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MISSISSIPPI GULF RESORT CLASSICMarch 24, 2013Bernhard LangerBILOXI, MISSISSIPPI DAVE SENKO: Bernhard, thanks for joining us. 10‑under finish, one shy. Maybe just take us through those last three holes there. Was there one particular turning point for you, a shot or something got away from you? BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah. In general I drove the ball fantastic today. Really hit‑‑ except the last tee shot, everything else was really good tee shots. Didn't get it up and down on, was it 14, 15, the par‑5. 15. Hit two really good, driver 3‑wood to five yards short of the green, and my chip came up a little short and the putt missed on the right. And then had another birdie chance on the next hole, par‑3, which didn't go in. And then hit a good drive on 16, and as I ‑‑ I already took a club more than I thought would be necessary, and as I hit, a gust of wind came up and just blew my ball way short, and then it blocked in the bunker. DAVE SENKO: What did you hit? BERNHARD LANGER: 5‑iron. It was like an 8‑iron distance to cover to get over the bunker, and I hit 5‑iron, and it blocked short in the bunker. And that was a big blow because I had no shot. I was coming out of a blocked lie and the green was away from me. So made bogey there. And then I hit a really good 6‑iron on the next hole right at the flag, and the wind, I mean Roger Chapman and I hit it about the same distance. His 6‑iron went over the green. Mine was 15 yards short at 20. Just the wind changed again. So did well to two‑putt from where I ended up. 18 I knew I probably should have hit 3‑wood off the tee, but I knew I had to make birdie. I wanted to drive it down there where I had a sand wedge or something into the green and just pulled it a fraction, went into the left rough and off a downhill side‑hill lie, flier, no shot really to get it close. And you know, the downwind, down grain, hit a distant shot, didn't even stay on the green. And then had a chance to chip it in. Played a really good chip, but when it landed, it kicked left on me and then it curled back behind the hole and didn't go in obviously. DAVE SENKO: Birdies, No. 4, do you remember shot sequence on the front nine? BERNHARD LANGER: Yeah. 4 was a driver and a 9‑iron to four feet. DAVE SENKO: And 6, par‑5. BERNHARD LANGER: Was driver, 3‑wood. Two yards short. I chipped it with a 9‑iron to one foot. And then 7 was 3‑wood, pin high left, putted it to about 10 feet and made that one. DAVE SENKO: And then 13, par‑5. BERNHARD LANGER: That was driver, 3‑wood, lob wedge from about 70 yards to six feet. DAVE SENKO: And the bogey on No. 2. BERNHARD LANGER: That was driver, 4‑iron to the right, hit a poor chip through the green and another chip and then one putt from three feet or so. DAVE SENKO: Okay. Questions, guys? Q. Bernhard, as we were watching it go along, it became obvious on the back nine it was like a two‑man race. Were you looking at the scoreboard to kind of see what Michael was doing? BERNHARD LANGER: I was quite a bit, yeah. I knew earlier on that he was, whatever, 11‑under, and I was at one point 7 or 8 and then got to 10. And then I didn't know what he did for about four or five holes because there were no leaderboards. And you know, when I birdied 13 or whatever to get to 11, then I saw somewhere a leaderboard I think on 15 I saw a leaderboard that he was 12‑under after 17. So I knew I had to birdie ‑‑ or I figured I had to birdie one hole. I didn't know he was going to bogey the last. So I felt I had to birdie 15, 16 or 17 or 18 and two to win. So as it turned out, when I bogeyed 16, he bogeyed 18. So I was still one behind, so I had to make one birdie, 17, 18. 17 is one of the hardest holes out here with its back pin position, and 18 was an easy hole, but the drive ended up in a bad spot. Q. 17 almost looked like your ball hit and just went immediately to the left. BERNHARD LANGER: It was straight at the flag. It just came up short. You know, after seeing Roger Chapman's 6‑iron going long, I thought, well, I gotta hit the same club, and came up short. The wind switched. Q. I know you talked several times about the wind and just how that changed the course. I mean how much ‑‑ you know, I know there were a lot of good scores yesterday, but how much did the course change today? BERNHARD LANGER: Wind always changes everything. Doesn't matter what course you play, but on this course especially because the greens are so severe, so if you get on the wrong side or you know, holes like 16, I had absolutely no shot. I was blocked in the bunker. You could play a brilliant bunker shot and end up 30 feet away. And that's what this course does to you. There are certain areas you just can't miss it, and when the wind is blowing in different directions and at a strength of 15 to 25, sometimes gusting to more, it's just difficult to control the distance and the direction. Q. Talk about that second shot at 16, if you would. You said it was, what, an 8‑iron and you hit 5 instead? BERNHARD LANGER: 5‑iron. Q. That kind of talks to what you just mentioned, the severity of the wind. BERNHARD LANGER: Right. Q. But when you get up there on that shot, it looked so ugly on TV, just the positioning and all. What were your thoughts of trying to get that out? I mean you couldn't go right at all, could you? BERNHARD LANGER: Right? Q. You couldn't aim a little bit right at all, could you? BERNHARD LANGER: Wouldn't help anything because the whole green was away from me, and I said to make any, the only way to stop this is hit the flag, so I was trying to hit the flag, but how big is the flag out of a blocked lie, so I played a really good bunker shot, but it didn't stop. It rolled, I don't know, 40, 50 feet away. I was trying to make it, but it's a hard one to ask for. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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