What they said: David Toms

text size

MORE INTERVIEWS: Crowne Plaza Invitational transcript archive

JOHN BUSH: Our 36 hole leader David Toms, Crowne Plaza Invitational here at Colonial. David a second consecutive 8 under par 62. You made it look easy once again today, just your comments.

DAVID TOMS: No, it wasn't easy the first nine holes or so. We had a lot of wind. It was one of those days where I was playing well. But the scoring was pretty tough early on. I hit a great shot at 9 to make birdie there to make the tournament at 4 under.

And I just played a solid tenth hole. And I jot got to hit my tee shot on 11, straight downwind, so I got it way down there.

And then they blew the horn, so we had to sit around for a couple of hours.

I guess it was a chance to lose some momentum. But I came out and the conditions were perfect for scoring and my mindset was to just keep making birdies, try to separate myself a little bit.

I was playing with Mark Wilson, and he was playing great as well. I just went out and played great the last eight holes or so. Some of the best golf I played in a long time

JOHN BUSH: You had a good look at it at 18 that would have tied the course record, talk about that putt.

DAVID TOMS: It was unfortunate. I hit a great tee shot down there. I was in a divot on the last hole. With the rain it kind of settled a lot of the sand down. It wasn't that hard of a shot. I was in between clubs, and I decided to go with 9. Just because I wasn't sure how it was going to come out, so I was playing for the meat of the green, and I happened to hit a little low draw back there, and it was a great shot and got me set up for about 15 feet or so. I didn't hit it hard enough. I had a perfect read on the putt. I just didn't quite hit it hard enough. It was a good line, just a perfect line off speed.

JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. Was everything just perfectly receptive when you came back?

DAVID TOMS: Yes, it was late afternoon golf, after a rain shower. I've done it a hundreds of times at home in Louisiana and that's what it felt like. It was hot, humid, greens were receptive, fairways were receptive. The greens weren't rolling very fast. It was all about hitting a shot.

It was good because I had some perfect yardages. I had multiple times where I could hit a perfect 8 iron or perfect 9. Those days when it's still, without the wind being a factor, you know, you'd like to have those yardages where you can just attack and that's what I had the last eight holes or so.

Q. You seem more satisfied with this 62 than the other one, why is that?

DAVID TOMS: Yes, it was all about scoring. I didn't drive it very well. Although I really wasn't in trouble. I just, you know, I wasn't in total control.

And today, from really from the get go, I drove it well, set myself up all day, hit a lot of good iron shots. I had a lot of looks. I don't know how many greens I hit today but it was a lot. It was a lot less stress today as far as, you know, having to battle on it there. It was just good golf all day long. Even when the conditions were tough I felt like I was in control. I just played a lot better today than I did yesterday.

Q. David, you actually had some other chances you were unable to capitalize on, when you look back at that round?

DAVID TOMS: Oh what could have been? I don't know. I hit a great shot at 13 and misread the putt there. Hit another good shot at 14 and it hit it right where I wanted to and misread it just by a little.

16, I hit another good shot and just ran out of speed. If I hit it harder on 16 and 18 I make both of them.

So, yes, certainly I had opportunities. But I played great so you can never look back. I don't like looking back to say, hey, I could have shot this, or I could have shot that. I felt like I got a lot of out of game today and played well and that's probably what I should have shot.

Q. David, I don't remember if it was 7 or 9, sorry, but you started with the 3 wood, you went back, and you got the driver, all of a sudden there was some gusts, that showed me how confident you feel right now. Is that an understatement?

DAVID TOMS: No, the 9th hole, the decision was if I hit 3 wood, then I asked my caddy what I would have in. He said it could be five or six iron and to that little pin over there on the right. I mean just to hit the green would have been a good shot. You can see what my playing partners did.

So I made the decision to be aggressive off the tee and get it down there just really to make par easier, not to set up birdie, to make par easier.

And I had, what, 122, or 130ish, I don't know what I had there, I hit a 9, kept it down under the wind, and hit a great shot and made birdie. So it was a bonus to make birdie. It was all about the best way to make par at the time.

Q. What did you do for the two and a half hour delay?

DAVID TOMS: I hadn't seen my dad in a while. I sat there in family dining with my dad and his wife and talked about getting our hunting place ready for duck season, and talking about what my kids were doing at home, and what a piece of work my son was, and two hours went by quickly. I ate a little bit, told stories and enjoyed catching up with my parents that I hadn't seen in a while.

Q. What do you think your best shot was today?

DAVID TOMS: My best shot today? Probably either the drive at 9, or the 5 iron I hit to 13. The reason why the 5 iron to 13, it was a tough hole, it was getting late in the day, a lot of rowdy folks out there, and I just made two birdies in a row to kind of just get going. It was one of those shots where it was a perfect yardage for me. I hit a little high cut 5 and should have made birdie. That was probably the best of the day.

