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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 10, 2011

Kyle Stanley

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll go ahead and get started. Kyle Stanley, thanks for joining us. Obviously not the circumstances you wanted to be here under. But you put yourself in position to where Steve Stricker had to do it, and he did it. It was out of your hands. And there was nothing you can do. That being said, you've gotta feel good about your performance this week here at the John Deere Classic.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah. I feel great. You know, I've had a pretty steady year. I made a lot of cuts, but I haven't quite put four good rounds together. I got with my caddie, Bobby, we got together a couple months ago and we've been working really, really hard on my wedges and my putting, and you know, it's nice to see some results of that this week.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. With that we'll just go ahead and open it up for a few questions. And actually, the thought of the British Open, has that even been able to register yet.
KYLE STANLEY: I don't know. I mean it's great. I'm very excited to go over there and play. But I'm still trying to calm down from that round.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. All right. With that we'll take some questions.

Q. Talk about rallying there on the back nine. Did you know that you just had to keep your foot on the gas or go for birdie, birdie, birdie?
KYLE STANLEY: Really all I was trying to do, I wasn't really sure where I stood. I knew I was in second and had a relatively nice gap over third. I really didn't know what Steve was doing. I just kept giving myself good looks and putts that I did in practice rounds and putts that I knew what they were going to do. So I think I had four or five in a row there on the back nine. So yeah, I just kept trying to make birdies and give myself opportunities mainly.

Q. Kyle, talk about the tee shots on 17 and 18 that got you a little into trouble, but you still handled the situations well.
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah. I think on both 17 and 18 I was just trying to hit little baby draws and they just didn't draw. But made a really nice recovery there on 17 to make par.
And then on 18, I was hitting 2-iron off that tee, so hitting that fairway is a must. I was fortunate enough to kind of have a gap in the trees, and you know, it was a tough bunker shot. I hit a pretty good one to leave myself eight to ten feet and made a good putt.

Q. That putt on 18 did you feel like you pulled it or was it just a late break?
KYLE STANLEY: No. I was playing it inside left and it stayed there. I thought it might go right a little bit, but it didn't.

Q. You have to be happy with how you played this course. What's your mindset?
KYLE STANLEY: You know, I really -- to be honest with you, I mean I wasn't really thinking too much about the leaderboard, which you know, is actually a little surprising to myself as well.
But I just kept trying to play the golf course, and you know, I kept like I said, kept giving myself good putts and kept making them. And I kind of figured with a couple left I had a chance and that's really all you can ask out here is with a few holes left to have an opportunity.

Q. Was there a time when you did start watching the leaderboard?
KYLE STANLEY: Not really. I think on 17 green I saw that I had a two-shot lead. But I'd been hitting 2-iron all week. So I didn't really adjust my game plan there.

Q. Kyle, you talked about having (indiscernible).
KYLE STANLEY: That is great. That is great. I was leading after two rounds at the Honda, and I didn't play the weekend real well. And then last week I was in contention, I guess close to the top after two rounds and I didn't play the weekend well either. But I felt like I learned a lot from that, which I was able to bring into this week.
And you know, it's tough. I mean I'm very, very proud of myself for how I handled today, and you know, the biggest thing is I'm doing a good job of learning from my past experiences, and I'm obviously working on the right things.

Q. Obviously to put this one in perspective, what do you take from this?
KYLE STANLEY: A lot of confidence. A lot of confidence in just knowing that I'm working on a lot of the right things. There's real -- this tournament's really a contest of birdies and it's all wedges and putting. And that's what I've been working really hard on lately, and I probably made about 24, 25 birdies, which is good. So I just gotta continue to work hard on that. And we'll be back.

Q. How does this rank in your personal scale for professional accomplishments?
KYLE STANLEY: Well, I haven't been doing this long. It was my first year on TOUR and played Nationwide last year, but highest finish on TOUR, highest finish in any professional event.

Q. Did you think this was the time this was going to happen?
KYLE STANLEY: You know, I don't think you can really put a time on when it happens. You know, I think it just does. You know, even today, I mean going in, I wasn't like let's win, let's win, let's win. You know, you just kind of gotta focus on the things you can control and just go with that.
But I have the game to win out here. I don't know when it'll happen. Maybe this year, maybe next year, but I'm just focusing on getting better. That's all I can really do.

Q. Where were you when you saw Steve made the last putt? Were you in the trailer?
KYLE STANLEY: Yeah. I was in the scoring trailer.

Q. Did you see it on TV or did you hear the reaction from the crowd?
KYLE STANLEY: I just heard crowd reaction. So gotta give him credit. That's a great birdie from where he was. And certainly that's an accomplishment to win this event three years in a row.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Well, Kyle, we know you've got a lot ahead of you. We'll let you get going. Congratulations on your finish.

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