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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 11, 2013David LynnAUGUSTA, GEORGIA MODERATOR: Like to welcome leader in the clubhouse, David Lynn of England, to the interview room. David completed a fine round of 68 today and had some wonderful play. As background, he was runner‑up in the 2012 PGA Championship and he's here in his first Masters appearance. David, perhaps you can begin by talking about some of your highlights, birdies and bogeys, and your impressions on your first go around Augusta National and the Masters. DAVID LYNN: Yeah, obviously opened up down the first, hit a good tee shot which just went through the fairway by about six inches and it left me quite a tricky second shot. I think I had 143 yards to get it over that left bunker. I had to sort of go under a branch and hooked it around a little bit. So I hit wedge, and it just came off perfect and rolled up there to about eight feet which I made, which is obviously the perfect start. Then just played real solid after that. I got a break at 8. I hit a great tee shot, just skirted over the bunker. I tried to‑‑ right‑to‑left shots are not my favorite shots, and I tried to just sort of turn one in, because with the flag being on the right, you don't leave yourself much of a chance if you miss it on the right. I sort of pull‑drew this thing going towards the woods but had enough on it and missed everything and it ran through the pine needles and came through the other side and actually left me in quite a nice place where I just hit a little lob, rolled it past the flag and it comes down another three feet. Got that down to about six feet and made that. Hit two lovely shots into 9. Hit a good drive, center of the fairway, little 8‑iron, couldn't have hit it in a better spot. Just six‑foot below the flag, having watched the two guys go through the green, and they just were left with no shot. So that was my third birdie on the front nine. Then at 10, I sort of skied by 3‑wood a little bit, again, trying to hit that right‑to‑left shot, just didn't come off. Then I hit a good second shot, it just wasn't long enough, came up short. And I hit it a good chip up to three feet, but I hit it past the flag. It was a tough‑‑ it was one of those where I just had to introduce the putter to the ball, and that one slid by about three feet again. That was bogey. And then 11, I hit a good second shot, good tee shot, good second shot, straight down the flag. I was playing on the side of caution to come up short, and it came up quite a bit short, about 40 foot, but managed to make it, which was a great bonus. And then 12, I hit wedge, hit full wedge, hit a great shot in there to about five feet, which is obviously a good hole to come off with a two, just to gather some more momentum. Then 15, I hit‑‑ about the shortest‑‑ it's playing quite short today, and I leaked my tee shot into the trees, so about to punch one down and finished 90 yards away which is the perfect number for me and hit that to six inches. Gave myself a great chance at 16. Again, really tough flag on that top right shelf, just sort of chipped in a little 8‑iron and got it in there about 12 feet. And I was a bit too aggressive with my first putt and ran it by about three feet. 17, I caught the second pine tree off the tee on the left side of the fairway, and it was playing into‑‑ I had 210 to get to the front there and hit 5‑iron just short left and hit a great chip to three feet. It was a little slidey, left‑to‑right, quite quick, which I ran three feet past. Then up the last, again, great tee shot. Right in the middle of the the fairway. The two times I've played it, I've been surprised that it plays a little bit longer. Again, I'm thinking today, it's playing a little bit longer, although the wind is down off the right and I'm sort of wanting to chip a 6‑iron up there. And my caddie is saying it's too much, you have to hit 7. So I hit a nice 7‑iron, and when there was no clap, I just turned around, and said, "See, it's short." I pitched it flag high and it went through the back. So just shows you what I know. That was a tough‑‑ I had about eight feet of fringe to go through and it was one of those where I could have quite easily left it in the fringe or run it down to the front of the green. Finished about 12, 15 feet, which obviously was great to make par there, finish on a high. Q. This is a course that's supposed to have a pretty steep learning curve. Can you talk about what you were able to glean from watching the tournament on TV or when you played earlier in the week with Björn or Woosie? DAVID LYNN: Everybody says it's about playing the percentages. When I played with Björn, he was throwing fake holes down on the green. He would sort of throw a 4 or 5 down and he would say, that's the 4, 5 that they use during the week. And you sort of look at it, and it's about playing the percentages. There's a few times today where I played away from the flags. And again, talking to an old friend of mine, David Gilford, who came here for the first time, he shot a 67 the first round, exchanged a text message with him before I came out here. And he said, "Don't be too intimidated by the greens. There are birdies out there. Try and be aggressive when you can be." So I had that in my mind as well. It's a case of‑‑ played with Woosie and Lyle for nine holes, as well, picking their brains. Q. Is he from thesame club you are or ‑‑ DAVID LYNN: No. He's from the one over the road, but I've known David since I was 15. Q. Your family was saying they thought your decision to play more in the States has reinvigorated you a little bit. Wonder if you agree with that and you can expand on that. DAVID LYNN: Yeah, absolutely. It's given me a second