Deutsche Bank Championship Tournament Players Club Boston Norton, Massachusetts Monday, September 3, 2007
Final Round interviews with Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Brett Wetterich and Aaron Oberholser An Interview With PHIL MICKELSON
STEWART MOORE: Phil Mickelson, congratulations on your win today at the Deutsche Bank Championship. With your win today you collect 9,000 points in the FedExCup and you move into first on the FedExCup Points list heading into next week's BMW Championship in Chicago. Give us a couple general comments on the round and obviously the excitement of playing with Tiger and the great battle going on out there today.
PHIL MICKELSON: I had a lot of fun, not just today, this whole week. I had a lot of fun on the golf course being able to play three rounds with Tiger, a couple with Vijay. I had a great time off the course, too, we went and saw the no hitter in Fenway Park. How often does that happen? It was a very historic night and fun week here in Boston that I'll never forget, and had a chance to spend a couple days up in Kennebunkport, Maine, the few days prior to this tournament. It made for a very special memorable week, and I just am so excited with the way it finished.
STEWART MOORE: You started the first two rounds, you're paired with Tiger and Vijay. As it stands next week you play with Tiger and Steve Stricker. Is that an exciting part of the Playoffs, the pairings based on the points standings?
PHIL MICKELSON: My favorite thing about the FedExCup is the way the pairings go straight down the points list. I think that's my favorite aspect of it. It leads to some excitement.
Q. Could you describe that lie you had? Was it as bad as it looked like on TV? PHIL MICKELSON: On 18?
Q. Yeah, and how many times have you practiced that type of shot? PHIL MICKELSON: It was tough because the grass was so heavy. But fortunately I had a pretty big area that I could fly it and the ball would still release down to the hole. So it wasn't easy because it had to come out a certain way, but I had a fairly large margin of error where the ball could still get close to the hole.
Q. Is there any advantage or do you like, particularly this format, having your contenders, which in this case primarily means Tiger, right there with you, rather than a group ahead or a group behind? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know if it's an advantage or not. What it is is more exciting. I think it's more exciting for the FedExCup when the leaders are paired together more often, when you are going head to head more often, and it seems to add more in that regard. But I don't think it's an advantage or disadvantage for any of the players.
Q. Does this victory mean more to you because of your past record against Tiger? PHIL MICKELSON: I think it does, yeah. I think that he was making a charge there in the end, and to be able to stand up on 16 after he knocked it close and follow it with a birdie of my own, knock it inside of him to finish with a couple birdies coming in to win, it feels terrific. Now the next step is to try to hopefully go head to head in a major. We don't get paired very often in majors, and hopefully next year in '08 we'll have a chance to do that. Q. Was that a pivotal moment, 16, with him already close? And given your history with him, did you find yourself surprised at all the putts he had that didn't go in? Were you almost expecting them to, I guess? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know. He played very well. I don't know what he shot, 3 , 4 under par, and I thought he played well. It was a very difficult day with the wind, and when he needed to, he hit some terrific shots and great putts. I guess I was fortunate to come out on top. I was pleased with the way I played, especially the front nine. Q. Based on some comments on TV, is your rival now Tiger or Tim? PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, no, no. I don't have a problem, it's just that I'm a little conflicted on some things because I'm trying to I want to have a balance in my life, and I certainly feel the obligation to play and support the FedExCup and to support the PGA TOUR, support the game of golf.
And I also want to have balance in my family life, and my family has sacrificed a lot this year because it's been a very difficult schedule. It's not the four FedExCup tournaments; it's the PGA, Akron right before that, only four days off after the British Open before we had to travel and playing two weeks before that, so it's been the last three months having no more than two days off at a time and working to do corporate outings in between. So our time together has struggled, and I want to have a balance there. They start school next week, so I have that conflict or obligation and desire to be there.
