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RENO-TAHOE OPEN

August 7, 2011

Scott Piercy

RENO, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome our 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open champion, Scott Piercy to the interview room here.
Scott, you made a little bit harder on yourself coming down the stretch, but at the end of the day you earned your first PGA TOUR win.
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah, 30 feet and two-putting is not as easy as it looks sometimes. I played solid all day, and I figured if I shot 4-under I would win easy because I would make them have to shoot 6.
The wind was up enough to where it kind of kept the scores down, and I had one little hiccup and just played solid from there.
I had a few chances that could have gone and ended up right in the jaws short, but coming down the stretch, you know, making pars is sometimes as good as making birdies.
THE MODERATOR: A lot of things come along with this victory. First of all, next week you're in the PGA, 250 FedExCup points moves you to, I think, 80th, which puts you in a pretty good position to make a run at the playoffs.
Talk about those. Any of those sunk in yet?
SCOTT PIERCY: We always know kind of in the back of our mind what's there. Until you do it, you know, as far as thinking, no. It helps planning your schedule a little bit easier for next year. Hopefully making a run at the playoff is the next kind of goal. PGA I guess first.
I'm just so excited. I know I don't seem like it probably, but I don't know if it's excited or just relief. Kind of feel like I got the monkey off my back. Been in the final group five times I think and didn't close the deal.
So, you know, you going to do it? I always thought I could do it, and it was just a matter of doing it. Now I did it, so the monkey is off the back and take a big sigh of relief, which is nice.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I understand you had to cancel a family trip next week. Where were you guys headed?
SCOTT PIERCY: We were going to be at Sea World and Disneyland, down on the beach, and Dana Point next week.

Q. I guess the family is not too upset.
SCOTT PIERCY: I think they're still going. (Laughter.)

Q. Talk about 18, your choice to hit driver off the tee knowing you had a little bit of cushion there, what your thought process was.
SCOTT PIERCY: The wind was down off our right, or at least right-to-left, and in the past, where Josh hit it up on the left, you know, I think I made a 13 there last year doing that.
My go-to shot is kind of like a -- I call it a bunt-cut where it just starts straight and cuts off. So I call it the steering wheel or whatever you want to call it, but that's kind of my go-to with the driver.
I felt like if I could just hit a high, soft cut I would hold the wind and take out of left side. Fairways got a little firmer and faster and bounce, and that ball got all the way through the fairway, which you can play from the right side; the left side you can't.
I was pretty much just trying to take the left side out of the play, and hopefully it would hang up in the rough or catch the right side of the fairway.

Q. What club did you use it chip off the cart path?
SCOTT PIERCY: It was a 6-iron.

Q. On that first putt, you ran it about seven feet past. Did you misjudge speed at all?
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah, you know, a few holes before that I left it right in the jaws short. You know, there is that rigid I had to putt up there on 18. You're putting towards the valley really, so it's kind of a facade really what that ridge is.
I was kind of thinking, Oh, make sure you get it to the hole. Once it gets over that ridge, it looks uphill but it's really down.
A little too much power on that one.

Q. When you were helping your partner look for his ball, what were you thinking? Did you think it was a good chance to maybe catch a breath or just regular routine? What was your thought process?
SCOTT PIERCY: Definitely, you know, I had the adrenaline pumping. The hands start shaking when you get that much adrenaline going. You're trying to take deep breaths. Probably gave me a little time to collect myself and breathe it out and calm myself down.
You never want to look for a ball because that's a bad thing, but, you know, probably gave me a little more time. Didn't have to sit in the fairway and watch the group in front of us either.
So it was good and bad, you know.

Q. We saw you on the Golf Channel, and it looked like you were getting a little bit emotional in the interview right after making the putt. Talk about what was going through you mind at that point.
SCOTT PIERCY: The word that comes to mind was, "finally." Like I said, I've been in the final group. I've had my chances, and I didn't close in the past.
You know, it's just a wave of emotions. You know, it's almost I don't know what word. In my head, it's like finally. Finally did it.
You know, you believe in yourself and everybody just -- everybody is your opponent out here. If you don't believe in yourself and you don't have good results, then, you know, you can start not believing in yourself, which is hard.
So it's kind of like a pat on your back when you do something good, that you are that good and that you can do it.

