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THE BARCLAYS SCOTTISH OPENJuly 8, 2011Peter WhitefordINVERNESS, SCOTLAND MICHAEL GIBBONS: Many thanks for joining us. I suppose start us off with your assessment of a fine 66 to lead The Barclays Scottish Open. PETER WHITEFORD: Yeah, certainly good so are far. If the weather keeps on, it looks like it will be all right. Yeah, played lovely, two solid rounds. Got off a wee bit this afternoon, sort of mid-round, a couple of wrong clubs and bogeys, but apart from that, it's been so far, hassle-free really, and a lot of chances and I think you get a lot of chances out here when the wind doesn't blow. Certainly any links course is the same. Stay patient and hopefully hole some. MICHAEL GIBBONS: What's pleasing more, that 66 or the rain right now? PETER WHITEFORD: Touch and go, I don't know. Both about the same at the moment I think. Q. Almost every year at The Barclays, we end up talking about Scottish golf in the doldrums and nobody to follow Monty and the boys, but with you and Scott in the lead, is it a blip or -- PETER WHITEFORD: I think in any country, you get spells of good players coming through and spells of guys that pickle. I've been out here for years and I'm not exactly a new face. Certainly Challenge Tour, I've been out there for about a decade. So yeah, Scott is the guy. I mean, his first year out here, what he's doing in my opinion is phenomenal. He's not seen the golf course, every week is a new week to him. At least this is kind of my third year on tour, if you like. So a lot more sort of credit goes to him and what he's doing every week. Q. Scott was asked I think a couple of years ago, if couldn't have made it as a tour pro, what would he have done, and he said he didn't know. Were you not thinking of becoming a painter? PETER WHITEFORD: No, there was -- I don't know what it was, three or four years ago I guess, three years ago, The Challenge Tour, just bank balance takes a kicking every week, so I was looking for jobs at one stage. But really tried my hardest not to, but the end of the day, the bank balance tells the story. And luckily I went and won two of the next three weeks and that was forgotten about hopefully. Q. How big of a boost, just getting into next week? PETER WHITEFORD: It's great. It's phenomenal. It's my first major and all the rest. It wasn't in the schedule at the start of the year for guys like me, obviously I try and qualify every year but I'm not very good at qualifiers. It's my first time playing it and I will try to cherish the sort of experience I'll gain from it and hopefully be back. I don't know, as far as goals and the tournament are concerned, we'll have to wait and see, but just the experience at the moment will be fantastic. Q. As you say, you've been around for a decade playing The Challenge Tour, what is it that's made the difference now all of a sudden, or nearly all of a sudden, that you've got to this level? PETER WHITEFORD: My putting has improved, I have to admit. I've always been average at best at that. But holing out from sort of five, six feet in, it keeps the momentum going most weeks. And you know, that brings confidence and it works back through the bag and you can take on more flags now and all the rest, so you're not too worried about having to chip it stiff to make par. It's my third year out here, so I know the golf courses and I know the faces. It's not as daunting as it might have been my first season. I guess feeling a bit more at home out here I guess. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Well played today, wish you best of luck over the weekend. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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