My frustration from this past year came from asking for a couple of things in the FedExCup that weren't done and not really feeling all that bad now if I happen to miss. So I'm not really sure how it's going to play out. Q. Your only hiccup was 12. Was that a mistake going for the pin or was it a gust of wind and a bad kick? PHIL MICKELSON: I fatted a 6 iron. I took an extra club to hit it long, and it floated and came up short. Q. We were going to give you the wind. PHIL MICKELSON: I should have. I just caught it a little heavy. Q. What did that hit? It looked like it hit the rough PHIL MICKELSON: And then kicked back down in the rocks, yeah. I don't know if it hit across the hazard line or not. I couldn't tell. But either way the drop would have been probably about the same. Q. You said a couple discussion points with Tim that you were looking for vis � vis the design of the Playoff structure. PHIL MICKELSON: I don't want to go into it. Just I want to support it and I certainly feel the obligation to, but I also have to have a balance both ways. Q. Did you talk about it this week? PHIL MICKELSON: Every time I see him this year I bring it up. Q. When you were in the bunker on 4 and he was on the green in one, were you feeling better about were you thinking about the position that might come out? He had a 70 foot putt, you had a bunker up and down situation, and how important was that hole for jump starting the rest of the nine? PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I knew I figured he was going to make a 3. He doesn't three putt very often. I left myself in a tough spot because that bunker was a good spot if I was another six or seven yards up on the upslope where I could get it stopped. But I just trickled into the bunker, and I knew I wouldn't get it stopped. I was fortunate to hit it where I did, and I was very fortunate to make the putt. It was a little downhill sliding one, and that was a two shot swing from what should have happened; he should have birdied and I should have parred and we reversed it. It got me off to a good start. But as you all know, he ends it and finishes it better than anyone, and he tried to do that today, and I was fortunate to hold him off. Q. When you won THE PLAYERS you really had a good week short game wise. This week your putting was very good but your long game seemed to be better. I wonder if you could comment on that and where you are right now. PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, what was nice was although I hit a couple of iron shots I wasn't proud of, I had a driver I could fall back on. I just felt like I knew I was going to get it in play. That's a new feeling for me. I missed only two fairways today, and playing from the fairway allows me to not be fighting for pars all the time. So that was a big thing.
I certainly owe Mr. Harmon a lot of gratitude for him his time and effort into helping me drive the ball more consistently in the fairway. Q. What did you have to do to mentally get it done? PHIL MICKELSON: I was still leading, so it wasn't like I needed to do much different. I knew there were some tough birdie holes, so I just needed to play some solid holes, make some pars until the last three or four where I felt those were birdie holes. Q. Take us through 18, your thought process, what you hit off the tee, what you had left in there? PHIL MICKELSON: I hit 3 wood. I couldn't hit driver. It was just going to go right through the rough. It was downwind right to left. I came out of a 3 wood a little bit and came up quite a bit short. But I really had to step on it to get it to carry over those bunkers, and I just missed it a little bit left. But I knew from there I was going to be able to go for it, and I felt like if I could just get it to pin high, the way the slope of the green was, working kind of back up the slope, there would be a good chance of getting it close even if I was in the rough. That's what I did. I didn't feel with the 3 wood that the water short was in play. I wasn't worried about that. I could have probably hit my other 2 hybrid, but I wanted to take the front out of play. Q. You're a quick study. You learned all this in one quick Pro Am Thursday?
