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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 2, 2010

Cameron Percy

HUMBLE, TEXAS

MARK WILLIAMS: Cameron Percy, thanks for joining us at the Shell Houston Open. Second round, 3-under, 69 to go with your first round 67 and 8-under. Obviously you've come along way since Monday, you were telling us you're qualifying on the first tee. Now here you are leading the tournament. That's quite the journey traveled so far.
CAMERON PERCY: It's a nice turnaround from not only had to shoot 56 in playoff to getting in, and now I can relax and get out there. Just play my way.

Q. How important was it for you to finish with the birdie on the last hole?
CAMERON PERCY: Really helped me. I just missed a few putts, and I made a few really soft bogies today, and then just finished the round off to hit a nice drive and take advantage of it, basically.
MARK WILLIAMS: Let's have some questions for Cameron.

Q. How about your putting? Thus far this season, it hasn't been as good as you wanted. You putted pretty good from 10 feet and under.
CAMERON PERCY: The greens are much better. You don't have to hit them as hard and there are no footprints. You just pick a line and it goes in. There's no grain, there's no nothing like that.
You have to allow for wind out there, which is quite difficult. The wind is blowing the ball a little bit on the greens. And they're just like Australia. They're pure.

Q. What's your best round so far, the Monday qualifying or Thursday or Friday?
CAMERON PERCY: I didn't have to qualify. I would have had to shoot 56 to even get in a playoff, so definitely worrying about shooting 7-under and still missing out.
MARK WILLIAMS: You were on the tee there ready to qualify on Monday.
CAMERON PERCY: Yeah. My number was 145 out of 144. I was looking at my PGA links on the iPhone. Then it went NTD or something, 144. I thought someone pulled me out of the tournament or something.
So I rang the Tour. I said I don't know what that means, either.
She said hang on, rang someone, and then said I hit off. I had my card and met my playing partners and everytyhing. I said, don't worry about it, you're right.
That was nice (laughter). I warmed up, I had done everything. That's good.

Q. The history of Australians at this tournament, do you know it?
CAMERON PERCY: I do, actually. I think Stuey Applebee. Adam Scott won. I know Geoff's been right there or thereabouts as well.
I can see why they do well around here. It's just like Australia, basically, or Melbourne. The greens are like Melbourne. You get a bounce and how you spin it and all that sort of stuff. Not pick a yardage, hit it. Comes in light or high, whatever, you actually got to work it out there.

Q. A particular course back home that it reminds you of?
CAMERON PERCY: Reminds me of the greens from Southern where I used to be a member. We played on Wednesday, and it will be like this. It reminds me a lot of that and probably Victoria, Kingston Heath, Royal Melbourne, probably six or seven courses with greens just as good as this in Melbourne. We're pretty spoiled, to be honest with you.

Q. How many people have mentioned to you in the last four months that you're the last guy to play with Tiger Woods?
CAMERON PERCY: A few, A few. All my friends think they'll win some trivia competition in about ten years. That was amazing, what happened there.

Q. What kinds of things have people said to you in the few months, just putting two and to together, and you're the last guy to see him?
CAMERON PERCY: Yeah. When I first got here, all the pros knew that I was the last guy to play. And they're all giving me a bit of ribbing and stuff like that. What did you do with Tiger, all this sort of stuff (laughter). I got a funny handshake. He went back and gave his wife a handshake. It's crazy, what's happened with him.

Q. Would you embrace the opportunity to play with him next week?
CAMERON PERCY: I got to play with him in Melbourne, five minutes from home, all my friends and family there with 25,000 people. It was one of the best days in my life.

Q. What about playing with him this Thursday and Friday?
CAMERON PERCY: He's such a nice guy. You guys have met him. First time I met him. We chatted the whole way around about all sorts of stuff. I had a great day with him.

Q. You talked a little bit about the confusion, whatever, where you had to qualify here. For this first full stint of you on Tour, had you had things like that, major adjustments from week to week?
CAMERON PERCY: You don't know the course. You don't know if you're in certain events. You got to qualify sometimes. And basically last year, I worked all year to get on Tour, and then that's all gone now because seven weeks in, they rerank. So whatever you did last year means zip.
I got a really bad rerank because I didn't play too good in the first few events. When I won the events, Puerto Rico, they organized and we had to play on Monday. I had no chance of doing that. Took me like a week and a half to organize accommodation and all that, fly and all that stuff. That was a waste of time in the end.

