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WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIPMay 2, 2013Nathan SmithCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Q. Nate Smith, you had a round of 67 today, 5‑under, tied for the first round lead with six other players. You want to talk about some highlights from your round today and your overall thoughts and then we'll have a few questions. NATE SMITH: Yeah, it's good to be back in NorthCarolina where I went to school. Only three hours from where I live now in Charleston, so kind of just down the road. It was a good day out there. I hit a lot of quality golf shots and really hit some good wedges. I was able to kind of stay patient on the greens and even make a few putts from 8 to 25 feet, and turned into a minus‑5. Q. Talk about the bag? NATE SMITH: You're probably wondering what's going on with the bag. So I played a prank on my buddy James Hahn earlier this week on the driving range. I slipped a little walkie‑talkie in his bag, and I had another one, and I was messing around with him saying some funny things into it. He couldn't figure out who it was. We were getting a kick out of it, but it was driving him nuts. So I came into the locker room afterwards and he figured out it was me. I think I actually told him. He put a little sign on my bag that says "For charity auction. All players please sign the bag." So people started signing it, which is like, you know, kind of a little embarrassing when you're playing as a Monday qualifier. You don't want people to be making fun of you. But I kind of had it coming from James, so it's all in good fun. I'll be getting him back. So don't you worry about that. Q. What is the most valuable signature on there? NATE SMITH: I don't know. We counted them up. I think there are like 60 on there, and the best one might be the one that says happy birthday, because it's definitely not my birthday until August 7th. But I saw like Stuart Appleby's on there because it says 59. Then Camilo's got one on here that's kind of cool. It's hard to make them out, because I haven't checked them out. I was busy playing golf. But I'll try to do something with the bag afterwards. Maybe I actually will put it towards charity now that I've used it or give it to somebody to keep it around for myself. Q. Talk about what it means playing like this so close to where you went to school and what got you to Duke? NATE SMITH: Yeah, it's funny. I grew up in Northern California, so this was a bit of a ways from there. I just kind of took a visit out to Durham and fell in love with the campus. The coach who was there at the time, Mr.Rod Myers, who has since passed away, and I kind of fell into a good situation there. I really enjoyed my time and I got to meet a lot of different people. Santa Cruz is very different from the South here, and I've taken a liking to this area, and that's why I moved up here, well, to Charleston, which is not so far away. But I was following the Duke boys last week in the ACC Championship, and they pulled that out and that was pretty exciting, because we haven't had too many of those, but always something to be proud of. Q. How many Monday qualifiers have you tried this year? NATE SMITH: This is the only one I've done. I played Valdosta, the Web.com Tour event last week, and I played pretty well. And I three‑putted the last to miss out on top 25 and playing on conditional status, so wasn't sure I'd get in next week. I knew I'd be in through the next re‑shuffle. I just drove over here on Monday morning with my caddie, Cody, and we played really well. Drove back Monday night, saw my coach and came over here for the rest of the week. Q. How many Web.com have you played this year? NATE SMITH: I've played five events, made three cuts, and my best finish is T28 or 29 last week. I'm starting to play a little bit better, so hopefully this will be a little bit of a‑‑ I played well the last round at Valdosta and was able to shoot 69 and jump up the leaderboard a little bit. And that was a big, long golf course so it gave me a little indication of what we'd be facing this week with the wet conditions. So hopefully it's going to be a place where I turn a corner. Q. Were you in the past championsÂ’ on the Web? NATE SMITH: Yeah, past championsÂ’ category from 2010, I guess it is. So get in the first three out of four events, make a few cuts and try to play your way from there. This year is going to be interesting. I'm electing to sit out this event in Athens that I ended up getting into. This was my favorite tournament that I played on the PGA TOUR when I played two years ago, so I kind of wasn't going to miss this one after qualifying. Money position is really important this year on the Web.com because of that final 75. So hopefully I can get in there. I'm excited for what this new playoff system has to offer, and hopefully I'll be able to get back out here on the main TOUR. Q. I wanted to ask did you have a connection to Alasdair Dyer? NATE SMITH: Yeah, my web page is not really accurate anymore, though I do still travel with my lucky blanky. No, I'm just kidding. I haven't worked with him for a little while. I do have a new instructor, his name is Danny Stewart over at Country Club of Charleston. He's been helping me lately, and I'd like to thank him for that. Q. I know you got Dyer hooked up with Kevin Streelman for a while. NATE SMITH: I did, yeah, it was funny. We were traveling together on the Hooters Tour at the time, and we were staying in Myrtle Beach for an event. I think we both had either missed the cut or something, and we were staying at that Barefoot Resort. I think we Pricelined a hotel there or something. And another guy who is a member here, Paul Tucker, a Duke grad, his wife used to play on the LPGA Tour, Kristina Engstrom. And she said you have to go talk to this guy Alasdair. So we went and took a few lessons from him. Kevin made it through Q‑school that year and started working with him, and he was his coach for a couple of years and really helped him. They have separated. After that I worked with him two years myself and kind of parted ways. But he really helped me in my career, and I know he helped Kevin as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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