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THE McGLADREY CLASSIC


October 26, 2014


Robert Streb


SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA

THE MODERATOR:  All right.  Congratulations to our 2014 McGladrey Classic Champion, Robert Streb.  Exciting playoff.  Kind of take us through those last few holes of the playoff and then we'll have a few questions.
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah.  Obviously spent a little time trying to just hang out, kill time.  Went back to warm up.  And I went out for the playoff, and I was pretty nervous over those couple of short putts, and that 8‑iron worked out pretty perfect there on 17.  It was nice to have a little short putt down the hill to try to make it.
THE MODERATOR:  Okay.  Questions?

Q.  Robert, I'm seeing since Canada last year tied for 14, tied for 18 at Wyndham, good Top 10 in Boston.  And then you go this year, 31st, 10th and 1st.  That's a nice little progression.  What's been going on since late last summer and into the fall?
ROBERT STREB:  You know, I think a little bit of comfort.  I've kind of got my feet wet out here.  That second at the Zurich was pretty big for me, and then just feel like I‑‑ just trying to improve, trying to get better, and obviously it paid off pretty big today.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah.  I feel like I'm just scoring better.  Obviously Thursday I got off to a pretty crummy start.  Birdied three of my last four to shoot 1‑under, and I was just doing everything I could to try to give myself a decent chance to play on the weekend at one point.  Just didn't really have it.  And it all kind of clicked together there.

Q.  I have to ask this because we've been looking at your media guide for a couple of years now and your bucket list of going to an OU‑Texas game and playing at Augusta National.  You would think one would be a lot easier to get to than the other.
ROBERT STREB:  One is easier to get to.  I just haven't done it yet.

Q.  Would you have thought you would head to Augusta before you head to Dallas?
ROBERT STREB:  No.  Not a chance.  Definitely thought I would have made that game by now, but I still haven't made it.

Q.  What are your thoughts about what this means in terms of ‑‑ you haven't played in a major yet, what that means in terms of getting into at least two majors?
ROBERT STREB:  Just very excited.  You know, you spend so much time watching Augusta on TV as a kid.
But very thrilled, and just excited to see what one's like.

Q.  Walk back through the progression.  I know you just nearly missed at Deutsche Bank.  It was a margin of almost nothing, two, three points.  Was that a motivational factor at all going into the new season that you didn't make it to the third playoff event?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah.  Just wanted to keep improving.  Honestly I thought I'd made it to the BMW.  I thought that putt I holed did it, but it didn't.
You know, I guess it kind of keeps you hungry if you keep getting there.  But you know, you're obviously not going to achieve all your goals right from the get‑go.  Well, at least I didn't.

Q.  (No microphone).  How did you get in Frys and Sony and a couple of events to get you to Zurich?
ROBERT STREB:  Frys was gracious enough to give me a sponsor invite.  Mr.Butler did me a huge favor there and let me play.  It was the only start I got all fall.  So it was huge.
And then Sony, I was second alternate I think when it closed.  I was like, well, it's freezing cold here in Kansas City, I'll just go play and see if a couple guys don't show up.  And I think Matsuyama pulled out on Wednesday and Shawn Stefanie hadn't made the trip and I got pretty lucky.

Q.  (No microphone).
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah.  Got into San Diego and Pebble.  And then played Puerto Rico, Mondayed into San Antonio, and then ended up playing in Zurich.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  I was kind of back and forth, but I kind of planned to go to Charlotte to see if I could Monday and if I didn't, go down to Valdosta to play, but that second place kind of took care of everything.

Q.  You came off the course earlier saying you really wish you'd have gotten to 15 to get that little separation.  What were you thinking going through your practice routine trying to stay in the mindset of hey, they might not pass me, I might be in the playoff?
ROBERT STREB:  I don't know.  I was just trying to hang out and see what happens.  I honestly thought somebody would probably get to 15, and they didn't.  But was just trying to hang out and stay loose, not get too worried about it and go play.

Q.  At any point during your round before you got to the playoff.  Did you think that you had an opportunity, I mean things were clearly going your way, but I'm sure you had a number in the back of your mind.
ROBERT STREB:  You know, I got off to a pretty good‑‑ well, I bogeyed the first hole and then got on a pretty good run on the Front 9 and then three‑putted 13 from across the green, and at that point I was like, well, I'll just see how many birdies I can try to make on the way in, and got on a pretty nice little run.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  Took a little off a pitching wedge.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah, it's a good one.

