	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 2, 2017

John Peterson

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. What a super opening round, 5-under, no bogeys. What was working so well for you today?
JOHN PETERSON: I drove it really well. I drove it pretty much where I was looking 95% of the time. I missed one and it would end up in a bunker or something and I still overshot the green. I didn't really get too many bad breaks. The one on 18 just got up against the lip there, and I was able to hit it on the green. Other than that, I drove it really well and hit a few good iron shots.

Q. On the back 9, you sort of stalled a little bit. Do you think you were pressing too hard or just the putts weren't dropping?
JOHN PETERSON: Yeah, I turned at 4, and I was thinking, let's get to 8. I hit driver on 1 down there at 70 yards to the front pin, and that's no good.

After that, it kind of settled down, but, yeah, I was just trying to press too hard the first few holes on the back 9.

Q. This is off the wall, but since it's Super Bowl week, who are you going for?
JOHN PETERSON: The dirty birds. Even though it's tough to bet against Tom Brady, they killed the Packers, so I'm going to go for Atlanta.

Q. 4-under, front 9. The back, you mentioned your driving was the strongest part of your game. Talk about your round.
JOHN PETERSON: I played well. I was very patient out there. Usually I'm not a very patient person, but this morning I was first off, and I had great greens on the first nine holes. Birdied 16. That kind of jump-started me right there, because any time you birdie 16 out here, it's a little shot of adrenaline.

I got off to a good start and just kind of kept it rolling.

Q. You recently joked that taking a lot of time off for personal reasons was not great for golf, but what about today? What was so different about today?
JOHN PETERSON: Well, I got married in December. We went to our honeymoon in Lanai the week before Sony. I hadn't practiced. I deer hunt all fall and the winter, and I don't pick up a club, so I was really rusty for the first two, three events.

And last week, even though I played horrible out there at the South Course, and on the North Course I was able to hit a few good shots and was able to see really some improvement in my game. I just knew I was really close, even though I shot a million out there on the South Course. But I just carried it over to this week. I got here early. We drove over on Saturday. I put in a bunch of work out here and it's paying off.

Q. Where was your bachelor party? You chronicled some of it.
JOHN PETERSON: Cabo. Where I did the flip? Yeah, that was Cabo. Not a great decision.

Q. How many times have you played here?
JOHN PETERSON: This is my second time. I played my rookie year in 2014, but this is my second time here.

Q. You kind of joked about being back up here, but you must be pumped to put a low number up and be amongst it again?
JOHN PETERSON: In my opinion, I have severely underachieved, and I think a lot of people that are around the PGA TOUR, have been here for a while, would agree with me.

I just haven't really given it my full effort since I have been out here. I just kind of treaded water and do just as good as you can and hadn't really treated it as a job. But now I have a wife, two dogs, a mortgage.

I'm starting to treat it more like a job, and I'm really just getting sick of underachieving.

Q. Why is that? Why did you sort of not treat it that way in the beginning?
JOHN PETERSON: I guess I just let college carry over into my professional career, honestly. Honestly, that's what I did. I didn't care if I missed a cut. I didn't care if I hit a bad shot. It didn't bother me.

But it's starting to bother me more now, and I'm putting in a lot more work, much like I did in school. It's starting to pay off. Today is a small example, but hopefully throughout the rest of the year it will keep going.

Q. Was there a watershed moment that made you kick it into gear? Can you pinpoint a point in time for that?
JOHN PETERSON: Yeah, when I got hurt last year. I missed all of last season. I had hand surgery right here, and I was watching these guys on the couch and it really made me miss it. Same thing Pat Perez did, you know. He came out and started firing at it. He missed it a lot.

I started missing it, and I really didn't think I would. But after three, four months on the couch, I started missing it, and I said, you know, when I get back out there, I'm going to give it a go. I'm going to work like it's my job again and stop being such a, you know, mediocre player out here.

Q. With respect to your hand, No. 1, when is the last time you had any discomfort? Or does the cold weather even act it up a little bit? Secondly, how much does the medical extension play into your mentality week to week?
JOHN PETERSON: My hand is fine. I haven't felt pain in my hand in six, seven months. I haven't felt any pain. It's stiff every now and then because of scar tissue. But no pain, so it's fine.

The medical extension, I have a full year. I missed the entire year, and I was fully exempt. That hasn't really -- I haven't thought about it too much. I'm going to play the whole year out here, and, you know, maybe if I had 10, 15 events, it would bother me a little bit, but I had like 25, so...

Q. Relatively slow start didn't bother you at all?
JOHN PETERSON: No, it didn't bother me, because I knew -- I love the offseason, and fall golf usually I play horrible. So I had a top 15 in the fall, and that really kind of kept me afloat. If I would have come into this week with five FedExCup points or whatever I had minus that 15, I probably would have been panicking a little bit more.

No, I feel like a more mature player. I guess marriage does that to you.

Q. I'm curious, what was more frustrating? Dealing with the hand injury and trying to come back from that or frustration of watching guys like Harris and other people have success, guys, the position you felt like, a path where maybe you should have been?
JOHN PETERSON: Yeah, you know, those guys we graduated together, and a long time ago, six years ago, but Harris beat me in that Nationwide event, Web.com event, and we were neck and neck. Same with Russell Henley. We were all right there.

That's why I said I severely underachieved, because I have. I know I'm as good as those guys and I haven't played like it. They have had much better careers to this point.

Watching them last year when I was sitting around, watching Jordan, all the younger guys, to be frank, I have beaten in the past when I was treating it as a job, you know, in college, amateur golf, first year as a pro. Yeah, I got kind of sick of it and it came to me I just needed to really start putting everything I had into it.

Q. Goal for this season?
JOHN PETERSON: I want to win, man. I want to win. The guys that we were just talking about that I have been with for five, six, seven years out of school, they have all won. Most of them, at least. Even the younger guys have won that I have played against.

I want to win one. I have been out here long enough. This is my fourth year. I need to win one. I'm treating it much more -- I have got a much different outlook on it now than I did.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297