May 22, 2009
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
BRAD BRYANT
KELLY ELBIN: Brad Bryant, ladies and
gentlemen, in with a bogey-free 3-under par 67 in
the second round of the 70th Senior PGA
Championship at Canterbury Golf Club. Two day
total of 140. Even par. Brad, congratulations,
looked like a very solid round of golf from start to
finish.
BRAD BRYANT: Yeah, I played very well
today. With just the exception of a couple of shots.
I hit sort of a loose shot off the first tee and got a
nice bounce. And then turned it into a nice par.
And then the 16th hole I hit a pretty loose
tee shot and hit it way left and kind of made a nice
save for par there, just pitched it down the fairway
and then got it near the green and made a nice
up-and-down.
So those were kind of the two that looked
like I might be pretty loose, but the rest of the day I
hit the ball really well.
KELLY ELBIN: Could you go through the
two birdies that you made on the par-3s on the
front and then the birdie on 15. Clubs you hit into
the green and then the length of the putts, please.
BRAD BRYANT: I hit a 6-iron on No. 2
about 12 feet below the hole and made a nice putt.
On number nine I hit a 7-iron about 10
inches. So it was, I was pretty high percentage
from there.
KELLY ELBIN: You can make that.
BRAD BRYANT: Sometimes.
(Laughter.)
Well most of the time any way, I feel that's
the one place where we feel fairly confident.
Then on the back nine I made a birdie on
the 15th hole. I 2-putted from just an inch on the
back fringe.
And hadn't, and had quite a few other
looks at birdies today, I just didn't quite, I didn't putt
the ball, didn't make many birdie putts, but I made
a couple of par putts.
I actually made a putt, now that I think
about it, I guess it's the fourth hole. I drove it well
right and I hit the tree and it bounced way right and
pitched it out and made probably a 12, a good 12
to 15-footer there for par. So that was really a big
putt early in the round to make that one.
I missed a very short birdie putt on 3 and
then turned around and made a 12 to 15-footer on
4 for par. So that kind of kept the round going.
And that was maybe a spark that kind of helped
the day along.
KELLY ELBIN: For the record Brad had
29 putts today. Open it up for questions.
Q. Seems like the tougher setups, you
always play the tougher courses well. Do you
feel like that's true and obviously this week is
another real tough one.
BRAD BRYANT: I don't know, even par is,
on a tough golf course, even par is a good score.
So I don't know that I necessarily play tougher
courses better, I just maybe find a way to keep it
near par. And then I've been fortunate a couple of
times to be near par and then finish well.
I did that at the PGA a few years ago, at
Oklahoma, and then did that at Whistling Straits.
And last year at Sonoma I did basically the same
thing, I just kind of hung around and hung around
and finished strong. And so if you kind of hang
around near the top and then have some nice
things happen on the last day, it turns into a good
week.
KELLY ELBIN: Brad was runner-up in
2006 to Jay Haas at Oak Tree in Oklahoma.
Questions?
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Q. The course appeared to be playing a
little softer today, did you find it that way and
how did it change the way you played?
BRAD BRYANT:
Well, yesterday
afternoon it was really baked. It was -- I mean you
got to face the fact that you're playing about 98
percent poa annua on the greens and late in the
afternoon they're going to get spongy and ugly.
That's just the nature of the type of, whatever you
want to call it, poa annua. It's just what it is.
So early in the day the poa annua, after
they mow it, it's a lot softer and the ball gets
through it better and make as little better ball mark.
So the course plays softer. So yesterday we had a
breeze and lots of sun and that spells disaster
when you're playing on poa annua.
Q. How is nature of your game going
into this tournament and after two rounds are
you confident that you can do what you've
done in the past and put on the charge that you
are talking about?
BRAD BRYANT: I have no clue. It's been
a tough year. About a year ago now I really kind of
lost my golf swing. I really had it there. For about
a little over two years I was really pretty good.
Last year I kind of lost it and so I struggled
through last year and I've kind of struggled through
the first part of this year.
I'm good in spurts, and you get a little older
and you're not always good, you're only good
sometimes. And yesterday and today I hit the ball
a little better. Last week I hit the ball really good
the last round in Birmingham. So it seems like I'm
on an upward trend.
And I've kind of found my golf swing a little
bit too over the last couple of weeks. I have some
good things to work on now where I've been
searching for a long time, so hopefully we'll turn it
around a little bit. I'll just have to wait and see.
KELLY ELBIN: Brad, you said that you
lost your golf swing. Particularly any one part or
was it a combination of things?
BRAD BRYANT: Well, I used to hit kind of
a high hook. Kind of quit hitting a high hook and
hit low slices and big hooks and crooked and
unsolid. I mean that just happens, it's one of those
things. That's the way golf is.
Golf is like riding a roller coaster, hopefully
you kind of keep things for a long time, you hope
that the, that up-and-down is more up than down.
And so there for awhile it was pretty much that way
and if things go south it's been a good run and who
cares.
Q. How do you go about fixing it?
BRAD BRYANT: You know, if I had that
answer I would be under par. So I'm not sure.
Q. You don't have a swing guru?
BRAD BRYANT: Well, I took lessons from
David Leadbetter for a long, long time and of
course if it weren't for David I wouldn't have a golf
game. I think everyone knows that pretty much.
It was David in, after having my shoulder
operated on in the '80s, David was the guy that
really helped me rebuild my golf game, up until my
back went out in '96. And I really played well. And
so basically I do the, try to do the same things that
I've been doing for the last 12, 15 years. I'm not
trying to change anything. I'm just trying to get
back to where I was two years ago.
And a couple of years ago at Birmingham I
hit 53 or 54 greens, I hit 34 of 36 greens at
Whistling Straits on Saturday and Sunday. And I
just haven't had that type of ball striking for the last
10 or 12 months.
So today was a little better. I kind of felt
like that I had a little more control today and so I'm
hoping that the things that I'm working on will begin
to sort of fix my swing.
But I don't really take lessons any more. If
I were on -- if I were still young and on the Regular
Tour and going to play for 20 more years I would
be working with David probably once a month right
now. And that's how you fix it when you're young.
When you're old, the old saying, you don't
teach an old dog new tricks, you just try to get him
to do the old ones better.
KELLY ELBIN: Brad Bryant, the old dog in
with 67. Thank you, Brad.
BRAD BRYANT:
Guys, thanks a lot.
Appreciate it.
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