Humana Challlenge interview: Scott Stallings

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Q.  (Inaudible.)
SCOTT STALLINGS:  I felt great.  There wasn't any nerves or anything like that going into it.  Just hit a bad shot.  Same thing that happened on 14.  Felt like I made a good swing, just ball came off a little right and got a bad kick and went in the water.
But it is what it is.  Coming down the stretch on the 72nd hole, you can't make mistakes like that.  And it stinks, but it's something that I'll definitely learn from.

Q.  How did you feel on the back nine?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  I felt good.  I didn't really play good, I didn't really play bad.  On the front, it was more or less just kind of a weird occurrence.  I didn't have very good speed on the greens and I kind of made a good putt for par on 9.  Then birdied 10 and 11.  Made a good up‑and‑down on 12 for par.  Missed a short one for birdie on 13, and kind of some weird occurrences.
Like 16, we hit 4‑iron right at the bunker because we didn't think we could get it in there, and I flushed it and it went right up in the lip.  I didn't really have a play.
I got myself right where you needed to be, in contention, into shoot‑out.  And you knew someone was going to go low today, and there's a lot of low scores.  I gave myself a great opportunity and just didn't pull the shot off when I needed to.

Q.  What was the chip like that you had after that drop?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  Under normal circumstances, yes, but that's where the birds collect and I don't really know what you would call that, geese excrement just kind of all over my ball.  So the ball kind of came out and kind of did that on the green.
But I mean it is what it is.  I shouldn't have been there in the first place.  I know that.  Everyone knows that.

Q.  What was the turning point, do you think?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  I don't really think there was a turning point.  I think it was just the fact that the golf course is very susceptible to low scores.  And I happened to make some low scores the first couple days, and I hadn't really had kind of an off‑day yet.  I hadn't made a bogey in the tournament, and I just hit some weird shots at not a good time.  And it is what it is.

Q.  Is there a point where you felt like you didn't have control of the golf tournament?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  No, I had control ‑‑ I was frustrated on the front, didn't really putt very well, was kind of burning some edges.  Missed a little short one, had a kind of a spike mark right in front of my ball.  As soon as I hit it, it went straight left on 7.
I missed a short one for birdie on 8.
I felt in control the whole time, made a great birdie on 10 and 11 and felt like I was hitting it solid and just kind of just a little bit off here and there.  Like my tee shot on 17, I was staring at it the whole time and it came up just a hair short and caught the ridge and ended up thinking I was going to have a good putt for birdie.  I ended up having a 40‑footer, so...

Q.  You said yesterday that you don't really watch leaderboards during your round.  How conscious were you today?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  I was aware of it on 17.  I knew that they told me that Howell had made birdie on 18, and then I found out in the fairway that he hadn't.  So I mean it was my tournament to win and I didn't get it done.

Q.  You start ahead by five, you birdie three of the first four, and now you're up four.  I mean it's just in the nature of the tournament, I guess?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  I mean that is the nature of the tournament.  Anyone who thinks they're going to run away with it is fooling themselves.  I never ever once said I was running away with it.  I was very fortunate to have a very big lead, but it is what it is.  I played good for three days and it's kind of weird in this kind of marathon, low‑round tournament, you're going to kind of catch a skid here and there.  And the person that survives the best, wins.  And unfortunately, I just hit a bad shot.

Q.  Talk about that putt on 18.  You got kind of a break there in the water and to be able to take the drop where it was?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  Yeah, but first of all, I shouldn't have been there.  And it was nice to be able to drop it by the green and that.  But I hit a good chip with the circumstances I was given and I hit my putt exactly where I wanted to.  I would hit it there again.  They're getting a little bit crusty here in the evening and kind of the last person to play, and I thought made it as soon as I hit it.

Q.  Left edge?
SCOTT STALLINGS:  It was just kind of left edge and feed it in there and it just kind of moved just a hair more.

Q.  Did you think at the start of the day that 70 wouldn't be enough today?

SCOTT STALLINGS:  No, we didn't really have a number.  We didn't really have anything in mind.  We just wanted to go out there and play good golf and give ourselves an opportunity to have a chance to win coming down the stretch.  And we did.  We did that.  And for Frank and I to be this our seventh event together, to have a couple chances to win, Disney, Charlie played great coming down the stretch, and here.
It's a big shot in the arm, especially at the start of the season, considering I haven't started the season well at all in either my first or second year.

Q.  What are your feelings going to be when you leave here?

SCOTT STALLINGS:  It's disappointing, but the fact that at the end of the day, I get to play this game for a living.  You're going to have your good days and your bad days, but if you live and die with every shot out there, you're going to have a ‑‑ your career is not going to last very long out there.
You got to learn from your mistakes and know what you got to do to get better.  And I've got a great team around me and I got to get better in certain situations and got to handle myself better and understanding where I'm going to miss it in the circumstances when they dictate themselves, like 18.