Q.  You got off to a pretty interesting start to the tournament, it seemed like, right on the first hole?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah, it was a little chilly, and I snap‑hooked one in a bush.  Luckily somebody helping us found it because we didn't see it bounce or anything, and just started looking through the bush and found it, took an unplayable, made double, and I was off and going.

Q.  How did your tee shot on 17 feel when you hit it?
ROBERT STREB:  I hit it good.  Just hoping it had enough on it.  And it landed nice and soft.  Worked out perfect.

Q.  (No microphone).  I was curious, as an Oak Tree guy, did you not get any offer from OU or O State, did that, I don't want to say hurt you at all, is there any sense of proving yourself from that point forward, and does it make this feel any more gratifying?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah, I guess.  I grew up an OU fan.  They didn't have a spot on the team.  They were all full, and honestly, I wasn't really good enough to go to OSU.  Maybe could have got a walk‑on spot at best.  But K State worked out great.  Met my wife there and really liked it there and I got a chance to play.

Q.  You birdied, birdied there on 17 today.  I think you made a 30‑footer there in regulation?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah.

Q.  How did you play it the rest of the week?
ROBERT STREB:  What did I do?  Parred it, I think, all three days.  I think so.  I don't know.  That's a good question.

Q.  I mean obviously that's a huge part of your week now that you look back at it.  Was it all that you thought to be pivotal?
ROBERT STREB:  No, not really.  I felt like the last couple days maybe if you played 16 well and you could maybe do something good on 16, 17, 18, you can get on a pretty decent little run coming in.  And I felt like 16 was a pretty tough tee ball.  I felt if you could do that, you get past that part of the hole but if you don't hit a good one, it's a pretty difficult hole.
And then 17 the grain I guess almost goes a the wrong way for me since I draw it, but hit some pretty good shots there, and obviously worked out very well at the end.

Q.  Between this victory opening some new doors and the little one on the way, have you put any thought into the last half hour about how your schedule is going to be changing in the next couple months?
ROBERT STREB:  No.  I don't plan very well.  Just kind of take it as it goes, and obviously try to take some time off when my little girl shows up.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah, I would be in a lot of trouble.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  That is a great question.  Probably after I buzzed through that Web.com season.  I was always just trying to get better.  You know, never was real sure.  I was never the best all the time, so I was just trying to keep getting better, and it's panned out pretty well.

Q.  (No microphone).  Could you have ever imagined being out here when you were in high school?
ROBERT STREB:  I knew I wanted to play, but you know, obviously getting that degree was more important than turning pro or whatever.  I didn't know if the golf would pan out, so I knew if they were paying for some education, I might as well get it.  Not that I was as stand‑out student, but I got the piece of paper.

Q.  Given my lack of knowledge of Big 12 golf, are you the first Kansas State guy to win?
ROBERT STREB:  Jim Colbert.  It's been a little while.

Q.  A little bit of a gap in between there.  Do you know Jim at all?
ROBERT STREB:  I do.  I went to school with his grandkids.  One of his grandsons was my roommate for a couple of years, so I know him pretty well.

Q.  You got good facilities out there?  How is the program out there?
ROBERT STREB:  The facility is a great facility.

Q.  (No microphone)?
ROBERT STREB:  Yeah, they do.  And it's a very big course.  Wind's always pumping, but it's a good challenge out there.  It's a good place to try and get better.  You know, we were never as great as all the schools in the south, but we do pretty well, and we get a few kids in there that end up really improving and playing pretty well.

Q.  I was talking to your caddie after the round yesterday.  He said 7‑under still in it, if there's a low round out there, we've got to go shoot it.  How confident were you coming into the round that you could make some birdies and make something happen today?
ROBERT STREB:  My wife was very confident.  Me, I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could.  You know, never really come back from that far behind.  So I know it could be done, but didn't really cross my mind there until the end.

Q.  What was it she said that she was so confident?
ROBERT STREB:  Oh, you're going to shoot, you know, 63, 64, and you're going to win.  Perfect motivation; right?

Q.  Yeah.  It worked.
THE MODERATOR:  Everybody good?  Okay.  Thanks a lot, Robert.
ROBERT STREB:  All right.  Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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