|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPENFebruary 4, 2012Spencer LevinSCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Spencer Levin into the interview room at 17‑under par. Spencer, just another solid round for you out there today. Just comment on the round as a whole. SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, I felt good about it. I felt like I played solid. I felt like I was in control of my ball most of the day, and yeah, I'm pleased. Coming out there, I've never had a big lead like that starting the day, and I thought I played well. Yeah, overall I'm pleased about it. JOHN BUSH: Good ball‑striking, just one swing maybe there on 15. SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, that was kind of‑‑ kind of tugged that a little bit left. It wasn't that bad a shot, but if you hit anything in the left side of that fairway, it's probably going to go in the water. I didn't hit it where I wanted to, but overall felt pretty good. Next hole didn't hit a very good tee shot, a wedge, but pulled it left but left my putt pretty far short. I felt like that was a pretty big putt for me just because you had to wait on the next tee and all that. 16 is not too easy around that green. I was able to make that, made me feel pretty good. Then birdied 17, so that was a nice swing right there, saved me a couple shots. Q. Is that the most fun you've ever had or was it so different that you couldn't really enjoy it? SPENCER LEVIN: Maybe the second part. It was fun for sure, but I was trying to focus, too, but yeah, it was a lot of fun. You don't get that too often, all those people cheering. Q. Can you talk about having that big lead, being out of your element? Most guys aren't used to that out here. How did that feel? SPENCER LEVIN: It felt different. You know, it felt‑‑ I tried not to think about it. I knew I was just trying to focus on my game and my ball, and it worked out good today. I tried as hard as I could just to do what I did the first two days, and that's what I'm going to do tomorrow, too. Q. How were your nerves this morning? SPENCER LEVIN: I was all right actually. Yeah, I was all right. I felt calm, felt a little tired. I think that might have been nice. But on the first tee, of course you get a little jitters going, but overall not too bad. I felt good about where my swing is, I felt good about my putting. I feel good about where my game is. Physically, I feel great about it. Tomorrow I've just got to go out there and get it done. Q. You mentioned yesterday only having one 36‑hole lead in your career. Have you ever had a 54‑hole lead? SPENCER LEVIN: No, I don't even know if I've had a 36‑hole lead out there. I don't know about a 54‑hole lead. I think maybe back on the Canadian Tour or mini‑Tour, but I'm not sure about Nationwide. I don't think so. Maybe 36‑hole lead on the Nationwide but not 54‑hole. Q. Did you watch Kyle last week and did you learn anything from it? SPENCER LEVIN: I turned it on. I got to a buddy's house. I finished kind of early, relatively early, and I figured he won, because I knew he had a big lead, and then I saw he was in a playoff and I didn't know what happened. It looked to me like he played the hole solid, he just got a bad break on the third shot, and I'm sure after that it was probably a tough feeling. But it didn't look like he played the hole bad; it looked like he played it the way he wanted to. Just a tough break for him. I don't know, all you can do is just try and do your best, I guess, so to speak as everybody says, but if you can keep your‑‑ if you can focus on yourself and just try to do the best you can, that's all you can really do. Q. Last night you were talking about just trusting your swing, just trusting it, not being so much into your swing, and you said here today that you were just trying to do what you did the last two days. Is that still what you try to do, trust it? SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, I mean, I haven't really had many swing thoughts at all this week. Hopefully I keep that going. Last few weeks I've been trying to do certain things here and there, but where it is now, it is what it is. There's no time to change now, I've just got to go out there and try and be aggressive, try to commit to my shots, and hopefully they go straight. Q. Is it crazy to‑‑ you talked about this yesterday, to think of where you were Thursday when you started the round, disappointed, and your caddie said you said, maybe I'll get a par the next couple holes or something, to where you are now? SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, it's crazy. I didn't think‑‑ if somebody told me ‑‑ how many am I leading by? If somebody told me I had a six‑shot lead after that first hole on Thursday, I would have laughed at them. But it's pretty crazy. It feels pretty good, and hopefully I can just keep playing well. Q. Did 16 come up with any new material? Did they get your name right? SPENCER LEVIN: They had the wave going while you were hitting the shot, so that was kind of cool. I liked that. Q. Were they a little bit more familiar with you today being the leader? SPENCER LEVIN: Not really. I mean, a little bit, a little bit. They were cheering for me, which was cool. They booed my wedge shot, but I would have booed my wedge shot, too. Q. That par putt there, that save, was that your best shot of the day? SPENCER LEVIN: Well, looking back, probably, because I just bogeyed 15. It was a tough putt, too, late in the day with all the ball marks and stuff. Yeah, I think so, yeah. That probably is. Q. How do you think your personality fits into an environment like this? Some people seem to thrive, not just 16, but it's pretty noisy all around. SPENCER LEVIN: I mean, I don't know, I like it. It's fun. You don't get it very often, and everybody is all fired up, and it definitely gets your juices going no matter how you're doing. Personality‑wise, I don't know, I like‑‑ I'm sure a lot of guys like it, too. I'm fortunate to be playing well this week, but yeah, I enjoy it a lot. Q. Does anybody give you any hassle and whatnot for smoking in the fairway? SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, oh, yeah. You mean guys in the crowd? Oh, yeah, every time. They were asking to bum them from me, too. Q. The last seven and a half years, how often have you been asked about that hole‑in‑one at the U.S. Open when you were an amateur at Shinnecock?  Did you ever get tired of getting asked about that? And when did that finally fade away? SPENCER LEVIN: Maybe a couple years ago, a few years ago maybe. I got it‑‑ yeah, it didn't happen that long after really, maybe‑‑ once I turned pro and I first started on the mini‑Tours and stuff, nobody really talked about it. It was probably about a year after that. It was cool hearing about it. It was the first hole‑in‑one I ever had, so it was cool. Q. Do you have the highlight reel? SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, I've got it on the TiVo. When they do the hour reel on the U.S. Opens they've got the shot on there. Q. When was the last time you watched it? SPENCER LEVIN: I think it was on TV yesterday. I went home and watched the‑‑ they showed a recap of it yesterday or something during the coverage. I don't know if it was during the live part or the replay they do at night, but yeah, I saw it. I was like, man, that was a pretty good swing. Q. So there's a mind state that you guys play in in a normal tournament, and this is not a normal tournament, so how do you maintain that same mind state when you have all of this uproar going on? SPENCER LEVIN: I don't know. That's a good question. I haven't really thought about it. I guess maybe that's why I'm feeling good. Honestly, I don't know. I kind of‑‑ I feel relaxed actually when everybody is yelling and screaming. It just kind of makes me not think so much about my swing and all that. I feel the moment and hopefully the crowd is on my side and hopefully I can build up that. I like it. I just enjoy it. It's fun. It keeps me focused, keeps you into what you're doing. I think it's great. Q. So you're able to get to the same place? SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, absolutely, because I'm not‑‑ I'm not thinking about much anyway, and then the whole attitude and the whole feel is great, so I'm having a lot of fun. Hopefully I can just stay calm, try my best and keep having fun. I'm going to try my best. That's all I'm going to do, and we'll see what happens. JOHN BUSH: Spencer, we appreciate your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|