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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 20, 2010

Matt Hill

TORONTO, ONTARIO

DAN PINO: Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for joining us. Matt Hill, recently turned professional, former member of Team Canada, available, joining us here at St. George's. We're going to get right into Q and A.

Q. Matt, you obviously played Canadian Open before, PGA TOUR events before, but you're now doing it as a professional. What are the differences, the level of play, that sort of thing? I wonder if you could maybe talk a little bit about that.
MATT HILL: I think now maybe there's just a little bit more on the line playing as a professional. You know, I'm trying to get status. I think that's the biggest thing right now, and you know, it felt like I've probably put a little bit too much pressure on myself the first couple events as a pro, but now I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable and not really putting as much pressure on myself and just trying to let it happen. So the last couple weeks has been a little bit nicer.

Q. What is the limit, seven sponsor exemptions?
MATT HILL: Yeah. I can get up to seven.

Q. And this is your fourth or fifth?
MATT HILL: This is my fourth event, but Memorial didn't count against me.

Q. Okay. So you've got three against the seven?
MATT HILL: Yeah.

Q. Have you got any other lined up?
MATT HILL: Still working on it, and you know, hopefully I'll get a few more for sure.

Q. And then Q-School?
MATT HILL: Yeah.

Q. What's been your -- the main thing, Matt, so far since you've turned pro, what's the main thing that you've noticed that's different from your amateur days?
MATT HILL: I feel like maybe I have a little bit more time to prepare now and just trying to schedule things a little bit better.
Not too much different, but just little things. You know, I've learned a lot the last couple years, especially last summer, you know, I learned a lot on how I need to prepare and what I need to work on to get ready for Thursday and get ready to play my best golf.
So I think little things like that, getting a lot of sleep. You know, just having good energy on the course, and I think all that's really good and things that you learn from what you've done before.

Q. You hear a lot of first-year players out on TOUR say that, you know, it's probably a bigger difference than most people think, you know, with the new courses, the new cities, the new -- I mean everything's kind of new to you. Have you noticed that so far?
MATT HILL: Yeah. Definitely. Especially, you know, for example, last week I haven't really played much in altitude, and I played in Reno, and it's 6,000 feet, so that was pretty tough to adjust. So you know, you learn a lot the first couple years just playing new courses and just trying to get used to that.

Q. Matt, I assume you played this course today?
MATT HILL: Yes, I did.

Q. I don't know how many times you've played before. Could you tell us about what you think it'll take and what the challenges are and what was most important that you noticed on that course?
MATT HILL: Yeah. Today is my second time playing it, and I feel like the rough's pretty tough this week, so you definitely gotta hit fairways. And you know, you really don't want to be shortsiding yourself and long on the greens. You really want to stay below the holes. The greens are pretty sloped from back to front. And I think that's going to be pretty important just try to control the speed on a lot of the greens.
A few of them you can't even keep it on even if you pretty much tap it. So I think it's a really solid test, and I think just keeping it below the hole is really important this week.

Q. What are some of the things that you sort of noticed that you had to work on in your game, tradition to sort of TOUR courses?
MATT HILL: I feel like maybe one of the biggest differences is just learning how to chip out of the rough, because you're not really used to that as much in amateur and college golf. You don't really see a lot of that as much, and the greens can be a little bit firmer and faster out here, so I think just kind of working on that and getting the touches is pretty big.
And also driving the ball. You gotta be a little bit more specific out here. These fairways can get a little bit firmer and faster, so you know, sometimes you gotta touch shots into a fairway that might slope right to left, and just little things like that, you gotta be just a little bit more specific.

Q. Matt, are there other things that are different, other than the golf courses you're playing, you're having to do things on your own? You were in college for a while, you were in junior golf. Now you're kind of managing your own time. How has that been? Has it been an easy transition or is it difficult to do all the stuff you have to do to get yourself to different places and prepare for different places?
MATT HILL: Yeah, actually, to be honest with you, it's been pretty easy. I have a great team with my family and then with IMG, and my agent, Chris. They've helped me out a lot. So don't really have to worry about all that stuff, and I can just get to the event and just kind of focus on my golf, so it's been pretty nice that way.

