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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 2, 2011Charl SchwartzelNORTON, MASSACHUSETTS JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Charl Schwartzel after a 5-under par 66. Great playing out there. If we can just get some comments on your opening round. CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Thank you very much. It was one of those just solid rounds of golf. You know, drove the ball well, made a lot of good iron shots and gave myself opportunities to make a few putts. From the first hole I made a really nice 20-footer and kind of got things going, and it was just really good golf from there on. I didn't make very many mistakes. I missed a short putt on the fifth hole. That was my only bogey, and the rest were pretty good chances to make birdies. JOHN BUSH: You took last week off. Talk a little bit about the state of your game heading into this week. CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, last week I spent a bit of time in South Africa, just getting prepared for the last few events, and it went well. I did some good practice, and it seems like it's sort of paid off. Q. When you look at last week, there was an earthquake, hurricane, shortened tournament; do you go, hmm, maybe I did the right thing in not playing? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: (Smiling) Yeah, at the end of the day there's still going to be a winner, but it's nice. I was sitting in South Africa in the sunshine and watching the guys struggle through the hurricanes and all the things happening out here. In that sense it was maybe a good choice. But by missing an event you do put yourself a little bit on the back foot. Q. That was sort of what I was going to ask was your mindset, why you decided to skip. And it's your first experience with the Playoffs; were you a little bit nervous about missing a tournament? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I think if I was nervous I would have played. It just worked out that way. My end of the year schedule, plus I'm in so many tournaments that's coming up, and before the Barclays I was out already for a few weeks, and it just meant I would have been away from home for about 13 weeks. That's a long stretch to stay out here and keep going. Somewhere along the line you're going to start struggling if you play that many. It just worked out that that was the one that I could maybe afford to take off. I wasn't going to take off the PGA. That was going to be the one, and I was in a position -- I was lying 20th or something on the FedEx, so it wasn't like I was struggling with it. To win the FedExCup you basically need to win one of these events, so I figured I'll take my chances in the three coming up. Q. Jerry was in here earlier and he said he didn't think 5 would hold up as the lead. What do you think of this afternoon crowd? Do you think 5 was about as low as you could have shot today or did you leave something out there? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Well, you're always leaving some out there. I don't think 5 will hold up. I think probably someone will come in with a 6, maybe 7. Course is getting a bit firmer and rolling, so it's getting a bit shorter. This morning it was playing quite long. When we teed off it was fairly cold. We were actually wearing jerseys, and there was a bit of breeze. So it was playing long this morning. I think as the day goes on it'll dry out, get a bit firmer, and I think you'll get someone coming in with a little bit lower score. Q. I just want to ask you about your consistency this year. You must be fairly pleased with how you've played the entire season, not just in April, I suppose? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, that's something I work on is my consistency. That's one of the reasons why I don't play that many events in a row. I believe you can't stay consistent if you play -- just keep on playing, playing, playing. Your concentration can only last that long for that many events. I pace myself very well, and when I do come out, I make sure that I'm totally ready to play. Q. Do you feel like this is the most consistent year you've had? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I mean, last year was good, too. It's been coming. But this year I would say it's been really good. JOHN BUSH: Let's go through the card if we can, just 25 putts today and you got off to a great start with a birdie on No. 1. CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I birdied the 1st. I made a nice 20-footer, got my day going, and I think the next birdie was on the 4th hole. It was playing short today, only 278 or 280, and I managed to hit it around the green there and chipped it very close to about a foot. The bogey was out of the middle of the fairway. I missed a short putt for par by four feet. That was the only bogey of the day. I birdied the par-5, once again, about a six-foot putt. 13, I hit driver, 7-iron to maybe about 15 feet. And then nearly made a hole-in-one on 16. And 18 I hit in the greenside bunker and managed to get it quite close. Q. Which club did you hit on 16? CHARL SCHWARTZEL: 9-iron. JOHN BUSH: Thank you, sir. Play well the rest of the week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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