May 21, 2009
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
SCOTT HOCH
KELLY ELBIN: Scott Hoch, ladies and
gentlemen, in with a 4-under par 66, the leader at
this point of the opening round of the 70th Senior
PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club.
Scott, the 66 ties the competitive course record for
score here at Canterbury Shared by four players,
Bobby Clampett, Bob Charles, Joe Carr and now
Scott Hoch. Congratulations on the round.
SCOTT HOCH: Thank you.
KELLY ELBIN: Talk a little bit about -looks like you had a good start. Pretty good round
throughout.
SCOTT HOCH: Oh, I was in a good frame
of mind after last night's basketball game, so I felt
pretty good. And then after 16 I felt like the Magic
did, and then after 18 I felt like the Cavaliers did.
(Laughter.)
But you know what, it was -- I mean I
played well here the last three days practicing. So
I felt good about it. I just went out there and I did, I
hit a lot of good shots, through 16 holes, I made, I
was 6-under and could have been a few more.
But I was also fortunate to make about a
12 or 15-foot par putt on 10 to keep it going. But
other than that I didn't have a par putt over two
feet, I don't think, the rest of the day.
I did bogey 17 and 18, I was in between
clubs, I wasn't in between clubs, I didn't want to hit
the other one, so I just hit 3, tried to hit it hard, just
didn't hit a good shot.
It was a poor swing, hit it in the front
bunker, and with a back pin, it wasn't looking good.
And after I hit it out I was just looking for a bogey.
Because you have to hit all the way back on that
ledge from that front bunker and that's tough. And
I didn't do it, so I had to make a good 2-putt.
And then 18 my caddie and I were going
back and forth on club selection and back and forth
and back and forth and then ultimately I chose the
wrong club. And I pulled it, when you pull it, it goes
long and that was the longer club that I chose.
And it was just a bad decision on my part. And
that cost me there. So.
KELLY ELBIN: What did you hit into 18?
SCOTT HOCH: I hit a 3-wood off the tee
and then hit a 4-iron. I had 208 adjusted, I hit my
4-iron maybe 190 yards, it was just a poor choice -all I was trying to do was hit it in the front of the
green. And I had like maybe 188 or something to
the front of the green. And it was just a brain
cramp, so.
KELLY ELBIN: Just do a quick recap on
the birdie putts, the length of the six putts, please.
SCOTT HOCH: You got Shot Link or not?
So if I don't tell truth they won't know, right?
(Laughter.) Okay.
KELLY ELBIN: Exactly.
SCOTT HOCH: First hole I hit sand
wedge up there about five feet. But nothing's easy
on that hole putting. I was down, side hill putt,
downhill.
Next hole I hit a 6-iron just behind the pin,
probably about 12 feet.
Then the 6th hole, I made about a
20-footer. Coming down the hill a little bit.
Then we go over to 13, the par-3, hit a
good shot in there, just left of the pin, probably 15
feet. Made that.
The next hole, it was a decision, what club
to hit off the tee, and I decided to be aggressive. I
had been driving it good, hit driver and hit it way
down there and just had a sand wedge and hit that
about six feet. Made that for birdie.
Then 16, two shots, pretty much exactly 50
yards from the hole. And just bumped up a little
sand wedge up about might be about six or seven
feet.
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And then a poor shot on 17 with a 3-iron
and then a poor choice of clubs on 18 for the
second bogey.
KELLY ELBIN: Thank you, sir. Open it up
for questions, please.
Q. Did the wind, was the wind a factor
at all? It looked like it was swirling a little bit,
picked up a little bit as the round went on?
SCOTT HOCH: It was definitely a factor.
You had to play it. The wind was -- well last hole,
the wind is what ultimately messed me up. It was
blowing down 17, so that's why I thought I could
get a 3-iron there. It was like 230 and I don't hit it
that far, but still it was right club, I just hit it poorly.
Then I didn't realize it was as much
downwind, it's kind of, it's an odd -- it's an odd
thing for me to do is, on situations like on 18,
maybe getting uphill, but downwind. So that just, I
ended up hitting the wrong club. It was pretty good
downwind on the last hole. Right before I hit it, it
calmed down a little bit. So I thought that was the
right club.
And when I hit, it blew pretty good and it
blew and then I saw the flag going a little
right-to-left and I pulled it a little bit and it hit and
bounced over the bunker over the green and so I'm
just playing for my medicine there. I'm playing to
the front of the green, because I'm on hard pan
where everybody's walked and it's just, you can't
get under the ball there. I actually felt good hitting
it 50 feet from the pin or however far that was.
