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VALERO TEXAS OPENApril 7, 2013Martin FloresSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Q. As far as coming back here, how much fun is that for you now as a pro to be back in your hometown? MARTIN FLORES: It's very enjoyable. I always said that if my family was not located in Dallas‑Fort Worth, that I would possibly want to live here. It's one of my favorite places to‑‑ it used to be one of my favorite places to live and definitely one of my favorite places to come back to. Q. We talked to Jimmy Walker on Thursday, and he's from this area and plays this course all the time. Is this one of the courses that you get a chance to play outside of the TOUR at all? MARTIN FLORES: No, not really. I only play it when I come down for the tournament. Whenever I come down here there are just so many good memories from growing up. It's just always enjoyable. Q. Little more enjoyable the fact that you played very well today? How was that, and what was clicking out there for you? MARTIN FLORES: My short game was very solid for the week. I wasn't as sharp off the tee at times, which can be very penal here, but I always seem to keep myself in it. My short game was just sharp for the week. Q. Any familiar faces that you saw from your old San Antonio days? MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, quite a bit, a lot of people from high school and middle school. So it was great to see old faces. Q. I'm assuming you played golf at Clark, right? MARTIN FLORES: All my good memories‑‑ well, I guess one of my best moments would be I won State when I was a sophomore. So every time I come back here I see my coach, Randy Mann, and he was very instrumental in helping me learn the game. Q. When you went to Mansfield you won a State Championship here as a sophomore? MARTIN FLORES: Yes. Q. That was '98 when you won? MARTIN FLORES: Yes. Q. As a sophomore, you were runner‑up? MARTIN FLORES: Senior, I lost in the playoff at Mansfield. And I think I was maybe in fifth place my junior year. Q. What's up with the orange shirt? You're a Sooner. MARTIN FLORES: I can explain that. Q. Come on, let's hear it. MARTIN FLORES: It all started at Q‑school. The first time I got on TOUR I happened to have an orange shirt left, and I shot a final round 65 to get my card. So ever since then they've said I play well in orange on Sunday. I know I'm going to hear it some more. I definitely got criticism from my OU friends for wearing orange. So I guess I've just got to keep wearing it if I'm going to keep playing good. Q. You left after your sophomore year; did you get here as a fifth grader? MARTIN FLORES: Fifth grade. I went to Lockhill Elementary, and Hobby Middle, and Clark High School. Q. Who was your high school coach, Randy Mann? MARTIN FLORES: Randy Mann. Q. There was a hole today where I saw you give a ball to a fan. What happened on that? Was that 16, 17? MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, I flew the green and just pelted him right in the arm, unfortunately. He had a welt probably the size of two golf balls. I felt terrible. I didn't think the club was going to fly that far. I guess there was more wind up above the grandstands than I could feel. I was like I'm going to either chip this in or get this ball up‑and‑down, and I'm going to give him the ball, shake his hand and tell him I'm sorry. Q. Can you talk about being an Hispanic here in San Antonio? You know how important that is. I know, obviously 57% and stuff. Lee Trevino had a lot of fans here. MARTIN FLORES: Absolutely. It's part of who I am. I'm half Hispanic, and I know there is a big Hispanic community here. I always want to be a good role model and try to do the right things and have good values and things like that. I think that's really important to be a good role model. Q. You're married? MARTIN FLORES: Yes. Q. What is your wife's name? MARTIN FLORES: Candice. Q. She's here? MARTIN FLORES: Yes, she is. Q. And I understand your grandfather is here and he's 89 years old? MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, he is. He's on a little scooter somewhere. He's having a blast. Q. And your grandma's watching back home? MARTIN FLORES: I would assume so. I'm sure she's glued to the TV. Q. Martin, can you just talk about the progress of your game? I know there are lots of times that you've been pretty close and this seems like obviously it's a very good step to making cuts and what not to getting your name on that first page on the leaderboard? MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, I think it's just a building process out here. There are very few that come out here and just start knocking down the door and winning a bunch of golf tournaments. It's very competitive out here, very tough, lot of great players. So I just try to continually improve every day. Just see where that takes me. Q. Did you play with Anthony at OU? MARTIN FLORES: I did. My last year was his first year. Q. He didn't stay very long? MARTIN FLORES: No, I think he stayed two or three years. Q. Do you keep in touch with him? MARTIN FLORES: No, not as much. Q. I wondered about him because he came out and this was his first pro tournament over at La Cantera. He made a big splash. He was like second or third. MARTIN FLORES: I don't know how he's doing. I guess I heard he blew out his Achilles or something like that. I think I read that somewhere or on ESPN, maybe he's had a number of injuries, so I'm sure he's battling through them and ready to come back as soon as can he. Q. How many times have you played in this tournament? MARTIN FLORES: This is my third. Q. Your third one? MARTIN FLORES: Yes. Q. What do you think of this course? MARTIN FLORES: I love it. It's very challenging. I think I finished in the top 30 every year. I don't know. I'm probably in the Top 10 right now. It just seems to fit my eye. I like the difficulty of it, and it typically blows here, so it's just very challenging and something I enjoy. Q. Did you like having family out here in the galleries? MARTIN FLORES: Oh, yeah. Anytime you can have family and come out here to support you, there are lots of tournaments where you play far away from home, and you don't get them to come out and see you, so it's nice to have them. Q. You were kind of a little guy in high school. You've grown a little bit. MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, I think I was all about five feet when I started high school, so happy to finally grow into my shoes, I guess. Q. Do you have the feeling that this is kind of home to you? MARTIN FLORES: Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, I just have so many good memories from here. So any time I come back here, it's always really enjoyable. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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