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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY KITCHENAIDMay 22, 2014Lee RinkerBENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN Q. Talk about the round today. LEE RINKER: I got off to a really good start. Hit it close on the first hole and made birdie. Then 3 I made another birdie. I actually had a lot of ‑‑ the best one was birdieing 7, up the hill. That hole was playing pretty tough today. I hit a hybrid in there and made about a 15‑footer. The front nine I had two or three other good chances and I just kind of played all right on the back, I had a few chances, but just kind of held on a little bit. I ended up making a really good four on the last hole. I drove it a little right in the hazard and punched it out and hit a wedge to a few inches. So that was kind of nice not to bogey that hole at the end, because I had played pretty well all day. Q. Only one bogey on the day, very consistent. What are your overall impressions of the course? LEE RINKER: Well, I kept it in the fairway and hit a lot of greens today, so with all the little bumps in the greens, it's not easy 2‑putting everything. Sometimes you get a putt you think you got a putt for birdie, but you're going up over a knob, so your speed control isn't the easiest. I made a few 3‑footers coming back and/or even longer, but the course is in great shape. It's playing nicely. You got to play well here. Q. What was it like seeing your name on the leaderboard throughout the day today? LEE RINKER: It was fun. I saw that. I was like‑‑ geez, there was one hole where I got up, on 15, and somebody walked behind me and I go, who walked behind me? And I go, oh, it's the TV camera. They're allowed to be there, I guess. I must be doing something right. Q. What was your preparation coming into the week like? LEE RINKER: I was fortunate, I got in last week at the Tradition, so I got to play last week. I actually was sick last week. I got a strep throat and I'm just starting to feel a little bit better. They gave me some shots on Sunday morning before I teed off, but I kind of feel, I really didn't feel very good warming up. I had a horrible warm‑up. My legs feel light. I didn't really ‑‑ the club felt light, but, I don't know, I didn't really worry about it, I guess. Q. So now with the name being on the leaderboard, what's it like as a club pro here and having a lot of success on the first day for people back home cheering for you as well? LEE RINKER: Oh, well, I played a lot of these tournaments, so it's fun. A lot of my members are paying attention to what's going on and so it's a lot of fun. I played in 2011, I was playing pretty well, actually had three top‑10s in six weeks. Then all of a sudden I couldn't get in. Q. It's kind of a closed shop, you really have to play unbelievably out here. LEE RINKER: Yeah, I got in 15 events that year and I had some other things going on, but it was ‑‑ I have gotten in a few here or there, I've gone to the TOUR school, I just haven't made it. But I'm going to keep trying for a little bit. Try to get back out. I've been Mondaying a little bit here and I'm probably going to try some this summer. It's nice for me, because my club is dead this time of year. When my club's busy, there's not hardly any tournaments. So it's a great mix for me. It's a good setup for me and I can come out in the summer and maybe try to qualify for some of them. Q. On a typical Monday how many spots and how many guys are there? LEE RINKER: There's typically like maybe 50, 60 players playing for four or five spots. So maybe a little more than that in certain areas. But they used to only have sometimes three, sometimes there's five. Q. If somebody wins who wasn't exempt they would lose one of those spots, that's happened a few times over the years, so sometimes ‑‑ LEE RINKER: Actually if somebody top‑10s it, there's a lot of different rules. Like Montgomerie is a tough one, he's getting in on his Hall of Fame. And if he top‑10s, then they count him as a top‑10, not as a Hall of Famer. So then he takes a spot away from others. And he's so good, he's doing it a lot. So there's a couple guys like that. So it's, like you said it's tough. Q. What part of your game is better than ever? LEE RINKER: What part of my game is better than ever? My game's about the same. When I'm playing well, I hit the ball pretty well tee to green. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. Q. Donald Trump just hasn't done very well without you. LEE RINKER: No. Q. Ever since he divorced you. LEE RINKER: He's doing just fine without me. You know, good for him, he's gotten some incredible pieces of property, golf courses, Turnberry and Doral. What he did at Doral, I haven't seen it, but it looks fantastic. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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