May 22, 2009
QUICK QUOTES FROM:
ROGER CHAPMAN
RUSS COCHRAN
JAY DON BLAKE
FRAN MARRELLO
AN INTERVIEW WITH:
ROGER CHAPMAN
Q. You had a great round out there.
How did it feel?
ROGER CHAPMAN:
I enjoyed it.
Yesterday I got off to a very, very nervous start. I
hit quite a good tee shot, but it was in a really bad
lie and I called for a ruling and didn't get it and took
six and 3-putted the next. So I was 3-over after
two. So things weren't looking too good.
But I hung in there yesterday, shot 74 in
tough conditions yesterday afternoon.
And then today just felt much more
comfortable today. I got off to a nice start, birdied
the 10th and just kept going from there.
Q. You had four birdies.
ROGER CHAPMAN: Yeah.
Q. What did you have for breakfast?
ROGER CHAPMAN: Oh, whatever it was
I'm going to have it again. But, no, as I say, it was
a lot fairer today, the greens were more receptive,
you could almost fire at the flags today. Whereas
yesterday it was hitting the greens and see if they
could stay on.
But, no, I played lovely. The first nine of
my back nine, the front side, back side, whatever
you call it, I played lovely and just sort of hung on
the last few.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH:
RUSS COCHRAN
Q. You played a couple good rounds
here this week.
RUSS COCHRAN:
Yeah, two totally
different rounds though. Yesterday I hit it well,
drove it in the fairway, my irons were real sharp.
Didn't putt all that great, but got it around. Was
kind of feeling my way around the greens.
Today, I don't know what happened. I kind
of had a loss of energy out there and started hitting
some bad shots and missing fairways and missing
greens and the putting came around.
So I had a good short putting day,
especially on the back side, but I just didn't hit any
greens.
Q. You excelled yesterday on a tough
afternoon for a lot of players.
RUSS COCHRAN: Like I said, I kind of
felt that coming a little bit. I think these greens
when they get in the afternoon they get a little bit -and it was a hot day too. They get a little bit fast
and that poa annua grows at different lengths at
different times and stuff.
So, you know, I wanted to make sure I
drove the ball as well as I could and hit the irons
and I did that and came away with a good score,
but very, very pleased with today's score after not
playing all that well.
Q. Two birdies today.
RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah. I made a birdie
on the long par-3, 13. After a bogey on 12. And I
hit it in there about four feet and made that.
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Then on the last holes I got it up-and-down
seemed like over hole on the front side.
And then I hit one in there about 15 feet on
number nine for my last hole of the day.
Q. Is the course what you expected for
a Senior PGA Championship?
RUSS COCHRAN: Oh, I played it 15
years ago, probably, and I didn't know exactly
where I was going. And I got my targets down a
little bit better, but it's a very demanding golf
course and very, very subtle, very tricky.
So you have to be in control and I think the
important thing is if you do hit a bad shot, you got
to get back on track as quickly as possible.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH:
JAY DON BLAKE
Q. Talk a little bit about your round
today, some good things and bad things. 69 is
pretty tough to beat today.
JAY DON BLAKE: Yeah, it's just a grind
from start to finish. You just try to position your
shots in the fairways and just try to get it on the
green. The greens are getting a little bit firmer.
They were softer earlier, but they're starting to get
firmer as the day goes on.
Early I struggled kind of getting it in the
fairway and got a couple over quick. And then I
started hitting a lot better shots, hitting some
fairways and hitting the greens and could be more
aggressive.
And I made some good putts for birdies
and I got a little confidence out there coming in.
And I got a tough lie on 18 over there in
the bunker, just side hill, I would have much rather
missed it in the bunker, but it scooted out on the
lip. And I didn't execute very well from there and
made bogey.
But other than that I felt like I played well,
played a good solid round of golf, and you just got
to stay so patient out there, you just got to pace
yourself around. And when you get opportunities
to make some birdies, try to capitalize on those.
Q. Do you use this back nine as kind of
building momentum into the weekend here?
JAY DON BLAKE: Well, I probably hit it
the same pretty well for the two days, I mean it
wasn't like an exceptional hitting round, it was just
the same thing, try to hit it in the fairway and just
kind of execute the good shots when you need to.
And the greens are so tough to putt it's
hard to really be aggressive on a lot of birdie putts
anyway. And I felt good about the way I executed
all day.
Q. Expecting any changes between
today and tomorrow in the course layout in
terms of where the pins are going to be or are
they going to make them tougher do you think?
JAY DON BLAKE: Well, they're tough
wherever they put them. There's just a couple
holes that can only go in one certain area because
they're so sloped. So you kind of find out where
that's going to be.
But we kind of know generally where
they're going to kind of be, so I don't think it's going
to make it any tougher, it's just going to have a
different look hitting into the greens. We don't
know what the weather is going to do.
Q. There's a chance of rain.
JAY DON BLAKE: They're predicting rain
and if it rains the fairways will get a little bit wet, the
course will play longer, the ball won't go as far.
And the greens, it might slow them up lightly, which
could help. But you know, we'll just have to see.
Q.
Are the greens still bouncy out
there?
JAY DON BLAKE: Yeah, they're pretty
bouncy. The fairways are bouncy. You hit a ball
down the middle of the fairway, we joked for two
days, we said that we have been hitting some
good shots that we thought were good shots, we
get down there and it's in the rough. So we don't
say anything until we see it in the fairway down
there.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH:
FRAN MARRELLO
Q. Your thoughts on the event and
what it was like playing in it your first time.
FRAN MARRELLO: Well, it was a good
experience. I played in other Majors before, so I
have done that.
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Q. Sure.
FRAN MARRELLO: But it kind of turned
out similar to the way -- you just get a little bit out
of your realm, a little bit, I guess. And I just started
bad and it kind of stayed that way.
I didn't play as badly as I scored today, but
no matter where you play, you still have to putt the
ball and it's pretty tough out there. So that was the
most disappointing thing.
Otherwise, I got the ball off the tee
reasonably well the last two days.
Q. Is there something you can take
with you from this event or as you move
forward in your career?
FRAN
MARRELLO:
Oh,
yeah,
everything's a learning experience, you're always
trying to learn yourself, your game, and how you
react under pressure and how much pressure you
put on yourself. So I tried to stay within myself and
not think about the result, just tried to play the golf
course. But I didn't do a very good job of it,
unfortunately.
Q.
One of the other club pros
mentioned that everyone out here is a good
player, but not everyone plays in front of these
crowds every weekend. I know you played in
U.S. Opens, but is it, does that affect you a
little?
FRAN MARRELLO: Maybe. It wasn't too
bad, to be honest with you. Sometimes I get more
in awe looking at some of these guys that you
watch on TV all your life and think, well, geez, what
am I doing here. So it was probably more that than
anything. I tried not to do it, but I probably still did
a little bit.
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