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AT&T NATIONAL

June 29, 2010

Robert Garrigus

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA

DOUG MILNE: Robert, thanks for joining us for a few minutes before the start of the AT&T National. Just kind of want to get your thoughts on the state of your game. Obviously you had the near miss a couple weeks ago, but just kind of assess as you're heading into the week here how you're feeling and so forth.
ROBERT GARRIGUS: I feel great. You know, there's a lot to be said for Memphis. A lot of people -- I never really got to talk about it to anyone in the media really more than just the interview after with Feherty. I didn't know I had a three-shot lead going into the last hole. I kept my head down all day. I didn't want to focus on where I was, I just wanted to focus on my game.
But if I would have known I had a three-shot lead on the last hole, I probably would have changed my routine a little bit and hit a different club. I was playing so well, that one hole kind of ruined it. But I didn't focus on that, I focused on how well I was playing for the week. I was the best player there that week, and one hole just kind of tore it all up.
But my game feels great. This golf course sets up for me perfect. All the bunkers, I can fly all of them with my driver. This golf course is unbelievable. I played it yesterday. The rough is thick; the greens are perfect; the fairways are like walking on carpet. I kind of joked with my caddie yesterday when we played, I could have played the last eight holes with my shoes off. This place is very beautiful. It's a great area, and I'm excited about it.
My game is in great shape right now. I feel like I'm hitting it good and rolling it well, and I'm excited about this week.

Q. Why does this suit your game, because the bunkers are not in your range?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about hitting driver on every hole out here, all week, just because every shot -- if I hit it in the rough, and I'm hitting a 2-iron, I'm going to have a 7- or 8-iron out of that rough. I want to have wedge out of the rough if I miss the fairway. It seems like the golf course fits my eye really well. Just every tee shot I can hit a high cut. There's a couple holes that slope left to right but I can just take it over the left side and cut it into the fairway.
It seems like just every hole the bunkers aren't in play. Even on 9 there, I hit 4-iron in yesterday in the practice round over the green, and the member that drove me in, a volunteer, he's like, nobody is getting to that green. I'm like, you don't know who you're talking to. When you tell me I can't do something, I really try to do it.
It's going to be a fun week. I'm really looking forward to it.

Q. How anxious are you to eliminate -- it's only been around for two or three weeks, but how badly do you want to get rid of that day and just get in the winner's circle?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Well, yeah. People who play golf know how hard it is to win. Look at Dustin Johnson in the Open, look at Justin Rose last week. It's so hard. Golf is one of the hardest sports in the world, and to do what I did in Memphis, you know, it sucks, it really does. But there's nothing you can -- nothing I can do about it now.
Like I said, I played so well, it would be nice to win, but I just want to keep playing golf. I've got the greatest job in the world. I'm very blessed to be out here. Being a professional golfer is always what I've wanted to be since I was 13 years old, and the fact that I get to do that every day, come out and have fun, sign autographs for the kids, thank some volunteers, it's a blessing.
You know, that tag, the Van de Velde thing, I've watched every SportsCenter, every Golf Channel and just watched them rip me a new one, and I was laughing to tell you the truth, because people are going to know me for that, but I hope they know I played better than everyone else that week, and it was just one hole and I can do it again.

Q. Did you get more grief out of the golf or over the sweat stains?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: I think it was the score. I think everybody knew it was 114 degrees on the golf course. My buddies were killing me, though, about the sweat stains. It was like, man, you can't use baby powder? What's the problem? It was funny, though. It was so hot, and the fact that I had food poisoning a few days before that, it made it even worse.

Q. How long did it take you to -- sounds like you took it all in stride, but was it a couple days afterwards before you finally got over it?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: When I got home, my wife gave me a big hug and kiss and said she was proud of me, and it was over. I think about it every once in a while, man, I could have done this, I could have done that. But that's not me. I don't look back and say, man, I wish I could have done this. I just look forward.
There's nothing bad about the week. I played so well. I had a three-shot lead on the last hole, and I went brain dead. That's pretty much what happened. I just couldn't slow down.

Q. Why didn't you know you had a three-shot lead?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: There was no board on 18, and the one on 17 when I looked at it had the 25th-ranked score. It didn't have the top. So I looked at it for a second, and I walked off the green, I'm like, whatever. I was just listening for the roars. I was just keeping my head down. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to focus on what he was doing; I wanted to focus on what I was doing.
And I was doing it well all day and all week, really. I thought my way around the course, and I did great on Sunday. I was 2-over on the front, and then birdied 8 and 10 and then 15 and 16. I brought it back, and I guarantee you nobody thought I was going to bring it back but me.
Once I got onto the 18 tee box, I took a deep breath, and I was like, all right, one more, and just completely forgot about what I was doing. I took it back too fast and got quick and pulled it into the water. But I was still fine. All I had to do was lay it up on the fairway, hit it on the green and two-putt. I thought I had to hit it on the green and two-putt to win. I thought I had a two-shot lead in my head. That's what I thought. My caddie told me he didn't even see a score on 17 -- we both looked at the scoreboard on 17 and we didn't see anything.

