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SHELL HOUSTON OPENApril 1, 2014D.A. PointsHUMBLE, TEXAS DOUG MILNE: Okay. D.A. Points, defending champion of the Shell Houston Open. D.A., thanks for joining us for a few minutes. D.A. POINTS: You bet. Q. Obviously got you busy. You were right out back doing something for The First Tee Program and now here you are defending champion interview. We know you got work at hand. Just a few comments on being back here at the Golf Club of Houston? D.A. POINTS: It's always great to come back to a place where you've had success and Houston is a wonderful city and they have great golf fans and Shell, I think, does an amazing job having been, you know, the sponsor for so many years here and it's an honor. I can't wait for Thursday to start to really get out there and start trying to make birdies and get in a nice position to make another run at it again this year. DOUG MILNE: How about just a couple comments on the state of your game you're heading into the week? D.A. POINTS: Well, my game actually feels good but the my finishes haven't been there. I haven't had a lot of great tournaments this year at all. But, you know, I've been meeting with my swing coach and I met with my putting coach yesterday and, you know, everything is coming along nicely and it's wear it needs to be and now I just need to, you know, kind of get some momentum going, get my confidence going, have some good things happen and before I know it, hopefully, I'll be back in here Thursday talking about a great opening round. DOUG MILNE: My last question for you is, last year, it turned out to be quite the story was the putter you were using. Is your mom's putter back with you? D.A. POINTS: Yeah. Yeah. So I still am using the same putter and really I've been putting well with it really ever since. It hasn't maybe been quite as hot as it was at the Shell Houston Open last year. I've been putting good and the stroke and all and all that part of my game feels good. My mom hasn't asked for the putter back because she knows she is not going to see it again. Q. D.A., are you sticking to your routine? D.A. POINTS: I am, yeah, I am, outside of I got into town this year a lot earlier. I got in Sunday night. I went to Augusta on Saturday and Sunday to do some practicing and I got into Houston on Sunday night, whereas last year I was playing in the Tavistock Cup and didn't get into until Tuesday evening. That part is a little different. But, you know, I'm still going to be staying with my friends, Chad and Katy, over on the Member's Course. I'll just be walking to the golf course in the morning and pretty much, you know, same in trying to just not necessarily be superstitious but it was a good routine and it worked and I'm going to try to see if I can keep it working. Q. You got in the afternoon Pro-Am? D.A. POINTS: Like I did last year. Yeah, things are kind of on schedule. Q. What did you learn at Augusta over the weekend? D.A. POINTS: That place is great. I mean it's just -- it's in perfect condition and, again, it's just more about placing my second -- you know, my approach to the green needs to just be in the right quadrant of the green, on the proper side of the hole and par is a good score. When you make a par, you know, sure, you'd like to birdie the par-5s and maybe some of the shorter par-4s but you can never take par for granted at Augusta. Always be looking at, you know -- it's almost like playing pool. Where am I going to leave my next shot? How am I going to make the next shot easier? That's a big thing. Q. And that's a bigger issue there than it is on a lot of courses. D.A. POINTS: It is. But, you know, like today when I go out and practice I'll be practicing a lot today on okay, not hitting it at the flag, trying to go, "Okay, you know what? Sure, I have a 7-iron and love to hit it at the flag" but I'm going to be doing some more practicing and trying to hit it to the fat part of the green or to the safe side of the hole and there's some holes out here that you have to do that, too, for sure. So, it's good preparation going around here as well. Q. Obviously you're here to do as well as you can here but you're thinking two weeks in advance, too. D.A. POINTS: Yeah. I mean the way I look at it, every week out here is a big week, you know, every week can make strides to change your life and making my career more like I want it to be or heading in a positive direction and when I won Houston -- when I won this tournament last year it was huge for me, it was huge for my career and so I don't take this week for granted but it's certainly -- it's also important to think about, you know, the year's first Major and the opportunity to play well at Augusta is high on my list as well. Q. What are the logistics of scheduling practice rounds? I'm assuming almost everybody wants to get in there? I'm curious. D.A. POINTS: I called my agent a couple months ago and I said hey, we kind of were planning that we weren't going to be playing the Valero and my caddy and I wanted to kind of get up to Augusta to just do some extra preparation and that way when I go next week it will be a lot less stressful. You know, I don't need, "Oh, gosh, I got to get out and try to play 18 everyday." I can play 9 holes or maybe walk, you know, 9 holes and just hit chips and putts to try to one, because sometimes during Major weeks like they get tiring and you're so amped up and so much going on. If you do, if you try to do too much practice it will wear on you. I called my agent and he called the club. They said okay. They called and I need to know who is coming and exactly what time can you'll be here. You can't roll up and, "Hey, I want to play." They got to let you in. Q. Did you play a full round? D.A. POINTS: I played 18 on Saturday midmorning and I played 18 on Sunday first off. Q. How are the logistics just this week coming in as the defending champ? How are you kind of handling the extra that comes with it? D.A. POINTS: Doug as been pretty easy on me. Today is really kind of the only stuff that I have as far as media and other obligations. I'm really -- I came out, did a couple hours of practice and a workout yesterday and today be more of the same, little workout and some practice and then, you know, I'm in later playing tomorrow so I'll come out and maybe do a little short game work and play in the Pro-Am and be ready to tee it. Q. Even though you're sticking with the same routine, is there a different feel walking up to this course knowing -- D.A. POINTS: Sure. Knowing that I've had success here and it's cool to be out there and be like oh, last year -- like I remember on the 2nd hole last year, and this is really bizarre, I'm not even sure which round, I hit my tee shot in the right fairway bunker and I hit, like an amazing for me, an amazing fairway bunker shot like a 5-iron to a back right pin to 6 feet and I made birdie. There's shots like that that kind of stick out in your head. "Wow, I've hit some great shots here, I've made some great putts" and then kind of, you know, makes you feel like hey, I can do that again. DOUG MILNE: All right. D.A., like you had hoped, we hope to see a lot here this week. Thanks for your time. D.A. POINTS: Thanks guys. Appreciate it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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