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SONY OPEN IN HAWAIIJanuary 15, 2011Roland ThatcherHONOLULU, HAWAII Q. Roland, 5-under par 65, great round today, and you had a hiccup on your card with a double. How did you stay in it? ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, unfortunately I had a couple holes to come down after that a little bit. I doubled the 14th hole, which honestly on the back side is one of the easier holes on that back side, and it was pretty frustrating to do it that way, especially after getting off to a fast start. But hit the par-5, 18, up near the green in two and got up-and-down and really ran the front side pretty well. Q. What was clicking for you? ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, I've played well so far all week, and the swing has been at times really good and at times not so good, but I guess really the best thing I've been doing is placing the ball in the right spots. Misses have been easy up-and-downs or easy putts and haven't really put too much stress on myself to this point. Q. How much fun is it to see your name atop the leaderboard this early in the year? ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, for me, I don't even know what it feels like because I'm a late-in-the-year guy. So the fact that I'm even playing the weekend here is good news. Q. What did you do in the off-season? Did you do any kind of golfing? ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, I got my card at the very last hole, the very last putt of last year, and instead of being dead exhausted at the end of the year I think I had a little extra pep in my step heading into the off-season and actually didn't take any time off at all. I was in the gym and on the golf course on Tuesday after that Sunday round. I tried to hit this year with a little bit quicker start, and so far it's paying off. Q. Do you feel like that's what motivated you, making that putt at Disney, the last hole, last round? ROLAND THATCHER: I guarantee that experience took a year off my life. My major motivation was to not have to wait until the last moment, the last putt, last tournament of the year. So I'm going to try to get out ahead of the number this year and play well enough so I don't have to have that happen at the very end. Q. Talk about the strategy of 36 holes tomorrow. It's early in the season to have that kind of -- ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, considering I've walked three rounds of golf now this week, three rounds of golf since last year, it's going to be as much of a mental and physical challenge as much as anything else. It's going to be just trying to stay mentally focused and mentally fresh all day. I think our legs will hold up, but I think our feet will be pretty sore by the end of tomorrow. Q. It's a pretty good feeling that you're in contention, though? ROLAND THATCHER: Yeah, and that's what you can do with a 36-hole finish. Sometimes if you're the guy that has the hot stretch you can run it for 36 holes, and that's why anything can happen tomorrow; anybody who's made the cut has got a decent chance to play for the championship tomorrow. Q. Take us through your birdies if you can. ROLAND THATCHER: I birdied 10 and 11 right out of the gate. After a pretty poor wedge shot I made probably a 25-foot putt on 10 which really got the round started. Hit a 5-iron in to about eight feet on 11 and felt like I was really kind of moving and going. I hit a quality -- quality pars on 12 and 13 and then ran into some trouble on 14 and made a double and was probably pretty lucky to have it. I didn't hit any good shots on the hole. But I hit it up near the green in two on 18, got it up-and-down. Made about a 15-footer on No. 1 and then hit it real close in on No. 5. Hit it in to about eight feet on 5 and made a pretty good-sized putt on 7 for birdie, probably 30 feet, unexpected. And then hit the green here in two on No. 9 and finished off a pretty good day. Q. Could you just talk a little bit about your round, not specific shots, but how are you playing, how are you feeling? ROLAND THATCHER: I'm rolling the putter very well. I've been able to bail myself out of a little bit of trouble. I'm thinking very well, considering it's the first tournament of the year. Sometimes you have a tendency to wander off a little bit because you haven't many that same tournament focus for the last couple months. But I haven't gotten myself into too many bad situations. The misses have been in proper relation to the hole, and the shots that I have really hit well, I've dialed in the distance really well. I've been able to take advantage of almost every opportunity I've had. End of FastScripts |
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