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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 29, 2012William McGirtANCASTER, ONTARIO Q. Will you kind of walk us through what was going through your mind those last three or four holes? WILLIAM McGIRT: You know, I was just kind of trying to make pars and get into the house. If I could sneak one in on 17. You know, I hit a good putt on 17 and just never turned. 18 I was dead in between clubs off the tee, hybrids flies right on the downslope and runs right through into the hazard. 4‑iron I had to absolutely crush it to get it down the hill, and downhill lie, ball below my feet, and you gotta turn something in there. Just kind of came out of it, blocked it in the bunker and hit in a different bunker shot. I don't know what to say about the putt. You know, it's still a good week. I'll take nothing but positives away from this week. That's seven consecutive rounds in the 60s now. I just never gave myself enough chances today. Seemed like I had a lot of 30, 35‑footers all day. But you know, I locked my card up for next year, so that's a positive to take away from it. Q. I know you're disappointed, but how much do you think an experience like this, if any, will make you a better golfer moving forward? WILLIAM McGIRT: Oh, being able to draw on what happened today in the future is going to be huge. This is kind of uncharted territory for me. It was a lot of fun. Robert and I had a blast. And you know, neither one of us played all that well ‑‑ he made who knows how many pars today. Maybe 16. But you know, I played pretty well. I can't be disappointed. The three‑putt, 15, it was a tough putt up and back down, and you know, the shadows kind of threw me off. I just kind of killed it. But you know, I'll take a lot of positives away from this week. Q. Great attitude and great week. Congratulations. See you down the road. Can you talk about playing in the last group both days. How much fun was that? WILLIAM McGIRT: That was a blast. It was an absolute blast. You know, I played well. I would have liked to played better on the back nine. But I can't take anything but positives away from this week. I played well every day, and I just couldn't get it close to the hole today. I couldn't take advantage of what I was doing well all week, which was making putts from 15 feet in. You know, that's the way it is. Q. I really thought this tournament was going to come down to you inside ten feet on 18 for something, and it almost did. WILLIAM McGIRT: Probably from about 18. I wish it would have been downhill instead of uphill. Q. Really? WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. It would have been a much easier putt downhill. I wouldn't have had to worry about the speed. I was focusing probably too much online, trying to make sure I got it online and just forgot to hit it. I just came up and out of it and kind of whiffed it and left it two and a half feet short. Q. Talk to me about the hybrid at 9. That was your last birdie. WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. We didn't have a clue what to do back there. First of all, the ball hit four or five paces on the green, just tumbled all the way over, and it was just an awful lie. I couldn't get a club under it. I didn't know whether to try to hit it with the tail of the putter or belly a wedge. Brandon's first reaction was taking a hybrid out and just kind of chopping down on it. It came out absolutely perfect, on a perfect line and went in with perfect speed. Q. The good news about all of this in the big picture is no more bubble stuff. I'm not going to have to worry about talking to you at Wyndham about being number 125 going into the PLAYOFFS. You're in, buddy. WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, it gets me in the playoff, but more importantly, it locked up my card for next year. Q. Bingo. I know you're very happy about that. What's next for you? Are you going to play next week? WILLIAM McGIRT: No. I'm going to take a week off. I need some rest. The last five or six weeks have really ‑‑ we played in so much heat from Hartford to last week, the heat and humidity, and being in the mix last week and obviously this week, I'm tired. Mentally, physically, I'm pretty tired. Q. Well, you have reason to rest. You played great all week. Congratulations. WILLIAM McGIRT: Thanks, Bob. Appreciate it. Especially the back nine. I hit a couple of wedges that I thought were going to be really close that bounced 25, 30 feet by the hole. So yeah, I mean it dried out a bunch today. Played a lot tougher. Q. Was it a different golf course, would you say? Would it be fair to say that? WILLIAM McGIRT: It was a little bit different. But you could fly it pretty much to the hole yesterday and it would stay, but today it was really kicking forward. Q. I'm sure you heard coming in about what a tough golf course this is. Did it kind of stand up on that reputation today? WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. Today