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THE MCGLADREY CLASSICNovember 10, 2013Chris KirkSEA ISLAND, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: All right. We will go ahead and get started. We'd like to welcome the winner of the 2013 McGladrey Classic, Chris Kirk. Congratulations on your second PGA TOUR win. CHRIS KIRK: Thank you. THE MODERATOR: You move to No. 4 in FedExCup standings. Trip to Augusta was mentioned earlier. With that I'll just turn it over to you for some opening comments on what was obviously a very special win. CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously the biggest win of my career, and to come here to Sea Island which is a place that I love and cherish so much, and Davis's tournament, it's just an unbelievable thing. You know, I had spoke to some of the Golf Channel guys earlier. You know, Davis was kind of the guy when I was 12 and 13, really starting to play golf. He was my favorite player that I always kind of looked up to, and he's turned from being my idol to sort of a mentor and good friend. So I'm a very lucky person to be in that situation, and obviously to win his tournament really means a lot to me. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Well, we'll take some questions. Q. Ready to move back? CHRIS KIRK: He's always told me, he said, I'm glad you moved to Atlanta because now when you decide to move back, I can just sell you my house. Q. Chris, how special of a moment when you tapped in on 18 was it in what is essentially a home crowd for you? CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, it was great. As I said before, you know, not being one of the most well known players on TOUR I'm used to playing with other guys that the crowd is pulling for. So it was a rare treat for me and was really nice to be the guy that the crowd was pulling for. It really I would say helped me out a lot. Q. I would have thought with an hour to go you wouldn't have imagined this. What were you thinking when you from out of the hazard took your drop, pitched up, 20 feet and you've got two putts for eagle. CHRIS KIRK: I was mad really. I was just upset that I had hit a bad shot pretty much, but it was a bizarre, bizarre day for me. You know, I mean I came out and hit some pretty loose shots in the first six holes or so, but made some good par‑saving putts. And then you know, I kind of sorted to hit my stride a little bit around the turn into the front nine, beginning of the Back 9. Was hitting a lot of really good, quality shots, hitting it right where I was looking, and then all of a sudden kind of had a little bit of a bad tee shot at 14, which wasn't a horrible shot. That's a really tough tee shot that just barely caught the edge of that hazard. And kind of got in between clubs a little bit on my second shot on 15, didn't quite think a 3‑iron would get there from 245, but knew that my hybrid might have been a little bit too much, so trying to take a little off of in that situation is always a little bit dicey. I probably should have just ripped a 3‑iron in hindsight. But yeah, after hitting not such a great pitch, I kind of had a minute there while I was waiting for the two of them to putt to sort of gather myself a little bit, I guess, and just kind of said, you know, if I roll this putt in, I'm going to be at worse, two back with three to go and that still is a great chance. I mean you would take that at the beginning of the week every week if you could. Q. First of all, do you ever win a tournament here like Jones Cup or ever the medalist of the SECs? CHRIS KIRK: No, I didn't. I think the best I've maybe finished in the Top 10 once in the SECs. I don't exactly have an incredible track record on this golf course. Q. And obviously one. Things that always jumps out I guess being the Georgia guy you are, how many seconds after dropping that putt did your thoughts go to Augusta? CHRIS KIRK: Way before the putt went in, unfortunately. (Laughs). I mean there were a few times, yeah, even when I sort of caught myself at one point of the tournament when I really knew that I was hitting it pretty good and knew that I was rolling the ball well. I definitely putted way better today than any of the first three days. I could sort of tell on the putting green before I went and teed off, it was just kind of one of those days where the ball was rolling down my line, and it just kind of gave me the peace of mind all day, you know, it's nice those days when you feel like all you gotta do is read it right. And that doesn't happen that often. But you're definitely thankful when it does. But you know, towards the end there, obviously with me having whatever it was, 20 or 25‑footer from the middle of the green knowing you have two putts to win, I think I've been in that situation three other times before, once on this tour and twice on the Web.com Tour. So yeah, I obviously am smart enough to know that you can't let your guard down