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OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AMApril 17, 2011Jay Don BlakeLUTZ, FLORIDA DAVE SENKO: Jay Don, thanks for joining us. I know it's a disappointing finish. You look back at where you were at the tournament, to be right back in it at the end, maybe just talk about today. JAY DON BLAKE: Yeah, it was kind of a little bit of a roller coaster day today. I come right out of the block and birdied the first hole and started hitting some good shots right off the start. Missed a couple short putts on 4; 3-putted 7 for bogey; then I missed a short one on 8; made bogey. Missed about a 6-footer on 9; made bogey. Now all of a sudden I got my chin against my chest kind of moping around kind of disappointed. I felt like I hadn't really hit a lot of bad shots, I just wasn't hitting them in the right spots. You know, then started off and just made a couple smooth little pars on 10 and 11. Really not much going on. I'm watching the leaderboard. Those guys are 11 or something like that. And then I finally hit a couple good shots on 12 just over the back of the green and chipped it down about five feet and made birdie there, and then birdied the next par-5 on 14. So just kind of plugging along. Just kept telling myself, Just see if we can keep making some birdies, make some good swings at 'em, make some good putts at 'em. I missed a couple birdie putts on 15 and 16. 16 just hung right on the lip. 17 I thought I hit a good tee shot but I come up a little short. Then I chipped it about six feet and made a good par save on 17. Then 18, you know, hit a pretty good drive. A little bit of a sucker pin. Wasn't really trying to aim it at the pin, I was just trying to take it to the center of the green and kind of shape a little bit towards the pin and push it some. But I hit is solid enough that that it carried all the stuff and ended up going about eight feet just past the hole and made it for birdie. I mean, at the time, I finished at 9 and looked at the board and seen Russ Cochran was at 9 and Cook was at 11. I thought, Well, depending well Cook does whether I'll finish second or third or maybe tied for second. So we're in there doing our scores and trying to figure out all the amateur birdies and pars we made. Next thing you know they said, Well, you better stick around. I turned around and they showed a replay of Cook hitting a shot that ended up in the water and Cochran chopping it out of the edge of the pond over there. So I fortunately was able to get into the playoff. I guess a little bit surprised, but I tried to come with the attitude that everybody has got play the whole 18 holes, the whole 54-hole tournament, every hole, and it ends up that we're tied. So I didn't wanting to in there nonchalantly. I wanted to go in there with a good positive attitude and see if I could still win the tournament. All day long, every tee shot I played was a little bit of a fade. The playoff hole I aimed at those left bunkers I was just trying to get a little bit of a fade off of 'em. And I guess being a little bit full of energy and excitement, probably the first one I've actually released and hit really solid, and it went dead straight into the bunker. Unfortunately, they had just raked those traps and fluffed 'em up and made 'em pretty soft. My ball nestled down in kind of a awkward kind of lie, so I actually had to take a hybrid and just try to chop it out of there and hopefully try to slice it around up there in towards the pin because Cook had hit a good drive down the middle of the fairway, and I left it in the bunker. Then Cook probably showed the shot that he wanted to hit on the final 54th hole up there about six feet and made birdie. Kind of put me out of my misery I guess you could say. But I was pretty pleased to be part of the playoff. Cook hit two good shots and made a good birdie on 18. DAVE SENKO: If you have a question, we've got a mic here. Put your hand up. Q. How shocked were you that John even put the water into play on 18 with a two-shot lead from the fairway? JAY DON BLAKE: You know, especially where he probably seen that I had finished at 9 and Russ Cochran was over in the same bunker that I was in and he didn't hit a good shot out of bunkers, and then Cook was to play. I mean, you've got a lot room over there. Just making bogeys is gonna be fine. I was pretty surprised that I watched that replay that he hit it in the water. You know, sometimes you get aiming too far left that you don't want to -- that's kind of the hard part, is aiming so far conservative that you can make a bad swing even doing that. So that's probably what happened. He made a couple good ones on the playoff hole. Q. After you hit the ball for three days, four hours a day, and sign the scorecard after 18 today, how hard is it to get your mind back into golf mode? Is it tough to pick up figuring Cook probably has the win? JAY DON BLAKE: For me it wasn't very hard. Like I said, I was happy to be there, part of the playoff. I don't wish any bad shots on anybody out there playing. You know, I wasn't really even watching the TV. They had one there at the score table, and I just thought for sure that Cook was going to hit it out there 30, maybe 40 feet to the left and two-putt, maybe three-putt, and he's gonna win. All of a sudden they said he's in the water. When you do that, that rejuvenates you, I guess. I can still win it. I felt bad for him, but I don't feel bad enough for him that I'm not going to go out and try to win the tournament. Didn't work out, but I was trying. Q. You said yesterday that 20 years later it was nice to feel like you have a second chance, a second career on this tour here. Does it kind of feel like a weekend like this and what you did last year with the seven top 10 finishes, that that's what's starting to build here with the momentum? JAY DON BLAKE: You're back to the age thing again, aren't you? Yeah, I mean, all this builds confidence, you know, and builds positive results. That's what we try to work for, is some good positive results, be pleased with the way we play and how we perform. They keep knocking at the door, and some time that door is going to open pretty wide. So that's what I keep hoping, and that's what we keep practicing for, to try to make it happen. Just can't wait to where it finally does, and then hopefully that springboards me to a lot more wins. Q. When the day started, was your mindset that you had to be aggressive and go out and get birdies? When it didn't happen, was it starting to get frustrating? JAY DON BLAKE: Yeah, it was -- you know, I felt like that. I mean, being three shots back going in -- the forecast was not going to be much wind. We've been playing in some pretty good wind. I thought maybe the course might be just a little bit easier. Cook has been shooting some pretty good numbers out there. Somebody said he hadn't missed but two fairways and three or four greens, so I know he's been hitting the ball well. He always putts pretty good, so you felt like you had to be pretty aggressive. I made birdie on the first hole. You kind of chalk one up right there. Then I hit a couple good shots on the next three or four holes after that and didn't capitalize. So then you kind of feel like the holes are running out. Then the downfall is 7, the par-5, where I had a good chance to get it on in two. Kind of hit a horrible second shot in the bunker. Kind of got on a downhill lie. I couldn't even play towards the pin. Had to run it across the back of the green. Had about 50 feet coming back, and hit it about five feet and missed it. You don't ever give up. But, I mean, it's pretty hard to stay completely in that driving/motivation mode. I kept trying to make birdies and hit good shots. Like we were saying earlier, just after the turn I wanted to make a good back nine to see if I could finish up as high as I could, because those guys were 11 or 12 or something like that under. Didn't expect to be in a playoff. When you don't make 'em and you feel like you got to make a bunch of birdies with those guys out there, then it kind of -- you know, your hopes kind of shatter a little bit. Q. (No microphone.) JAY DON BLAKE: I hit 5-iron. Q. (No microphone.) JAY DON BLAKE: Our friends back in the back that followed me all week long said it actually hit the pin. I didn't know if it. I didn't know until after the playoff even that it hit the pin. DAVE SENKO: Thanks, Jay Don. JAY DON BLAKE: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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