PHIL MICKELSON: I was observing as I played, too. I tried to pick it up as I played, but certainly I have a decent memory, I guess (smiling). Q. How rewarding is this after you were playing about as well as you have at THE PLAYERS and all this stuff, and then you get hurt and everything you went through there, and other than Scotland you haven't really contended especially during the major season. That was pretty much of a bummer, and now you won here in your first appearance? PHIL MICKELSON: It's exciting because I feel like I had a three month sabbatical there where I couldn't practice, I couldn't swing aggressively into the ball, and I have enjoyed this whole week going into some of this turf. It's firm, taking aggressive divots and not having any pain. I've been able to practice, come out early a few hours and have good practice sessions to get ready. It's been a night and day difference, and that's why I'm so excited to play here at the end of the year and have been able to play well because of it. Q. Were you more excited about the FedExCup or more excited about 2008? PHIL MICKELSON: I'm excited about the way this week went. I loved this finish, I loved being able to play three rounds with the best player of arguably all time and certainly the best player in the world today, and to be able to come out on top feels great, and that just leads to excitement for the coming here, as well as I guess the finish of the year. But '08 is when our next major is, so that's kind of what I'm looking forward to. Q. Are you going to play next week? PHIL MICKELSON: I was just saying, I don't know. Q. But you'll be in Chicago PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I don't know. Q. You'll be there tomorrow, though? PHIL MICKELSON: I'll be there tomorrow. I had already scheduled an outing I was planning on playing, but I'm not sure. Q. If you were to skip next week, would that mean skipping the last one, too? PHIL MICKELSON: No, I would end up going to Atlanta. STEWART MOORE: I believe we've touched on 12 and 18. Can you briefly take us through the rest of your birdies?
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I birdied 2. I hit a 3 wood off the tee there, as well. It was downwind, and I just wanted to get it in the fairway. Hit a 6 iron to the left. I felt like if I went at the pin, it would just catch that downslope and go 40 yards by, so I played a little bit left and had a nice easy chip uphill and made birdie. We talked about 4 where I drove it in the bunker and hit it to 18, 20 feet behind the hole just off the fringe. I birdied 5, hit a good drive and a 9 iron to four feet and made that for birdie.
And then I birdied the par 5, 7th; I hit a drive and a hybrid into the front left bunker and hit a good shot about five feet behind the hole and made that. 10, I birdied, hit a 3 wood off the tee, hit a 9 iron to eight feet, nice straight uphill putt, couldn't have been better, and I ended up making it. I hit a good drive on 12, fatted a 6 iron, came back in the hazard, hit a good chip, had a lot of spin on it, unfortunately hit the pin and came back about five feet and I ended up missing that for double.
16 was probably the most fun birdie I had today after Tiger knocked it close. I hit an 8 iron to six feet, ended up making that one. That was a big answer for me there. And then 18, 3 wood, 3 wood to the back left, chipped up to four feet and made that. Q. I would be curious about the dynamics of leaderboard watching today. Did you start out thinking about Tiger, thinking about Brett? At what point did you forget about Tiger and think about Arron, that type of thing? PHIL MICKELSON: I saw that Arron Oberholser was only a shot back when I played 17, and I knew that I needed to birdie 18 because the likelihood is that he's going to make a 4 there.
So when I made that putt, I felt like I had won, even though, yes, he could have made eagle. But yes, I did know and was well aware of where Arron was. Q. Just from 17 on, or were you aware earlier? PHIL MICKELSON: I kept looking. I couldn't find very many leaderboards. They were blocked out by people or it wasn't timed right and I was missing the leaderboard and I was just seeing the bios. Q. Learn anything about yourself today? PHIL MICKELSON: I didn't know, even though I was looking for quite a while. Q. You talked about a three month sabbatical. Was there a single shot or a line in the sand when the wrist was no longer a concern? PHIL MICKELSON: The week before the PGA is when it started to really feel good. It was the first time I went out and played and thought, I didn't really have any shooting pain today, this feels really good. It was just like the doctor said. He said the 11th or 12th week it should be fine, and that's exactly what happened. Q. Could you describe the atmosphere here and compare it to other events? PHIL MICKELSON: Boston is an awesome sporting town. The electricity at the Red Sox game where you have a rookie that nobody knows and he comes out and pitches a no hitter, and you wouldn't believe the way people were supporting him.
