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ISPS HANDA PERTH INTERNATIONALOctober 19, 2013Brett RumfordPERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA OLIVIA McMILLAN: Thank you for joining us in the media center today. 7‑under 65 to equal the course record here in tough conditions. Can you tell us a little bit about that? BRETT RUMFORD: Well, it was a lovely day. It was a tough day. It was very blustery. We had some really heavy downpours, which made, at times, obviously the golf course very, very tough. But obviously early doors, it was okay, it was pleasant; it was playable, I should say. But I just got off to a bit of a scrappy start. Even the first two rounds I was playing okay but haven't really found the groove. But holed some nice putts early. The pin positions were a little bit more accessible, certainly not as tough as the first two rounds, which I think was obviously reflected in my score today, no doubt about it. But with the bit of rain, not too sure if they have lifted the mowers as well, maybe slowed the greens half a metre to a metre. Felt as if my putting could be a little bit more aggressive; it's only marginal. Yesterday afternoon, probably tipping towards not unplayable, but going that direction. So it was nice obviously for the rain to come in overnight and made the golf course play lovely, just perfect. So the greens were receptive with the wedges, and my wedge game was great today. Short game was sharp, yeah. And then obviously just holed some nice putts. Got some nice up‑and‑downs. Just a bit of everything today. It was a mixed bag of everything that was working well. So disappointing to have 3‑putted the last, no doubt about it. But obviously just my mind‑set, playing so well, was too aggressive on the last and obviously wanted to hole it really badly. Obviously I'll learn from that, take it into tomorrow, happy with my position. Q. Halfway through the round yesterday, you were right on the cut. BRETT RUMFORD: I was outside by one. Q. And now clubhouse lead, can you comment about that turnaround? BRETT RUMFORD: Yeah, as I've been saying, this golf course, it's really tough. You have to be patient out there, because it's so marginal, between just‑‑ even just hitting a golf shot to birdie range, that three feet, and having a golf shot, that's just as good‑‑ pitches a metre short, the greens are very undulating, very slopey. All of a sudden you find yourself 35 feet away, can make you look pretty silly sometimes; particularly the wind, as well, how blustery it is. You've really got to hit your mark with your iron shots, otherwise the golf course becomes very, very difficult and I just wasn't‑‑ I just didn't play well obviously the first nine, ten holes yesterday, at all. Just wasn't feeling it. But I guess it's just a credit to myself; I guess I feel as though maybe the last two or three years, my maturity in the game and out on the golf course has really stepped up. I just seem to be just taking the punches and obviously just being very, very patient out there. Q. Is it a case of patience rather than changing something up? BRETT RUMFORD: Absolutely, it was just riding out the storm. I certainly wasn't playing well but you just have to trust in the fact that you've done the work and it's‑‑ you know, it's as permanent as you want to make it. It's the hardest game in the world to play, no doubt about it. When it's hard, you can make it harder or you can just accept it and just try and do the best you can. And I think for myself, the back nine, it does hold a few more birdies. I think there's some shorter holes, so I was just keeping in mind if I just stay patient, if I can just ride it out, just try and get up‑and‑down and make some pars, limit the damage, you just never know in golf when your game is going to turn in this game. But knowing there were some birdies coming down the back nine, just kept me patient on the front nine. Q. As a local boy, do you feel like you've got the support of the galleries? Has that given you a boost at all? BRETT RUMFORD: Yeah, no doubt about it. It's great to play in front of them. It was nice to get out there and just to play some nice golf. Definitely the crowds were starting to increase as my round progressed and it was sort of giving me an indication of how I was going. So, it was nice. You know, just obviously‑‑ we just need the crowds to get up tomorrow and hopefully the weather is good enough for all the sandgropers to get out. It's going to be a great Sunday, that's for sure. Q. Would you be happy with more of the same weather‑wise tomorrow given your success this morning? BRETT RUMFORD: Look, this game, you just never know sometimes. I was warming up this morning and it wasn't particularly feeling that well. So there was no indication as to going out there and being 8‑under through 17 holes. But that's just the game. You have to take it as it comes and so tomorrow‑‑ I've been doing all my planning, and been doing all my work and I'll be trying to shoot the same number tomorrow, no doubt about it. Whether it goes that way or not, once again, it's just being patient with it. Q. Are you confident you can handle the pressure if you are in that final group tomorrow? BRETT RUMFORD: It would be good fun. I look forward to it. Q. Just back to yesterday on the fourth, the par 4, you holed that second shot‑‑ to take you to 3‑over, how do you actually get back from that situation? How do you turn