Q. I think you said a little bit ago that you're excited; probably can't tell. You are a reserved person by nature, I assume. Is that pretty safe to say?
SCOTT PIERCY: Generally speaking. I can get pretty hot on the golf course, though. Yeah, generally I am. You know, when you're playing well, the thing is to maintain such an even keel and not the ups and downs, stay out of it.
You almost -- the putt goes in and it's like you're still in that mode, where it's like, Okay, I've got to go hit the next shot. I got to go execute the next shot. Where is the next shot? You're kind of still in the mode of just going.
So that's why it takes a while to snap out of it and be like, Oh, I won. Okay, cool. So that's why when there is a mic right in your face, it's like, you know, it's kind of -- it's nice though.

Q. Seems like that's a character trait that a lot of PGA TOUR guys have. Is that something that helps you on the PGA TOUR as an individual athlete? You're all by yourself out there basically.
SCOTT PIERCY: What was that exactly?

Q. Just being reserved by nature.
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah, I mean, I have a huge competitive fire inside me as far as I want to win and I expect a lot out of myself.
But to be calm when you get in the right circumstances and keep a good head definitely does help.

Q. You were in black and white yesterday and black and white today. Do you ever wear much color?
SCOTT PIERCY: I do. It worked, right? (Laughter.) I still look good, right?

Q. Of course. Absolutely. I can't wear black, but you can.
You said you had a 13 on 18 last year; is that right?
SCOTT PIERCY: I don't know. It was a lot.

Q. He won the best-dressed award.
SCOTT PIERCY: I never got a plaque. Last year I won best-dressed from all the girls inside.

Q. All the girls inside here?
SCOTT PIERCY: Clubhouse.

Q. Talk about the last putt. You said seven feet about. Describe it, how difficult was it? Considering the situation, how much more difficult was it just because you know you're going to win?
SCOTT PIERCY: The situation is the only thing that makes it difficult. It's an inside right putt. You know, it's pretty much back up the hill. It's kind of like the putt you wish for every day.
It's just the circumstances of you make it and you win, that's what makes the putt difficult, and the emotions that are running through you. Like I said earlier, you got the adrenaline pumping and your hands are not as calm and a little more shaky than normal.
You just kind of got to block that out, line it up, take a deep breath, and put a good stroke on it.

Q. On that third shot, were you going for the center of the green or were you going... right?
SCOTT PIERCY: Going right at it. It was a little close. Had the ball below my feet a little bit, but I played in the middle.

Q. Talk about the dynamic of today of having Pat having such a good round and pushing you along. Did that help you keep your focus?
SCOTT PIERCY: You know what, when I made the turn I think I had either a two- or three-stroke lead. I'm not sure. Three. There wasn't another leaderboard until 14 tee. I think he had to have made a run a little bit from 10 to 14, I'm guessing.
So I didn't know. Like I said, I was staying in my zone and hitting my shots. He had to make birdies to catch me. As long as I was making pars and birdies, he had to do all the catching up.

Q. What does it mean to get your first TOUR win in your home state, albeit the opposite part?
SCOTT PIERCY: Yeah, you know, it's almost like being at home. I have family here, my aunt and my uncle. They have a lot of friends. So it's almost like I'm at home. I stayed at their home all week and I had my family up with me.
You know, it's not my bed and it's not the golf course I normally play, but probably as close to that as I'm getting. I love Montreux. So beautiful up here. How can you not like it really?

Q. After your round yesterday, somebody asked you how hard it was. Seemed easy. As easy as that seemed yesterday, was this more difficult? You had to scramble some. Is that almost like an opposite kind of round in some ways?
SCOTT PIERCY: You know, I said yesterday that the wind would dictate a lot of it. I played in the wind pretty much all day today. The pins were definitely tougher today.
As far as being easy, you know, being in the last group on Sunday is never easy, first of all. I felt more comfortable than I had been in the past just playing my shots and doing what I needed to do.
I never felt like I was out of control. You know, I'm not going to say easy, but I knew what I was doing. I had a good grasp of what was going on and where I was hitting it and what I needed to do.
A lot of times when you know what you need to do and where you need to be, it kind of puts your mind at ease to seem a little easier.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, congratulations.
SCOTT PIERCY: Thanks.

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