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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 3, 2014Chris KirkKAPALUA, HAWAII JOHN BUSH: We welcome Chris Kirk, 7‑under par 66, closed with five consecutive birdies. Chris, if we can just get some comments on an excellent start. CHRIS KIRK: Thanks. Yeah, it was a pretty solid day for the most part. Really hit the ball well all day and had a good, solid front nine, 3‑under, that could have been lower if I made a few more putts. And then missed some putts at the beginning of the back nine that I probably should have made and then all of a sudden on 14, kind of got it going. Made two pretty easy birdies on 14, 15, hit a good 3‑wood just short of the green on 14 for an easy up‑and‑down and hit the green in two on 15 for an easy 2‑putt, and then played 16 being downwind, also, those holes, 14, 15, 16, are playing about as easy as they can downwind right now and I had 75 yards into 16 and hit it about ten feet below the hole and made that. Then made some slightly more exciting birdies in the last few holes. JOHN BUSH: Take us through those. CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, 17 and 18, being into the wind, the wind was actually the last probably hour or so that I was out there, the wind was even different than forecasted. It was forecast to be north going to northeast and actually went to northwest a little bit. So instead of being kind of off the right on 17 and 18, they were pretty much straight into the wind which I had never seen before. Wasn't comfortable on the 17th tee for some reason and kind of miss‑hit a little block out to the right, got up in the wind pretty good and so I had 265 to the front edge, and about 290 or so, 285 or 290, I don't remember, to the hole. It was a little downhill and I just smashed a 3‑wood. I put a new 3‑wood in this week, one of Callaway's new models and just smashed a 3‑wood and drew it in there to about 30 feet, middle of the green which was probably the shot of the day to get it up there pin‑high and made a 30‑footer. 18, kind of did the same thing, miss‑hit my drive a little bit again. It was back there at the top of the hill forever, and I think 350 yards to the front of the green or something like that. Hit another 3‑wood, good 3‑wood out there to the right and a little 9‑iron in there to maybe six feet or so under the hole and managed to roll that one in to finish. Q. Was there any fear on the second on 17 if the ball is in the air that you're going to clear the gorge? CHRIS KIRK: Well, before I hit it, yeah. Once I hit it, I smashed it. I was basically just aiming at the right edge of the green and if I hit it there, fine, somewhere to the right, get it up‑and‑down. But I knew if the ball was above my feet a little bit, if I connected with one just right it would draw in there and the natural slope of the green would funnel it to the middle of the green which it did perfectly. It was all the way kind of middle left. Q. When we look at the board, there's a couple of newcomers here, does that throw out the idea that you need to play this course a lot of times to figure it out? CHRIS KIRK: I still think the more times you play it, the more advantage you have. Like I said, today was a little bit funny. Today was a day with the wind, I never, despite playing this tournament before, I've never played it in this wind in that north/northwest wind. So that could have something to do with it. All the guys have played here a bunch of times, you're very rarely going to see that wind; so that could throw some people off that were used to it. But I still think the greens are so tough to read. It's so hard to get yourself to play enough break on a lot of these putts. It's just, wow, you know, I had some‑‑ even after playing a bunch of times, No.9, I hit it great second shot in there, to eight or nine feet behind the hole for eagle and you look at it, hey, obviously it's right‑to‑left, because you would look at it and say, oh, it was probably a cup out from the right, which from eight feet is a lot of break. So I said, okay, I know it's going to break way more than outside‑‑ I played it about ten inches to a foot outside on the right and hit a solid putt and wasn't even close, missed left. Tough to get yourself to do that from eight or nine feet to play 15 inches of break on a putt. Maybe if I can play it a few more times, I'll make that putt on nine. Q. A lot of rain recently, a lot of rain last night, how soft was it out there today? CHRIS KIRK: It really wasn't that different from the last few days. It was still softer‑‑ it was a good bit softer than this the beginning of the week, it was very soft. But then there was some wet spots out there a little bit due to the rain that came through this morning but it really wasn't too bad. It played really nicely. Q. How much different does that make this course from what you remember with maybe not as much rain in the past? CHRIS KIRK: A lot of these holes play extremely different, especially with the different wind and the softer conditions. I remember a few years ago hitting 3‑wood off the tee on 17 to not go through there, where, whatever, it's 400 yards to go through the fairway or something like that but you've got to hit 3‑wood to keep it short of it, and then 18, with it being firm and down off the right, hitting 4‑ and 5‑irons into the green, where today I hit driver, 3‑wood, 9‑iron. So that's a pretty big difference. Q. First round this week was when? CHRIS KIRK: Tuesday. I got in Monday night. Q. Did you do anything after Sea Island? CHRIS KIRK: I've had my second child‑‑ well, my wife did, actually. Foster, our second little boy, is about two weeks old now, so I was very busy with that. Really enjoyed my time at home with my family and my now two little boys. I'm definitely missing them a lot. I wish they could be out here with me and I can't wait to get back home to them. Q. Is this the first tournament you've played since Sea Island? CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I literally, from Sunday Sea Island to when I came out here on Tuesday, I played I think three rounds of golf, and have gone and hit balls a few times. I went out and played with Kuchar and Scott brown Tuesday and we played a little Skins Game. I got no skins. Shot about 80. Felt very rusty when I got here. But thankfully enough, a few days of practicing in some warm weather, it's starting to feel like it's coming back a little bit. Q. Are you playing next week? CHRIS KIRK: I am. I'm playing next week at the Sony and then I'll take two weeks off to go home. Q. Would you play if you had not shot 62 last year? CHRIS KIRK: At Sony? Yeah, I played just kind of okay there my first two years on TOUR, but it's always a tournament that I've really liked a lot. It's such a fun, relaxing week for us to stay right there at the course. I think it's a great golf course. We still have a few of the old kind of classic, old‑school type of courses like that on our schedule, and that's really one of the great ones. It's a course that given some firm and fast conditions and a little bit of wind, you take a golf course that's really not that long, and dead flat and could be really difficult. Q. Were you the first to wear the street shoes on TOUR, were you not? CHRIS KIRK: I don't know. I don't know. Q. Is there footage? CHRIS KIRK: I have Morton's Neuroma in both my feet. It's a cyst that‑‑ basically you get a cyst that develops inside your nerves, and so any kind of pressure on your feet; I was wearing shoes that were too narrow and so they would kind of put pressure on the joints. If that's my foot, the cyst is kind of in between these joints right there. So any pressure like that, really is uncomfortable, and you have to get cortisone shots from time to time when it gets bad. I had one, trying to remember when, I just had one not long ago, after Liberty National, I was not walking very good. I was limping around, and so I went home after that and got a shot in my‑‑ I think it was my left foot was bothering me real bad that time and it gives you at least a good six months of being really comfortable walking. JOHN BUSH: Chris, we appreciate your time, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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