that around? BRETT RUMFORD: Yeah, look, for myself, if I‑‑ well, let's say, Tiger Woods in his prime, hitting great golf shots every hole, winning by 12 shots, and not really hitting that many golf shots off‑line, to hit a golf shot like that, I think it would really shake you up. But I hit shots like that all the time. (Laughter). I'm not the straightest driver. When I play well‑‑ no doubt about it, like everyone else, but I'm trying to narrow my bad and I'm just trying to, my ceiling of good, I can't get any better than that, but it's a matter of obviously just working on the flaws in my game to bring that up. So my average becomes a whole lot better, and obviously it's hard to explain that but it's a whole lot easier to do it than with my hands in front of you here. You're only as good as you miss in this game, and unfortunately for myself, my misses at times can be pretty bag; catastrophic. That's why my career has been up‑and‑down and all over the place. But I'm working hard on trying to minimise those bad golf shots. Yeah, so you just take it on the chin and you've just got to get on with it. Maturity helps I think in the game as well, and I used to flare‑up a lot hitting a golf shot like that, naturally, as you would. It's a pretty bad golf shot, with a 9‑iron in your hand, to miss it 25 metres left of the pin, in the middle of the fairway, you can't explain it. I can't explain it, so you just move on, get on with it. Q. Is there a back where you look at the past years‑‑ was there a point you came to that realisation? BRETT RUMFORD: No, look, I say this, but I'm just beating myself up, less. You still get pretty annoyed in this game. I'm not saying everything is roses out there. I think you're just aware of it. I can't really pinpoint it, but you know, you can just feel it when it starts to bubble inside you. But I think you just realise that it's just doing you more harm than good. Yeah, it's a really hard question to answer, because the game just fluctuates all the time and I think it just depends how your mood is. If you're dehydrated, for instance, you're going to be on edge a lot more. Nutrition and hydration, the experience that comes with just doing everything outside and playing the game as such can actually help contribute to being a bit more mentally better prepared out there and taking the punches. Q. What would it mean to get a European Tour win on home soil? BRETT RUMFORD: It would be massive. Obviously it's massive just to have won back‑to‑back, anyway, full stop. It's so hard to win. You win a couple of times and you think, let's go out and do it again but it doesn't quite happen that way and you realise how hard it is to win out here. There's so many great players, and the last nine holes of any championship can just swing so quickly, as it did in China. Mikko Ilonen got within one or two, whatever it was, and all of the sudden a few holes later, I'm leading by six just in the space of nothing and it can turn just as quick, negatively, as it can positively. But yeah, look, obviously that's why I'm here. I've got myself in position to win. I'll be working hard and that's what I'll be focusing on for the next 24 hours. Q. J.B. Hansen was in front of you, and picking up shots, as well does. It help seeing that in front of you? BRETT RUMFORD: To tell you the truth‑‑ no, I had no idea what was happening. The first time I think I saw a scoreboard was maybe on 17, which was my 8th, the par3. But yeah, it was just very much the elements, the conditions, the day. It was just very much in the moment, just taking one shot at a time and just we are very much in the process of structuring a round of golf with no real result and no forethought of the outcome or anything. So it was just a tough day. So just head down and just get on with it. That's about the only time you can notice guys in front of you up on leaderboards and stuff like that if they are having great days. Craig Lee got off to a great start obviously playing with us, but succumbed to the elements, as well. It was a tough day. Q. On a day like today where rain and all the other things happen, does that‑‑ than perfect scoring conditions‑‑ BRETT RUMFORD: Absolutely, no wind, middle of the fairway, pin right in the middle of the green, sometimes it's that easy and you can just switch off, no doubt about it. I think I've always found that playing in harder conditions has suited me for that fact. I'm able to actually switch into a golf shot, whether it's trying to hit a hard cut with a 3‑iron or a hook; I sort of get out of my way technically and just move more into the shot shaping and just the visualisation and the feel of the golf course rather than trying to produce the perfect golf swing to hit the perfect golf shot. Certainly you don't need to be perfect out there. You hit the perfect golf shot and the wind can catch and just throw it all over the place. So for me, I guess I do get more attached to a particular golf shot which I'm hitting, so I think that does narrow my focus, definitely, no doubt about it. Q. You've had two wins ‑‑ BRETT RUMFORD: Well, yeah, no doubt about it. Look, just even if it wasn't for the two wins, and I were to win here, it would be the creme. So, yeah, look, definitely, winning in front of your home crowd, there would be nothing better than that, that's for sure. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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