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NORTHERN TRUST OPENFebruary 15, 2013John MerrickPACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA Q. Good day for you? JOHN MERRICK: Yeah, played well, it was a good day. We were expecting some stronger winds out there from a different direction, but it was pretty calm out there. It was ripe for scores. Q. After a good round like yesterday, coming back today, subpoena thoughts on the weekend and how you're feeling? JOHN MERRICK: Yeah, I'm feeling comfortable with my swing. I've been working on it hard. This is five tournaments in a row for me. I feel like I'm in a good spot and I kind of figured a couple things out with my putting last week up at Pebble and made some good ones. Missed a couple short ones today but I think everyone is going to miss a few putts out there. Overall it was a pretty solid day on the greens, too. Q. Looks like you've been progressively getting better? JOHN MERRICK: Yeah, I've just been trying to regroup each tournament and try to figure out what's gone wrong, the eternal golfer's dilemma. It's a work‑in‑progress all the time. Just trying to minimize the mistakes and put up a good number each day. Q. When you see your friends on the board‑‑ JOHN MERRICK: It's great. We have a friendly rivalry. We play and practice together and talk trash. It's fun, we have a great relationship and it's great to see the guys play well. That boosts you when you play well because you know that you can play with them and hang with them and vice versa. We kind of push each other and it's kind of cool. Q. Being together recently playing practice rounds, how big of a deal is that to be with that quality of players around as friends? JOHN MERRICK: Yeah, it's pretty unique and it's pretty fun. We all live, Tomasulo and myself and Mallinger and Cantlay, we all live within ten minutes of each other in Long Beach and we are about 15 minutes from the club there. It's just kind of a unique situation and it's fun to go out and play practice rounds together and money games at home. We all stayed in a house last week. The Tomasulos and the Mallinger and his wife and us, they put up with Jodi and I's two kids last week. It's fun to have friends out and doing the same thing that you are. Q. Who is the best money player away from the TOUR? JOHN MERRICK: Probably Mallinger. He's always a gamer at home. But everyone gets their licks in. During the off‑season, I feel like I don't play as much as those other guys. So I just kind of go out and I guess kind of need to play those matches a little bit more to kind of keep me in the game. But no, it's fun. We have some good times out at Virginia. Q. Just the influence of Jamie, how big has that been? JOHN MERRICK: Yeah, Jamie has helped me a long time with my game, ever since I've been a kid and he's been a huge help. He's definitely more than a golf coach. He's a close friend, confidant and you feel like you can tell him anything on or off the golf course with business deals or whatever. So he's been a big help for me, and the other guy, too. Q. I haven't been down to Virginia; is there anywhere similar to Riviera in terms of why you guys are playing so well? JOHN MERRICK: It's a great old club down in Long Beach, it's a 100‑year‑old club. I think it was 1909 it was founded. It's a great group of members and great golf course.  It's a special place. Q. John was saying this is one of his top three or four golf tournaments he plays in. How about for yourself? JOHN MERRICK: Definitely. We played here in college a little bit, and as a kid, I used to come out and watch the tournament and watch it on TV. Yeah, it was definitely one of my favorites, and I feel like I've played it a lot but I haven't played it well. So maybe this is the year to have a better finish. But the greens are so tricky out here. There are so many subtle breaks. But you can't beat the layout. It's just a great layout. You have to think a ton where you want to play your ball into the greens and where you want to miss it. It's a golf course that I feel that you have to play a lot to kind of do well on. Q. How many times do you think you played it in college? JOHN MERRICK: You know we didn't play it a ton. We played Bel‑Air more. We played here probably once or twice a month maybe. We played Bel‑Air, Wilshire more. We played it a little bit; enough to where I feel like I got a good feel for it. Enough to know, not lay up on 10, which I've been doing the last couple years. I don't hit wood off 10 anymore. Q. What's the best shot you hit today? JOHN MERRICK: Gosh, probably the 3‑iron into the par3 No. 4. Hit it in there about five feet under the flag and made two. Any time you can just get it on the green there, you're just looking to get it on the green and make three there. It kind of hit right and funneled down and made two. That was probably my best shot of the day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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