What they said: Scott Piercy

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Q.  You started off with a stellar 64‑64, and you find yourself two shots back of the lead.  Are you going to approach tomorrow any differently playing with those young guys?

SCOTT PIERCY:  No, just hopefully I hit the ball a little more solidly tomorrow than I did today.  I struggled a little bit, but my wedge game and my chipping kept me involved with making pars, and I was able to make a few birdies on the par‑5s.  Just hit some greens, strike it a little more solid, and tomorrow should be good.

Q.  Is there anything that you specifically worked on in the off‑season with Chris O'Connell that contributed to your play these last couple days?

SCOTT PIERCY:  Yeah, I didn't practice for about two months.  You know, I really didn't.  I played twice from the beginning of November until basically Christmas.  I practiced probably three other times.  I put the clubs down.  With Chris we always work on‑‑ I've always got to swing the club more left.  Whenever I swing the club to the right, I'm dead.  So that's always something we're working on.

Q.  And you had a little surprise visit this morning.  Tell us about that.

SCOTT PIERCY:  Yeah, my wife showed up.  I called her when I woke up, and she said, hey, do you want to come down and have breakfast with me, and I'm like, what are you talking about.  So that was kind of nice.

Q.  Not really too much you can complain about.  You've played really solid.

SCOTT PIERCY:  You know, yesterday I left some out there.  Today I got a lot out of my game.  I didn't hit it as well as I did yesterday, and the golf course got a little faster.  So if you missed it a little bit, it made you look a little worse.  It bounced through the fairways, and just playing a little faster, where it would just‑‑ it just made you feel that much more off.  Hopefully tomorrow I hit it a little more solid and keep putting well, keep chipping well.

Q.  For example, on No.3, you hit, what, a hybrid off the tee.  That ball must have chased 75 yards down the fairway.

SCOTT PIERCY:  Yeah, I hit‑‑ I think the hole is 400 yards, and I hit hybrid, lob wedge.  I think that ball went about 300 yards with a chipped hybrid.  It's starting to play fast downwind, and when you get the crosswinds out here, it's hard to keep the ball in the fairway because the wind wants to blow it‑‑ like a dogleg left, you'll have the wind blowing left to right, so the fairway you're trying to hit is really like 10 yards wide, and coming out of the rough into the greens, it's hard to control it because of the spin.  So you're playing a lot of bump‑up shots, trying to roll it up, stuff like that.

Q.  I thought the fairways got a little firmer, but the greens didn't seem as firm as the fairways got.  Did you find that, also?

SCOTT PIERCY:  Yeah, you're totally right.  The greens have a lot of grass on them I'm going to say, we talked about earlier in the round.  Normally they seem more sandy instead of like more of a lush dirt.  I think that has a lot to do with it.  They're still firm to chip, they still bounce and check and roll, they're not just diving, but for a full sheet, the grain plays into effect to it and having all that extra grass it kind of grabs the ball.

Q.  Apparently it's a lot more fun playing here than where you came from last week.

SCOTT PIERCY:  You know, I actually played really well last week.  I didn't putt well, and whenever you don't putt well, that puts a pretty‑‑ that dampers everything quite a bit.  This week I feel like I'm rolling it a little bit more solidly, at least where I'm looking, where last week I didn't feel like I hit a solid putt.  It turns your demeanor from oh, I can't score, to let's go do this.

Q.  Is this a course that fits your game or do you feel like every course fits your game?

SCOTT PIERCY:  I think I understand this course, and then I think I'm able to play what it gives me.  As far as every course fitting me, I would like to think so, being a fairly long player.  I think for me it's learning how to play the courses correctly and knowing where to miss them, stuff like that.  This one I've played‑‑ I think this is my sixth year playing it.  I've been on TOUR four years.  I've got a good understanding of the shots you need to hit, where you need to leave it off the tee and into the greens.
Experience on TOUR definitely helps.

Q.  Mentally how are you feeling after the week here?

SCOTT PIERCY:  You know, I'm a little tired, I'm not going to lie.  I was pretty sore after walking those 36 and right back at it and no sleep the next two days because I had a pro‑am at 7:18 and the first tee time 7:50.  It's been a pretty fast week, but if the wind still stays up and it gets firm out here and the ball is rolling, you've got to play some good golf to shoot some good scores.

Q.  Is that your motivation to play well, just so you can get a late tee time tomorrow?

SCOTT PIERCY:  That's just a bonus.