Q. The electronic ones?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, the electronic ones. They put advertisements and every once in a while they'll show a score, and it's kind of funny because I really needed to see the score at the time. It says the sponsors, Smith & Nephew, and then it shows the top 25. I'm like, okay, I just wasn't supposed to see it. I thought, maybe it happened for a reason.
When I got on 18 tee there wasn't a board there, and finally when I got to my fourth shot, or whatever it was, after I hit the tree and it dropped down, I turned around and looked and I saw the scoreboard, and I thought, that would have been nice about ten minutes ago if I could have seen that.
But it was a great week. I got a lot of positive response from the players. You know, a lot of the veterans came up to me and said, hey, man, the way you handled that was a class act and that's good for golf. That's the way I act. I'm not going to get mad, I'm not going to bury my head in the sand. That's not me. I wish it could have turned out different. I wish I would have hit 4-iron and made par and won the tournament. But can't do anything about it now, and looking forward to this week.

Q. In retrospect if you had seen a scoreboard before you hit your tee shot, would it have made any difference in the way that you played that shot?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Absolutely. I wouldn't have hit a hybrid. I would have hit a 4-iron out to the right, hit a wedge in the middle of the fairway and hit a wedge on the green and two-putted or made par and it would have been a different story. But if I would have seen or had any idea that I had a three-shot lead, I definitely would have played the hole different. But I guess it wasn't supposed to be like that.

Q. After having gone through that, did you empathize with Dustin and what he was going through? It was a different situation obviously, but I guess when that happens, as you said, everything kind of sped up. What is that like?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, nobody knows what it's like. It's the most impossible situation to explain. The only way I can explain it is once -- you're concentrating so hard on hitting a shot, and I remember Tiger talking about it in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and when you're concentrating on hitting a shot and you hit one that's completely out of your realm that you didn't even expect to hit, your mind just starts spinning.
As soon as that happened, I was like, okay, slow down, take a few deep breaths, try and get back on track. And I really couldn't get back on track after that. I've never been in that situation before, and it was hard to slow down.
A sports psychologist will tell you, hey, just make sure you slow down, take some deep breaths, and I tried and tried and tried and was sitting there thinking, all right, slow down. I kept telling myself that, but I think that's probably the worst thing I could have done because I could have relaxed and talked to my caddie a little bit about it and that probably would have helped a little more.
In Dustin Johnson's situation and even Justin Rose' situation the last two weeks, that's how hard it is to win. Justin won at Memorial and he had a three-shot lead and couldn't get it done. And Dustin Johnson at the U.S. Open, I mean, I know how hard I swing, and I know how hard he swings. It's about the same. We hit it far. And when it starts going off line, it's impossible to get it back on track if you're not thinking right.
I did empathize with that. It's just kind of -- it's so hard to win out here, and everybody knows it, and I think that's why it's so hard. Tiger and Phil and all those guys that have almost perfected winning when they're in the lead or close to the lead, they can close the deal, it's because they've done it so many times. It's really hard to do it when you haven't. And the next time I'm in that situation if I'm even close to the lead on 18 I guarantee you I'm not going to make that swing again because I'll know to slow down and know the situation, and I'll get the job done next time.
It was a great experience. The week went better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't know if I was even going to make the cut with the food poisoning, and I ended up in the last group with a two-shot lead on the last day, and it was so much fun. It was a very exciting week for me.

Q. Other than the way the course sets up or looks to your eye, what is it about Aronimink that you enjoy?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Well, just the area. I mean, I live in Arizona, and you can see the sky. Driving through the roads out here, all you see is trees. It's kind of like you're at Pebble kind of a feel. And just the way the golf course looks, you know, the area is great.
Philadelphia is a great area. I love cheese steaks. I had a couple last night, actually.
But it's just the feel of the place. You know, it's got a major championship feel here. I was telling everybody, you could hold a U.S. Open here tomorrow. You don't even need to do anything to the place. I don't think the USGA would like how wide the fairways are, but the fairways are perfect, the rough is six inches thick. They're raking it into us, which is kind of stupid, but -- I kind of laughed, yesterday I hit a shot from 100 yards that didn't even get to the green. I was like, this is going to be a lot of fun this week.
But just the whole feel of the place. It's a great area. The members seem to be receptive to us being here, which is nice. Sometimes they don't want us at their course or whatever; you hear stories about that. But it's kind of neat to have all the volunteers out here that are members and they play the course and they can see how you play it. It's just a great area. Driving through here with the GPS, my courtesy car takes me four different ways every time I come here. It's kind of hilarious, stuck back in the trees, beautiful homes around here, Villanova is up the street. It's kind of got that feel, major championship feel.
DOUG MILNE: Thanks, Robert. Best of luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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