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THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC

July 28, 2011

Trevor Immelman

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA

THE MODERATOR: Trevor, thanks for joining us for a few minutes after a great start. Seven birdies, just one bogey, en route to a 64.
Just some comments on how you're feeling after the round as you continue on for the week.
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, obviously I'm excited with the 64 today. You know, any time you shoot a number like that it's exciting. That's why you put all the hard work in.
You know, it's great. Great to be here. Got the whole family here. Everybody is enjoying the facilities. You know, had some great weather, fantastic golf course, so nice to get things going.
THE MODERATOR: What have you been working on with your game? Have you made any changes or anything that are starting to come around for you?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, I think, you know, to start off this year my wrist has been pretty good. Hasn't bothered me at all. So I've been able to get back to some of the stuff I used to do four or five years ago.
So for the most part, this year I've just been working on those old feels and trying to get some consistency back. I've seen some signs of so, me good play and some good shots at the right time. I'm just trying to stay patient with it.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. (Question regarding changes to the golf course. )
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, I think the changes to the course are fantastic. I think Mr. Justice and whoever was helping him with it did a fantastic job. A lot of times nowadays guys come in and try and change courses and toughen them up, and, in my opinion, can sometimes take it over the top.
But it feels like this week the changes that have been made here are good ones. They've kept the character of the golf course; they've kept the same feel with the golf course, even with the green changes and the addition of some of the bunkers.
So I'm a real fan what when they did. I think it sits well. I think it looks well. It looks good aesthetically. It's pleasing on the eye. It's a lot tougher than it was, there's no doubt about it, especially with the firmness of the greens.
But we were obviously fortunate to get out there this morning with no breeze. If you got things going, you could make some birdies.

Q. Do you think there is maybe a lower score out here in the afternoon?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, it's hard for me to sit here and speculate on that. These guys are seriously good. I'm surprised every week at some of the scores and rounds guys put together. Incredible stuff.
But generally in the afternoons, especially around here, if the wind picks up it tends to swirl around a lot here in the hills. So I know yesterday in the Pro-Am in the afternoon the club choice into the greens was a bit more tricky.
You know, obviously the greens are real nice and smooth in the morning, so, you know, we'll just have to see.

Q. (Question regarding confidence getting off to a good start.)
TREVOR IMMELMAN: It's always nice to get off to a good start and get things going, see some putts go in the hole. You know, it just builds your confidence.
From there you just try and keep it going and stay out of your own way. Fortunately enough I was able to do that today.

Q. Did you play last year?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yes.

Q. What changes do you see most in the course?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, I hit a lot more drivers now than what I did last year, and that's nice. You know, a lot more medium iron into the par-4s; whereas last year the fairways were really firm and it felt like every hole was a wedge or sand wedge.
You know, consequently you really felt the need to make a lot of birdies; whereas this year, you know, I definitely don't see as many birdies out there. You got to hit some good straight drives.
Then with the greens being as firm as they are, even though there's not much rough, there's enough for the ball, to take the spin off. If there's not enough spin on the ball landing on the greens, it's definitely not going to hold the greens.
So I think the course is playing fantastically right now.

Q. How close are you to being back to the form of - or are you at it -- of 2008?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: I hope I'm close. (Laughter.) You never know with this game. It's been a frustrating couple years not being able to swing the way I want to swing and practice the way I want to practice.
Like I said, for the most part this year I've been able to get back to working on the things I used to work on back then.
I've definitely seen signs of improvement. You know, albeit slow progress, there's been progress. So I just keep trying to reminded myself that I'm 31 and I got a long way ahead of me. Just trying to stay patient and keep things going, you know.

Q. Can you describe your birdie putts, the length they were.
TREVOR IMMELMAN: The 1st hole was about a -- sorry, the 10th hole was about a foot.
12, the par-5, hit it just next to the green and chipped it to about a foot as well.
So those are two nice ones to get things going.
14 was about seven feet.
18 was about 12 feet.
Let's see, where else were we? The 4th hole was about five feet.
The 7th hole, the long one, was about 40 feet. Sorry, the 6th hole about 40 feet.
Then the 8th was about 15.
It was nice to get some putts rolling in.

Q. You had stated that last year you were present and trying to make birdies every time because of the wedge play. Have you found it more patient out there?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Yeah, absolutely. I knew that once I played, I played 11 holes early on Tuesday morning - or 12 holes because I played the 18th as well - and I saw straightaway that it's just playing a lot tougher.
The greens with them being new are real firm, and so the ball is taking a good five-yard bounce when it hits the green. So you're going to have to be pretty accurate with your distance control.
Straightaway I could tell that there probably wouldn't be any 59s this time around. So like I said, I think it's a great test of golf and a fun course to play. It's very well designed. It flows well.

Q. Just wondering some of the off-course activities you've partaken in this week and how much that has to do with playing here and how much it has to do with trying to get in position for playoffs.
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Well, like I said, it's nice to have the family here. This is probably the last week that they're going to travel with me because my little guy starts school in a couple weeks.
You know, it's fun. It's nice to stay here on the facility and go out into the restaurants and to the pools. We've been bowling and playing arcade games and my little guy has been down fishing.
I think as a professional golfer, it's always fun when you know your family are having fun and are preoccupied with stuff to do. That means you can go ahead and do what you want to do.
It's always nice to know that they're having a good time, and so I think that's why so many of the players enjoy coming here with their families.

Q. Not to belabor any of the hard stuff, but it's a long way from where you were to getting back to here. Can you talk about what the most frustrating things were for you during that time?
TREVOR IMMELMAN: You know, number one is the pain and discomfort, you know. So that's the roughest part, because no matter what profession you're in, whether it be indoors or outdoors, pain is not great.
And then from an athlete's standpoint, because of the pain, number one, before the surgery I was compensating. All you do at that point is get into bad habits and start playing worse.
And then after the surgery it was five months before I could putt and six months before I could hit. At that point you're still doing all the rehab to try and get the wrist to be able to do what it used to do.
So it's just frustration because I know that I got better golf in me. You know, I've proved it to myself. So when you're out there shooting mediocre scores and struggling to make cuts and stuff like that, mentally it's not ideal.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, Trevor. We appreciate your time. Congratulations on a great start.
TREVOR IMMELMAN: Thanks.

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