Q. Has it affected your game because so much other stuff is going on and it's not just golf with you?
CAMERON PERCY: Yeah. Well, it's a lot to organize. I've got a young family and stuff like that. Just not knowing and not knowing the courses and -- like today on 11, the other guys hit 3-wood, I felt like it was going to be too far back. But I hit driver and that nearly went in the water, sort of thing.
I got out there, and I wish I had my 3-wood. My caddy said, yeah, it's a lot more room than you think. It's like there's one shot. If it goes in the water, I make 5 or 6 instead I stayed up and I nearly made 30.

Q. Is being here a surprise, or do you feel like you're ready too win?
CAMERON PERCY: My game is good enough, tee to green. Whether I can -- chipping and bunker play is a bit average at the moment. Missed a couple pretty easy up-and-downs today, but the putting has been good this week. If I keep playing like I am, it's going to be hard to beat me.

Q. Is the Masters on your mind at all?
CAMERON PERCY: That would be awesome, yeah. Anyone in my position would be thinking about. Alex Prugh is doing well. He's in the same boat. I'm not in. It would be a dream come true to ring the mates up, hey, we're in the Masters, come over the next week. Everyone wants to get there.

Q. Do you have to put that out of your mind and kind of focus on what you're doing?
CAMERON PERCY: Yeah. At the end of the day when you got some time, you think about it, but that's it.

Q. What time would you have to wake up to watch the Masters?
CAMERON PERCY: In Australia we used to wake up about 4:00 in the morning. We'd go around to people's place. I still remember we threw the TV out the window almost when Norman lost when he was in 6 in front.
He hit it in the water on 16, it was like the ball landed and the remote went out the window and my mate pushed the TV. We sat up all night to watch it. The whole country was devastated.
Normally 4:00 in the morning. It finishes about 9:00, 10:00 in the morning. Some people have parties and all sorts of stuff, which I'm sure you do have. Breakfast and watch it. It's brilliant. Lost a bit because of the way they set the course up. Used to be awesome when guys will make birdies and eagles and come charging. Now they're trying to shoot par, basically. It's lost a bit it of its luster.

Q. Talk a little bit about the confidence that you have to have to play well. A second ago you mentioned if you keep playing like this, you're going to tough to beat on the weekend. There are names on the leaderboard who have done this many, many times at this level. You haven't. There's no lack confidence, it seems?
CAMERON PERCY: The biggest thing here is like in Australia, we have events at the end of the year we play like Jeff Ogilvie, Adam Scott, they invite a couple top players out and it's going to be hard to beat them. There's only four, five sort of guys you got to beat.
PGA Tour, you got 140 of these guys. That's the hardest thing. It's not just -- one or two of these guys are going to have a bad week. You're trying to beat three, four. Out here you got 140 guys to beat each week instead of four or five. Anyone can play as good as those guys. That's the main difference I've noticed.

Q. What did you learn about yourself that day you played with Tiger?
CAMERON PERCY: Just he played nicely, but he didn't play different than me. Gave me a little confidence. The day before I played really nicely and played like he did. He's awesome. I was like I could probably play better than him. It gave me the confidence.
I hit the ball the same distance as him and all that sort of stuff. Gave me confidence that I can play as well as anybody. Got to do it as often as he does. He does it every week, whereas I don't. Not as far away as you might think you are.
MARK WILLIAMS: Even though you're a rookie, Cameron, on the PGA TOUR, you've played a lot around the world for many years. What sort of things have you learned to bring here to the Tour and what is different on the Tour than playing the rest of the world? Nationwide Tour for a couple years and Europe and Asia, Australia, you played everywhere.
CAMERON PERCY: The golf courses are a lot different. Every course -- it was good this week because you got runoffs. Every other course, it feels like you miss the green, it runs this far off the green and hit your lob wedge.
Here there's a lot more of the sameness, I suppose. You miss the green, you basically pull your lob wedge out. Only one shot. Not as much creativity as other courses around the world.
The rough is actually down. You don't just hack it out or something like that. Actually, the grooves, the way the rough is this week, you really scared of getting a flyer. So you hit in it rough, you got to be really careful of what sort of club you hit and how you hit it.
MARK WILLIAMS: Okay. Thanks, Cameron, for coming in. We appreciate and have a great weekend.

End of FastScripts

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