especially. I think it's a great tract, and I love it. Q. For most of the day you had the tournament in your hands, stripped away at the end, but all in all you've got a big positive thing. First things first, you have secured your card for next year and you're in the PLAYOFFS. WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. My No. 1 goal coming into this week was to make sure I locked up getting in the PLAYOFFS. My second goal was to make sure I locked up my card. I accomplished both of those today. I would have loved to have won the golf tournament, but I played very well all week. Q. Let me ask you a question, people don't understand, when you're a rookie or non exempt player you gotta earn your money to stay in the top 125 the following year. How difficult it is to free wheel it and let your game go out there, as opposed to thinking maybe I gotta play a little bit more conserve actively. I can't afford to lose points and dollars. How do you think being able to free wheel the rest of the year might change your game? WILLIAM McGIRT: I think it just freeze you up. If you're in between clubs or you're kind of borderline going for it, I think you can go ahead and try it now. It's not going to cost you your job anymore. You can go ahead and try to win golf tournaments now. You can put the hammer down and go for it. Q. Lastly, I like to study body language coming in, see how guys are feeling or whatever. You looked perfectly calm and collected to me, at least externally? What was going on on the inside? WILLIAM McGIRT: It was a struggle to try to win a golf tournament. Had a chance to get in a playoff. I mean it was something new for me, but it was an absolute blast. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I kind of hit the worst putt of the week on the last hole. Q. Looked like you got the least you could have out of this round today. WILLIAM McGIRT: Hey, you know, I couldn't get it close to the hole with my irons today and take advantage of what I was doing well all week, which is putting. You know, it was a good week, and to have a chance to win the golf tournament coming down the stretch was an absolute blast. You know, that's all you can ask for. And I'd like to have the putt back on 15, the putt back on 18. I have no regrets about anything. Q. It's just at some point it's going to sneak up on you. You've putted so well for so long. Everything inside ten feet probably all week? WILLIAM McGIRT: I think I missed one putt inside ten feet all week, and that was on No. 11 on Thursday. It was my second hole of the tournament. You know, to make everything inside of ten feet from there on out is unheard of. Q. Yeah, it's unreal. WILLIAM McGIRT: And I can't take anything but positives away. You know, my first goal coming into this week was to get enough points to qualify for the PLAYOFFS, to make sure I was in the PLAYOFFS. My second goal for the week was to lock up my card. Q. You did both. WILLIAM McGIRT: I accomplished both of those today, and to have an opportunity to win the golf tournament standing on 18 tee, what more can you ask for. Q. What happened with the shot coming in on 18? It didn't look like the lie was the question. It just wasn't an easy shot? WILLIAM McGIRT: No. And it was more of a downhill lie and ball below my feet than it appeared. And it was more than I thought it was. When I got over it, I really could feel it. And you know, I needed to kind of hit something and turn it overcoming in there, which was hard to do. And I just kind of came up out of it and you know, oh, well. I hit a bad shot. Q. It happens. WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. Q. Are you starting to feel more comfortable on the big stage? WILLIAM McGIRT: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. You know, and I had the absolute best thing that could have happened to me the last two days was playing with Robert and playing with Scott yesterday. You know, Robert and I are good buddies, and Scott and I have got to be friends this year. Two great guys. Scott is a little more intense than Robert is, but you know, sit there and play with Robert, we were laughing and joking for two days. I mean it was an absolute blast, and it made it a lot easier on me having somebody like Robert to play with. Q. Talk about physically, mentally, the tired factor? Was the heat and humidity, did that play a role coming in, too? WILLIAM McGIRT: No. I don't think it played a role today. I can tell you I was running off adrenaline all day. It was one of those things when I teed off, I could have run through a brick wall. That's how jacked up I was. I told Brandon, my caddie, walking down the first fairway, I said, you know, I wish somebody could suck about half of the adrenaline out of me, just so I could relax.  You know, it is what it is. I played well. I can't complain at all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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