wind at the moment. Obviously everything's new. So there's a lot of‑‑ I'm going to a different place every week, a different course, and it's like I've started my career again almost. So I'm having to knuckle down and, you know, do my homework when I get to places, and just enjoying what the PGA TOUR has to offer at the moment, which it's really good. They look after you well. Tournaments are set up good and I've been enjoying it. Yeah, it has definitely given me a second lease of life. Q. Where were you on the course when you first saw your name atop the leaderboard, and how did that make you feel? DAVID LYNN: I was on the ninth, and my caddie said, "You're leading the Masters." He just looked at me and smiled. I said, "I'd rather be leading it Sunday afternoon." (Laughter). No, it's obviously not a bad thing to see your name up there leading the Masters and something you could always look back on. But you know, there's a lot to be done for the rest of the week and hopefully I can keep my name up there. Q. At the PGA, when you knew you were coming here, you said it's a dream come true, and you said you felt like you almost knew it because you had seen it so often. How did it meet up with the dream that you had about this? DAVID LYNN: Yeah, it was everything I expected.  I've heard so many things, as well, from guys saying how hilly it is. So I turn up and I'm expecting it to be hilly, but then you still think, wow, it is even more hilly. Yeah, growing up since my first recollections really of being into the Masters was when Sandy won and the European domination at that point. I was more into football until that point. Yeah, and it's taken me a golfing lifetime to get here, as well. I've been pro for 15, 16 years. Yeah, you do feel like you know the place, because you see it that many times on TV. And even you find yourself stood on holes and you can recollect things you've seen on TV, people doing things and hitting shots. And yeah, I mean, it's fantastic. Q. This week at all or leading into this round, have you thought back to what you were able to do at Kiawah and kind of drawing off that experience and how you were able to perform on the big stage and kind of use some of that this week? DAVID LYNN: Absolutely, yeah. It's just when you're on your game. And when I know I'm on my game, I know I can compete at that sort of level. What happened at Kiawah Island was basically confirming it to myself. Certainly it gives you a little bit of extra belief and you know that you've been there before and you've experienced one of the biggest tournaments at the highest level. Although McIlroy ran away with it that week, it was still, for me, I was in an environment that I had not been in before. It was totally different to winning a golf tournament, which I mean, I have only managed to win one on the main Tour. I've won one on The Challenge Tour. Yeah, it certainly gives you that confidence, that belief; that when you're there, when you're feeling good, you can compete. Q. Do you still have your lucky coin, and is your dad here to see how well it's working for you? DAVID LYNN: I actually lost that years ago. And with it, I've lost three lucky Wedgewood markers, as well, which were made for me. But the family are here, yeah, watching. They walked around all 18 this week. We are all staying in a house this week. Q. What is your lucky charm? DAVID LYNN: I'm just using an old five pence piece at the moment. I've not even looked for anything. Q. You have a reputation as a prankster and a guy that likes to have fun; have you kept that going this week? Have you done anything interesting this week? DAVID LYNN: Have to be careful this week. I'd like to be able to come back. (Laughter). I'm always opportunistic when I see things, I'll do things sometimes. But I don't‑‑ I just like to have fun. Normally my caddie is at the butt of most of my jokes. Q. Were you planning to come and move to the States before finishing second in the US PGA? And secondly, how many sort of friends, family, etc., do you have with you this week? DAVID LYNN: No, I'd never planned to come out and relocate. It's still something that's not set in stone as what I'm going to do at the end of the year as yet. As the year goes on, I'm going to certainly have to have a chat with family and stuff. We're going to have to decide what's going on. Yeah, this week, I've got mom, dad, brother and his girlfriend, niece, my girlfriend, her dad, step Mum. And the guy who sponsored me in my last year as an amateur and my first six years as a pro, he's the guy who I asked to come out here first, and he's out here with his son, as well. It's been a little bit of payback to Glen Jones who put me on the golfing road and took away any financial pressures that I had when I started playing golf, and it's nice that I've been able to bring him here with me this week to see it firsthand. Q. There was talk that your mother, when she saw your name atop the leaderboard began to cry. Did you hear that at all? DAVID LYNN: No, I had not heard that. Q. Is that in her character? DAVID LYNN: Yeah, probably wouldn't surprise me. Q. You talk about the topography of this place, but is there something about the clubhouse or locker room or on the grounds that you felt yourself sort of being a tourist about? DAVID LYNN: It's something that is quite easy to be a tourist when you turn up here, but you sort of have to turn around to yourself and say, you're here to do a job. It was like‑‑ speaking to guys before I get here, a lot of advice coming from them was, it's so easy to do too much when you get here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And I've always been very‑‑ I've always done my own thing. And if I don't want to do something, I don't do it. I have a routine that