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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 7, 2014Matt KucharPONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA KELLY BARNES: We would like to welcome Matt Kuchar to the interview room. Matt, you're a past PLAYERS champion, and the course suits your game. Talk about your chances here this week. MATT KUCHAR: Always excited to be back here. This is a special place to me. Continues to be special. It's awfully nice that Tiger's not here; I got the first parking spot still, which makes me feel like I'm defending champion when I pull in. This place is really special. It was amazing to win here two years ago. To have the whole thing happen the way it did, Mother's Day, everything kind of come together to be a pretty magical story for me. But this tournament is unique. It's special. There's a great buzz about it. There's a great energy. I think all of us that show up are awfully excited to have Thursday get here and get started. KELLY BARNES: Open it up to questions. Q. Take us through that tournament in 2012, just through all four rounds and what went well on your way to winning. MATT KUCHAR: I knew I was in some pretty good form, things were going well, but this course is so demanding, you just have to be on all aspects of your game. It's a similar setup to a major. You're tested everywhere. The margin for error is very slim. I was playing well, I was putting really well, went through some good rounds, was one back going into Sunday. Playing the final group was exciting to be there, exciting to have a chance. And then I had some good things go my way, and there with a chance to win with three holes to go was a pretty exciting place to be, and to be able to pull it off was great. Q. Can you talk about the atmosphere of 17? And also over the years have you changed the way you approach 17, the way you play it? MATT KUCHAR: 17's a unique, really interesting, fun, exciting hole. I think strategies are the same. I think as a rookie you kind of know the deal; you hit the middle of the green. There's not much more to it. I don't think you change strategy a whole lot. Still, that said, depends on firmness of greens. I think we all feel like if greens get really firm, it's a nasty hole. It can come up and cost you the tournament pretty quickly. Greens are, when they're receptive, when they're softer, it's a hole where you feel like you've got a chance at making a birdie. You would like to escape with a par but a chance at a birdie. So I think it mostly depends on firmness of greens as to just what your strategy is on that hole. For the most part it's take a 20‑footer and take your chances with that. Q. You're one of four players who can become No. 1 in the world this week. What would that mean to you? MATT KUCHAR: That's really cool. I don't think I knew that. It's a cool thing about the game of golf at the moment. That title is a pretty impressive title. To be No. 1 in the world at anything is amazing. To have a chance to be No. 1 in the world in the game of golf, I think all of us that play have those dreams. I think all of us that are out here dream of being No. 1. That's cool to have that chance right now. Q. What are your thoughts on the playoff format change? MATT KUCHAR: I think it's great. I think it's really exciting. I think that that's what we all think about is those finishing three holes. I think it's a good change. I think there's enough daylight, I think it would be an exciting playoff for sure. Q. Generally are you in favor of the longer format versus just a one‑hole? MATT KUCHAR: I haven't been in a whole lot myself. I've only been in two on the TOUR, I think. Just the sudden death playoff is kind of what I've become used to. But I think it makes the tournament a little more unique and showcases those final three, which is such a great finishing three holes. Q. Looking back the last couple weeks here, what was the best part of your game? MATT KUCHAR: Everything's rounded into some really nice form. I've been very pleased. Ball striking got really clean. I hit a lot of good shots. I hit a lot of greens for four straight weeks. But in order to contend, you can really have many weaknesses. I was wedging it well, putting well, but I played a number of rounds without missing many greens. I just felt like I was in very good control of the golf ball, the strike, and it was a nice stretch of golf. Q. Have you ever holed out a shot to win a tournament or match or anything like that? MATT KUCHAR: I holed out a putt. (Laughter.) I've made some decent‑sized putts to win, but not nothing from off the green. Q. Can you talk about the weekend at Augusta, what you liked and what maybe you would have done differently or could have gone a little bit better? MATT KUCHAR: I had an awesome Saturday round. Sunday got off to a nice start. I think I was 2‑under through three holes. Then I had a four‑putt on the 4th. Kind of felt like, holy cow, what just happened, and I looked at it and said I'm even par through four holes, not that big of a deal, let's keep going. The driver just got slightly off where I couldn't be as aggressive. I was just playing from some parts where it was hard to be aggressive. So I felt like the driver wasn't as sharp as it was on Saturday. I know people don't think of Augusta as a really demanding driving golf course, but with that first cut of rough, it's really important to drive it well and be in the fairway. Q. Talk about how the course is playing compared to other May PLAYERS as far as firmness, length of rough? MATT KUCHAR: Length of rough is up. I don't recall it being any longer than this ever. I played on Monday, it was pretty receptive, fairways and greens were fairly soft. Not sure yet, I haven't played today. Generally we see the course get firmer and faster every day. I'm guessing we're going to see it firm and fast. I'm not sure how slick they will get the greens, just with the handful of greens that aren't in their best condition and try to keep some uniformity, trying to keep, protect those couple greens. I'm guessing we won't see things get really crispy and crusty and out of control. Q. How much do you think that will change things, hit the driver a little bit more, but does it equal out with the fairways being receptive? MATT KUCHAR: Say that again. Q. You'll hit driver maybe a little more often because it's softer but the fairways are more receptive, so does it even out as far as trying to hit the fairways? Will you hit driver more often? MATT KUCHAR: It sounded like you said the same thing, that you'll hit driver more and the fairways are more receptive, so yes, I'll hit driver more. My game plan is not going to change. I probably hit driver more than most guys around here. I probably feel like the driving is a strength of mine, I feel like particularly accuracy. I think a lot of guys, I see a lot of guys hit very few drivers here. I'm probably one of the guys you would say I hit driver off most tees, try to be aggressive on a handful of holes. 