Q. You've played with big leads before, what is the secret to it?

DAVID TOMS: The secrete is to somehow block it out and get passed the people that are, you know, saying stuff to you from tee to green, or green to tee, and get passed what I'm having to do here and just go play golf. That's really the only thing you can say.

You certainly start thinking about it. You think about your position. But I've just got to go out and play well.

I don't know what the conditions will be like tomorrow. Obviously it's softer so there will be some guys who had opportunities to shoot low rounds like I had the first two days.

You got to figure, I got to keep going. That's real the mindset, to keep going when I have the opportunity to do that. And back off and play smart when maybe I should.

I don't see any reason why I can't continue to play well.

Now whether to do this, that's probably not going to happen, that's reality. I feel like I can still go out there and play really well and shoot good scores.

Q. Are you surprised no one else has made a run here after the rain delay?

DAVID TOMS: Yes a little bit. Guys might lose focus, guys that were really playing well, you lose a little bit of momentum. Who knows? Maybe they are spinning it back off the green. Maybe their putts are a little bit slower, and they are not making them. Who knows? Certainly it was out there. It was out there to be had the last couple of hours.

Q. David, did you ever, the end of last year, beginning of this year, 2 parts, No. 1, did you ever feel like you were going to be this physically fit again? No. 2, depending on the answer to that, what kind of goals did you set at the beginning of this year when you sat down with your team to figure out what 2011 was going to be like?

DAVID TOMS: My team is pretty small compared to the posses out here.

Q. That's because we are old.

DAVID TOMS: My goals were to just go out and have fun. Not be so serious about the game, and when I do that, I tend to play well. You can't go out and say, oh, I want to win this tournament. Or I want to be so and so on the Money List. Or I want to do this.

I look back at all of the years where I was high up there. Things like that never entered my mind. It was always, you played great and then there were perks that went along with it.

Certainly to feel somewhat healthy. I still have those days where my hip hurts, my back hurt, my shoulder hurts. But good golf usually helps that. Just to focus and be excited.

There is a lot of times when you are hurting. But if you are excited to be at the golf course, and about your round, a lot of that, you get passed it.

You know, the West Coast was tough for me. It was cold out there and wet and my body didn't feel good, and I didn't play very well.

So I knew if I stayed patient, it would get hot, and maybe I would get hot. It's been good the last month or so. I've played some really solid rounds. I still need to put those four rounds together and get over the hump again.

Q. David, can you remember a time if your career where you played this well for 36 holes bogey free 62's?

DAVID TOMS: You know what comes to mind, I don't know what year it was at Torrey Pines I shot 7 under the first two days both days. But a lot of guys did. That was back when the North course was pretty easy. I played a great round of golf on the South course. I'm not sure, it was back in the early 90's. That was a good stretch of 36 holes.

But, you know what, last week at THE PLAYERS Championship, those two round that I played on that golf course, against a great field and difficult conditions, that was probably just as good as what I've done here.

If I would have made the putts like I have done this week so far it could have been some great golf. I'm not trying to figure it out. You go play.

And yesterday, like I said, I scored great. Today I played great. So you don't know what tomorrow holds. I just go out and be thankful I'm in this position and just try to keep playing great.

My mindset is such that, you know, I'm really taking one shot at a time. Everybody says that. That's how you have to play golf. That's how the great players play golf. They never get ahead of themselves and that's what I've done well.

JOHN BUSH: Let's go through the card, how about the birdie on No. 4, par 3.

DAVID TOMS: You know, it was 215 yards, the pin was on the front right, it was a perfect 5 iron I landed just short. All three players in my group made birdie on that hole today. That was kind of a bonus. I know we were low group, had to be. A great way to kind of get going.

JOHN BUSH: Back 9, 11.

DAVID TOMS: 11, I drove it way down there in regulation. The fairway was wet. I was in kind of a common Bermuda patch, I didn't try to go for it with my 3 wood, I laid back with a 5 iron had a perfect yardage for a sand wedge, hit a decent shot, not a great shot and made a good putt.

12, I hit a good drive and had a perfect 8 iron from 148, to about six feet behind the hole and kept it going.

15, another 3 wood off the tee, I think I had 151 to the pin. It was another perfect 8 iron to the back right and stuck it in there four or five feet.

17, I hit hybrid off the tee and had 136, a little bit left right wind. It was a perfect little hole 9 iron, hit it short of the pin there, hit four or five feet to the right of it and made birdie there.

JOHN BUSH: David, thanks for your time.