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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 7, 2010

Ryuji Imada

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

MARK WILLIAMS: Ryuji Imada, thanks for joining us after a second round 66 to follow your first round 67, was bogey-free today. This pair of rounds is your first two rounds in the 60s here after 14 rounds at the TPC Stadium course.
RYUJI IMADA: Really?
MARK WILLIAMS: Yep. You were co-leader earlier in the year at the Farmers Insurance Open and the third round leader. Just talk about your day today and what you're looking forward to on the weekend.
RYUJI IMADA: Well, my day was great. I shot 66. I got off to a shaky start on the first hole. I hit a pretty good tee shot, but I tugged my second shot left and left myself a pretty tough two-putt and was able to make about a seven-footer on the first hole. That calmed me down quite a bit.
Fourth hole, hit 3-wood and a pitching wedge to about five feet.
7, I hit driver and a 9-iron about 30 feet, maybe 30-plus, was able to make that.
8, I hit 3-iron. I drew it a little bit too much but was lucky enough to catch that slope on the left side of the green, and it kicked toward the pin, and I had about ten feet for birdie. I was able to make that.
9, tee shot down the middle. I decided to lay up with a 5-iron, but I did not quite leave myself a great distance for my third shot. But I went with a lob wedge, and it spun back off the green, and I was able to chip that one in.
10 was probably the biggest hole of the day today. I hit a tee shot down the middle. I hit my second shot a little bit left, and it caught the slope and sloped off the green to the left, and I was left with a pretty tough shot, and I did not quite pull it off. I probably left myself about 13 feet for par, and I was able to make that, and that kept the round going.
11, I didn't quite hit my tee shot great, decided to lay up with a 3-iron, left myself about seven yards to the hole. Hit it about ten feet left of the hole, made that.
16, driver, 3-iron in the left bunker, pin high left, and knocked it up there about five feet.
MARK WILLIAMS: 23 putts today. Looks like you mentioned a couple that kept the momentum going. Let's have some questions.

Q. In addition to all the birdies, 10 wasn't your only good up-and-down. Looks like 12, 13, 14, 15, and then just as good as the putting was your chipping, short game play today.
RYUJI IMADA: Yeah, it was great. Obviously I struggled a little bit on the back nine starting -- even the 9th hole I chipped in for birdie. And from the 10th hole on, I struggled quite a bit with my iron shots. I was not able to get the right distance with my irons.
12, I missed my tee shot a little bit right in the rough, and the pin was tucked in the front corner, so I did not want to go over and left it in the bunker short of the green, and I was able to get that one up-and-down. 12, I was in between 9-iron and 8-iron and hit an 8-iron over the green. I was able to get that one up-and-down.
14, good tee shot, bad second shot. Hit it up there about ten feet, and I was able to make that again.
And 15, decent tee shot, didn't want to go over the green, so I kind of protected against it. And it came up about 60 feet short of the pin, and I was able to two-putt that.
And 18, I hit a really bad tee shot right, and I was forced to lay up. I had about 50 yards to the pin on my third shot and hit that one about three feet?

Q. In your first few years playing this tournament, it's been kind of --
RYUJI IMADA: Well, the golf course is totally different. It's usually -- if you shoot even par or anything under par on this golf course, you're doing really well. But that's not the case this year.

Q. Is it too easy?
RYUJI IMADA: I'm not going to say that. (Laughter.)

Q. When is the last time your putter has felt this good? 23 putts today, 11 on the back nine.
RYUJI IMADA: Well, obviously, you know, to have 23 putts, everything has got to go your way. If you're striking it decent and having 10- to 20-footers all day, you're not going to have 23. And, if you do, you're going to be shooting in the 50s. So obviously your irons have got to be a little bit off to have 23 putts.
But my putting feels great. I don't know the last time it felt this good. But obviously my strength is the short game, and if my putter is off, I'm not going to be able to contend. But if my putting is on, then I can get in there.
MARK WILLIAMS: You may or may not be leading at the end of the day, but you've had a couple of second-round leads in your career. What have you taken from those or learned from those that you can bring to the weekend?
RYUJI IMADA: Not to think too much about it. It's just two days. At the end of the four days if you're leading, it's great. But don't think too much about it. Go about your business and try to do the same thing tomorrow. Not much more.

Q. The greens got softened up by rain a couple of nights and the wind was not too bad the first two days, and they haven't been able to grow the rough high and thick because of the winter we've had. With all that, is it almost impossible to hold you guys back as a field when you get conditions like this?
RYUJI IMADA: Any time you give PGA TOUR players no rough, soft greens, somebody is going to find a way to shoot low scores.

Q. More than somebody, right? There's a lot of guys out there playing well.
RYUJI IMADA: Yeah, there's quite a few.

Q. Could you talk about the ebb and flow of your game since winning at Sugarloaf? Obviously that was a huge moment in your career.
RYUJI IMADA: Yeah.

Q. How would you say it's gone since then?
RYUJI IMADA: About the same. Nothing has really changed. You know, I thought winning a PGA TOUR event might change my life, but -- it has in a way, but for me it really hasn't changed much. I'm still trying to win my next one, just like I was before I won the AT&T Classic. It's tough. These guys are really good, and I've still got to practice hard and shoot low scores.
MARK WILLIAMS: Before we go, what did you think of Ryo Ishikawa's 58? Do you know him well? Have you had much contact with him?
RYUJI IMADA: I mean, I know him well enough but have not talked to him since. That's unbelievable. What else am I going to say? (Laughing) Obviously, he has unbelievable talent. And when he feels comfortable, he's capable of shooting really low scores. And I can't wait for him to come over and get comfortable on this TOUR so he can compete the way he does in Japan.
MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks for your time. Appreciate it. Good luck over the weekend.

End of FastScripts

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