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GREATER HICKORY KIA CLASSIC AT ROCK BARNOctober 20, 2013Michael AllenCONOVER, NORTH CAROLINA PHIL STAMBAUGH: Exciting day out there. You shoot a final round 65, birdieing two of the last three holes to sort of catch Olin and move past Bernhard a little bit, and you got one extra hole, two‑putt for birdie and pick up your fifth career victory and second of the 2013 season. MICHAEL ALLEN: Thank you very much. It's an exciting day, a lot of fun. Anytime you get to play with Bernhard Langer on Sunday and have a chance to beat him, it's always great. He's a legend. I loved the opportunity, and it was a lot of fun doing it. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Take us through your day. You got off to a good start with two birdies. You got in the mix right away. Take us through it. MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, the first hole was just a really hard hole. I hit a really good tee shot, just really trying to stand up and play a few good shots, especially to get started, not back down. So I kind of kept it down the center left side, which you let it go right there and obviously you've got a hybrid in. So I had a nice‑‑ that was kind of one of the keys. I had a nice 5‑iron in there. I hit it to about a foot and got off to a great start. And then the next hole Pete talked me into the hybrid off the tee again, which we had done the day before, and I hit a nice little 8‑iron from there to about a foot again. So I was in the tournament, and then Bernhard made a birdie or a few birdies coming along, so I was two back, but I knew we just keep playing and things would get better, things would turn around. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Take us over on the back side. MICHAEL ALLEN: Okay. Oh, I guess Bernhard bogeyed 10, and then I birdied‑‑ oh, I bogeyed 11, but then 12 I hit a nice‑‑ I hit like 170‑‑ I hit like a 175 shot with my 6‑iron to probably about 20 feet and kind of needed that to stay in the tournament. Then the next hole I hit a good drive down there, and I was about 225 to the front over the water. The wind is a little chilly and cold, but Pete kind of liked the 3‑wood. So I hit a beautiful 3‑wood and hit it in the middle of the green. I was able to two‑putt from about 50 feet probably, make a nice little four‑footer. So that got me back in it. 16, I hit a beautiful 3‑wood down there, and I had 102 yards. I hit my 54 wedge to about, I guess, five or six feet. I was able to make that. And then 18 I hit just a beautiful drive and a really good hybrid to the middle of the green and was able to two‑putt. I was hoping I could knock it in there and finish it there, but then I wouldn't have got a chance to hit that really great 5‑iron that I hit. Q. How far was the 5‑iron? MICHAEL ALLEN: It was like‑‑ I think it was like 193 to the front and about 220 to the hole or 218 to the hole. My 5‑iron is usually about a 200 club. It was off a little downslope, and I kind of had to hit it about 205 or something to get over the hump to get to the green. Because of the downslope I hit just a phenomenal 5‑iron. PHIL STAMBAUGH: You had, what, 12, 13 feet? MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, at most, probably about 10 feet. It was beautiful, right at the pin. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Talk about, this is your second year you've won now multiple titles in a season. We're going back to San Francisco, which is your old stomping grounds, so you get a chance for a big finish to the year. MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, you know, I mean, for me I knew I was‑‑ I got off to a good start this year, and the rest of the year has been a little bit of kind of up‑and‑down play. I've played nice but I haven't really played that great. It's been kind of a frustrating year overall. I've played pretty well, but I haven't really putted well or this or that. This year at the end of the year I really wanted to have a good finish. I liked getting that top 5 in the Schwab Cup. I know I can't win it, just because I'm so far back, but‑‑ so that's kind of been the frustrating part of it. I was just kind of hoping to be more a part of that thing. I'd love to win that Charles Schwab Cup. For me right now I really want to win a few tournaments, hopefully get close, get in the top 5, and if you can't win the Schwab Cup at least you want to try and show well, and I think I'm kind of getting there. Q. Can you talk about hanging around the leaderboard, just kind of doing what you need to do on Sunday, and that's what everybody tries to do? Just talk about that. MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, I just‑‑ I've seen Bernhard playing lately, and he leads probably more tournaments going into Sunday than any man on Tour. I just felt that‑‑ I mean, I got off to a good start. I got myself in the tournament. He's going to have to make some, he did. I knew we were going to have some birdies out there. I thought it would be a good battle, especially once I got off to a good start, I knew I'm playing well, I'm over the little bugaboos we get in our brain. After that it was just kind of go out on the course, some good hard holes in the middle, keep making a few pars here and there. It's fun to kind of battle it out like that. It's fun to get in there, and I was able to make that birdie on 12 and kind of get myself back into it, and then 13. He didn't play a good hole there. And then all of a sudden here comes Olin. That's kind of the way it always is out there. You're kind of battling the guy who's leading and all of a sudden he's been passed. I mean, to me this is about as fun as it gets. To go out and play against a great player and just keep battling him, that's kind of what it's for. That's kind of why we go out there. You've got Bernhard, you know he's not going to just give it away, you're going to have to go out and take it somewhat. Somehow I guess for some reason I told Billy we're going to have to make about four birdies on this back side to win, and I didn't know I was such a prophet; I didn't know I was going to throw a bogey in there, too. It was fun. It's always a great day to go out there and do that. Q. Were you aware what Olin was doing in front of you, especially when he went on that hot roll? MICHAEL ALLEN: You know, I really wasn't. I don't look at the scoreboard a ton. I do a little bit, but I did see that he was doing well when I got to about 15 or 16. I saw that‑‑ actually when I walked to 17 green is when I saw‑‑ I wanted to make sure and see where everyone was, and I actually‑‑ that was where I saw that Olin was leading was at 13‑under, so I kind of wanted to try and be a little more aggressive on that putt on 17, but I knew I had a good chance on 18, assuming he didn't birdie it. Billy Ray brown at that point told me he hadn't birdied, so I knew I could make a birdie on 18. So it wasn't really until about 16 or 17 I knew he was actually the guy that had taken the lead. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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