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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2010

Jay Williamson

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

DOUG MILNE: All right. Jay Williamson, thanks for joining us after a very successful Round 1 of the Wyndham Championship, 5-under 65 today.
Just why don't you start off kind of assessing your game as you are heading into the week and just kind of how you're feeling as you're moving forward.
JAY WILLIAMSON: You know, I actually have made 8 cuts in a row. I've been playing really nice the last few months. I'm in a tough position because I'm out of the Q-School and 43 year olds aren't supposed to be coming out of Q-School.
I know the difference between where I am and I don't want to say where I should be but need to be. That's my challenge right now. The golf, we really haven't been playing difficult or at least I haven't been playing difficult golf courses. You know, the greens have been real slow and soft which is almost sometimes even more challenging than firm and fast at this point.
You know, I've been playing pretty well and, you know, I came into the week with a good attitude. I got here Monday and I've got a new driver in my bag, one of those SuperFast, the Tour Burner from TaylorMade, the SuperFast and I hit the ball a little bit farther and I've got a softer shaft.
I'm getting a little bit older and I think the softer shaft really helped me. I've got 8 new irons. It's a little bit funky, I guess you can say, that I can come into a week and have all these new clubs but at the end of the day it's still just golf and I've done this long enough now to know that I know I need to get my act together this week and I need to, and I know what not to do what I did on 18, but that's a whole other story.
DOUG MILNE: Kind of picking up on that, I've talked to you a lot and I know you mentioned your age and so forth.
Do you feel like you get too hard on yourself at times and the frustration factor kicks in? Has that hindered you in anyway?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Yeah, I would say that I'm extremely hard on myself because I expect that I should be able to do this. I've been out here long enough. I should have been able to figure this out. And so I get frustrated when I don't, you know, go out and play like I did today. There's really no excuse.
But, you know, I guess it is a very difficult game and I've spent a long time now trying to figure it out. I'm really close.
Like I said, I've made a bunch of cuts this year but I just need to put four rounds together and why that's so difficult, I don't really know but I guess that's why it's golf at the highest level, trying to put four -- it's not three, it's not three and a half.
If you go back and look at my scores, I've had a lot of good scores this year. I just haven't been able to put the four together to get going. I did it one time in Memphis this year and finished 8th, I think, but I've had some really good opportunities and I just need to keep it going.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. Open it up for a few questions.

Q. With the scores probably being pretty low this week, what do you think a 65 does early in a tournament like this where you know scores are going to be lower?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Makes my lunch taste better. Really. It's great to -- it's nice to get off to a great start and I don't think 5-under is going to be the low score of the day but, you know, I guess -- I can sit up here and just start spewing off the old adages of golf, "You can't win today but you can certainly lose", especially on a course like this where you know we're probably going to get more rain, the greens aren't all of a sudden firm up and, you know, the scores are going to be low everyday.
So, you know, you need to shoot a good score to keep pace. If you don't, it's going to be a long week coming from behind.

Q. How are the weather conditions out there for you throughout the round? Was it dreary out there? Bright in here.
JAY WILLIAMSON: We were on the second tee. I played at 7:20. At 7:40 we're on the second tee back there. It was so dark it felt like it was 8:00 at night. It really started raining on the second hole and rained all the way through probably the 11th or the 12th hole but it never got -- it never got to a point where it was really affecting my golf.
It was more of a nuisance rain. The greens really never came close to being unplayable. But it was incredibly humid and very dark the first few holes and -- I was talking to my caddy.
I brought my umbrella out and it had dirt all over it and looked terrible. We don't play in rain very often, especially this time of year, and we were talking about the fact that we weren't going to need rain gear, all this other stuff, because if it was going to rain today it was probably going to be thunder and lightning. As it continued out, we played in rain for 7, 8 holes, which is very uncharacteristic.

Q. There was some talk about low rounds being possible. You said there might be some lower scores.
Is there anything preventing that?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I really think the greens are so slow that it's hard to make putts. It was the same thing at Greenbrier until Stuart figured out what he was doing, and it was the same thing in Canada.
I mean, you know, I'm just trying to fit in out here but these guys, when you don't have anything to defend these golf courses, it's really difficult for the golf courses to -- it's just difficult for the golf courses to defend themselves.
Really on Donald Ross golf courses, the McKenzie golf courses the greens are the defense. When they're slow and soft like this, there's no defense.
I can't believe 5-under is the low score of the day at this point. I think that's only because the greens, like I said, are actually challenging to putt because they're so slow.