The same thing held true at the golf course. There were some fun, funny comments. It was an electrifying crowd. There were so many people that came out to support this event. We just as players certainly appreciate that. Q. Is it unlike anywhere else, or what would you compare it to? PHIL MICKELSON: There's some other good sports cities close by. New York is a tough and fun place to play. I love playing golf there. We hear some entertaining comments there, as well. There's some other big cities, but Boston is certainly a special place. I can't believe I've missed it the Ryder Cup in '99 was one of the highlights of my golfing career, having the team win there. This town really added to that experience. Q. I'm going to take one more shot at this one. Are you going to give us the Butch Harmon insights into Tiger's PHIL MICKELSON: Good heavens, no (laughter). But I will say that I think I certainly owe a lot to Butch in helping my golf game and also in helping me bring it out, helping my best golf come out when I'm paired with the best player in the world. And that sure means a lot. I certainly value his knowledge and insight, and he's been very beneficial to my success at THE PLAYERS Championship and certainly this week. Q. How much did you talk to him this week? PHIL MICKELSON: Every day, yeah, every day. Absolutely. Q. I assume he liked what he was watching? PHIL MICKELSON: I haven't talked to him today, but I hope so, yeah (laughter). Q. Tiger was in the final pairing obviously at The Masters and the U.S. Open, and someone playing in a pairing in front of him ultimately was able to win the tournament. Can you articulate at all how different it would be PHIL MICKELSON: What events are you talking about? Q. U.S. Open and Masters. PHIL MICKELSON: This year? Q. Yes. How different it is to try to beat him playing next to him as opposed to being in a different pairing? PHIL MICKELSON: They're both tough (laughter). Q. Did you give Bones a lot of grief for missing the no hitter, or did you feel like he suffered enough by not being there? PHIL MICKELSON: My wife and my mother gave him probably the most grief, but I certainly added a little bit to it. You know, I just think to deprive your son Oliver and your daughter Emma the opportunity to experience history at Fenway Park, I just feel like that is I wouldn't say child abuse (laughter), but it's certainly Q. Who was in the suite with you that night? PHIL MICKELSON: Zach Johnson and his wife Kim and their little boy, and then my mom, Amy's mom and our family, Coach Lloyd. It was fun. Q. Will you be making the presentation to the charities, this being Tiger Woods' charity? PHIL MICKELSON: I don't understand. What do you mean? Q. The check to the charities. PHIL MICKELSON: Which one is that? Q. The Tiger Woods charity. PHIL MICKELSON: Which check are you talking about? Q. I thought this tournament was sponsored for the charity PHIL MICKELSON: The tournament does that, sure. The director, whoever runs that, yeah. They actually give me a check, too (laughter). Q. I thought you might make a presentation to the charity. PHIL MICKELSON: No, I think they do that. STEWART MOORE: Phil, congratulations on a great win, and thanks for spending time with us.
Quotes From TIGER WOODS
Q. You had a lot of chances. How frustrating a week was it on the greens for you?
TIGER WOODS: Very frustrating. I did not putt well the majority of the week. I just had that six hole stretch there on Friday, but other than that, I unfortunately did not have the speed right. I had too many three putts. I think I had four or five three putts this week. That many three putts and still right there, which means I'm hitting the ball well, I just need to clean it up on the greens for next week.
Q. Phil had never beaten you playing with you in the final round. Do you think he had the advantage coming in today?
TIGER WOODS: Well, all I know is we had to go catch Brett. I was three back, he was two back, and we had to go get him. Then Phil got off to a great start, then we all had to go get Phil. That was the mindset going on out there today. Unfortunately I just didn't make enough putts to really push him. Q. Between the ears when he makes that double on the hole does the light come on and all of a sudden it's like, oh, game back on? Kind of open the door, I guess, for lack of a better phrase?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, he did. He made a mistake there. I felt that I should have if I could have made that putt, you know, I could have got a big chunk back. The next hole had an easy putt on the next hole, as well, and I missed that. So back to back pretty easy putts actually make that three in a row, 11, 12, 13, I missed three pretty makeable putts. Q. We know this isn't a major, but did the atmosphere, the noise out there in any way get close to matching what we sometimes see at a major?
