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HUMANA CHALLENGE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLINTON FOUNDATIONJanuary 16, 2014Patrick ReedLA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA MARK STEVENS: Patrick Reed, thank you for taking the time. I solo lead at 9‑under on the Palmer Course. Talk about what was going well for you today and some course condition comments and then we'll have some questions. PATRICK REED: Well, the course is in perfect shape. The rough isn't very high, the fairways are perfect and the greens are rolling very true. That's the main thing to being successful out here is with how great the conditions are, that if you're hitting putts on line, they're going to go in, no matter what. I started out a little struggling with the driver, had some lefts in it, but luckily I missed it in the right spots. I kept myself out of trouble. When there was water holes I kept it away from that. I was really confident with my irons, kept hitting greens and all of a sudden, 10, 12, 15, 20 foot putts started going in. Made couple short ones for birdie. And also, we made the turn at 5‑under and I kept on moving forward. And on the back nine started getting the driver going straight and even though my second nine I only shot 4‑under instead of the front nine I shot 5, I felt like I played a lot better that back side. I hit the ball really well, I felt like I was in complete control on where I was putting the ball and I was hitting a lot of good putts. And on the back side a couple of them were right over edges but mainly most of my putts went in today. Q. 4‑under on one side, 5‑under on the other side, these the kind of typical numbers around here, but still kind of ridiculous. Do you really feel like the round was extraordinary today for a 63 or is this just the 63 around here that's good golf? PATRICK REED: A 63 anywhere on the PGA TOUR's a great number.  When it came down to my round, I felt like I played solid and played well. I felt like there were some things I could have improved on, but at the same time whenever you tap in for par on the last hole and shoot 63, you're pretty happy. 63 here, a 63 anywhere else on the TOUR, when you see a minus nine you're in the lead after the first day, you carry confidence into the other three golf courses. As you look at all these golf courses, especially that final round last year, I think you had three or four 10‑unders, a couple 9‑unders, this course has it out there. But at the same time you have to hit the ball really well, you have to putt really well and you have to be on your game. And I felt like I was doing that today and I still felt like there was some things that I need to work on to keep improving. Mainly off the tee with my tee shots. I feel like a couple holes down the back stretch I had to play conservative because I wasn't very confident in the driver. And those are just things that I need to work on that made this round not feel like an extraordinary round. It felt like a great round, but not one of those that I was going to stick out in my mind forever. Q. You knocked in a long eagle putt, didn't you, on am I thinking about the right one? PATRICK REED: No, not today. I had, that was at Tournament of Champions I made about a 63 foot eagle putt. Here, I just made nine birdies, nine pars. So and it was just one of those things. Q. What about tomorrow, you're 9‑under, do you set reasonable goals or do you just say I'll do it again? PATRICK REED: You definitely can, but how I went at this round is I just took shot by shot. I tried to really focus on what I was doing at hand. Making sure I made a solid golf swing with the driver, making sure I was a hundred percent confident on my line and my finish line. And I'm going to continue that tomorrow and the good thing is tomorrow I'm at a totally different golf course. So to me I'm breaking this up into four tournaments. Monday is shoot outs, because you play here, then also we play three, two other courses and then we're back here. So it's one of those things that you can't get caught up really too much in the leaderboard, due to the fact that everyone hasn't played the same courses yet. After Saturday, then we can start trying to go after other players as well as really focusing on the leaderboard and seeing what you have to do. Q. Is it better pressure wise maybe to be 8‑under and have somebody else at 9 or doesn't it matter, you would rather be out there in front? PATRICK REED: I would rather be in the lead. If you have the lead that means you're playing better than everybody. And whenever you have the lead it gives that you edge and that confidence to know that you have an opportunity to put your foot down and make them try to catch you. Q. Your wife caddied for you before, is it the same caddie you've had all year now? PATRICK REED: My wife's‑‑ Q. Your wife's no longer caddieing. The caddie that's working for you here, is he the same one that's been all season? PATRICK REED: He caddied ‑‑ it is my brother‑in‑law. He caddied for me at the Tournament of Champions and so this is his second event. The only reason Justine is not on the bag is because we have a little baby girl on the way. So we can't wait for that and I'm excited to be a dad. Q. What's his name? PATRICK REED: Kessler Karain. Q. And when she has the baby and is all good to go will she be back out caddieing? PATRICK REED: She says she wants to be back out there. And I love to have her back out on the bag with me. Q. Did she walk with you today? PATRICK REED: Oh, yeah, she walked every round at Tournament of Champions. She was there during all the practice rounds, she was there during every practice round this week and she's going to be walking every round. She's going to be walking all the way up through Augusta, I would say. Q. Memorial Day, that's the due date? PATRICK REED: Yeah. Q. You used the word confidence maybe four or five, six times since you've been in here. Is that the most important thing in golf? PATRICK REED: It is. It's one of those things, if you're not confident in what you're doing, then all your flaws and stuff can come out. If you're confident in the club you're picking, you're confident in the lines and all that, then I mean you have a better chance of making a good golf swing, and a good shot at it. And that's the main thing is look at Tiger for example, he's very confident. Every shot he hits you can just see it and not only in his eyes, but also his demeanor. And that's also why he's No. 1 player in the world. Q. You talk about a 63 being a good round out here, but not an extraordinary one, I'm curious, what would you consider an extraordinary round in this tournament on these courses? PATRICK REED: I mean to me an extraordinary round would be where I felt like I hit every shot exactly where I was looking. Because to me it's not as much as the number as it is on how is my game improving, on what I've been working on on my swing, on the ability to control the golf ball, and to place it where you want to, on hitting lines, hitting speeds, hitting the right trajectories and that kind of thing. And when it came down to my irons, I would probably give myself an A rating on that, when it came down to my driver I would probably give myself a C, C minus. So that's something that I need to work on, but it shows that as long as you have a good game plan on, even if you know you're not hitting something well, if you can hit it in the right spots, you can still shoot a low number. And that's the main thing I'm taking away from it. And especially moving forward with that's other two golf courses. Q. A follow‑up on the confidence thing, do you have more of it now than ever before in golf? PATRICK REED: Oh, of course. To play the way we did last year, especially the last half of the season, with the Callaway equipment that I'm playing with, the equipment's been awesome. And then to go out and win the way we did at the Wyndham, and to play how we were playing at Hyundai Tournament of Champions to get off to a nice start. It could have been better, but any time you finish 16th in an event, I mean I would take it. And then to come out and play the way I did today, it feels great and hopefully can I continue that feeling on for the next rest of the week. MARK STEVENS: Okay, thank you, Patrick. Good luck tomorrow. PATRICK REED: Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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