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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 9, 2013D.A. PointsSILVIS, ILLINOIS DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome D.A. Points to the interview room here at the John Deere Classic. Obviously, a player with local ties, University of Illinois, from nearby Pekin, I'm not sure exactly how nearby. Anyway, thanks for coming by. You're obviously in the midst of a great year. One win in the Shell Houston Open and a runner‑up finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. With that being said, I'll turn it over to you for some comments on being back here at the John Deere Classic. D.A. POINTS: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be back. Obviously this is as close to Pekin as I'll probably ever get for a PGA TOUR event. So very fortunate that John Deere steps up every year and puts on a wonderful tournament. I get to come back and see some friends that I don't get to see very often, and I think I've got around 40 to 50 tickets at will‑call already, so hopefully I'll have a nice little following of people out. My parents are going to come back this year, which is nice, my mom's almost 70 and my dad's 71, so it's nice for them to get to come back and see this, and see their son playing in a tournament that we kind of only dreamed about as a kid. Q. There's been a little bit of a gap from Pebble Beach to Houston, but tell us what allowed you to breakthrough and win again? D.A. POINTS: Making putts. If you make putts, golf is a lot easier. It's not easy, but it's a lot easier. I started making putts at Houston, and when you feel like your confidence gets really high with the putter and you feel like you can make a lot of 10‑, 12‑, 15‑footers, it actually takes a lot of pressure off your arm, so you end up hitting it better because you don't feel the pressure of trying to have to hit it to a foot every time. That's what got me going in Houston. And then New Orleans I hit it really nice as well but continued good putting. That last day, Bill Horschel and I kind of started feeding off each other, and unfortunately, he fed a little bit too much and made a 26‑footer on that last hole. But it was a really good week. My hat's off to Billy, and I'm certainly not disappointed with my effort. Q. Can you tell the story about your putter? D.A. POINTS: Yeah, I'm thinking about getting a recall on that. I shouldn't have probably mentioned it. When I was about 12 years old, so 24 years ago, I was in the garage fishing around. My dad and mom both played. They're avid, but were never professional or anything. And they had an old Ping putter that I found in my mom's bag. And I was like, hey, mom, can I mess around with this? And she said, sure. So I did that. I kept it, and I never gave it back to her, so I just kept it for a while. I'm not sure how many state amateurs I won with it, but I know I won at least one Illinois State Amateur with it. And I won twice on the Web.com Tour in 2004 with that putter. So it had some good vibes and stuff. So when I put it on in Houston, it looked good and the greens were good and fast there. It seemed like it was a little lighter, and I thought it would be a good match, and sure enough, it was. Q. And you kept it in the bag? D.A. POINTS: Yeah, it's hard to get rid of it after it treats you that good. You have to keep it around for a while. Q. When was the last time your folks watched you play in an event? D.A. POINTS: Oh, not that long ago. They watched The Masters. I'm trying to think if there was anything since The Masters? I don't think so. I think The Masters was the last tournament they were at. Q. Are you surprised by your track record here at all being this close to home? D.A. POINTS: Yes, I am. I'm disappointed with it, that's for sure. Again, for lack of a better term, it's a putting contest and that's why Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson win a lot because they make everything. I shoot under par every time I come here; it's just not under par enough to see the weekend. This week now that my confidence with my putter is up and the course is in magnificent shape, hopefully I can win the putting contest this week. Q. Is it pretty obvious that Zach Johnson is a fan favorite out here? D.A. POINTS: Sure, and Zach deserves it. I don't know how many Tour events he's won, but he's won a bunch, including The Masters. He's a super nice guy. You got to have something wrong with you if you don't like Zach Johnson, because he's a great person, he's great for the community, great for this tournament, and he deserves to be the fan favorite. Q. Is there any competition between all of you Illinois guys, and how fired up are you for Friday and the Illini day? D.A. POINTS: There's not any competition yet, but I'm certainly going to try to drum some up between Scott and Luke and Steve. Maybe the old guys will take on the young guys or something like that. It's going to be a great day. I'm really impressed with the University of Illinois and the athletics there. They come up and they really take the time to make this a big day for the University of Illinois. I really appreciate that. I've got my orange and blue, and my wife's‑‑ I left my Illinois ball at home, so she's going to send that to me, and we'll really do it up. And I'll try to hopefully put on a good show for the Illini fans. Q. Did they pick your brain at all about what it's going to take to get through the grind? D.A. POINTS: No, Scott's asked me a couple questions. Luke figured it out pretty well. You know, again, like a lot of us, we've all been playing golf a long time. So there's nothing I can tell them that they'll go, wow, that's amazing advice. It's just kind of figuring it out. When I was a rookie, I played