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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 28, 2012Jason DufnerAVONDALE, LOUISIANA COLIN MURRAY: All right. Jason Dufner, thanks for joining us again here in the Interview Room at the Zurich Classic or New Orleans. Another solid round, 67. Just talk a little bit about the day today and we'll open it up to questions. JASON DUFNER: Yeah, pretty nice round again. Got off to a really nice start there with three birdies in the first five holes, kind of nice on this course. Couple of the holes are some of the tougher ones on the golf course so that kind of gets you in a little bit more comfortable mindset for the day. Had a couple of birdies on the back. So pretty solid. Never was really in too much trouble. Had to make a bogey save there on 6 after I hit it over the green. Lot of fairways, lot of balls in play and lot of greens or just off the greens. COLIN MURRAY: We'll open it up to questions. Q. How important was it to get off to a good start especially considering the past couple of months with the weekend struggles? JASON DUFNER: That was really nice. I hit it to about two, three feet on the first hole. So that got me going nice, and then made a couple long putts there on 4 and 5 that's probably a huge key to today, you know, maybe for a couple bogies start the round or, you know, even par through some holes maybe I start doubting myself again. That was probably a good key and be nice to kind of start that way again, get you a little bit more comfortable, know that you're going to have a chance to shoot a score under par and not be struggling or fighting it for the day. Q. Last couple of Saturdays been good, both 67 for you. The scoring average on Sunday is something like T-108 on Tour this year. What does today's round mean for you? Does it translate all into Sunday, do you think? JASON DUFNER: Yeah. For me it means instead of two good rounds I've had three good rounds so maybe we can make it four, you know, starting tomorrow. I don't really think about all that type of stuff. Obviously I know that I hadn't played as well as I would like on the weekends, try to identify some of the reasons why and try to implement some of those tomorrow. I could give you a better idea tomorrow after the round how that goes. We'll just go from there. Q. You talked earlier in the week about really liking this place and spending some time with your fiancee downtown. Can you talk what you guys have been doing? JASON DUFNER: There's such great food downtown and then both Amanda and I love to eat and, you know, enjoy experiencing different foods. So we've been to Drago's a couple times and we've been to Dickie Brennan's a couple times. We really enjoy doing that. Haven't been over to Jazz Fest. Neither one of us are much concert-goers. I know that's going on. Seems to be good energy, good vibe downtown and you can really find some things to relax and do during the week while you're here. Q. Was your plan when you got to 18 tee that you were going to try to get home in two? Did you think the hole was something you could attack today? JASON DUFNER: Yeah, definitely. That hole, I don't know how it's playing for the field but I would assume it's one of the easier holes for the field so that's one of the holes you feel like you got to kind of play aggressive. You know, the tee shot can be a little difficult with the bunkers up the left but, you know, I've managed the tee shot pretty well and actually just once again, same as yesterday, I really had a good number to the front of the green and executed the shot pretty well there. Little disappointed the putt didn't go in but I feel that's a hole you got to be aggressive on. Q. Looking ahead to tomorrow, have you ever played with Graham and do you know much about his game? JASON DUFNER: I have not played with Graham and I don't know much about his game. Obviously I've seen him out here a good bit but that's about the extent of it. Q. Talk about the course a little bit. 17-under after 3 rounds. Obviously you feel comfortable here. Does it feel like it sets up well for your game? JASON DUFNER: I wish I could identify one thing as to why I love it but I really don't have one. It's not a golf course that I absolutely am in love with but my results I'm in love with here. I feel really comfortable on the bermuda grass. You know, there's some holes that don't look too well to me but, you know, I played really well. When you come in a week that you know you played well a lot it gives you some confidence going forward. Q. Do you think you'll still need to shoot another low round or do you think the conditions will toughen up enough where they will have to come get you? JASON DUFNER: It's hard to say. Just depends on what the wind is doing. Obviously it's going to dictate how low the scores are going to be. Generally speaking on Sunday, the hole locations here are the toughest of the week for the most part. I would assume if I could get to 20-under, I would feel pretty comfortable there. It would take a pretty low round from somebody to catch me. But I'm just trying to keep going, shooting low scores. As I said earlier in the week, if I shot 34 for every 9, that would put me at 16-under. Usually that fares pretty well here. A little bit ahead of that curve after two days. If I could put two 64s together -- or two 34s together I would be pretty happy with a 68. You never know. The wind could pick up and come out of another direction tomorrow or lay down and guys are going to shoot 7, 8-under pretty easily. That will just kind of be a game time decision and feel of how the day is going. Q. There's a lot on the table for you tomorrow especially with the wind. How do you control your emotions and don't get ahead of yourself thinking about that? JASON DUFNER: I think I do a pretty good job with that. Obviously you're going to have some thoughts about winning tournaments when you're in a position like this, what your expectations might be, how you're going to respond tomorrow when you step on that first tee but for me, usually when the day is over, I'm done with it. The toughest part for me is that warm up session and leading into maybe the first hole or the first tee shot, you kind of get a little anxious and have some thoughts as to how the day is going to go. So usually you get through that after a hole or two and get into the competition. So, I won't think about it too much tonight, to be honest with you. Q. Can you explain how you developed your preshot routine, the waggles? JASON DUFNER: Totally subconscious. I've done that since I started playing golf from what everybody has told me. There's no thought process behind it, no set number of waggles, not I'm trying to get the club set here or anything like that. That's just a total reaction I guess to addressed the golf ball for me. You know, I wish I could tell you it's one thing or it's this, but it's just totally subconscious. I couldn't even tell you how many times I do it. Q. You've been in this position, three, four times this year already. Is the consistency more important to you or a win more important? JASON DUFNER: I like both. Right now a win would be great. Obviously I've been be knocking on the door with a lot of solid rounds, lot of solid play last year at the end of the year but, you know, I take pride in being consistent with my game. I don't shoot too many high numbers. I don't feel like I'm very far away from playing well each week. So, to me that's a consistency that really does well out on the PGA TOUR. You got a lot of good finishes and a lot of good experience, chances to win events out here. COLIN MURRAY: One more. Q. Are you typically a leaderboard watcher, will that change one way or another tomorrow? JASON DUFNER: Usually I look at the board. I kind of like to know where I'm at, what guys are doing. I don't obsess over it every time but if I see one I'm not going to turn my back and not look at it. I think especially maybe the last 9 holes or the last four, five holes, can dictate how you're going to play. If you're 2 down or a shot back you might take more of a risk. If you're four shots up, you might play more conservative. It doesn't put any pressure on me. Kind of lets me know where I stand and how I might need to approach some shots coming down the stretch. COLIN MURRAY: Anything else? Jason, thanks so much. Best of luck tomorrow Tom. JASON DUFNER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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