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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPENJanuary 30, 2013Michael PhelpsSCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA MICHAEL PHELPS: I just feel like heartbeat firing through my shirt. I felt my heart was going to jump out of my chest. It was something that was pretty cool, something I've never seen before and something I've never experienced. I was very nervous and my club was like shaking as I'm over the ball. I just pretty much had to try to swing the club as fast as I could. But it's wild. I have never heard people Boo you, but I'm sure it's happened, my face is just under water. So it was a little different experience. Hopefully I have a chance to come back and play again. It's a great event. I had a blast today, and being able to play with Bubba, it's something else. We were throwing jokes back and forth the whole entire time and keeping it very light. So it was a great experience, and glad I was able to make it. Q. Were your nerves getting the best of you on the course? MICHAEL PHELPS: I don't know what it was. I had a couple good ones on the range, and I couldn't find it until probably like 13 I started hitting a couple good ones here and there, but it just wasn't as consistent as it was a couple days ago when I was with Hank. Kind of figured out a little bit on the end and started hitting it a little bit better. But it just comes with more practice and more time on the range, and that's what I know I have to do. Q. You mentioned keeping it light with Bubba. It seemed like you guys started joking around from the first hole. MICHAEL PHELPS: Yeah. As soon as he called me back off the‑‑ literally as soon as I'm getting ready to swing, from there to saying‑‑ I guess I had like the best drive of the day, and he's like, I think you're ahead of me. He's like, actually, no, there's absolutely no shot. I know exactly where your ball landed, and there's absolutely zero shot you're ahead of me. Q. Will you bring the pros in the pool with you? MICHAEL PHELPS: I would love to. Bubba is more than welcome to come and jump in the pool. I don't know if he would, but I'd have to give probably a fairly healthy handicap just like he would have to give me a fairly big handicap here. Q. How passionate are you about this game right now? MICHAEL PHELPS: I love it. You know, it's amazing. And I think one of the cool things about golf is you can travel all over the world and not one golf course will ever be the same. I think that's something that's pretty special that you can't say about a lot of sports. I dive into the swimming pool it's the same temperature, it's the same length, it's the same depth. So there's a lot of really cool things like that, and like being able to play in Scotland at St. Andrews and being able to come down here and experience the 16th green here, the 16th hole here, I've been able to have some really cool experiences in the sport so far, and there's a lot on my to‑do list, and we have a long time to do it. Q. Can the sport be humbling because you're so used to being the best in the water and now you're like a fish out of water? MICHAEL PHELPS: It's the most humbling sport in the world. I literally don't think I've ever done anything where I can't like semi pick it up. It's been a challenge and a struggle, but I have been able to pick up some things along the way and make my game better and stronger and more consistent, but it's just not at the point where I want it to be. Being able to work with Hank I think is a great way for me to be able to get there. We're finishing up the season now, but hopefully in the future I can continue to work with him. Q. How many of the top 100 have you played? MICHAEL PHELPS: Like three or four. Q. So this is going to take a long time? MICHAEL PHELPS: Yeah, this is the beginning of it. For right now I'm literally traveling, playing golf, going to the Super Bowl tomorrow, so I'm literally living a dream come true. It's absolutely incredible what I've had the chance to do and hopefully what I'll have the chance to do in the future. Q. Did Bubba give you any tips today? MICHAEL PHELPS: No, not really. He was just pretty much giving me a hard time from hole one. It's very different. It's hard when I'm trying to learn one way, and he knows as a pro it's hard to mix two different things together. That was the first time I've ever played with him, and we've been talking since the Olympics, just shooting texts back and forth and joking around, and being able to see him at the Ryder Cup and watch those guys play there and being able to play with him actually today was an experience. He really is a very talented person. It's just amazing to me how much power he has and how fast he comes to the ball. Q. Do you prefer the pressure of swimming over golf? MICHAEL PHELPS: I've dealt with it in swimming. It's not that hard. I guess the shot coming in, I kept telling everybody to move more already. I think‑‑ I'm always very nervous of which way it's going to go and how I'm going to hit it off the club. Once I get more confident I think it'll be a lot easier. But yeah, it's definitely hard being out here and having all these people standing along the fairways sort of cheering and yelling and screaming. Some good friends, some bad ones on 16, but you know, it's‑‑ I don't know, it's kind of fun. Q. Do you like working with Hank? MICHAEL PHELPS: I do. Hank and I, we have a great relationship. We can both throw comments back at each other and joke around and have a good time, and I think that's something that we have that's good as a sort of coach‑athlete relationship. We both have a goal that we want to achieve, and that's what we're working towards. Q. Do you have a long‑term goal in terms of your handicap? MICHAEL PHELPS: I have a bunch of friends who are scratch and I'd like to somehow get down to that point, and I know I can. I see some really good shots that show that, but then I have some really terrible shots that make me the worst golfer in the world. It's the best of both worlds, or the best of I guess the good world and the bad world and I have to try to narrow the gap as much as I can. Q. Are you learning all the betting games to golf yet? MICHAEL PHELPS: No, I don't think I'm ready to do any of that yet. I will make a‑‑ I mean, I won't put myself in a bad position, I'll say that. And I'm in no way, shape or form ready to ever do that with anybody, I don't care how good, bad, whatever they are. Q. You said you're on your way to the Super Bowl. Who's your pick? MICHAEL PHELPS: I'm a Baltimore boy, so I'm cheering for the Big Man, and hopefully Ray can have a shot at another one. He's been telling me all year he just wants to get back there. This is kind of icing on the cake, and hopefully he can be in the center of that field on Sunday night and hoisting the championship trophy. Q. Will you be on the sideline or do you have a seat? MICHAEL PHELPS: Probably a mix of both. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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