there. You can't just walk up and smile on the way to the crowd. That's kind of not me anyways, but I was able to get myself really back focused in and was able to hit a good putt, thankfully. Q. For a guy that's played a lot on this course, like you said, you don't have a good track record, why do you think that is and what changed this week for you? CHRIS KIRK: I'd say drive‑‑ generally this is a course I would say it's not an overly long course, so it tends to favor the shorter, straighter hitter. I'm not a bomber by any means, but a little bit longer than average, I guess, on TOUR and have yet to finish inside the Top 100 in driving accuracy in my first three years on TOUR. I definitely rely on hitting some good iron shots from the fairway and not always from the fairway and good scrambling and putting. But this is a golf course that you really need to play from the fairway and thankfully I drove the ball well this week and the rest of my game was really good. Q. As a guy trying to win and get to the Masters for the first time, is it tough to watch what happened to Briny in the midst of all that? CHRIS KIRK: Yes. Briny is such a great guy. He's one that over the last few years has been really nice and really welcoming to me being one of the younger players on TOUR. Obviously I wanted to win, but I mean you hate to see it happen that way, you know. I mean I had some pretty grand plans of hitting it to a foot and making birdie on the last hole to win, but that kind of all changed there at the end. Q. Have you ever been to Augusta? CHRIS KIRK: I have played Augusta four times. We used to go, as a member of the University of Georgia golf team, some of the alumni that are members were nice enough to take us out there and we he got to go once a year. Q. Billy being one of them? CHRIS KIRK: What's that? Q. Billy being one of the alumni? CHRIS KIRK: No, I've actually never met Mr.Payne. Jeff and Billy Knox were always great taking us out there and Charlie Roberts and a few other guys. Q. Kevin Payne. On 14 when Briny kind of flipped the score on you there, what was going through your mind after that hole? CHRIS KIRK: I mean I wasn't really too worried at that point. You know, I mean for me to‑‑ given where I was after my tee shot dropping in the rough there with that pin, to get out with a 5 was really good. You know, with kind of a jumper lie in the rough you hit it 10 feet past that hole you're going to make a 6 really quick, or worse. So I wasn't too worried about what he was doing. I mean he obviously hit a really great‑‑ I mean that was probably the shot of the day, his second shot on 14 with the 3 or 4‑iron. I'm not sure what he hit. But that was‑‑ that wasn't really anything that I could worry about.  I was just focused on getting my 5 and getting out of there and going on from there. Q. That par putt on 15 the most important that you made all day do you think? CHRIS KIRK: Probably so, yeah. That kind of kept me in it. I mean I wouldn't have been‑‑ I wouldn't have been out of it necessarily if I had missed that. Maybe if I missed mine and Briny makes birdie, that would have been‑‑ I guess I would have been three back at that point. So that would have been pretty tough. But I knew that if I hit a good tee ball on 16, that would be a good birdie opportunity, and I knew that pin on 17 was one where you can make a birdie, and I birdied 18 twice this week. So yeah, obviously that was huge, but I definitely hadn't given up hope, you know. I watched Briny birdie the last three holes yesterday, so there wasn't any reason why I didn't think that I could do it, too. Q. Chris, given the new TOUR schedule format, how much of a head start do you feel like you've got on next year by getting this victory, 500 points in the bank, almost a mil in earnings out of this? It's one of those things where if you do win one of these events do you think the schedule is a good idea maybe more than if you hadn't? CHRIS KIRK: I was on the record saying it was a good idea before I won. But no, it's great. I'm very partial to this tournament, obviously, and so for tournaments like this to get a Masters invite, to get the purse increase from McGladrey is amazing, and it just sort of makes them more important. You know, it was kind of one of those deals before where obviously all the guys from here, we played it, we loved it. It was a big tournament for us. But any other guy that's already got his card it wasn't really that big of a deal. So now it's added more importance so you kind of put the great sort of word of mouth reputation that this place has amongst the players, you add in a Masters invite and a million dollars to win, it makes it even better tournament than it already was. Q. And when did you officially move back to Atlanta and was it family reasons? CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I moved a month and a half ago. We still have a place here. But it's, yeah, close to where I grew up, close