ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 25, 2011

Steve Marino

MARK STEVENS: We would like to welcome Steve Marino. Steve got to 6-under for the tournament playing with Spencer Levin, who is the leader. Do you want to talk about your round today and how you were able to get back in right into contention, and then we'll take some questions.
STEVE MARINO: Yeah, I played pretty well today. I missed the first couple of greens and got them both up-and-down, which was a good start.
And then I was able to birdie 8 and 9 coming off a bogey on 7 to turn at 2-under, which was huge for me. And then just continued to play real well on the back nine and put together a good round.

Q. 1-under yesterday, 5-under today, and at Pebble Beach, you were in the lead for -- for the best of my calculations, for 67 hours; did you at Pebble Beach, D.A. Points sinks an unbelievable shot for eagle and then makes a birdie the next hole. Did that get you to gamble more at Pebble Beach and did that experience at all, will that have any effect on you this week?
STEVE MARINO: Well, yeah, on 18, if I was one shot back instead of two, I might have played it a little bit differently. But I knew I had to try to get home in two and make an eagle to tie.
So you know, I just tried to hit a tee shot that I normally wouldn't try to hit and didn't pull it off, and ended up making a triple or something on the hole, which you know, definitely sucked, but at the same time, it was like, I felt like if I couldn't win, it didn't really matter.
So, yeah, it did make me gamble, and no, I probably won't be thinking about that this week.

Q. Just talk a little bit about Spencer. You've seen him up close and personal the last two days. What impresses you about what you've seen?
STEVE MARINO: His putting is just unbelievable. Yesterday, that round of golf was, I don't know if you guys, if they ever do like a Top-10 rounds of the year or whatever, but that one should be in the Top-10 for sure. He made almost everything he looked at and just played awesome.
And then today, on the front nine, he made a bunch of long putts for birdies and saved some putts -- or made some putts for par. He missed a couple on the back, but I mean, overall, his putting was very, very impressive. I've never really seen anyone putt like that for two days.

Q. Kind of along those lines, when you were watching him shoot 66 while everyone else was struggling to even approach 70, what was going through your mind about that round?
STEVE MARINO: Well, I was in awe, kind of, but at the same time, I was just trying to keep it together and just make pars, and he's out there just making birdies and I'm just thinking, my God, like what is this guy doing out here.
But it was awesome to watch. I mean, like you said, it was a grind. People were trying to -- I mean a bunch of people shot in the 80s yesterday, and a lot, a lot of scores over par, and he made it look easy.
And I was just happy to survive the day shooting under par.

Q. And also, you kind of touched on the Pebble part of it, but you have been in the mix a fair amount, and patience being such a big part of this game; how is your patience for trying to get that win right now?
STEVE MARINO: It's pretty good. Obviously I've dealt with a couple of disappointments. I've been right in there probably four or five tournaments and haven't been able to pull it off. But you know, every single one of those experiences, I felt like I've played pretty well. It's just something was missing to kind of get me over the top; a good break here or a putt to drop in there, and that's how it is out here.
I heard Spencer talking earlier: These guys, everybody is so good out here, that every shot is so precious, that to win a golf tournament, you can't really afford to throw away any shots. You know, unfortunately the times that I've been in contention, I've just maybe thrown away one or two here and there, and you just can't afford to do that.

Q. Everybody is a prisoner of routine to some d

egree or another, but I assume there has to be a difference when you head to the weekend in the mix, at least mentally, subconsciously, as opposed to making the cut on the number; how does that affect you?
STEVE MARINO: It's just more exciting. You're more excited I think to go out there and play. You're more amped up. You know you're in the mix and you know you're going to be in one of the final groups and your friends are going to get to watch you on TV.
It just makes it more exciting and I'm real excited about this weekend, especially with Spencer right up there. I'm hoping that we get paired together again tomorrow.

Q. Are you one of those ones that has to maybe amp it down a little bit?
STEVE MARINO: No, I don't think so. I don't know, I guess could I just say, it's more exciting. I can't really describe it.

Q. What did you kind of learn from those experiences, something like 20 Top-10s and in contention a number of times; what do you take away from all of those?
STEVE MARINO: Just knowing that I'm doing the right things. I put myself in those positions a number of times and if I wasn't doing the right things, then I wouldn't be in those positions to succeed or win a tournament.
So I mean, every time I put myself in a position like that, it gives me more confidence; no matter if I don't win or if I don't play well, it just gives me the confidence to know that if I put -- if I'm able to get there, I'm able to finish it off.
If I have the game to do what it takes to get to that point, it's just a matter of time for me until I just keep doing the same things and finish one off.
MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot, Steve, good luck the rest of the week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports