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HUMANA CHALLENGE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLINTON FOUNDATIONJanuary 16, 2014Brian GayLA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA Q. Talk about your round today. BRIAN GAY: I had a good score today. Struggled with the ball hitting, my neck's super tight, so I didn't hit the ball very good at all and luckily the short game kept me in there. I made some nice saves early. And made a few birdies. This is the most difficult of the three courses. And then we had a little bit of breeze out there. So, pretty happy with the way I felt, pretty happy with the score, the way my swing felt. Q. Do you have to make a lot of compromises when your neck's starting to bother you? What kind of compromises do you have to make? BRIAN GAY: Well, it's just in a spot where it's getting me right at the top of my swing, so I'm trying to time it out and it's just pulling on me. So, hopefully it will loosen up. Q. Was there a‑‑ because I heard it was, that you were hurting on one side. Does it hurt on the other side of the neck too then, right? BRIAN GAY: The other side was better because it didn't hurt on my back swing, but this one's got me right here (Indicating) and it just moved to the other side. Q. So it's‑‑ so which one affected you on the top of your swing and which one affected you on the back side of your swing? BRIAN GAY: It affects me right now on the right. Right now. Q. Do you find yourself tinkering with your swing or making adjustments to ease the pain or do you just kind of grind through it? BRIAN GAY: There's no way to get around the pain. I found myself tinkering with my tempo to try to find a shot I can hit. But I hit it to the right all day long. Q. What kind of treatment are you doing and how is the treatment been coming along? I guess this is three weeks now with the neck? BRIAN GAY: Well, this side just started yesterday, so that's the negative part of that. But this side feels okay now. But so I just started treatment on this yesterday. With the TOUR therapist. And I did some ice last night and taking Aleve. I got some muscle relaxers I might take tonight. But I think it's just inflammation mostly. Q. Does it affect your preparation every day? Do you have to ‑‑ BRIAN GAY: I didn't even play a practice round. I went to the range yesterday just to see if I could hit, you know? And I wasn't very comfortable. I'm okay on the range when I'm kind of hitting one after another, especially with the short clubs, like I really start to feel it with the longer clubs. But then when you get on the course and you hit a ball and then you wait 10 minutes and you hit another shot, so you're not, it seems to get a little tighter on the course than on the range. Q. When they diagnosed it, it's not something that can get worse with you playing, is it? BRIAN GAY: I don't know what it is really I don't think I really had a diagnosis. I just saw the chiropractor in our trailer and he did some tissue work and adjusted me yesterday around lunch. Q. Are you thinking it's so bad that you can see yourself withdrawing or is it something you can play through? BRIAN GAY: If I wasn't defending champion I certainly would have considered it. I did feel better this morning, once I got out here on the range, I felt a fair bit better. When I got up this morning I felt just as bad as I did last night and I was like, this isn't good. But I had a nice warm‑up before I got on the range and hitting one ball after another. Halfway through my warm‑up session I was fine, I felt it with the longer clubs and then I think I just got tighter on the course, just from waiting. Because we don't hit as many shots, you know, consecutively on the course. Q. You were thinking you can pull through and finish now? BRIAN GAY: Hopefully it will just keep getting better. Q. What about‑‑ what was it like today, this is the first time they haven't had the celebrity field out here. Did you notice anything kind of different? I know one player said the pace of play was much better, but? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, I did notice that. That was maybe the first time I've got to the 10th tee out here and not had a wait. We didn't have to wait at all. Sometimes there's been three groups on that tee. So, yeah, we didn't wait much today, which was nice. Q. Then it must have helped you too, because then that didn't let your neck get stiff? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, yeah, it did. The faster the better for me, probably. I like to keep moving. Keep everything moving. Q. What about just the atmosphere without the celebrities here, did you notice anything kind of different whether with the crowd or anything like that? BRIAN GAY: Well, I think that it's probably pretty normal for La Quinta, I think you would get maybe some more people over at PGA West. But I didn't notice too much difference today. Q. And this is the tougher, considered the tougher of the three courses, how important was it for you to get off to a good start and put up a good number headed to the other courses? BRIAN GAY: Like I said, I'm happy with my score, could have been much higher. But I scored nicely. And the stuff on the back nine here is the toughest nine of all the courses, so you think I shot a couple under that side, so I was pretty pleased with it. Q. The leaderboard is at nine right now. Do you feel like you can make that up? BRIAN GAY: Hopefully my neck loosens up and I can start hitting some good shots, at least then I'll have some control of where my ball's going. So, it's not a good spot to be in when you got to make a bunch of birdies, you got to hit good shots and make putts. I'm putting great, but I just got to have more chances. Q. You hear about athletes, they talk when they're injured or they get ill, somehow they get a little bit more focused and something kind of clicks for them. Do you feel like there's ‑‑ BRIAN GAY: I didn't today, no. I don't think when it's bothering me, I certainly have had some great tournaments when I was really sick, just not feeling well, I've had that happen. But when you've got something that's hurting and it's affecting your performance, actually in pain or restricting your swing then it's a little different. It's hard to, it's kind of hard to overcome that, I think, and do something really spectacular. But sometimes you're not feeling well and you just kind of go through the motions, you're not thinking much, and you play great. But when you've got constant pain, it's hard not to think about it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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