TIGER WOODS: Well, all year we've been talking about how it's been kind of dead this year with the excitement level. D.C. was pretty rowdy, here it's been pretty rowdy, so it's nice to see some atmosphere out there. You know, we were playing well today in the same group, the guys behind us were playing well, so a lot of good scores all around. Q. How much does it help, it may be obvious, but to have the two of you guys with all your star power playing together and playing pretty well?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was I think it was fun for both of us. It was fun for the gallery. You know, it's good probably great for the tournament. I think this is probably what Deutsche Bank really wanted for the event, and it worked out great. Q. Other than that one hole, he played pretty good, though, didn't he, Phil?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, even though that shot really wasn't that bad. He got a gust of wind and just knocked it straight down. Q. So overall is this one of your favorite tournaments knowing that the money goes to your foundation and that the majority of the gallery is behind you?
TIGER WOODS: I'll tell you, it's one of the rowdiest tournaments obviously the people here really support their sport. They come out, ever since our first year here, they have been fantastic. This is what makes the tournament. They tried to make the golf course more of a championship course over the years, and I think they've done that. But I think what really makes the tournament is the fans. The fans come out and really drive this event. I know Deutsche Bank has been the sponsor but the fans come out and really support it. It's been a great atmosphere from day one. An Interview With BRETT WETTERICH STEWART MOORE: Brett Wetterich, thanks for spending a few moments with us here briefly after your round after a T2 finish out there. You move up to 22nd in the FedExCup points race, headed into Chicago next week for the BMW Championship. Obviously a pretty exciting day, especially with the two ahead of you guys. What was it like to get wrapped up and chasing down two of the best players in the world?
BRETT WETTERICH: Gosh, you know, you see what's going on and you hear things. You hear the roars and whatever, but you've still got to try to put that out of your mind and go out there and hit the best shots you can and hopefully make a putt. You know, that's all you can do. You can't really pay too much attention to that. STEWART MOORE: You're one of these players out here who can get on a hot streak and make a lot of birdies quickly. You get out there today and your first birdie doesn't come until 16. Was that a bizarre situation for you? BRETT WETTERICH: It was frustrating because I think I probably hit the ball better than I have all year today. I don't know if I missed a fairway, and I probably hit 16 greens, I think, 16, 15, greens, and then it was just frustrating not to be able to make a 10 footer or 12 footer, and the long bogey on the par 5, that was really disappointing. But I bounced back. I thought, good, I hung in there, and then birdied two out of my last three, so I'm happy, I guess. Q. What is it like to know you open the day with the lead, to know that players of that caliber are lurking there behind you?
BRETT WETTERICH: Well, at least I'm not chasing them, you know? It's a good feeling, but I also know I have to play well. I know I can't shoot even or 1 under and win the golf tournament. I know I've got to shoot at least 3 or 4 under with that lead, and I didn't do it today, but hopefully I can learn something from today, like how to make a putt. Q. Did you feel you were putting poorly or they just weren't going in?
BRETT WETTERICH: You know, some I hit I hit really good strokes that I thought I hit good strokes on and ran them over the holes, and others I thought I was pulling a bit. For the most part I hit a few good ones, but most of them were bad. Q. Talk about the second hole. You mentioned it was disappointing; obviously there was a lot of time spent there before the fourth shot. Talk about what happened there.
BRETT WETTERICH: I hit pitching wedge in. I had like 153, and we thought the wind was pretty good downwind, and I can hit my pitching wedge that far, and I hit it perfect. It was going right at it, and come up just short. We couldn't I wasn't sure I watched it pretty good the whole way, and I wasn't sure if it crossed or not, and Arron, he felt that it didn't cross, so there's we had to come to a common ground, and I wasn't sure enough to say, yeah, it did, and maybe it didn't. So I went back and dropped it and went on. Q. Who made the decision, the final decision?
BRETT WETTERICH: Ultimately me. You know, Arron said his piece and how he felt, and I wasn't sure, so I went back. Q. Were you paying attention to what all the guys were doing all the way around, or were you just trying to stay in your own world?
BRETT WETTERICH: I didn't start paying attention to be honest until like 12 or what is it, 11 right there, there's a board right there on 11. I was looking at that, at 11, so probably from like 11 on I was pretty aware of what was going on. Q. Did the wind cause any effect on some of your putts, or no?
