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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 22, 2012Charlie WiORLANDO, FLORIDA DOUG MILNE: Charlie, thank you for joining us for a few comments after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a 6‑under 66 today. A few comments on the round and we'll take some questions. CHARLIE WI: The golf course is playing very difficult. It was really windy this morning starting right off the bat and I was able to control the ball really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities and I was able to make some putts I'm very pleased with 66. Q. Your first round after the 13, obviously you put that behind you real quickly. CHARLIE WI: Yeah, thank you, Jeff. Next question. (Laughter). I didn't even think about it really. That was just a blip on the radar screen. Actually I figured I should have gone for some TOUR record so at least I could be remembered. Q. What did you do? Short version or long version. CHARLIE WI: Second shot‑‑ I had a wood chip behind my ball off the tee. So second shot I just skirted right behind a tree. I had about 200 yards and I had a gap in the tree, and I was in 60‑something place. So I said, give me the 5‑iron. So I was trying to hit it through the Y. Hit the tree, went in the range. Hit the tree, went in the range. I said, give me 6‑ion. Went in the tree and hit the range. I couldn't take any more shots because I took three big divots, so I had to go sideways. Q. How many balls did you have in the bag? CHARLIE WI: I only had six so I couldn't afford to risk, because I had some water holes coming in. (Laughter). Q. Had you had any luck here before? CHARLIE WI: No. Missed the cut, missed the cut, withdrew, 24th last year. Q. John Daly‑esque. CHARLIE WI: He's three‑time Major winner, isn't he, or twice. Q. He made an 18 ‑‑ you can catch up to him. CHARLIE WI: I'm not long enough to go for that green in one, though. Q. Neither was he. CHARLIE WI: (Laughing). Q. When you have a good stretch of play, can you feel it coming on? CHARLIE WI: Since Pebble Beach, I've been playing okay, making cuts but not really‑‑ I haven't had too many strong finishes and I've never really done well here, if I had shot a couple under today before I teed off, I would have been very pleased so to shoot 66 is a pleasant surprise. Q. Safe to say you come here with not many expectations? CHARLIE WI: You know, I'm still a competitor. I want to do well, so when the birdies are going in, I was making sure that I kept pressing myself to make some more. Q. I think you holed three shots longer than 20 feet; good putting day? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, any time you're playing well, you're definitely making a lot of putts. Q. A lot of guys say before a good round, they have a terrible warm‑up and that's why they didn't see it coming. How was your warm‑up session before you went out? Just normal? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, just normal. I mean, if I would have shot 62, I would have said, wow‑‑ but the guys in the afternoon, I'm sure they could possibly shoot 6‑ or 7‑under as well. So I don't think‑‑ 6‑under is a great round but I don't think it's like 62 or something. Q. You had a couple eagle putts, 12, 13 feet, so this could have been actually lower, right? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, but you know, you're always leaving shots out there. Q. Did Mark misread them? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, it's his fault‑‑ (smiling). No, of course not. Q. Did you turn 40 just recently? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, thank, Steve. I feel great. Q. How do you think I feel? I've known you since you were 16. CHARLIE WI: Yeah, scary thought. Q. Did you do anything? CHARLIE WI: No, I didn't even tell my friends. I was embarrassed. I don't feel that old. Q. You must like coming in here, Charlie. CHARLIE WI: Yeah, you've got to play well to come in here, so it's a good thing. Q. You come in and get abused. CHARLIE WI: Yeah, I love it. Give it to me (grinning). Q. What has given you fits in the previous times you've been here, this course? CHARLIE WI: When I came here, they used to play No. 4 and No. 16 as par 4s, and I said‑‑ I told my caddie, I said this course isn't for me. 4 and 16, I just struggled with those two holes. And when they changed back to par 5 a couple years ago, that's when I decided to come back. I just thought it was too much of a bomber's golf course and I just couldn't compete. Q. Still just a number though, isn't it? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, but I was immature back then. Q. At 38? CHARLIE WI: Yeah. (Laughter). Q. Sunday after the crazy hole, did you laugh it off at night? Did you let it go? CHARLIE WI: Oh, you mean 13, last week? Q. On Sunday, how did you let it go? Did you laugh it off? When did you stop thinking about it? CHARLIE WI: Well, I figured I was going to either make 10,000, or 10,500 if I didn't make 13. Actually I didn't even think about it once. After, I was pretty mad on 6 tee, but after that, I was fine. Yeah, that 13, it's just a number. I promise you, I didn't even think about it after that. Q. The rest of your round you shot 1‑under? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, I shot a couple under after that. So played pretty well. Q. Talk about your finish today. CHARLIE WI: 16, it was blowing pretty good left‑to‑right, hit a good drive. Hit my 4‑iron to about 12 feet. 2‑putted. On 17, hit a great 6‑iron to about 20 feet, 2‑putted. On 18, I hit driver, 8‑iron to about eight feet and made that. Q. Do you know Anthony Kim at all, around L.A.? CHARLIE WI: Yeah, we've hung out a little bit. Q. Good to see him back to a decent round today? He's been lost for a little while there. CHARLIE WI: Golf is a tough game, and I told Anthony‑‑ I played at Honda with him in the fourth round. Golf is such a hard game, you can't‑‑ you are going to go through some up‑and‑downs in your career, and if you don't, you're just not human. It's how you come out on top is what makes a good player. So I shared that with him. Q. Turned his life around. CHARLIE WI: Yeah, sure. (Smiling). DOUG MILNE: You covered the birdies at 16 and 18, if you wouldn't mind running us through our other five and the one hiccup with the bogey. CHARLIE WI: On 4, I hit driver, 5‑wood to about 15 feet, 2‑putted there. On 6, I was going to play it as a three‑shot hole so I hit 3‑wood into the right bunker. I wasn't trying to hit into the right bunker. Hit in the right bunker, hit 6‑iron, 6‑iron and made probably a 40‑footer, 30‑, 40‑footer. On 7, hit a great 6‑iron right at the pin. Made about an 18‑footer. On 8, I hit a good drive down the middle and I didn't know I had mud on the ball and the second shot just squirted dead right and I wasn't able to get it up‑and‑down. 10, I hit 5‑wood, 6‑iron to 12 feet and made that. On 14, I hit 5‑iron to about 30 feet and made that. DOUG MILNE: Charlie, as always, we appreciate your time. Keep it up. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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