I stick to, and it was like‑‑ I'm gutted I didn't get to play in the par 3 yesterday afternoon because the earliest tee time was ten past 4:00, and I said to myself I'm not going to play if I get an early tee time Thursday. And sure enough, I got an early tee time Thursday, so unfortunately I couldn't play the Par 3, which I'm really disappointed in. I've just got to hope that there are going to be other opportunities to play it. One of the first things Colsaerts said to me when he walked past after the par3, he was saying the first thing you do is get your name down for the Par 3, because that's awesome. But I'm not here to play the Par 3; I'm here to prepare myself as best I could for playing the tournament, which I had to be disciplined in doing. Q. Is this the FA Cup semifinal this weekend; do you think it might be a double‑triumph? DAVID LYNN: It would be nice. Long way to go for both of us. But yeah, I'd love to see Wigan progress into the final. They are always a team that are popping up at the bottom of the Premiership. They have survived for eight years so far. I would love to see them survive a ninth year. If they can bring home an FA Cup that would be fantastic. Q. Will you try to watch it? DAVID LYNN: Yeah, see what's happening. Q. If Augusta officials did give you permission, where would you do a prank around the course? DAVID LYNN: Hogan's Bridge is probably the obvious one. (Chuckling). Q. Given that in your group, it's not like Tiger, there are a few gaps knocking about; I wonder if you were able to see members of your family in the grouping and if you managed to get any sort of interaction with them during the round? DAVID LYNN: I saw my niece on one of the par3s on the front nine. Yeah, she managed to get herself to the front, just said hello and gave her a big smile. But other than that, I've not had any interaction with anyone else, no. Q. Could you just elaborate a bit on how you felt differently about your game after Kiawah? It's such a fine line between being a player such as yourself and one of the greats, really; a fine line, yet broad. Can you talk about how you felt differently about yourself? DAVID LYNN: Well, in the build‑up to Kiawah, I felt good about my game. But I felt good about my game many times and never got anything out of it. So that week, to turn up and get off to, well, it was a reasonable start. I think I was 40th going into the weekend. And then I can't really say as I did anything different at the weekend. Things just must have gone for me, which is, I suppose when you're at this sort of level, things go for you and then you can build a bit of confidence. Then again, things might go for you another week and carry on building confidence, and the next minute you know, you're sort of‑‑ you know you're really on top with your confidence. Because it is very much a confidence game; I mean, if you see negative things anywhere out there on the golf course, then you're not going to perform to your best. For what happened at the PGA, to get through it and to finish as strongly as I did, as well, because I could have quite easily birdied the last five the last day, and I remember standing on the 10th tee thinking, this is going to be interesting, see what happens to my body this last nine. And to be as calm as I was and to hit the shots that I did, especially the shot I hit into 17, which I take a lot of positives out, because I stood up over that really tough par 3 like I did and hit 5‑iron and make two, yeah, it gives you a lot of confidence. Q. So you mentioned what you learned, how calm you could be in that situation. You played with Tiger earlier this season; didn't you beat him one round? DAVID LYNN: Yeah. Q. What did that teach you? DAVID LYNN: That, again, was an environment that was‑‑ that I had always wanted to go into, as well, to see just what it's like firsthand. I was fully expecting to be reasonably nervous, having spoke to guys who had played with him before. Again, I was playing nicely that week, as well, so that helps when you're playing nicely. I just thoroughly enjoyed the whole occasion. Q. Where was it again? DAVID LYNN: It was at the Honda. Q. Didn't you Tweet a picture of him‑‑ DAVID LYNN: Yeah (laughter). Q. Drug tested? DAVID LYNN:  Drug tested straightaway. Q. Can you give an explanation of how a guy who had not played in a major in nine years finishes second in the PGA and is now among the leaders in your Masters in your first appearance? DAVID LYNN: If you speak to more or less every golfer who is out here on various tours, they will all believe that they have performances in them, as good as the top guys. I've always believed that I could perform well. I just don't do it consistently enough. And why, I don't know; I guess right place, right time at the PGA and everything going right for me to putt in a performance like that. But you come out the other side with a bit more confidence; to turn up at the Masters this week; to not get too carried away with the occasion, and to think you've experienced big tournaments before. Although, I haven't experienced, like you said, I've played in two majors. I've just got to‑‑ I'm just enjoying it at the moment. Like I said, being on the PGA TOUR, it's been a new lease of life to my golf. Tomorrow is another day and I know I'm going to have to play well again tomorrow. Course may be set up differently. I'm going out in the afternoon. It may have dried out a little bit more by then. So I'm not going to sit here and say I'm going to be there Sunday night, but deep down, I know that I've got performances in me that could put me there Sunday night. MODERATOR: David, we wish you all the best this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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