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FARMERS INSURANCE OPENJanuary 26, 2011Jhonattan VegasSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome Jhonattan Vegas who won last week at the Bob Hope Classic. Jhonattan, if you want to talk about what that win means and what it's been like the last couple of days, and how you're preparing for the Farmers Insurance Open. JHONATTAN VEGAS: Well, guys, thank you for having me here. It's been, I guess, a couple of crazy days between being a rookie and being a winner was a huge jump. But it's been exciting. It's been a pleasure. It's been really good. Just to go from a rookie on the PGA TOUR to a winner, it's a huge step, like I said. It's been fun. I'm excited. This is what I wanted. It's been a dream come true for me just to think about myself winning so early on the PGA TOUR. I mean, it was a possibility, but to see it happen so quick, it's been crazy. But it's been great. I've had a lot of support. People are really excited, especially in my country about what happened. I've got a lot from the media which is good because as a foreign golfer, you always want to try to promote golf outside here in the U.S., and in my case, Venezuela. So it's been fun. It's good. It's a huge confidence booster moving forward. It makes life a lot easier for me, definitely. I'm excited. I'm excited to be here. This week is going to be a perfect week. Last time I was here was the Junior Worlds in 2002 and had a really good week. So I'm excited to be back. It's a fun course, and I feel like I play great. So it should be a fun week and I'm excited. Q. Did you see Mr. Chavez's remarks yesterday? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I did. And like I said, it's good that he acknowledged it. And like I said, everything I can do to represent my country and do the best to make it as important as it should be. Q. Did you talk to Chavez? JHONATTAN VEGAS: No. Q. Has he tried to talk to you? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I guess he was saying something about it, but I don't know. I haven't had a chance to talk to him. Q. If you do talk to him, will you tell him to stop digging up golf courses in Venezuela? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know what, he's the president. He does whatever he feels like. I just got to focus on being a golfer and doing my thing. Q. Just to go back a little bit here. I'm curious when you first came to America, was it straight to Texas or to a junior college? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I went -- well, like I said after the Junior World here in 2002, I went to Houston and stayed there with my golf teacher Franci and his wife Alba and son Gustavo. I was in Houston with them, and lived with them for a year and a half. It was a learning process, learning English and going through all that stuff, but it was good. But I came to the U.S., came to Houston, and I stayed there. So that's where I'm living right now. Q. I was just curious how difficult it was to pick up English and how much that's helped getting a good grasp of it going forward? JHONATTAN VEGAS: It was extremely hard. It took me a year and a half to get decent at it. But it was good. It was a good learning process. That's one of the things that just kind of makes you realize that life is not as easy as it looks, and you've got to work hard every time to get things done. So I got it done, and it was huge. It was a huge confidence booster, and it prepared me for a lot of this. Q. How exactly did you go about learning English? What kind of process did you use? Did you just have to repeat all the time or did you study it in books? What was the methodology? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I went to a junior college and took some formal English classes. But I surrounded myself with a lot of Americans. I guess they don't know, but they don't know any Spanish, so I had to force myself to speak it. And just kind of over the year listening to them and just trying to find a way to communicate to them, and that's how I progressed and kept getting better. I guess I'm still getting better. Q. Could you talk about how far your game has come since you came here? Obviously you were a good player as a junior, but there were more things that you had to do. And you've had a lot of help with teachers and some of the people who have helped you the most? JHONATTAN VEGAS: It's been a learning process. I've taken every step as it is and it's an important step without trying to skip anything. Every single level trying to develop my game as much as I could. I went from college, having a fairly decent career in college, to becoming a professional for the first time. Going through rough moments and going through really good rounds to really horrible rounds. So I just kept getting better. Kept thinking about some of the things I needed to get better. I sat down with Kevin Kirk and Franci, my teachers. And at the end of every year we sat down and the things we needed to improve for the following year. And that is something that we're still doing it, but just so we can keep that process going. Like I said, I still have a lot to improve. So I'm still working on it. Q. Was this the first time that you've met Tiger? I'm wondering if you can give us an idea of how much golf you got to watch before you came to the States or did you get to see Tiger much or any golf for that matter? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know, I actually started watching golf when he won the '97 Masters, so I looked up to him like he's somebody to admire. Some of the stuff he's done has been unbelievable. And just to be sharing in a golf tournament with him is a pleasure. He's still a competitor, so we've got to keep it that way. But it's fun. In my opinion, he's the best player, has always been. I didn't get to see Jack or any of the other guys. I just got to see him. And some of the stuff he's done is really impressive. So in my opinion he's the best there's ever been, so it's an honor. I've just got to try to learn as much as I can from him. Q. Do you play other sports growing up? When did you start focusing specifically on golf? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I played golf pretty much all through, just from the beginning. But I also played baseball, tennis, swimming, so I was always all around sports as a kid. But I just found, like I said, I always had that golf in me, and I found a great connection from the beginning. My parents played golf. We're a family that surrounds everything with golf. So always has been the main thing for us, so I guess that's why I'm doing this. Q. You talk about 2002 Junior Worlds. Is this the first time you played the course since they redid it. And Kevin Stadler played, he said he liked the old version better. What are you thinking of the remake since they've redone it? