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QUAIL HOLLOW CHAMPIONSHIP

April 30, 2010

J.P. Hayes

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome J.P. Hayes into the interview room here at the Quail Hollow Championship. You tied a course record today with an 8-under par 64. J.P., great playing. If we can just get some comments on your day.
J.P. HAYES: Yeah, I played well today. I didn't play great. I kept it in play, I hit a lot of greens, which I told my caddie on the first hole, I said, just get me on the green today because I'm going to make a lot of putts. I hit 15 greens in regulation, and ended up making nine birdies. Our goal was accomplished.
JOHN BUSH: You've been close this year, three Top 10s, playing really good golf. Comment a little bit about your season and about your expectations the rest of the year.
J.P. HAYES: Well, I'm very happy with the way the season has gone. It's given me some opportunities like maybe to get in next week, and I got in Bay Hill, which is one of my favorite tournaments. It's been a lot of fun to be in contention. My expectations for the rest of the year are to continue to play well, and wherever I -- if I win, I win; if I don't, I just want to keep playing well.

Q. Is there any particular part of your game that's kind of carried you through this year?
J.P. HAYES: Yeah, I mean, everything I've done this year has improved. You know, if you look at the statistics, which can be misleading at times, but I'm hitting more greens -- I mean, that's probably my worst stat. But I feel like I'm hitting more greens. A lot of fringes maybe and I'm not getting credit for the greens. A lot of fairways.
Putting, you know, my putting stat from last year to this year, the last two or three years to this year, is the biggest standout among all the stats. So when I'm getting on the greens, I'm making the putts. I think it's just a whole package of betterness.

Q. A little karma from 2008, I guess, with Q-school? Do you feel like maybe just good karma?
J.P. HAYES: If you think so, then fine. I don't really. If there has been good karma from that, I've used it up, I think. I'm just playing good right now, and that's about it.

Q. As far as courses to have a good record on, where does this rank up there in your eyes?
J.P. HAYES: Well, pretty high. When I first came here and played a practice round on Tuesday, it was not my first time here, but seeing the way the course was playing this year with the greens as fast as they are, I really thought that it was going to be difficult to be under par.
And yesterday I played a good round but I finished with three bogeys to shoot 2-over but played well. So I knew that it was possible. You know, you don't step on the first tee here and think you're going to shoot a 64.

Q. You say you told your caddie that you thought you were going to make some putts today. Is there anything you're doing differently with your putting?
J.P. HAYES: Today over yesterday, or --

Q. No, you just said it's so much better this year.
J.P. HAYES: I'm putting with a little bit longer putter, which has helped, and you know, I like these greens a lot, and I feel like I can see the line pretty well. So I knew after yesterday they were -- I wouldn't say they were bumpy, but they were difficult to putt. I thought they were difficult to putt and very fast. I knew coming out this morning if the greens were a little moist and I could keep it below the hole, I was going to have a lot of real good opportunities, so that was pretty much our only goal.

Q. How has having a slightly longer putter helped? In what way, and how much longer is it?
J.P. HAYES: Well, it's 14 inches longer (laughing). You do the math. Yeah, slightly longer. I've messed around with a long putter for five years, and I've had some success with it, and I've put it away and I've come back to it and finally committed to it right at the end of last year, and I've felt pretty comfortable with it ever since.

Q. Is it just more of a rhythm kind of a thing?
J.P. HAYES: I don't know, it's totally different, and I know very little about it, and I have fun putting, and I don't kick myself if I miss a putt because I don't feel like I can analyze what I did wrong because I don't know that much about the technique.
It just has freed me up to enjoy putting again. I look forward to getting on the green and hitting a putt.
JOHN BUSH: You made a lot of putts today. Let's go through the card real quick starting with the birdie on No. 10.
J.P. HAYES: Yeah, it was fairly chilly out this morning when we teed off, and I hit three pretty average shots to get 15, 20 feet from the hole and made the putt. I had one of the few uphill putts you're going to have on that hole where the pin was. It was kind of short of the pin and left. But didn't hit a good tee shot, didn't hit necessarily a good second shot, and I had 170 yards for my third shot, which not many guys are going to have. Anyway, I made the putt.
13, I hit a 4-iron. It's playing 210 maybe, and I hit a 4-iron just pin high, maybe a little bit past pin high to the right, had 20 feet and made it. Good putt there.
On 14, I hit a sand wedge to about two feet from 100 yards.
On 15, I hit -- I had to lay up with my second shot, and then I had about 100 yards to the pin and hit it about ten feet and made that putt.
Bogey on 18, I hit a poor drive in the fairway bunker. It wasn't too far off, but from there I got it in the greenside bunker about 15 feet away and missed it, made bogey.
No. 2, I hit a 7-iron right below the hole about 20 feet and made that.
4, another 7-iron. That one I hit above the hole and made about a 20-footer downhill. It was probably the fastest putt we had all day.
5, two good shots right on the front of the green, chipped up to about four feet and made it.
7, I hit a real good drive and just hit a hook with my second shot, but playable, and I chipped up to about four feet there and made it for birdie.
Then 8, decent drive and a little chip shot up the green to about 12 feet and made that.

Q. If you were able to shoot 64 this morning, what do you think it's going to be like this afternoon?
J.P. HAYES: The wind is picking up. On the last three holes I thought it picked up significantly, so that's only going to dry the greens out, and it's going to make the shots more difficult. So I'm sure there will be some good scores, like I said before. There will be some decent scores this afternoon, but I don't think there will be as many as you saw this morning.
JOHN BUSH: J.P., thanks for coming by.

End of FastScripts

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