|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PGA CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 8, 2013David HearnROCHESTER, NEW YORK KELLY ELBIN: David Hearn, 5‑under 66 in round one of the PGA Championship. Bogey on the first hole but things settled down on 2 and you had a terrific round after that, congratulations. DAVID HEARN: Yeah, thank you. In between the first and last, I played some really solid golf. Obviously a little disappointed with the finish, but after that bogey on 1, got a birdie right back on No.2 and that kind of got me back in the direction pretty quickly. In between that, I hit a lot of good shots, and yeah, really solid round. KELLY ELBIN: You came off‑‑ falling short in the playoff to Jordan at John Deere; do you feel good about your game coming in here this week? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, absolutely. It was a great experience for me. Proud of the way I played. Disappointed that it didn't quite go my way at the finish, but overall, played a really solid tournament. So it feels good for me to be in contention and I feel like I've been playing some really good golf the last few months. It's nice to be in this spot early this week. KELLY ELBIN: If you would real quick, go through the birdies and bogeys. DAVID HEARN: 1, hit it in the fairway, failed to get up‑and‑down. 2, had a nice number, hit it to about three or four feet, made a birdie there. The par5, actually missed the fairway there, as well. Laid up, hit a nice iron shot and made about a 15‑ or 20‑footer. On No. 6, hi a good iron shot to about 15 short. That's a tough pin, actually, for a back one. I was saying earlier that it was nice to be out today with a little bit‑‑ with the rain last night, it was nice to get out there this morning with it being a little softer. And that pin there on that par 3 was one of those that it was nice to have it a little bit soft. Easy to keep it short of the pin and I made a nice putt for birdie. 10, I hit a wedge to about three or four feet again. 11 was one of the better iron shots of the day for me. 3‑iron, I hit it to about 15 feet and then made that putt. Then birdie on 16 again. Hit a nice 9‑iron. Had a good number, back pin, and hit it to about three or four feet again. KELLY ELBIN: And on 18? DAVID HEARN: 18, just hit a bad tee shot. I had made so many good swings with the driver all day and just made a bad swing, so a little bit disappointed there, but overall, I drove the ball great. Yeah, I'll be looking forward to tomorrow. Q. Just want to see if you can make just assess Canadian golf where it's at right now, obviously the year that Mike Weir won the Masters, very popular, and close ties here in New York with yourself and Ontario. Where is Canadian golf at, and would you rank this maybe as one of the best years ever so far with how you guys are playing? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I think when Mike was on Tour, he was very, very successful and he was a great role model for the guys that are coming up now. I think he won nine times including a major, and that's an impressive career for anybody, whether he's Canadian or not. Ian Leggatt, he was fortunate enough to win, as well. Now there's another Canadian, as well, Brad Fritsch on Tour, he's going to be one of the bubble boys going into next week at the Wyndham. We have a good group of younger players coming up and both Graham and I are playing well and waiting to break through and get our first win. Canadian golf is in a great spot and it's nice to be here playing pretty close to home. Mike had a pretty good run in 2003 the last time it was here, as well. It feels good to be playing a major this close to home. Q. As your golfing career has evolved, do you think you learnt more from your Web.com victory, or from that playoff loss at the John Deere? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I think that's a tough one to assess. The Web.com victory was pretty important at the time, I didn't have status on the Web.com and that kind of got me going. People say you don't always learn from your wins, but both those experiences I can pull a lot of positives from. The John Deere was a step forward for me in my career at this time; to be in contention on the biggest stage, maybe not the biggest tournament on the Tour, but definitely, in the playoff with Zach and Jordan‑‑ Jordan is going to be a great player and Zach is one of the better of our generation. I took a lot of positives. I think when I do get in that situation again, I'll be able to pull from that and I'll look back at it as a great learning experience. KELLY ELBIN: For the record, David won the 2004 Alberta Classic on the Web.com Tour. Q. You mentioned other than 18, you drove the ball really well. How many times did you use driver today? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I probably used it a bit more than some of the guys are this week. I'm not afraid to pull it out. I probably only hit two 3‑irons, and then I hit maybe a couple of 3‑woods. So I used it probably nine or ten times. Q. I'm sure you've been asked this a million times in your life, but for those of us who have not been around you, what can you tell us about Brantford, Ontario, and its famous resident, other than yourself? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, who's that? (Laughing). Yeah, I've been fortunate to meet Wayne a bunch of times. The Gretzky family is huge in our town for obvious reasons, and Walter has been a great influence in the city and he's one of the most charitable guys you'll meet. Wayne has been such a great inspiration for everybody in Canada, let alone Brantford. I've been fortunate to come across Wayne a few times playing together in the Web.com event that he hosted a few years. It's just great to be around somebody like that who has been that successful, and, you know, has some advice for you in certain ways, and he's incredibly humble, too, for a guy that's been as successful as he has been. Q. What advice did Wayne Gretzky give you? DAVID HEARN: You know, I think coming from a hockey background, it wasn't directly golf related, but he certainly‑‑ yeah, it's hard to really pinpoint the advice that he gave. But you know, he definitely just shows a good example of how he became successful, and he was one of the hardest workers when he grew up in Brantford, so he was successful for a reason. Q. Yeah, can you just talk about your mental toughness, not only with the playoff loss earlier, but having to wait last week to officially get into the tournament, and just how you managed to keep a positive attitude through all this stuff? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I've always been a pretty patient player in general. That's the way I tend to play. My career has always had a certain progression, and I've always found a way to get competitive at the next level that I've been to. For me right now, it's just a matter of trying to continue that on, and as I've been on the PGA TOUR for a few years now, I've gotten better at playing well in the bigger events. So to be in this position here is going to be a great learning experience for me, and I'm excited about the next three days. Q. You talked earlier about the relatively small community of Canadians on the Tour. Leads me to ask, have you talked to Mike Weir leading up to this event to find out what it was like? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I talked to him a little bit at the Canadian Open and we talked about my experience at the John Deere, and his experience at tournaments where it didn't quite go your way. Mike is at a point in his career now where he's definitely wanting to give back more, and he's definitely doing a good job of that. He's definitely trying to take on that mentorship role a little bit more with some of the players and I think it's nice to see his game better, as well, but he definitely understands that he has a lot to give back. Q. Not to dwell on the Gretzky connection, but 20th anniversary of his trade, do you have recollections of that? And two parts, I guess a chance that you can make Brantford remember this as a different weekend, the date this weekend? DAVID HEARN: Yeah, I'll be doing everything I can to make Brantford proud and give them another athlete to cheer for, for sure. I do remember the Gretzky trade. I think it was 1988, so I was nine. It was certainly one of those events as a Canadian that nobody will forget. KELLY ELBIN: Did the overnight rains considerably soften up the golf course, or just slightly. DAVID HEARN: I think it was fairly considerable. I think in the morning you're going to have softer conditions in general, but with the rain last night, it just made it even more soft. I think spinning wedges back really wasn't happening in the practice rounds too much. We were definitely spinning some wedges back a little bit today. As I say, if we avoid the rain this afternoon, it will just continue to firm up and that won't happen as the week goes on, but it's nice to be able to take advantage of that today. Q. Was this as much as you could get out of this round, or was there more? DAVID HEARN: Well, I did bogey the last, so‑‑ yeah, there's always a few shots, no matter how well you play, you feel like you can do a little bit better. Overall, like I say, I played pretty solid and drove the ball great most of the day. Just the one bad tee shot. But I think even Tiger last week winning by seven, I'm sure he would tell you there's a shot here or there he could have done a little bit better. KELLY ELBIN: David Hearn in with 66 in the opening round, thank you, David. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|