a lot. It's hard not to. When I talked to Scott and Luke and those guys, if we could give one bit of advice, it would be to try not to play as much. But when you're a rookie, and you're 23 and you have all the energy in the world, you realize, oh, I'll just keep going, I'll keep going. But sometimes guys like Strick and Tiger and the other guys, when they play 15 to 18 events a year, and they play great all the time, it's like maybe there is something to that. And that's what I'm working on. I'm working on trying to play less. Q. What about Luke impressed you? D.A. POINTS: He is very polished. Hits it very straight, just any part of his game is really, really solid. Even before he had a great finish here last year, one of my other friends on Tour, Ryan Palmer and his caddie played with him at the FedEx St. Jude, and said, man, I mean, this kid's right out of college. You'd think he's been at it for ten years. He's just very mature, very polished. I attribute a lot of that to Luke's demeanor as a good person, but having Mike Small as your head coach for four years is a huge, huge advantage because he is a TOUR player and was a TOUR player, and it seems like he still is as much as he plays out here. That's a huge advantage to have that guy say, listen, this is how you do it. When you get on Tour, this is how you act, this is how you think, this is how you prepare. And that's myself included, something we didn't have. When you have somebody like that teaching you that, then when you get out here, it's like this is how I was doing it or how I was taught to do it in college, and that's a big advantage. Q. Coach Small not only earned a spot in the PGA Championship this year but he was also elected to the Illinois golf Hall of Fame; could you talk about Mike and what he brings to the sport? D.A. POINTS: Mike's very deserving. He was a great player, a hard worker. He's a great motivator. He's genuinely a good person, a good guy, and all the guys love and respect him who ever played for him, and that says a lot. Because most college kids don't like their college golf coach. So when he earns their respect, that says a lot about Mike. I'm proud of him for being elected to the Illinois golf Hall of Fame, that's a big honor for him and the people involved. He's done a great job, and Illinois is very, very fortunate to have him. I keep trying to plug him and pump him up and let him know how good he is. Q. With the ridiculous finishes we've had the last couple years, the playoffs last year, Stricker and Zach, et cetera, and you being one of the regional guys here with ties to the area, do you look at one hole more than another like if you're in position for a playoff down that stretch on the 18? D.A. POINTS: No, because pretty much you have to try to birdie every hole out here. So it doesn't really change. You know, if you drive it well, it sets you up for the ability to do a birdie putt. Then it's just about execution. I'm sure there are some holes, like the ninth hole, it's a hard, long hole. Maybe you're not too disappointed if you had just made par on that hole. But for the most part, it's a pedal to the floor. And Luke and I played nine holes this morning. We got here and played nine hole this is morning. This is a fun, beautiful golf course. It's kind of nice to stand up on the tee and not be like, man, where am I going to hit this? You know you have to hit it. You have to make a good swing. You still got to play good golf. But if you barely mis‑hit a shot, you're not X, which is fun. Because we play so many places where it's like that. To have this place be, not easier, but a little more forgiving, makes it a lot of fun for us. I think it's a good fan venue. You come out and watch guys make birdies. I think that's pretty cool. Q. You talked about the home course situation, the home area. Zach said it makes it tough for him with all the distractions during this tournament. Do you see it that way? You talked about the 40, 50 tickets. Is it a distraction? D.A. POINTS: It is, but I have a little bit of‑‑ I'm living in Orlando now. I have two tournaments there. I have two tournaments in Orlando where I had to do the same thing with Bay Hill and The Children's Miracle Network and then this one, so that part of it, with tickets and trying to get everybody accommodated for, I'm kind of used to that now. Early on it was a bit of a pain. But now you just want to get everybody situated so once that's done, really after today, it really gets to be pretty easy. My parents get in tomorrow afternoon. I've got a good friend of mine from Chicago coming over. And then it will be nice to just have dinner with friends and family and catch up. Other than that, for me, I want so badly to play well here. I want so badly to be in the hunt with Strick and Zach and have it come down the stretch like that that sometimes I want it too bad that I get in my own way and I try too hard. That's something that I feel like this is my 7th season on Tour now, I should be better at. But it's still a hard thing. I still want to do well here. So I just have to try to tone it down a little bit and be a little more relaxed and laid back. Q. Is there pressure to do well when you come home? D.A. POINTS: My pressure to do well; it's not from anybody else. Maybe this is arrogant, but I don't care if anybody else wants me to do well, but I want to do well for myself and my family, because I want to win. That's why I'm here. I want to win golf tournaments. I want to play in the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, and play in these events and be an elite player. That is the pressure I put on myself. I want to use that, but not overuse it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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