Q. Is there any alternative this time of the year from maybe holding all the tournaments in Seattle?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I firmly believe and, again, you know, the politics come into play here, if Champion Bermuda were on these greens and what they have in Memphis or Jackson, Mississippi, I firmly believe that single digits could win this week and that would be a big change. That's the way this course is supposed to play in August.
Now, unfortunately they just redid them a couple years ago and I think there was an assessment to the members, so who am I to sit here and say what they should have on the greens but I just think that the members would be happier with Champion Bermuda at the end of the day.
I don't know why there's this we got to have bent grass greens, because when we have a summer like this, which really isn't that unusual -- yeah, it's hot, maybe a little hotter than normal but this is what happens. I've heard greens all over Greensboro are really struggling right now.
It's too hot for the bent grass to grow. When we're up in Syracuse last week at Turning Stone or two weeks ago, whenever, Whistling Straits, then you can have bent grass but not down here. Too hot.

Q. You could give us the brief version of what happened on 18.
JAY WILLIAMSON: I hit a really good drive. I pulled my 6 iron. That second shot isn't as easy as it looks. You're basically on a pretty severe slope.
Hit a good 6-iron. I had 191 to the hole. Probably playing a little bit more than that. I pulled it a little bit and I just hit a terrible first putt. It was almost embarrassing it was so bad.
You know, that's -- I guess, you know, I'd rather talk about my first five, six holes when I had a nice start but, you know, 18, it was such a bad first putt that you almost have to address it and try to figure out why, but it's probably why I'm using a long putter. Although I did make a hole in one this week on Tuesday, though.
DOUG MILNE: Really? What hole?
JAY WILLIAMSON: No. 3. That's my timing is a little bit off on that, though.

Q. You said it might be hard to shoot low scores because of the greens are so slow. Is it just hard to pull the trigger and hit the putt that hard?
JAY WILLIAMSON: It is. You have to think I have to hit this putt and the problem -- you know, I'm actually using the long putter because it's more -- it's less of a hit. If I have to actually hit the putt, the long putter is a little more difficult to use.
The long putter is better when the greens are fast and you can make a nice stroke. But, you know, that's going to be my struggle going forward these next three days is hitting the ball hard enough to get it to the hole.
They're pretty smooth. I don't think that they can be very good this afternoon but, you know, we'll see what happens.

Q. What do you think they're run be on the stimp meter?
JAY WILLIAMSON: If they're a 9 I'd be shocked. I don't think that's -- I understand why but it's just something needs to happen. I mean they look beautiful and I know that this is the way they have to be.
I live in St. Louis. I know exactly how the heat is. And this is how they are in St. Louis right now. It's difficult to play a tournament, you know, that means so much with greens that may be running at a 9.
I'm not trying to be negative, I'm not trying to be harsh on it. I don't want that to be a big part of this conversation. I know why they are the way they are. I feel like in the future it would be great if that could change, if we stayed here in August, which I think we will although I think that's still being discussed.

Q. Yesterday they were 9 1/2.
JAY WILLIAMSON: Probably a little slower today because of the moisture. When it's raining like this, I mean gosh, very difficult.
DOUG MILNE: Real quick before we cut you loose, Jay. You did have 7 birdies on your card. If you would just run through and give us some clubs and yards.
JAY WILLIAMSON: Just on the birdies, I guess.
DOUG MILNE: Yes. We talked about the bogey at 18.
JAY WILLIAMSON: I hit a great drive on the first hole. I had 108 yards to the hole. I hit a sand wedge. I put four wedges in my bag this week. I hit my 54-degree wedge about two feet. So it's always nice to make a birdie of that length to get the day going.
Then the second hole, I hit a 3-wood off the tee, hit 7-iron. I had 164 yards. Hit a little 7-iron to about six feet and made the putt.
Then on No. 4, I hit about an 8-inch putt, finagled that one in.
5, I missed my tee shot in the right rough and had to lay up and I had about an 82-yard shot and hit about it six feet. Made that for birdie.
Three-putted 6. And then 8, I made about a 15-footer and I had 120 yards to the hole there and hit one of my four wedges in there.
Then 15, hit a great drive and hit a great 3-wood. I had 245 to the hole and ripped a 3-wood, little bit into the air and two-putted from about 20 feet.
And then 17, I hit my tee ball in the left rough but I hit -- that's one thing about the rough this year, it's not as bad as it was last year. So if you hit the ball in the rough, there's a good chance you're going to be able to get it on the green, especially with the greens as soft as they are. I made about an 8-footer there for birdie.
And three-putted 18.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. You feeling well? You sound like you're sniffling a little bit.
JAY WILLIAMSON: I think I just have allergies this week. I feel all right.
DOUG MILNE: Congratulations on a great round. Keep it up. Expect to see you back tomorrow.
JAY WILLIAMSON: Thanks for coming in, guys.

End of FastScripts

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