to where my family is, close to where my wife's family is. We have our second child due in December. So we kind of wanted to get back up there and be closer to everybody before our second child came. Q. How far are you from the golf club? CHRIS KIRK: 15 minutes. Q. (No microphone)? CHRIS KIRK: 3‑iron. Yeah, it was 229, I think. And the wind had pretty much become non existent at that point. So it was a good number. Q. For your second shot after the drop on 14, what was that? CHRIS KIRK: I think 7‑iron. I don't really remember how far I was at that point. But yeah, it was a 7‑iron, just trying to get it into the middle of the green somewhere. Q. (No microphone)? CHRIS KIRK: 6‑iron. That was 189, which I hit a 6‑iron 185 generally, but given the situation, I thought that I could get that extra four yards without too much trouble. Q. How long have you dreamed of playing the Masters? CHRIS KIRK: Since I first became serious about golf, probably when I was 12, you know. And even before that it was just like, that's it, you know. Augusta is the tournament to me. So I mean obviously winning the Masters would be the greatest thing that I could ever do in my golfing career, and you can't win if you're not playing, so. Q. Chris, as a young golfer, how do you think winning‑‑ I know it happened two years ago, too. How does it change how some of the older guys treat you or perceive you or things like that? CHRIS KIRK: I mean in my situation now, probably not a whole lot. You know, I still feel like I'm far from being a veteran, that's for sure. But just in the last year or so, you know, once you're out here for three years or whatever it is and everybody kind of‑‑ you get to know everybody pretty much by that point. And so they're not really looking at you like you might just be a flash in the pan one year and you're a rookie and you're done. So I think now at this point in my career probably doesn't make that big of a difference. Q. Do you watch golf on TV when you're not playing? CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I do. I watch a decent amount of golf on TV. Not a ton, but I like watching on Sundays if I'm not playing. I enjoy seeing how guys react, how they handle the pressure, because I know what they're feeling, you know. I mean there's a lot of people, a lot of fans, and some media as well can be pretty critical of what guys do on Sunday, but until you've felt that, nobody really knows what it's like. So I think it's cool to see some of the great shots that the guys will hit, and I know that their hands are shaking and they can't even think straight. So some of the stuff that people are able to pull off is pretty cool. Q. Do you ever learn anything watching on TV? CHRIS KIRK: I mean I'm sure I've picked up little tidbits here and there, but the biggest thing that I've learned over the years is that you don't‑‑ and anybody could see this watching on Sunday. You don't have to play perfect golf to win a TOUR event. You can go week in, week out and you play really solid and you finish 20th, you know, and you're just kind of like, man, I feel like everything's gotta go my way, I've gotta play just perfect to win. And then when you do win, you're like, wow, you have some stuff like I did on 14 and 15 today. I had two 3‑putts yesterday. You definitely don't have to play perfect golf. You just gotta play enough really good golf to make up for it. Q. Does that apply to you today? CHRIS KIRK: Absolutely, yeah. I mean from my first tee shot today I hit it straight left, into the trees, and miss hit my 3‑wood really bad on the second hole, too, and a few other loose shots here and there. And then obviously you saw some of the not‑so‑great shots I hit on the Back 9. But I still shot‑‑ what did I shoot today? 4‑under? 66. So hey, I mean you can still make it work out. Q. A lot of young guys in this tournament every year. Is there any banter back and forth from you guys about hey, I'm going to do it this year, I'm going to win or has anybody congratulated you? CHRIS KIRK: I saw Davis and Lucas was there, very close friend of mine, Lucas Glover. When I finished. Maybe not quite as much amongst the players, but when you go out to restaurants and there's a whole community here, everybody‑‑ you can tell how much everybody's pulling for you, everybody in the community has wanted a local to win this tournament so bad, and so even though I don't live here full time anymore, I'm hoping that they'll still consider me a local. Q. What did Davis say to you and what did you say to Briny? CHRIS KIRK: I mean I didn't really know much of what to say to Briny. I just kind of said, I'm sorry. You played great this week, you know. And told him thanks when he congratulated me. Davis and I have only talked just a little bit, you know, and I just kind of was thanking him for making all this happen, for making this tournament happen and for everything that he's done for me and he was just as a usual