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Actually 2002 when I played it, I think that was the year when they redid it, if I'm not mistaken. So that Sunday we played the course from the tee so it was like 7600 yards. It was extremely hard. I was 17 at the time, and I had a horrible Sunday I remember. But like I said, I got to see the course. It's a really exciting course. You have to really hit it long and straight. I think my game suits this course really well, so I'm excited for this week. Q. How do you pronounce your first name, and could you explain how your parents came up with yours first name? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know, that's a question I've asked my parents all my life, and I'm still trying to find a question for it. But it's something that happened. I guess they wanted to try to make it different, and it just came out this way, but it's the same, Jonathan. I guess in Spanish, you can say Jhonattan, with the TAN, but it's the same, Jhonattan. Q. When did you first become aware of the Masters at Augusta? What kind of goal has that been on your radar, and what do you think about now getting the opportunity to get there? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I think it's going to be a dream come true. Playing the Masters is I guess something that is on everyone's radar. It's probably one of the places in the world where you definitely want to come and enjoy it. To play the golf tournament will be phenomenal. Like I said, it's one of those magical places in the world that everyone wants to be a part of. I'm extremely excited to be able to get a chance to play it, and it will be a lot of fun. Q. What is the first one you saw? JHONATTAN VEGAS: The '97 when Tiger won it. It's been a lot of good memories around. Just to see the magic from Jack Nicklaus, watching all those videos to when he won, and '86, if I'm not mistaken, to right now. It's been a lot of fun watching the Masters. So just to be part of it, it's going to be huge. Q. Baseball is the number one sport in your country. Do you think that your winning at the Bob Hope Classic will now bring golf up to par with baseball? JHONATTAN VEGAS: No, I don't think so. We'll still -- just like saying here that something's going to beat football, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. But, like I said, it's good. It's growing. That is the same thing. People are more aware of the game now. People start to know more about golf, which is huge. Just as you guys said, the president recognized it on TV, so that's good. That's a step forward. Like I said, that's what I want to do. As a golfer, I just want to improve golf in my country, make it grow. But it would never beat baseball, I don't think. Q. You said it's been a crazy few days. What is the craziest thing that's happened and have you been recognized anywhere? JHONATTAN VEGAS: You know, I've gotten phone calls from everywhere in the world, to be honest. I've probably had from Sunday now all the way to yesterday, somewhere around 1,000 phone calls. My phone totally collapsed. You know, the media in Venezuela is going crazy about it, so it was really big news there. It's fun. I like it. It's been crazy because I haven't really been able to handle everything with the media there. I'm just doing as much as I can. But it's been good. It's been fun. I like it. I'm going to try to promote the game. This game has given me everything in life, so I just want to support it as much as I can. Q. Have you been recognized anywhere here? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Like I said, just walking around with the guys saying congratulations, that's huge, especially for a rookie. Like I said besides that, that's it. Q. Did you play the Argentine Open? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I did. Q. You won? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I won it, yes, yes. Q. How much did that help you in terms of getting started this year? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I think it was big. It was big being able to play against some great players. Angel Cabrera was there, Andres Romero, and a bunch of guys who play on the European Tour. It was a good feeling. So just to be able to win it, I kept telling myself you've got a chance. You can win on high levels. You just got to keep working hard, keep getting better and doing your things. By having those wins, your confidence starts building up, and that's kind of what probably led me to win last week. Q. When was the Argentine? Was it after the TOUR season? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Yes, it was the second week of December, if I'm not mistaken. So, yeah, it was kind of the end of last year. Like I said, I stayed busy throughout the break because I wanted to be prepared for the beginning of the year. Q. Two questions: One about your language skills. Did you study any other languages when you were in Venezuela? Because your grasp of English in a relatively short time is quite amazing. JHONATTAN VEGAS: Not really. I guess I just needed to say hi, hello, I love you, thanks. All kinds of simple stuff. No, it just developed here. Going to the University of Texas was something huge for me. Just to develop your life skills, to develop English, to develop a lot of things. A lot of that stuff is helpful on the PGA TOUR. Q. Let me ask you a golf question. Now that you've won a tournament you're going to be asked questions to look on the entire TOUR. How important do you feel it is for the TOUR to have a successful and competitive Tiger Woods week after week? How important is it for the TOUR to have him here? JHONATTAN VEGAS: Can you repeat that? Q. Yes, last year Tiger had a harsh in, out, some competing, some not. Now that he's back on the TOUR like he was before, how important do you think it is for the TOUR to have Tiger Woods on a relatively regular schedule competing each week, competing for wins, et cetera? JHONATTAN VEGAS: I think it's huge for the TOUR. I mean, it's huge for the players. From a player's standpoint, you always want to compete against the best. In my opinion, he's the best. He brings so much energy to the table that so far nobody has done it. Just to have that week after week is huge for the TOUR, it's huge for the players, and it makes everyone get better. It makes everyone just really work hard because he's set the standard really high. Just to have that guy leading the way will help absolutely everything. It's going to make the TOUR a lot better. End of FastScripts |
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