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VALERO TEXAS OPENMarch 25, 2014Martin LairdSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS DAVE SENKO: Okay. Well, thank you. We have Martin Laird, the 2013 Valero Texas Open Winner. Martin, thanks for joining us. Maybe get us started talking about your win here last year, what your remember about that and then we'll open it up for some questions. MARTIN LAIRD: Yeah, obviously excited to be back this week. You know, obviously lot of fond memories from last year and the way the tournament finished. You know, the thing I remember most obviously my final round, I know I'll never forget it. Probably the best round of golf I ever played and something I'll always remember, and the fact that it was a good way to win a tournament as prestigious as the Valero Texas Open, it only made it more special. DAVE SENKO: What's the state of your game right now coming in here? MARTIN LAIRD: I'd say my game is a little bit of work in progress. I've been playing solid, just not great. You hear all the time people saying they're close.  I feel like I am pretty close. I feel like I'm playing a little bit better than my results have been. I got some good work in yesterday and today with my coach. Hopefully a little closer to playing great this week and hopefully have a great week trying to defend. I came in here last year, it seems similar, probably actually playing worse than I am this year and managed to win. You never know with the golf course. Obviously it's a golf course I love and feel comfortable on. Hopefully that motivates me to kind of turn it around a little bit this week. DAVE SENKO: Any particular area you've been focusing on of your game? MARTIN LAIRD: Iron game. My iron game is normally one of my strengths. For some reason it's been kind of a little streaky. It's not been terrible, just not been as good as I would like so I've been working, trying to improve that and hopefully we managed to do that yesterday and then obviously today and tomorrow and get going here on Thursday. DAVE SENKO: If you have a question, please raise your hand. We have a mike so we can capture that. Q. Hi, Martin. Have you been out on the course yet? MARTIN LAIRD: I have not. I'm going to go and play this afternoon, yes. Q. Well, I think it's playing, in theory, about like last year. What are your recollections of last year then? MARTIN LAIRD: You know, I have not been on the course but I've been on the putting green and I'll tell you what, the greens, if that's how the condition the course is, it's the best. It can't get better than the putting green. I heard the course is the same. If that's the case, the greens are going to be a little bit faster and firmer than last year which should make it a little more difficult. But, I've not been out there yet to see what it is like on the course. It's a golf course you got to -- there's no kind of hiding around this golf course. You got to hit it well around here. I think the premium on this golf course is driving the ball. You got to -- it's a long golf course but it's also pretty tight. Not much room for error. You don't drive it well this week you're going to struggle and it's something I did really well last year and was one of the main reasons I played so well. That's kind of, for me, the most important part around here. Q. Martin, you're sort of saying on Sunday you're looking forward to seeing Randy. Was that sort of on the range yesterday that you identified in your iron play? MARTIN LAIRD: Grip tweak with my right hand, kind of gotten out of position a little bit and then just a couple other little things, I needed to kind of load up a little bit on my right side which would let me kind of drive a little better into my left side on the way through. I like to hit a cut predominantly and get that shot going easier. Those were the two big things we worked on. Felt a little weird at first. After hitting balls today and yesterday it started to feel better. Hopefully by Thursday it will feel great. Q. Martin, update me with everything at home. I'm assuming that everything has gone well there in terms of new addition? MARTIN LAIRD: Yeah, everything is going fantastic. Thanks. You know, first son, Jack Andrew, was born the 25th of February so he came nine days earlier than we were expecting which was nice and yeah, he's doing great and my wife is doing fantastic, too. So, you know, I played last week at Bay Hill and then here this week. I will be very excited to go home on Sunday and see him. Obviously been missing him last couple of weeks and hopefully have a good week and, as I say, get on the plane on Sunday and get home and see him. Q. You talked about on the range two things really that needed to be addressed. Last year it would seem like there would be more than that. Can you kind of remember the number of items that you had to cleanup with your golf swing coming in here last year? MARTIN LAIRD: Last year, I