day, awe, shoot, it's nothing. Great playing. He's a pretty low‑key guy. Q. When did you first meet Davis? CHRIS KIRK: I first met Davis at the Canon Cup at Conway Farms in Chicago. My ‑‑ I believe that was the summer after my sophomore year of high school. And I met him there. I mean I'm sure that he obviously would not remember that because I was one of, whatever, 40 kids that he met at that thing every year, but my parents have a picture of Davis and I on their little mantel from that tournament. It's pretty funny, I had braces and kind of long sideburns. It's a pretty funny picture now. But yeah, that was when I met him for the first time, but then once I moved down here after I turned pro, the guys that have a pretty incredible small, as they say, agency down here, that was when I sort of got to know him a little bit. Q. The picture of you two with that trophy might end up on your parents' mantel? CHRIS KIRK: I would guess so, yeah, right next to the other one. Q. The last couple of years of this tournament we've seen someone from the middle of the pack on the final day kind of over take the leaders. Was that going through your mind at all today? CHRIS KIRK: I mean obviously I knew with the wind being a little bit lower today, I knew that that round was out there. My goals for the day was to try to get at 16. I kind of thought if I got there, then nobody really was going to catch me. And unfortunately I didn't quite get there, but things sort of worked out for me in the end. T.C. obviously played a great round with a 62, but I guess he was just a little bit too far back to quite catch me. Q. Chris, guys coming out of Georgia, Bubba had a little bit of a long learning curve before he won, but a lot of you have won fairly quickly. You have, Russell won last year as a rookie. Hudson won on the Web.com Tour pretty early. He actually maybe was an amateur; right? CHRIS KIRK: Harris did. Q. What's going on at Georgia to have you guys maybe this tournament ready, this kind of competitively in tune with what's required to win professionally? CHRIS KIRK: I'd say it's just all the facilities we have, all the great recruiting that they've done over the years, you know. Coach Haack has the best philosophy, I think, of any college coach there is. He just says I'm going to try to get all the best high school players that I can get. I'm going to give them everybody they could possibly need to work on their games and building the great facilities as all the Web.com Tour players get to see every year in Athens. Our practice facility there is second to none. And we just focused on competition amongst each other. I mean unless you finish in the Top 10 the previous tournament, you were never exempt for the next year. So I was First Team All American my junior year and one of the top‑ranked players in the country, and I was playing in qualifying my senior year to get into the next tournament, and I knew I had to play well to make it. So I think that's really big, you know. We always were very competitive against each other, and that sort of got everybody going, and everyone's continued to compete really well at the pro level. Q. Who did you play with? CHRIS KIRK: Brendon Todd was my roommate for four years, and he and I are still very close. Pretty much best friends, and thankfully he was there when I finished on 18, too, which was really cool. And Kevin Kisner and Richard Scott were a year older than I was, also part of the national championship team that we had my sophomore year. And David Denim was a senior that year, I remember and, some of the younger guys. Brian Harman was two years younger; and Hudson and Adam Mitchell, three years younger. And Harris and I didn't play on the same team together. I very rarely feel old, but I have the past few years that Harris is out here winning on TOUR and he wasn't even to college yet when I graduated. So I feel like it was just a few years ago that I finished school, but time's sort of creeping up on me. Q. Chris, does that notion of competition at Georgia where nothing's guaranteed, does that kind of fit right in because this tour week after week nothing's guaranteed? CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, you're right. It's definitely what have you done for me lately. I mean this is probably going to be my last tournament of the year, and two weeks from now there won't be anything in Golf Digest Or Golf Week about me. So I mean that's just the way it is. We all understand that. But I mean obviously there will be plenty about me this week, which is great. And so you just kind of enjoy your victories while you can, and that's just the way of the world, once you're out here. And that's kind of the way that "Hacker" had it at Georgia. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Chris, congratulations. We know you gotta keep moving. Congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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