if I gave myself a chance to win, I could draw on past experiences, which would help me out a lot. I'm not going to say I came here and -- I didn't think I couldn't win. If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't play, that's for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I was 126, I believe. I spent like three or four weeks at 125, so I knew I had some weeks coming to get my card. Finishing 2nd obviously put a lot of relief in my game. Now the goal was to try to go out and win, and it definitely happened sooner than expected, I think.

Q. Are you going to play next week?

RYAN PALMER: If I got in I was. I was fifth alternate going into this week, so I was hoping I could get some withdrawals or say let's go finish Top 10, then I'll get in next week. To win, unbelievable. Now my main goal next week is to try to get in the Tour Championship.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: It's mini-Tour golf. You're paying a lot of money to go out and play for $100,000 a person, $150,000 a person. I'm just thankful I got the opportunity to play out there. They put up a great Tour, have some great memories out there, played with some friends and had some success. There's so many good players in this country and in the world, and to go out and play professional golf and win, I think you can win anywhere because there's so many good players out there.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: After that -- I graduated 2000. I actually played four straight years of golf and spent a year not playing golf. We won't talk about that year. But I spent that summer playing the Tight Lies Tour, then went to Q-school, played some tournaments on the Hooters Tour the following year, and went back over to Tight Lies Tour the next spring, played a couple years on the Tight Lies Tour. Last year I won three times, lost in one playoff and made $80,000 out there, which on a mini-Tour is good, I think.

Q. That's 2002 we're up to now?

RYAN PALMER: I believe so, yes. Then I've had a lot of confidence going to Q-school after that year obviously. I got to the first stage, got through the second stage and got to finals and played well, not as well as I wanted to, but got my Nationwide Tour card, which I thought was a blessing. The fact that I got to play on that Tour for a year before I came to this one, that's just like the PGA TOUR except for obviously the people and the glamour, but you're playing -- the players on the Nationwide Tour can win out here any given week, I think, and that says a lot for the guys out there right now.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: How much did it cost me? Gosh, I don't know, probably about $1,500 a ticket and then hotel, quite a bit. Awesome experience out there, missed the cut, so obviously I was frustrated, then I went to New Zealand and shot 63 on Friday and came out and won on the Nationwide Tour. What an unbelievable start, and that definitely made the year a lot easier.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Yeah, I talk about that a lot because I joined up on the first hole and played with Payne Stewart and Graham Marsh. It was unbelievable. I was a junior in college, I guess, and he only played nine holes, but the two hours we spent was just something I will cherish the rest of my life, just the fact of getting to know him, the way he was, the kind of person he was.

What touched me the most was I guess on Thursday -- we played on Monday. On Thursday I shot 82, and he didn't have to remember who I was. He played with an amateur that qualified, big deal. Across the room after eating lunch, he hollered over, "Hey, Ryan, how did you do, how did you play today," and for him to talk to me like that and say, "Hey, keep plugging along, you're playing great," that touched my heart a lot.

Even my mother, he talked to my mother about it, and he was an unbelievable person. That day when he passed away was definitely a sad day for me, as well. I know a lot of players out here talk about what a unique and what an unbelievable person he was.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Yeah, he was in slacks and a ball cap, so you wouldn't really know who he was. He was a neat person. He was always having fun. I go out and try to have fun a lot, but he was always giggling, joking, having a lot of fun. I try to do the same thing because when I'm more relaxed I'm playing better. He was joking the whole way, cutting up, and it was just a great experience.

Q. Four 60-somethings in a row off an 80 in Greensboro was it?

RYAN PALMER: Oh, you had to bring that up (laughter).

Q. Well, it kind of jumps off the page, you know.

RYAN PALMER: I guess coming off Jackson, which was hard, I went to Vegas and played okay and just got down on myself a lot that day and pretty much just gave up on myself, I think. I wasn't having fun that day. So I came out here a couple days earlier, and my wife Jennifer and James and his fiancee went to Disney on Sunday and got away from the game and practiced a little bit on Monday and didn't really do a whole lot.

I knew I was playing well. The 80 was a fluke. I tried to prepare myself, and the key is getting off to a good start on Thursday, and I did.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Edmonson, E-d-m-o-n-s-o-n.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I had a lady in Boston, she thought I was him. She was giving me a haircut. It was funny, everybody that asking me -- James always says, "You owe me a dollar." I mean, it's every day, which I'm not saying it's bad, it's definitely a great name to be in the same sentence with, that's for sure. At Bay Hill this year I had the pleasure of meeting him. I introduced myself to him in the dining room, and he told me you've been playing great, and that's it. Just keep up the good work. It was an honor to get to meet him.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: He got up with I guess his wife now, I'm not sure, but I just walked over, took my hat off and shook his hand and introduced myself, and he was very -- when you're talking to him, he doesn't look away. He's looking in your eyes the whole time and is one-on-one, and that was a neat thing. That was the best ten seconds I've had all year after the one right now today.

I actually talked to the tournament director at Mercedes, talked to him already. I think I need to -- I'm not sure where I stand on the Money List, but I know -- I looked last night actually. I said, "If I win, I'll be in the top 40." I knew I needed to get there.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Yeah, my dad's birthday one year I told him, I said -- I could go to the Masters with my credential, my PGA of America credential, and my teacher, he has a friend with a house out there and has a couple extra passes for himself and my wife Jennifer, and the four of us went up there for Thursday and Friday's round. It was an awesome experience, just getting to see the place and Magnolia Lane and everything. What an unbelievable dream come true to get to drive down there with my wife and my parents and James and everybody. As a player, yes. I'm looking forward to that.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: You know, I've come back from six back before in a tournament last year when I was playing. I knew I'd shoot a low round definitely. I knew I had to get to 20 at least, I thought, and my game has been good. I've been playing well and putting good. I knew if I got hot and got hot early, that was the key was getting hot early.

Fortunately I got off to a great start, and I knew if I kept plugging along I could give it a shot. If I'm within four, five, six shots, I always feel like I can win. It's a lot of shots obviously out here, but doing it in the past, I feel like I can do it out here, too. It's a matter of going out and taking care of it.

It was a good charge, a lot of fun. A lot of laughs, too.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: After I finished? No, I knew because I knew Briny was on 13 and 14. So I went up to the booth a little bit, and then I went out and signed some autographs for all the fans. Then we went to the lounge area of our locker room. I wanted to sit down and relax and watch it coming in. I talked to a few people on the phone, my mom, my dad and my teacher. My mom could barely talk. She couldn't hold it in. My parents are still in Amarillo.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I won on the Tight Lies Tour when I was six strokes back.

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: I won five Tight Lies events in a two-and-a-half-year span and then lost a playoff on the Hooters Tour. I never won on the Hooters Tour. I won twice in college -- three times in college, excuse me.

NELSON SILVERIO: Can we go through your card?

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Yes, 57-degree lob wedge, same club.

Then 17, had the same club in the rough, just kind of -- I had like 75 yards. I couldn't believe it went that far. I mean, we were looking for it. It was unbelievable. I thought it was going to be perfect when we got there, and where it ended up --

Q. (Inaudible).

RYAN PALMER: Oh, the mud flew all over me, yeah. I covered myself in a divot.

NELSON SILVERIO: Thank you, Ryan. Congratulations.

RYAN PALMER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.
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