But the wind was difficult. I think that's
why the scores are like they are. But I drove it
good today so I put myself in good position to hit
short shots to the green and those are much easier
to figure out than if you're hitting a 7 or 8-iron.
KELLY ELBIN: For the record, Scott hit 12
of 14 fairways today.
Q. You're off to a little bit of a slow
start this year for a player of your ability, how
much of that is hand related and just talk about
your year so far.
SCOTT HOCH: Most all of it is. I started
off not even being able to defend a tournament.
And then didn't even think I could defend the
second tournament. And it's bothered me. And
then it felt pretty good and I probably overdid it. I
finally was able to start practicing, I haven't been
able -- all I was doing was playing before, not able
to work on my game. And then I felt good enough
to practice and then broke a driver, so I was trying
to find a driver, so that's what really bothers me.
I think I probably overdid it too much. So I
got a little weakness in my hand, but when it's nice
and warm like this, I don't feel anything. It's not a
hundred percent, but it's, early in the year it was
very poor. Probably just last month and a half I've
been able to finally start playing without any pain.
Q. Did you give any thought to having
Damon on your bag again this week?
SCOTT HOCH: Damon is not on my bag.
Q. I said did you give any thought to it.
SCOTT HOCH: Oh. No, he probably
didn't give it any either. No, Damon's a, he was a
very good caddie, he caddied for me for four years.
And he seems to be doing all right. He's got a guy
named Zach Johnson now, so he's been doing all
right since he left me.
But from time to time he caddies for me,
he enjoys doing it when it's convenient. And last
year he really helped me, he kind of turned my
game around. And then he worked for me about -well in the team championship, what, a month
ago? But, no, he's back on his TOUR and I don't
think he needs to play or work too many extra
weeks now, I think he's doing all right.
Q. You're one of the few guys in the
field that, about a dozen guys, I guess, that
played here in '79. Do you remember much of
it from then?
SCOTT HOCH: Absolutely nada. Don't
remember the clubhouse, a single hole, anything.
All I know is I got beat early. I finished second the
year before to Cook, and I figured this was going to
be my swan song, I was going to go play this
tournament, win this, win the amateur tournament,
and then turn pro and knock them dead.
And then I got beat early and I finally, I
asked one of the locker room guys if they knew
about it. And I did look, they did look it up for me, I
got beat 6 and 5 in the second round by an old
man Dick Sidderoff, at least when we're 20, 40
seems old, seemed old. So, but he put a drubbing
on me. He must have been playing pretty good
because he beat Payne Stewart the next round.
So, but, no, I got hammered here. I didn't
realize I got hammered that much. Maybe that's
why I forgot it.
Q. Talk about, did the course play any
easier that you thought it was going to after the
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practice rounds; and what do you think it's
going to take into end of the week if things stay
like they are now to win?
SCOTT HOCH: You know what, I don't
know. I don't worry about it. Some of us were
talking yesterday and thinking that six to 8-under.
But that's just, we didn't have anything to go on.
We just don't know.
I would say that if I wouldn't have stepped
on myself then I would have already been 6-under.
But I also realize that I played very well today, got
the ball in the good position a number of times,
and that might not happen the other days. I think
when I was coming in here I saw Purtzer might be
4-under or something with some holes to go. But if
you're playing well and you guess right, and hit
enough good shots, you can do pretty good.
But if you miss a shot or two then you
might have to pay for it. And that's why I think it's
tough to shoot low. I was really surprised when he
said 4-under was the competitive course record
here. So it's tricky.
The front -- it's two totally different
courses. You don't hardly hit a driver on the front
side. I think I hit two. I hit two, I should have only
hit one.
The back side is pretty much hit driver on
most of the holes. You don't have to, but being
firm like this, a lot of the guys can hit 3-woods and
run it up there. But since I was playing well, I felt
good about how I was swinging, I was being
aggressive and I hit driver and I put myself in more
good positions to make birdie because I hit driver
instead of hitting sand wedge -- hitting a sand
wedge to the green instead of maybe hitting a
3-wood and maybe hitting an eight or 9-iron into it.
Most of the time when I'm playing good I feel pretty
good with my wedges.
KELLY ELBIN: Scott Hoch in with 66 at
the Senior PGA Championship, thanks.
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