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ISPS HANDA PERTH INTERNATIONALOctober 21, 2012Bo Van PeltPERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA STEVE TODD: Many congratulations, winner of the inaugural ISPS Handa Perth International. Quite a battle with your compatriot, describe out you're feeling at the moment. BO VAN PELT: It's a great feeling to come out on top. I have a lot of respect for Jason and his game. He's a world‑class player and I knew it was going to be tough today. I knew he was going to keep the pressure on me, and I needed to play well if I was going to come out on top. You know, it was fun. That's why you practice is to give yourself a chance to win with nine holes to go. You know, all in all I was pleased with how I played today. I had kind of a loose shot there on 17 that I was not that happy with, but fortunately I had a lead at that point and was able to make a putt on 18 and get it done. STEVE TODD: Take us through the ebbs and the flows of the day. Perhaps the key hole, maybe 15 after the dropped shot on 14. BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I think the par 5s all week were the key. If you look at it, he hit a great shot into 3 and I chose to lay up. Then he's got a pretty good look at eagle and I hit mine to two feet with a wedge shot. We came away square there. The next par 5, I just made a nice par save and hit a drive in the trees and he chipped the ball in and I made a 15‑, 18‑footer on top of him. Then obviously I birdied 10 and he birdied 10, and then I was able to make birdie on 11 and he didn't. Gave me another shot up. Then 15 after we had the two‑shot swing there, I put together two good swings and put the ball on the green and was able to make birdie and he didn't. The par 5s were probably the difference for me, not only today, but for the week, was the reason I was able to shoot 16‑under par. STEVE TODD: We spoke yesterday about closing out tournaments and being in the lead; you must be pretty pleased with how you closed out today. BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I am. I have not counted out, but I think I missed only two, maybe three greens today. You know, my swing felt a little bit off there in spots. Probably just a little bit of nerves, which we are always going to feel. But to go out and hit that many greens was nice, and to stand up there on 18 and hit a good drive and 7‑iron on the middle of the green when you needed to do it‑‑ like I told him when it was over, I was very pleased with my year this year but obviously not winning a tournament is a disappointment when I had some good chances. So to put yourself up there and to finish one off, definitely feels good. Q. (Hearing about the sad news of Scott Steele). BO VAN PELT: Yeah, it was tough news this morning. I found out off of Twitter, some of the other caddies and players that I follow, I knew he had had a heart attack earlier in the week in a Champions Tour event and they didn't know how he was going to come out of the coma. To see that he had passed on was tough news. I wasn't sure if my caddie, Mark Chaney, had known. I didn't think he was getting on his computer, and I knew he had not talked to anybody in a couple of days. And I mentioned something to Mark when we were on the putting green when we first got here and you know, he did not know that Scotty had passed. They had been friends a long time. Scotty has been great to me ever since I was a rookie. I just said, you know, best way to honor a guy like that was to have a great attitude and have a lot of energy, that's how he lived his life, and you know, it's tough. Good man that will be sorely missed but everybody who ever came in contact with him. Q. (Were you aware of your position). BO VAN PELT: I wasn't really looking at the board that much. I was just trying to take each shot as it came, and after I birdied 11 I hit it close on 12 and I think there was a scoreboard behind 12 green and I saw that Jason and I were a few clear of everybody else and it was going to come down to us the rest of the way. Just tried to‑‑ my attitude was, I think I had one‑ or two‑shot lead making the turn and I think hit every green yesterday on the back nine. I just thought, if I hit every green on the way in, that I would probably make a birdie or two [] and that would probably give myself a chance to win the golf tournament. Obviously I was up three, and then we had a two‑shot swing there on 14 and it got pretty tight there at the end. Q. (You didn't seem to interact much with Jason) ‑‑ BO VAN PELT: You know, we talked a bunch at the start, Jason and I. We go way back, we've been friends‑‑ I remember I think the first time I played with Jason he was a freshman at Auburn. We were playing a tournament in Hawai'i and I was impressed with his game then. I can't say enough about‑‑ the thing I really admire about Jason is he's always trying to get better. No matter what level he's at, he's always working and pushing himself to try to be a better player, and I admire that in anybody in whatever their profession is. You know, we had a good talk about football the first couple holes, and saw each other last night at dinner. We enjoy each other's company, and I think we were‑‑ I think we talked those first couple of holes, and then I walk a little faster than he does; I think it was just each other's pace. He was staying in his pace and I was staying in mine, so we didn't talk too much the last probably ten or 12 holes. Q. Inaudible. BO VAN PELT: You know, in golf, no matter how great of a player you are, you lose more than you win, even the best players of all time, they don't win 50 percent. Any time you get a win, it's special; to come this far and to play against a great field, a co‑sanctioned European Tour event and Australasian event, Australian tour, it's something that I'll cherish forever. I've won a tournament in the States and I've won a tournament in Malaysia, and now to win one in Australia, as much as golf means over here, it means a lot to me to come to a country that treasures golf and to win a title. Q. (Enjoyed the trip to Perth overall)? BO VAN PELT: Yeah, absolutely. I had heard nothing but fantastic things about Perth before I came here, and like I said a day or two ago, that it exceeded my expectations. You know, the weather was fantastic. The people were great. I really enjoyed the golf course. You know, I'll be spreading the word of what a great event this is and guys need to come and check it out. Like I said my kids were jealous when I showed them pictures of the scenery and river and downtown and stuff. They will be itching to hop on the plane with me to come back next year. Q. (Players from the States coming next year). BO VAN PELT: Yeah, everything, it's up to the individual. Next year will probably be tougher for some guys because the PGA TOUR is starting the 2014 season next fall and we are getting rid of our calendar year. I think that will be a detriment some, but the good news is the CIMB and HSBC will become part of our Money List. If guys are in those two events, you'll see some guys decide to come over if the weeks fall the same and just play three weeks in a row overseas. Q. (Kangaroos on the course). BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I don't think he knew what to do. He wasn't used to having those people in his way. He was coming at a pretty good clip, and I was going to do everything I could to get out of his way.  I was going to lose that battle. He didn't care how big I was. He was‑‑ like I said, he was going fast and I didn't care what I had to do. I was willing to dive out of the way of that thing. But it was neat to see, and what a neat feature of the golf course is that every day, I've got some pictures on my phone from the Pro‑Am day, we saw a family of them, and just what a neat aspect to have here. STEVE TODD: Thanks for your help across the whole of the week and we wish you a safe flight to Malaysia. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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