4 comes to mind, 4 fits my shot shape really well. Just a little bit of left‑to‑right curve to it. And most I'll be one of the few guys in the field to hit driver on 4. But I feel like that's a hole I hit a great drive, now I'm looking to take advantage, whereas 4 is kind of an iron for most guys or 3‑wood and a short iron, but I'm trying to go kind of driver, wedge, where I'm really looking to score on that hole. So I hit driver more than most, and certainly not going to change that game plan with the conditions. Q. It's hard to think of a guy that won 10 months ago as someone who's overdue for a win. But after all the close calls you had this season, how important was it for you to get that W at Hilton Head? MATT KUCHAR: It felt great. You could probably tell by my emotion after holing that bunker shot that I had a lot of close calls. I was just a little bit frustrated. Houston had a great chance to win, bogeyed the last. Then to have a great chance at Augusta and to not play better, I felt like I was in really good form going into Augusta and playing some good golf, and having at least a tie of the lead there for a moment on Sunday, I felt like that could be my week. It didn't work out. When the bunker shot went in, I was just so relieved and so excited that it finally did work out. Had it not, had I not won Hilton Head, I don't know that my mentality would be any different here, I would be really looking forward to this week, just as I am right now. But it sure is nice to get a win. Q. How much does it take out of you to be in contention four weeks in a row like that. Obviously it must be fun to be playing well, but it's got to be a little more brutal than a normal week. MATT KUCHAR: I didn't have a whole lot of energy after Augusta, after Sunday night. I took Monday pretty easy, I did an outing Tuesday, and I tried to do as little as I could on the golf course. I don't think I spent a moment after a round of golf practicing. I just went straight home, straight to rest and relax and play with the kids, knowing that I was going to be pretty worn down and that it was going to take a lot for me to get in contention again at Hilton Head. It was pretty cool that I was able to get in contention again and go ahead and win after three really close calls. Scheduling just worked out great that I had two weeks off after to enjoy and kind of wind down and then now I've built back up and ready to go again for this week. Q. Given your consistency throughout the years, especially at the top of the leaderboard, it's sometimes hard to identify the streaky spots that you have, but I would imagine the last four weeks, how would you define it in terms of a hot streak for you? Is it the hottest streak you think you've had in a while? MATT KUCHAR: That was a great run of golf. I would say last year I had a pretty good one I think starting maybe Byron Nelson, played okay; thought I should win Colonial, had an okay Sunday; Boo Weekley played great golf and won Colonial. I think I might have finished tied second. Then I won Memorial. I had a decent showing at the U.S. Open. Felt like that was‑‑ there was at least that back‑to‑back Byron Nelson, or sorry, Colonial, Memorial. That was some really strong golf. Four in a row, to have at least a tie of the lead on Sunday for four straight weeks was pretty awesome. Q. Do you make a conscious effort to avoid kind of streaky performances where you're running hot so you never really run cold? MATT KUCHAR: It's what I've tried to build my game to be. I've tried to build my game to be consistent, play good golf week in and week out. It's a tough thing. We all know that. The game of golf is a challenging game. You can wake up the next morning and go, what happened; I thought I had it? But what I've tried to do with my golf swing, with the help of Chris O'Connell, we tried to eliminate the need for as much timing as possible. We tried to eliminate that sort of where did it go. I feel like I get up and I kind of know where I'm going to hit the golf ball. I kind of know it's going to come off the center of the club face and go pretty close to where I want it to go. We put a lot of work into building a game that repeats. Q. You alluded to it earlier, but between the fans and the course, what's that atmosphere like as you had hit 16, 17, 18 with a chance to win the tournament? MATT KUCHAR: I mean, it's awesome Thursday on the first tee. Atmosphere is unique. The turnout, the support, the energy here is really great. Then you come to those three finishing holes, man, they're exciting finishing holes. I think we all know they're three of the most exciting finishing holes in the game of golf. So much can happen on those three. 16 is a chance for anything from an eagle to a double bogey. 17, who knows how high the number can go on 17. And then 18 is one of the harder finishing holes we play all year. So it's a fantastic finish. I think all the players know it, the fans know it. I think they can't wait to see something great and can't wait to see something terrible. It's all possible there. It's a fun atmosphere. Q. You talked about that nice run you had there, the four weeks in a row where it became kind of an emotional grind to get back up the next week and do it again. Then when you win, you take time off. It seems like that ‑‑ when you took the time off was it physical, was it emotional? MATT KUCHAR: It was scheduling. That was purely luck of the schedule. Q. Did you wish you had played? MATT KUCHAR: No. No. I was really glad to have time to enjoy. A lot of times if you win a tournament and play the next week, that win kind of disappears real quickly; it's back to business as usual. Now, maybe you can ride a little bit of a confidence or hot streak going into that next week, but I felt like four weeks‑‑ I kind of know how my body works. Four weeks is generally about the length can I go before that fifth week, my fuse gets really short. I'm bitching to my caddie. I am just not as pleasant and happy on the golf course as normal. So to win that fourth week, to have two weeks to enjoy a victory is awfully nice, because it's not often it works out that way, that you get to really enjoy a victory. You just don't win that often on the PGA TOUR, so it was nice to have some time to enjoy it. KELLY BARNES: Okay. Thank you for coming in, Matt. MATT KUCHAR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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