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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 2, 2014Jason DufnerKAPALUA, HAWAII KELLY BARNES: Please welcome Jason Dufner, you won the PGA Championship, obviously first major to get here, making your second start at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Can you start off by talking about what it means to play in such an exclusive, winner's only field and be in Hawai'i obviously, great back drop for the start of 2014? JASON DUFNER: Yeah, definitely. Obviously I think all much the guys that play out here won an event and if you win an event you get to come to Maui for a week and compete. Great way to start 2014 for me. Haven't played much of the wraparound schedule, so looking forward to playing here and Sony next week and kind of getting my season started. KELLY BARNES: Obviously your Auburn plays on Monday, pretty excited about that, any special plans to watch the game? JASON DUFNER: No, tough with a Monday finish here. But I think we'll finish in time to watch some of it. So just head back to the hotel room and watch the game. KELLY BARNES: Watch by yourself? JASON DUFNER: My wife will be there. Q. Can you talk about the changes the last two years, how does that impact your schedule? JASON DUFNER: Yeah, that's one of the nice part of winning a major you is get five‑year exemptions to all the events. I'll be playing obviously the majors and the World Golf events and my focus will be around those events and then I've probably got about eight to ten regular‑season events that I like playing at that I enjoy competing in, because those will be in the mix. And then probably play a little bit more overseas this year than I ever have, probably looking to play seven or eight abroad, a couple during the season, a couple after our FedExCup finishes. So obviously the perks of winning a major are good and you get to pick your schedule, and you can really focus on trying to peak for those majors and then you can take some time to go play some places maybe you've never played before. Q. Is it more relaxing, less stressful, knowing that youdon't necessarily have to play everything? JASON DUFNER: Yeah, definitely, I think it gives you the luxury of kind of trying to peak at certain times. You know you'll be well rested. You don't have the pressure of playing every week to kind of chase a card for the next year or chase your status in the reshuffle where I've been in the past. So it's definitely nice, I've got a nice five‑year kind of plan to really play some good golf, especially during the big events, Majors and World Golf events. Q. At the start of the year, are you a stat guy at all? Do you focus on your stats? JASON DUFNER: Yeah, I think for a full year, the stats can be pretty reflective of your strengths and your weaknesses. It gives you a good snapshot of where your game; what you need to work on, what you're good at. There are some areas we looked at that I need to improve. I probably wasn't as consistent last year throughout all the events that I played as I was in 2012, so that's kind of one goal I've kind of looked at through the stats, just be a little bit more consistent with everything I'm doing. Q. What areas? JASON DUFNER: For me putting has been an area I've needed to improve. I putted fairly well in 2012. Last year was a bit of a step back, so I'll be looking to kind of improve on my putting a little bit. My driving accuracy was down a little bit last year, which led to the greens in regulation down a little bit, proximity to the hole down a little bit. You look at all the stats, they fluctuate so much from year‑to‑year, but I think you get a good gauge of where you need to go. Q. How much credence to put into, if your greens in regulation might be down but driving accuracyis off, does it make you think a little bit? JASON DUFNER: They can be a little bit, but as long as you know what you're looking at. My chipping was down a little bit, my percentages, but my putting was down, so those kind of go hand in hand. All the stats kind of feed off each other like you said, so you need to be kind of honest with it when you look at it and kind of be reflective with it. So I think a lot of stats that we have out here with ShotLink give you an accurate reflection of where you're at and where you need to get better. Q. Players who change equipment, are very careful about that; is there anything other than the shoes that you're putting into the lineup? JASON DUFNER: No. I'm with Titleist again for 2014. Actually the driver I won the PGA with cracked, so I've got a new driver I've been working with them on, the new 913. Well, for them it's not new, but for me it's new. So I'll have that in play this week. I think they have worked really hard to get me something that fits that was similar to the 910 that I was playing. I got a new 3‑wood in this week but all the same brand. So much new technology rolls out, especially with the shaft; it's hard to keep up with it all. Q. Do you ever change during the season? JASON DUFNER: A little bit. I threw the 714 AP2s last year I think at Bridgestone and then won the next week at the PGA. Irons are irons; I think irons are probably the easiest thing for us to change, maybe wedges, too, especially if you stay with the same grinds. But the driver and the ball and the wood seem to be pretty particular for me. I'm pretty specific about what I'm looking for. Q. How long does something like that stay in your bag, you said you had the driversince the PGA. JASON DUFNER: I've had that driver in there for probably close to three years. I think probably July or so of 2011, so three years. Q. Where did it crack? JASON DUFNER: I cracked the face in the Shark Shootout. It was probably due for a new driver three years, hitting as many balls as we do. Same shaft? JASON DUFNER: Same exact shaft. Just different head. KELLY BARNES: Good luck this week, Jason. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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