BRETT WETTERICH: No, I wish I could blame it on that, or a spike mark or something. Q. The head to head battle, if you had to pick one, would you take Tiger or Phil?
BRETT WETTERICH: To play against head to head? Q. No, if they were playing each other, who would you pick?
BRETT WETTERICH: I'm not going to answer that. Q. I figured I'd ask.
BRETT WETTERICH: (Smiling.) STEWART MOORE: Great playing this week. Thanks for taking the time to come in and speak with us. An Interview With ARRON OBERHOLSER
STEWART MOORE: Arron Oberholser, thanks for spending a few moments with us here at the Deutsche Bank Championship as we continue the PGA TOUR's Playoffs for the FedExCup. Runner up, tied for 2nd finish today, move to 29th in the Playoff standings, heading into the BMW Championship in Chicago. We spoke to you yesterday, and you said if you continued to putt well today you'd be very hard to beat, and you putted well but maybe just a little bit short today.
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Yeah, it was a good day for me. I had a lot of stuff boy, I'll tell you what, that back nine, I really held it together well. I was pretty nervous coming down the stretch knowing that I had a chance because I didn't really feel comfortable comfortable with my golf swing like I have maybe the last two or three weeks, especially at the PGA. The PGA I felt invincible whenever I stood over the ball, and this week I felt a little shaky. So coming down the stretch I was a little more nervous than let's say I would normally be. I felt like I really got it done with the putter this week, even though my ball striking stats probably say differently. I was able to piece a decent golf swing together for the week and contend. I'm very pleased with that. Any time you can contend without your top, top stuff on this TOUR with a field like this, you've got to be extremely pleased with yourself, and I am. If it wasn't for a tough break on 18, hit a good shot and just the wind I was trying to cut it back into the wind, the wind dragged it left and put me in a really bad spot there in a deep lie, and if it wasn't for that, who knows, maybe I would have had a chance for an eagle and a playoff. STEWART MOORE: Just looking at the crowds out there, on a scale of 1 to 10, would you call that atmosphere out there a 12? ARRON OBERHOLSER: Easily, easily. It was electric. It was awesome. Q. What did you hit into 18?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: 4 iron. I should get most improved after yesterday (laughter). Same club. Q. I would also think it would be a little hard to be comfortable, quote unquote, when you know you've got Mickelson and Woods breathing down your neck?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Well, you know, yes and no. I gave those guys 67s before the day even started. I mean, I woke up this morning saying, they're going to shoot 67, so no use thinking about it, just go out and play your game. And if I putt the way I putted the last few days and strike the ball I way I've struck it and just play like I've played, then everything will take care of itself, and I might have a chance for a victory coming down 18. I didn't putt the way I wanted to today. I hit some great putts that didn't go in, you know, and Phil on a golf course like this, when all the par 5s he's hitting irons into or at worst a rescue club or a hybrid of some sort, you know, he's a tough guy to contend with, and same with Tiger. Q. Your drive on 18, it looked like you couldn't have walked it out there any better. Is that where you wanted the ball to be?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Yeah, I was just trying to hold one up against that right to left wind, and it came off absolutely perfect. The funny thing is I didn't want to hit a real heater off that tee, which means I didn't want to catch a knuckle ball off that tee, and with these new drivers you can catch kind of a knuckle ball every once in a while and they go a little farther than you want them to. That fairway runs out at 300 something, and I hit a little bit of a floater out there, and the wind was absolutely perfect. As soon as it came off the club face, I was like, "That's perfect." So I was really pleased to be able to pull that shot off under pressure. Same with the 4 iron; it was a good 4 iron, it just didn't cut. I guess I hit it right where I was aimed, and I just couldn't move it against the wind enough. Q. Did you hit it too well?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: The 4 iron, yeah, I stung it right through it. I didn't put enough left to right on it. Q. How tough was it playing behind Tiger and Phil with the crowds and how many people stayed and were watching your group?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: We had a Nationwide Tour gallery (laughter), but it was still a lot of fun. These are the days Brett and I were talking come down I think it was 16, we both hit good shots into 16 or was it 17, walking off the tee on 17, I said, "Man, this is fun. This is a rush. This is a rush." This is my rush. Some guys bungee jump and some guys paraglide and do crazy stuff. Coming down the stretch with three or four to play and you've got a chance to win a golf tournament with arguably the greatest player that's ever lived and one of the greatest players of this century in Phil, you know, to have a chance to beat those guys, it's a pretty cool feeling. Q. Was it distracting at all for you with the roars?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: No, no. Like I said, you know what they're going to do. You know you're going to hear the roars and you know they're going to make a move on the back nine. That's what they do. That's why they're the one and two players or one and three players in the world, whatever they are. You give them those; you know it's going to happen, and once you can turn that on in your brain and realize that's what's going to happen, then you can just shut it off and really concentrate on your own game and focus on your own game. Q. When you were approaching your birdie putt, you knew that the eagle had to go in for a tie, right?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: Yeah. Q. What goes through your mind? Here you have a chance for a birdie putt, and was it kind of a deflating feeling?
