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THE BARCLAYSAugust 25, 2012Gary ChristianFARMINGDALE, NEW YORK GARY CHRISTIAN: It was an unbelievable experience. Tiger was an absolute gentleman. Seeing what he goes through on a week‑to‑week basis, the best player possibly of all time, and the expectations, you've got the crowd giving you grief all the way around. He conducted himself, it's unbelievable. He missed a few shots around the greens, and he was very pleasant. Joey, his caddie was terrific, as well. It was a wonderful experience. Disappointed in myself I didn't play better on the front nine. I didn't play that bad. I just kept hitting the wrong clubs. I was in‑between clubs on every single shot, and on these greens‑‑ long is always trouble on these greens. So you always err on the short side. I thought I hung in great on the back nine. Hit a lot of good shots, drove it well. If you would have told me today I would have driven it as well as I did, I would have been shocked to have shot the score I shot today. It's strange, because the greens, there's no moisture left in them, and I like to put my club down in amanner and take one hand off, and as soon as I took one hand off, the hand wobbled because there's no friction and that threw me on a little bit. Made a nervy jab at it and then not a terribly impressive jab the second one. But holed out great the rest of the day to stop an extremely high score. Q. Were you nervous going in? GARY CHRISTIAN: On the first tee, I was great. I was very comfortable. I was excited. Hit a great drive, great second shot. Just sort of hit me when I got on the green. These greens are quicker than I've ever putted on before. And as I said when I put the putter down, the putter slid all over the place and it just kind of threw me off. After that, I was fine. Just had to get that first hole the way I wish I could have for par, and things might have been different. Q. Were you thinking, oh, my God, I'm really out here on the PGA TOUR? GARY CHRISTIAN: Yeah, this is the first time that I've been unbelievably‑‑ I got to play a practice round with Tom Watson at the Greenbrier and that was extremely exciting. I was like a 12‑year‑old girl going to one‑direction concert (ph). I was very, very excited indeed. Yeah, it's surpassed all my expectations. I felt great, felt very comfortable and enjoyed every minute. I kept the ball in play, and you just have to learn from it. And next time, I'll be more committed to my shots and more committed to my putts. I think I'll be great. Tiger doesn't do anything different than I do, and, you know, he just does it on a more consistent basis and hits it longer and seems to make those putts when he needs to. But there's nothing that I've seen on the TOUR this year that makes me think that I can't compete on a long‑term basis. Q. This is part of the learning period to be in the stratosphere of the PGA TOUR, and a lot of people say it helps bring them along, seeing the crowd movement, the shouting? GARY CHRISTIAN: Yeah, that doesn't bother me. I've never been one of these proswith ‑‑ I don't care. As long as no one is between me and the hole, I don't really care. It doesn't bother me one bit. I didn't notice any of it. It was enjoyable playing for the crowd. Hopefully I can get up, dust myself off and play great tomorrow and look forward to the next time I get in that situation. Q. You're right on the cusp tomorrow‑‑ GARY CHRISTIAN: Exactly. I've got to now rebound, and when you've worked as hard as I've worked and as long as it's taken me to get here (Inaudible.) He was exactly the same all the way around. I'm sure he's different in a last round of a major, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised, his personality, his character, you know‑‑ Q. Did you get a chance to ask him if he slept well? GARY CHRISTIAN: I did, actually. The chiropractors did. Had a great sleep. I did ask him (inaudible). Q. Being here this week, reflecting back on your rookie season, how would you sum it up? GARY CHRISTIAN: Oh, this is by far the nearest experience to have to compete on a level to play this course; if you can play this course you can compete‑‑ in 2 1/2 rounds, I've competed and these are the best players in the world. So if I can have‑‑ play 63 great holes, and it's just that out here when you're a little bit nervous, and things are not quite going right, there's no‑‑ I've just got to get a little bit better with the short game, relax a bit more and I'll be fine. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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