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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONALAugust 2, 2012Ben CraneAKRON, OHIO Q. Your British Open Odyssey or non‑Odyssey, run me through‑‑ you were the second alternate. Is there any regret of not going? BEN CRANE: Well, it's just like when we've got a putt and it's either a ball out on left edge, you make your best decision. You go, well, my gut tells me it's left edge so I'm going to go with it. And sometimes it breaks a little more than you think, and you go, I guess it was a ball out. That was definitely a ball out, and I played it left edge on the British there. Certainly, yeah, I would have loved to have played, but I was first alternate but two positions out because the field was over at 15‑‑ Q. So you needed two guys to drop out? BEN CRANE: Correct. And so my thinking was, well, if I get in the tournament by Tuesday morning, I was in Portland, Oregon, at home, then I'll have time and I'll still make it. But I just didn't think I was going to get in. I was talking to a couple of the guys on‑site, and they're like, we don't see anyone hobbling, everyone is playing practice rounds, it looks like everyone is going to play. So two withdrawals that we didn't see coming‑‑ Q. Carlson and‑‑ BEN CRANE: Russ Cochran. Q. What day did they withdraw? BEN CRANE: Well, Carlson withdrew Tuesday afternoon, and Russ Cochran withdrew the morning of, but not until like maybe 11:00 a.m., so by that time, I had a friend even with a plane that we said, hey, I'm going to wait until the last minute. If for some reason I do get in, we'll go. So anyway‑‑ Q. So your cutoff date was Tuesday? BEN CRANE: Tuesday morning to fly commercial, and then I had a friend, if worse came to worst and I was in the tournament, we could have gotten there a different way. Anyway, but yeah, it was like Tuesday afternoon maybe like 4:00 was the last time. But the R&A called me maybeTuesday afternoon and said you're not going to be able to be on the tee at 6 a.m., so we're withdrawing you from the field. They wanted the first alternate on the putting green. Q. They told you that on Tuesday? BEN CRANE: Tuesday afternoon, because they realized I wasn't going to be able to make it there for the first tee time. Q. Okay, so pretty much Tuesday afternoon is when you cut bait? BEN CRANE: Yeah. Q. What did you do instead? BEN CRANE: I had an awesome time with my family. We went to central Oregon, a place called Black Butte, and yeah, we just had an awesome time. I've got three kids, and my wife and I, we just swam. I caddied for my wife a little bit, my wife played golf, a few lessons. We stayed on the range a couple times until dark just watching her hit balls, filming it, just working on her game. She's a non‑golfer. Q. So not a whole lot‑‑ BEN CRANE: Not a whole lot. Q. Not a whole lot of regret? BEN CRANE: No, not at all. I just did what I thought was right, and at the end of the day, I'm like, I wish I would have gotten in, but I got two weeks off. And one week off by the time you unpack, you pack again. But two weeks off before a lot of big tournaments coming up, I thought this is awesome. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Q. Obviously your game seems to be rounding into shape. Today you kind of pulled a number out of‑‑ BEN CRANE: Yeah, I played really well with the guys yesterday. I played a couple rounds when I was off, and I went to TPI, worked on some stuff and really feel good about it, and I'm healthy. Yeah, all in all, I feel good about it. Q. Today was a scrambling‑‑ BEN CRANE: Yeah, I did not drive it in play today, but I putted awesome and chipped in and just took advantage of some opportunities, read some putts right, lipped a couple putts in. It was just one of those days where I just scored awesome. Q.  Where was the chip‑in? BEN CRANE: 17. I hit it in the left bunker, hit a wedge, missed the green just left and chipped in. Q. Talk about just the round as a whole and this course and if it plays well to your game. BEN CRANE: I love this golf course. I mean, it's just like right in front of you. It's hard. You've got to drive it in play except for days like today. But you can't do that all week, obviously, and survive. But this is just one of my favorite courses. You can hit driver. I'm not a long hitter, I'm a pretty average‑‑ I hit a lot of drivers to give myself an advantage and get up there. Greens are perfect. The course is in as good a shape as I've ever seen it. If you do choose to hit drivers on holes like 10, 11, you're going to have some scoring opportunities, but you're also going to have some holes like 14 that are just really hard holes. Anyway, it's just‑‑ it just never lets up. It's a great test of golf. Q. Yesterday's practice round, it was you, Phil, Keegan and Dustin. Whose team were you on? BEN CRANE: Phil and I partnered up and got the best of those guys, and they said don't run too far because we're going to play again next week. Bones said, hey, it might be a little too early. I don't want you peaking before Tuesday, so easy now. Q. Fun group, though, I imagine it was a good time? BEN CRANE: It was a super fun group. Phil has helped me. I spent some time with him a few weeks ago, and we spent some time together, and he's helped me and encouraged me, been‑‑ he was calling himself the golf whisperer out there, helping me some with some shots and stuff. It was fun. Q. How has Phil helped you? BEN CRANE: Well, I've worked really hard on my mental game, and so I just kind of presented what my mental coach and I were working on, and he kind of helped me boil it down a little bit and refine it. We had a good time with it, and then I had the opportunity to play yesterday and talk a little more about it. It's been good. Just trying to simplify everything and take the thoughts and go, this is what we're trying to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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