ARRON OBERHOLSER: No, because my caddie does a good job. He's like I was a little disappointed when I saw the lie because it really didn't give me an opportunity to get the chip started where I needed to. It was going to be lucky if I got enough club on the ball and got the chip started where I needed to to put the right pace on it and do all the right stuff to make that chip shot. So my caddie just did a good job, saying, "Look, Arron, let's get into this putt. This is worth some money and it's worth some points." Unfortunately I hit that putt exactly where I wanted to. I thought I read it perfectly, and someone's big old size 12 spike mark got in the way, and the ball didn't break. Q. Two weeks in, we've got two great fields and two really great finishes. Do you think the whole FedEx deal will take a little more hold with the players now? ARRON OBERHOLSER: That remains to be seen. I think you're always going to have I think there's always going to be skeptics. But I'm starting to turn the other direction. I was kind of a skeptic myself in how it was going to work out, and you know, what makes the Playoffs the Playoffs are days like today. I didn't feel the same electricity last week, and no offense to Steve Stricker or K.J. Choi at all, but without Tiger in the field, it's just not the same, you know? I don't know how you guys felt, but I'd imagine you guys thought today was pretty special out there. I mean, just playing, I felt privileged to be a part of this today and have a chance to win today. It was really cool. I wish I would have won (laughter), but a wish in one hand and you know what in the other and see what you get more of. STEWART MOORE: Can we go through your card real quick? ARRON OBERHOLSER: No. 1, great start to get off to. You know, I actually hit my drive too far with a driver. The wind was really pumping into us pretty good there. Ended up with like 68 yards to the flag on No. 1 and hit a really good wedge to about three and a half, four feet and made that, a little downhill slider for birdie. Pars all the way to 7. Made a great up and down out of the front left bunker on No. 7 for birdie to get it to 14. And then mis clubbed on 8, didn't hit just couldn't tell exactly what the wind was doing and didn't know if the ball was going to carry or not and ended up hitting a 5 where I should have hit a 6, ended up making bogey, made a bad putt and made a bogey. 9, I hit a poor drive, again, mis clubbed, thought we weren't going to catch a flier, caught a flier, ended up over the green where the guys walk off in some really gnarly stuff and ended up two putting from 25 feet for bogey. Did a nice job on a comeback on 10, hit a great 3 wood and a really good 9 iron to about ten feet and made that for birdie. And then I was really proud of the swing I made on 16. You know, any left pin I've been a drawer of the golf ball my entire life, and any left pin I'm licking my chops, so I felt comfortable especially with a left pin and a right to left wind and a right to left slope on the green, so it was a pretty good pin for me today. I just stood up there and had a great target and made a really good swing with a 7 iron and landed right where I needed to and released to the pin to I'd say four, four and a half feet, and I made that for birdie. And that's all she wrote. STEWART MOORE: Arron, thanks for coming in. *FastScripts by ASAP Sports....
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