Q. I hate to put you on the spot here, but Ryan Moore, I think he tied for second at Shaughnessy in '05, which gave him that quirky status that equalled 125 for the year before or whatever. And Jamie Lovemark sat in that spot where you are right now, obviously at a different course and said that that was his goal. He came up a little bit short, but do you think at all that six more events or five more events to try and reach that whatever that dollar figure is?
MATT HILL: Yeah. I feel like, you know, if I think of that, I might just put a little bit more pressure on myself, and I don't really -- I kind of want to just go out there and play.
You know, it's tough. You got five events. You can play really well and still not do it. So you know, you just try and give yourself the best chance you can and not really put too much pressure on yourself and think about it too much.

Q. Matt, when you decided to turn pro earlier this year, I think you said that you really had a lot of support from the people around you. You just mentioned your family. I think your college coach as well is right behind you, I think Henry Brinton was as well. Talk about how important was that to you to do that because I think a lot of people thought maybe you were being a little premature, but to have your family and your coaches behind you. Did that mean a lot to you? Was that really a confidence thing for you?
MATT HILL: Yeah. Definitely. There were people I talked to every day, and to have my family's full support, and you know, my brother was a big support as well, growing up, playing with him. And he's played with all the guys out there. So he knows what to expect.
And to get support from him and my parents is definitely really important moving forward and just kind of made me realize that it's the right decision. So it's, yeah, it was pretty nice to have that.

Q. The confidence there, was it the same point as it was the year before when you won the NCAA and all that? Was your head in the right place when you made the decision to go with it? I mean sounds to me like your confidence was right there.
MATT HILL: Yeah. I kind of -- I had a feeling that I was going to be turning pro the whole time. You know, just kind of little things, sponsors and that kind of thing, how many tournaments I thought I might get. So just kind of putting that all together and making sure I felt like I was completely ready with every part of my game to give myself the best chance possible to get out here in the next year or two, which was really ultimately my goal. And I felt like at the time, I felt like my game was ready and I was ready for that lifestyle and just kind of all worked out.

Q. Matt, it's such a strange situation, you take a look around right now, and you're just a young guy and all of us old guys are drilling you and that type of thing, and marketing is such a big part of sports now, not just golf but all sports. How can you stay who you are and stay real and get beyond kind of a dog-and-pony show that this kind of thing is, because everybody looks at Tiger now, and say, "awe, Tiger he can't throw his clubs and he doesn't interact with the people enough." And sometimes when you think about those kind of things, it gets into your head. How can you stay real in effect?
MATT HILL: I guess by just learning -- or just kind of going by what you grew up with, you know, what my parents taught me growing up. And you know, just, you know, they kind of taught me to just kind of not throw clubs. Just have fun and enjoy yourself, and I think if you're doing that and if you're having some fun, then you're probably not going to throw as many clubs, and just think about the real picture.
And you know, I could be working for a living, and I'm out here playing golf and that kind of thing. So I guess I'm working, but you know what I mean. I could be in an office somewhere. And I actually worked right before I went to school for five months, and it was the worst job ever, and I learned a lot from that, and that kind of made me realize how lucky I am to be out here.

Q. What was the job?
MATT HILL: I was like a telemarketer. So yeah, it was pretty terrible.

Q. The year before you went to university?
MATT HILL: Yeah. The year before. So that pretty well made me realize that I'm pretty lucky to be where I am now and also made me work a little bit harder to get to where I want to be.

Q. What were you selling?
MATT HILL: Worked for Geek Squad. Computer stuff, and I don't really know much about computers, so I just kind of winged it for about five months. Yeah, it was pretty funny.

Q. This is not a particularly unique question in the Canadian golf community, but I wonder if you're getting asked or wound up a bit from the guys that you see on the PGA TOUR and the Nationwide Tour that you're in effect from the same hometown, pretty small hometown of Mike Weir? I mean when you think about it statistically, you'd think it was impossible really, one of the world's best amateur players now professional from the same hometown as the Masters champion?
MATT HILL: Yeah. I guess it could be kind of a coincidence, but you know, I definitely looked up to him, you know, when I was younger.
And my dad kind of got me into the game at a young age, and when I was 11, 12, all I ever wanted to do was play on the PGA TOUR. That's all I ever did and always kind of dreamed of it.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
MATT HILL: Partly that, but I think just more so just because I loved the game. You know, watching the guys on TV, it's just somewhere that I always wanted to be.
DAN PINO: Matt, thank you very much, and good luck this week.
MATT HILL: All right. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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