remember we done some work the week before and then came here and continued that. Last year I was -- it was an address position. I was too far from the ball and we got me standing a little closer, being a little more up upright. Then a couple other things which, to be honest, I can't really remember. I know the big thing was my posture. I was a little far from it and got a little closer to it and it just kind of clicked when I did that. And came in here and I remember I played great Tuesday and Wednesday when I got here and continued into the tournament. Last year this tournament was probably the best tournament I had ball striking-wise. I hardly missed shot. Putted average the first three days and kind of took advantage of the ball striking finally. Hopefully this week it all comes around the same. Q. You went back to the putter that you had won with before when you came in here last year. That's about right. What's the status with the equipment you're using as far as that? MARTIN LAIRD: It's the same putter. I cut about 6 inches off of it. Now I'm kind of -- it's not a belly putter now, it's not anchored at all but it's kind of like a mock belly, I guess you could call it, and it's 40 1/2 or 41 inches, which is still, you know, a good few inches short of being a belly putter for me. Longer than standard. Kind of switched to that at the start of the year. Really feel like I've been putting better this year and more consistent with it than I did last year. So, hopefully, I can continue that and get a hot week. Q. Did you anchor it last year? MARTIN LAIRD: I didn't really but it was long enough where I could have. It was long enough to touch my shirt or my stomach area as opposed to this one is not even close. Q. Are you thinking the rule change? MARTIN LAIRD: No, not at all. I just thought I needed to putt better. I didn't putt very good last year. I kind of started messing around with it the end of the season, off-season and felt good and put it in play in Maui this year at the first tournament. I've been playing it since then. As I said, my putting I feel like it's been good. The stats are not real accurate because I've been hitting it not close enough to the hole so I feel like I'm putting good and if I have a week where I can hit it good to take advantage of it. Q. Not a reaction to upcoming rule changes, a feel that's clicking for you? MARTIN LAIRD: Not a reaction at all. I feel like I'm putting better with this set-up than I was with the longer one. Q. Played well the past couple years at Sawgrass. Obvious some shots there that supposed to be visually intimidating. Are there shots that you guys consider scary there and how do you deal with them or able to put them out and think of numbers and target, things like that? MARTIN LAIRD: There's obviously lots of shots there that are visually intimidating. 17, even though it's only a wedge or 9-iron, obviously, very intimidating and then 18 tee shot, you know, the two years I've played well there I bogeyed the last hole on Sunday and it's been expensive but I'm not the only one that does that. Just a hard hole. But, no, all the -- the whole golf course, that's kind of the design of it, just you don't really stand on any tees and think this looks nice and easy, just hit it down here. It's always kind of -- there's always more room than it makes it appear. Let's just say that. That's one of the good things about the course, you never really feel comfortable on it even some of the short holes or easier holes. There's hard holes out there, there's definitely lots of -- I'm guessing I'm not alone in Tour players that think that. Q. What do you do to quiet the mind on a shot that might be a little daunting? MARTIN LAIRD: Go through your routine and take the numbers and just commit to whatever shot you decided on and hit it. Whatever happens, you know, as long as you've committed and talked it through properly and had a nice game plan, whatever happens, happens. You can't really do nothing about it. It's a case of that but, you know, it's what makes the golf course so good. Q. You sort of study your World Rankings position, sort of worry about your World Rankings or if you play good the World Rankings improve? MARTIN LAIRD: I'm not somebody that studies it. I couldn't tell you what I am right now. I stopped looking when I fell out of the Top 50 in the world and it's more about getting my game back in shape that -- and getting back up there than watching where I'm at. Doesn't matter where I'm at in terms of how I'm going to play next week or this week. It's more about how I'm playing and that will take care of the World Rankings. I'm really concentrating, just starting to play a little more consistent and have some good finishes and then the rest all takes care of it. DAVE SENKO: Okay. Anymore questions? Okay. Thank you Martin. MARTIN LAIRD: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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