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MAYAKOBA GOLF CLASSIC AT RIVIERA MAYA-CANCUNFebruary 26, 2011Johnson WagnerRIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO NELSON SILVERIO: Welcome, Johnson Wagner, to the media center at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya. Good playing out there today, put yourself obviously in good position for tomorrow. Can you just give us some thoughts on your round today? JOHNSON WAGNER: Yeah, I started off a little nervous early. Not that it's been that long, but it's always a little nerve-wracking starting out when you're close to the lead. I kind of settled down, we had a rain delay, which helped me quite a bit calm down and slow down a bit. And then I started playing great, chipped in for eagle on 8, hit it close on 9 for birdie and just seemed like I had good birdie putt after good birdie putt on the back nine. They all didn't go in, but a lot of them did. NELSON SILVERIO: First trip to Mayakoba, I believe. General impressions on the golf course and how the week has gone so far. JOHNSON WAGNER: All my friends that have come down here told me how incredible the golf course is, and when I got down here I was not disappointed. It is phenomenal. This golf course fits nicely with my game. You've got to really play well. It's in immaculate condition, and I'm just really loving the town of Playa del Carmen. Q. You're a PGA TOUR winner, won the Shell Houston Open. You've had ups and downs since then. How would you assess your career since then and then maybe your year this year so far? JOHNSON WAGNER: My career since then has been up and down just like you said. I made a big caddie change last year in May, and this new guy Matt Hauser and I are working out great. He really understands my golf game, and we've been working extremely hard on my swing and getting better in all aspects. I've only played two events this year, missed both cuts barely, but I feel like I've been practicing well. This week I just came into it wanting to be committed to what I'm doing and what I'm working on, and so far it's been phenomenal. It's nice to be back in this position. Hopefully this is what my career is going to look like for years to come. Q. What do you expect from a caddie? JOHNSON WAGNER: I don't like to carry a yardage book, so I expect them to be spot-on with numbers. I expect them to be able to come in and help me read a putt. They're also kind of a sports psychologist in a way, and I expect them to have a good understanding of my golf game, and when I'm practicing, to be able to add some constructive criticism. That's expecting a lot, but my new caddie Matt has fit every single criteria and more. I didn't even know what I really expected until we kind of got together and he showed me what he had. Q. We always try to pinpoint an exact moment when you guys knew this was going to be a good round. Was there a turning point in the round where you said, this is going to be a good round? JOHNSON WAGNER: I chipped in for eagle on 8, and that kind of righted the ship. I was 1-over at that point. And then birdied 9, hit it close on 10 and missed, but then after missing that birdie putt on 10 I hit it close again on 11 and made it there, and at that point I knew I was going to play well. Q. And then in turn, what was maybe the hardest part of your round? JOHNSON WAGNER: I don't like the fifth tee shot very much, and I've hooked it in the water there on Thursday and then did it again today, and I'm not going to do it tomorrow. But getting past that hole was the hardest part. Q. Was there something specific that maybe you worked on that is basically two different players between Pebble Beach and this week? Was there something specifically that you might have worked on? JOHNSON WAGNER: Definitely. I don't think I was very close to playing good golf at Pebble Beach, but I made a lot of bad mistakes and was hitting a lot of shots left. I was hooking a lot of shots. So I opened my club face a little bit at address, and it's made a big difference. Q. Talk about your impression of today's round. JOHNSON WAGNER: Today's round was good. I started slow, made a bogey on 5, which actually was a pretty good bogey, and then the heavy downpour came on the 6th tee. Luckily I got away with par there. And then we had a little delay on the 7th tee, and after that I just kind of calmed down and played good golf, made a lot of birdies, had really good looks at birdie on every hole from 6 in and made a lot of them and chipped in for eagle on 8 and just felt really comfortable after the rain delay, and just a wonderful day at a great place. Q. Talk about the game plan for tomorrow. JOHNSON WAGNER: It looks like there's a lot of people on the leaderboard within a few shots, so you can't be looking at the leaderboard thinking, okay, I've got to stay ahead of these people. I have to go out and make birdies and try to play the same kind of rounds that I've played the last two days because if I could go post a good number I'd feel pretty good about it. Someone is going to have to play good to beat me. Gracias. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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