What they said: Steve Stricker

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SONY OPEN AT HAWAII: Transcript archive

Q. Did you get a chance to put that putter in some water because it got hot on the back 9?

STEVE STRICKER: It did. But it's a tricky course. I was telling Billy Ray, as we were walking around, if you miss a fairway by a couple of steps, it makes the hole so much harder, and even when you do hit it into the fairway you got to deal with the winds. It's just a tricky course, but I was lucky for my putter to get hot there at the end and hit a couple closer shots in there to take advantage of it. It was just a good finish.

Q. How good was it coming to the golf course? You look on the leaderboard and you say, well, those guys shot good in the wind, is it going to stay up for me?

It was kind of blustery out there a little bit, wasn't it?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, when I looked out this morning when I woke up it was really windy and, you know, it kind of died down at the end of their round, and then it picked up for us at the start of ours and then it died down in our round. It made club selection pretty tough at times. You got to expect that around here and you got to just grind it out. There are a lot of times where you make some ugly pars. It's all part of it around here.

Q. 4 under par, that's the way to get it. Go get some dinner, relax on the beach and watch the sunset, and do it all again tomorrow?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, I'll be out there for sure.

Q. (Inaudible)?

STEVE STRICKER: It's just a tricky course, it's hard to get it in play, and then if you do, you got to deal with the wind conditions. Even if you do miss a fairway by a step or two, or even in the first cut, it makes things very difficult. You got jumper lies usually and it's hard to control your ball around here at times.

Q. You made the switch last week coming over here from a golf course that has wide fairways and to kind of narrow your focus down and play a narrow golf course?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, it's a totally different golf course. Huge fairways last week, and then we've got tree lined narrow fairways. A lots of times when you do hit the fairways here it find its way to the first cut. It's firm. It's starting to bounce a little bit. So it's a big adjustment. It's good, it's a good course, and you can tell with only 5 under leading that conditions were tough today.

Q. (Inaudible)?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, I think that turned the tide a little bit. I had hit some good putts before that. I hit a good putt at 6 that lipped out. And then made a good one at 7. And made a big one at 8. Yes, I think that putt was big, you know, and made the tournament even par and birdied 10 to get to 1 under. I was beside myself. That stretch there was pretty big.

Q. What did you do on 7?

STEVE STRICKER: I hit it in the bunker. I hit a good shot at the pin. It just came up short. Not a great bunker shot maybe to about ten feet and made it.

Q. Not belabor the groove thing, the shot you hit on 10, would you have hit that same solid shot last year?

STEVE STRICKER: No, it climbed right up the face on me. I didn't really have much spin on it. It just went up and came down. No, I've hit a lot of those so far this year.

Q. You have to get used to it?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, but I'm trying some different techniques. I tried to pinch that one and squeeze it a little bit and it just climbed up the face a little bit. You know, the good thing is they are coming off at the distance though, but it's just not normal trajectory that I'm used to seeing. Yes, it's tough. It's a little bit different so far.