Blog: Quigley on playing in the final group on Sunday
 
Feb. 10, 2007

Editor's note: Brett Quigley is coming off a career year on the PGA TOUR where he finished 20th on the money list and posted 10 top-10s. He picked up where he left off last week, too, contending for his first TOUR victory at the FBR Open -- playing in the final group with the eventual champ, Aaron Baddeley, and Jeff Quinney on Sunday. This is his first blog for PGATOUR.com.

It's always great to be in the last group on Sunday. That's certainly a goal every week, but of course, it doesn't always happen. I am disappointed in the way I finished, but I felt like I got back to playing like I was last year, which was encouraging. I felt like I played well enough to contend, but I just didn't make any putts. I saw some great golf in my group, though. Aaron and Jeff hit some great shots and made some awesome putts. It was great to be a part of it all.

Brett Quigley
Brett Quigley is looking forward to a new TOUR season. (Rogash/WireImage)

The crowds at the TPC Scottsdale are phenomenal, too. When you walk from No. 15 to the 16th and come out through that tunnel onto the tee, you feel like football player. The whole arena there goes crazy. It's definitely a unique feeling. It's a complete adrenaline rush. Whatever yardage you have, you have to take one less club because you're so pumped up. You never know that the crowd is going to do, either. I went to South Carolina, and one year they start singing about the Gamecocks. A couple years ago, they said something about the Barrington Eagles, which is where I went to high school in Rhode Island. They're great. They were singing "happy birthday" to Heath Slocum on Saturday. I don't know if they read the media guide or PGATOUR.com, but they certainly do their homework.

It was good to get back out on TOUR. During the offseason, I played almost every day with my uncle Dana and my dad. I've been doing that the last few years. I'm not quite like Dana, but I find it helps me to play lot. I think I came out this year with too many expectations, though, after having such a good season in 2006. I put too much pressure on myself. I was thinking things like now I need to win; you have to continue what you started last year. So I got too caught up in results, and I don't do well when I play like that. I had a talk with my wife Amy and my sports psychologist Bob Rotella the other day, though, about staying in the process. When I do that, I play well like I did at the FBR Open. It's a constant battle for me. I had a pretty good junior career and when I turned pro, I probably put too much pressure on myself to play well. Other people had expectations for me, too. Instead of using it as positive, though, it became negative. Rotella always tells me that it should make me more patient because I know I have the ability. Someone asked me when the light dawned on me, and I told them the light's been flickering on and off. It comes and goes. I still battle with it. I battled with it pretty good the first two weeks, and it showed in my results. This past week I got back to staying in the moment. I didn't play as well as I wanted on Sunday, but my overall attitude was great. I was focused on the shot, not the results, and when I do that, I'm OK.

I've also managed to have a little fun away from the golf course in the last month. I took the week after the Sony Open in Hawaii off. I guess it's funny to start the year playing one week and then skipping a week, but it was kind of my only break. We have friends who live on the north shore of Kauai past Princeville and we went to see them. Amy and I were at the beach just about every day -- doing yoga, relaxing near the water. It's so quiet there and the scenery is spectacular. I am a surfer but I really don't do that much anymore. I got hit in the head with a board three years ago and that kind of scared me. It sort of woke me up and got me thinking, these are my earning years right now; take care of business first. Besides, I wasn't looking forward to wearing a helmet surfing.

This is a really wonderful time for my wife and I. We're expecting our first baby, a little girl -- at least that's what they're telling us -- on April 16th. She was kicking up a storm about 10 minutes ago. We're having a hard time deciding on a name, though. If you have any suggestions, let us know. It's funny; Amy woke up in the middle of the night about four or five weeks ago and shook my arm. She told me, "I can't do this. I can't name this baby. You'll have to do it." So we'll see. She's due a week after the Masters, so keep your fingers crossed that she's not a week early. This will be my first Masters, but I would go home in a heartbeat. Just feeling her kick right now is just amazing, and I can't wait to see her arrive.

I'm at one of my favorite places this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. I hope I can build on last week. I really love this tournament. The Monterey Peninsula is so beautiful and we play three great golf courses here. I'll be playing with Frank Herringer again. We got paired together at random about five or six years ago, and we've been partners every year since. Amy and I are staying with him this week, too. We even made the cut a couple of times -- he carried me. What's not to like about this tournament? You are playing with people who love golf in a great, great setting. I have played Pebble Beach now about 100 times and it's unlike any other place I've ever been. The only variable is the weather. Tuesday was a tourism day, but I hear the rain's moving in. As long we don't get snow, we'll be OK.