	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 8, 2010

Robert Allenby

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Robert Allenby, thanks for joining us here. Great finish today. 67 to close out your third round. Maybe some opening comments about a great day for you.
ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, it was. Obviously, I bogeyed the first. Wasn't really the best start in the world, but I bounced back straight away with birdie at 2, and then a birdie at 4 and 5. Hit a couple of great shots in there.
You know, overall, I played really well all day. Just tried to get myself as many opportunities as I could. You know, there were a few mistakes there, but it's going to happen around this golf course.
Today, at least this afternoon, the golf course was playing a little tricky. The greens definitely dried out and got very slick. But to make eagle at 16 and a good birdie at 17, and then, obviously, 18's no easy hole, so to finish with an easy 4 there was nice, nice for sure.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Okay, we'll take some questions.

Q. When Heath was going good early in the nine and you had that mishap on 12, talk about just steadying yourself patience-wise. And secondly, the club you hit in on 16?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I mean, yeah, 12 I bladed -- I was in a divot in the rough, and I bladed that over the back with a lob wedge. It just didn't -- well, obviously I tried to hit it as late as I could, and I got it just a little bit too late.
You know, it's probably one of the shortest -- well, it is the shortest par-4 out there. It should be one of the easiest ones, but it's amazing how many bogeys do come on that hole, especially when the greens do get hard and fast.
But I hit a great shot into 13. I thought I'd made the putt. Hit a great putt there. Thought I'd made that for birdie. And I just tried to give myself some good opportunities coming in. I did see when I was walking off 13 tee box, Heath Slocum was coming on to the 13 tee box, and I saw 15-under and I was only 10, so I was thinking, wow, I'm five shots behind. I need to pull my finger out, at least get to within a couple, two or three, you know. Obviously, eagle at 16 helps, and then to make a good birdie at 17.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. You don't know what's going to happen really out there. All you can do is just play your own golf. But I knew I had to try to push it a little bit just to try to get within reach. But obviously that leaderboard probably changed a couple of times there through the back nine. So luckily for me I did well on the finishing holes there, and I put myself right in there for a good chance for tomorrow.

Q. And the club on 16?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Sorry, 6-iron.

Q. Good shot.
ROBERT ALLENBY: Thank you, it was a good shot.

Q. I keep asking you this, but I can't remember, is your fishing trip next week?
ROBERT ALLENBY: It is.

Q. Tell us about that.
ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, it's Mike Schmidt's fishing tournament. And I've been involved -- I've been in it for the last three or four years now, and it's for cystic fibrosis down in Palm Beach Gardens. You know, a great charity, great cause. I've been fortunate enough through President's Cup and Tavistock Cup to donate probably about 150,000 to 200,000 bucks in the last few years.
So yeah, anything for a good friend. Schmidty's a great friend of mine. Lives at Admiral's Cove where I live in South Florida. You know, we knock it around a little bit together. We have a lot of fun on the fishing tournament, too. So it's a great -- it's a good way to unwind, especially for me, because I spend a lot of time out here playing 30-odd weeks a year around the world. So to take a week off and really, really enjoy myself is quite rare. So I do try to go fishing a lot, but next week's a special week.

Q. Did you ever win it?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Sorry?

Q. Did you ever win it? Is it marlin?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, it's dolphin, wahoo, tuna is the tournament. And sailfish and marlin are substitute. If you don't catch one of those three species, you can substitute a marlin for say a wahoo or something like that.
But obviously, you've got to catch a wahoo, dolphin and a tuna and it's the heaviest, the total weight of all three fish at the end of the tournament. I normally come in about last (laughing).

Q. But first in?
ROBERT ALLENBY: First in everything else (laughing). My boat's normally the loudest. I take ear plugs for everyone, the other 50 boats that come. If you're not going to join me, here are some ear plugs. We have a good time, let's put it that way.

Q. Forgive me if I ask you a golf question. 17, was it a wedge?
ROBERT ALLENBY: It was, yes.

Q. And in the air, did it look good to you?
ROBERT ALLENBY: It was perfect all the way.

Q. When do you know that that's going to be safe on 17?
ROBERT ALLENBY: You know, those front left flags are probably the easiest flags on out there. It's the flag tomorrow, the back middle, they're the flags that you're unsure of. You know roughly where you want to land it into, but you just don't know what kind of bounce you're going to get. Especially with these greens at the moment, they're crusty, so...
But at least on that front flag, the majority of the time if you hit your number, you should be landing into the upslope. As long as you're in control of what you're doing, that's for sure. But I played the hole quite well so far, so hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

Q. Can you just talk a little bit about tomorrow, thoughts going into that round?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Looking forward to tomorrow. You know, I can only go out there and just do my best. Hopefully, it's good enough. But obviously there are some unbelievable players around me, in front of me, and behind me. So, you know, someone's going to come out tomorrow and shoot a low score and probably win the tournament.
So, you know, I've just got to go out there and have the same frame of mind as I did today. Just try to be aggressive at the right time and try to make some putts. Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: Can we go through your card real quick? You mentioned number 1.
ROBERT ALLENBY: Bogey at the 1st. Hit it in the right rough with a 3-wood, and then just came up short and chipped it up and missed about a 10-footer.
Hit a 4-iron into 2 from the middle of the fairway. Came up just short of the green, and flopped it up to about 3 feet. A wedge at 4 to about a foot.
7-iron at 5, to 2 feet.
Then I hit a poor tee shot with a 3-wood on 7 into the left bunker, bad lie. Way short, left of the green, and then chunked it up and made bogey.
Then birdie at 10, that was just a lob wedge to about 8 feet.
5-wood into 11, just into the front trap, splashed it out to 4 feet.
Then I bladed it -- I was in the right rough on 12, bladed the lob wedge over the back. Was in a big divot, so...
Then 6-iron at 16 to about 10 feet, and then pitching wedge at 17 to 10 feet.

Q. On 6, you were behind a tree?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah.

Q. What club did you end up using and you went back and forth a few times?
ROBERT ALLENBY: A hit 5-wood off the tee. I thought the wind was going to really help bring the ball back, and I just kind of pushed it a little bit into the wind, and the ball went dead straight, ended up behind the tree.
I thought my best option was to chip it out. Leave myself a lob wedge in, 80, 90 yards. I felt confident that I'd make up-and-down, and I did. So I hit a good putt there to make par.

Q. You did one swing left-handed?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Oh, I was just mucking around. I'd never do it (laughing).

Q. Really?
ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, not in that circumstance anyway. I have done it before, but that wasn't the right time to do it. I didn't want to make anymore than what I was going to.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297