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GINN CHAMPIONSHIP AT HAMMOCK BEACH

March 30, 2007

Brad Bryant

PALM COAST, FLORIDA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Brad Bryant, a 5-under 67 to start with at the 2007 Ginn Championship. The thing that stands out on the stat sheet is you only had 23 putts, but a nice opening round.
BRAD BRYANT: Right. Thanks.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: A few thoughts? How you played in the wind?
BRAD BRYANT: Man, I'm glad it's over with. Actually I played pretty good today. My stats are misleading; I actually hit the ball a little better than my stats were. I kept the ball near the greens, except -- I only hit one shot off-line all day. Ended up making a par on that hole. I pitched the ball very well today, so my putting stats -- although I putted well, what was good was my pitching. I pitched the ball up close to the hole. Pitched well.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Take us through your round, and we'll go to questions.
BRAD BRYANT: I can't remember this golf course. I tried to do my scorecard. It's like all the holes are -- which hole has the sand trap in the middle of the fairway? That one, that one, and that one. So I started on the back 9, I birdied 10. I chipped it up about 4 feet and putted it in. 11 -- I birdied somewhere else --
PHIL STAMBAUGH: 17?
BRAD BRYANT: 17. I hit a good shot there, too. I hit a good shot at the 16th and almost made birdied there and then birdied 17 and the 18th hole. I hit what I thought was a good shot, and the ball trickled off the back of the green, and I pitched it up there 6 feet and missed it. Then making the turn, I hit it -- I made about a 12 or 15-footer on No. 1 for birdie. No. 2, I pitched it in for an eagle.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: How far?
BRAD BRYANT: I was off the back, so I chipped it on. Boy, it's hard to remember these holes, after hitting in the wind all day. I birdied 5 and 6, made a nice putt, 18 feet. 6th hole I wedged it up about 6 feet and putted it in, and I bogeyed 8. Hit a bad shot, there. I misfigured the wind and hit a bad shot and made a bogey on that hole. All in all, I kept the ball out in front of me all day.

Q. What did you hit on 1?
BRAD BRYANT: No. 1, I hit a gap wedge.

Q. 17, how far was the putt, roughly?
BRAD BRYANT: About 12 feet.

Q. Do you have a particular history or track record on courses with a lot of wind, like Pebble Beach or --
BRAD BRYANT: I usually play good at Pebble Beach, but that has to do with wetness more than anything else. This suits my game well. I don't usually like Jack Nicklaus courses, but I usually play them well. I'm a hooker, and he's a slicer, but if you keep the ball from rolling through the fairways, the course is playing soft.

Q. What would be your toughest hole today, given the conditions?
BRAD BRYANT: The toughest hole of the day? That's hard to say. Almost any hole -- because of the wind almost any hole today could jump up and really grab you. 17 is difficult.

Q. What about the 9th?
BRAD BRYANT: The 9th hole, I think the wind switched for us a bit. It played long, but not tremendously long. I hit a 3-wood and then a 4-iron onto the green and actually should have hit a 5-iron.
No. 8 played much longer than No. 9 did. I think the wind switched a little bit during the day, because we kind of misfigured it. I thought we had a good read on it most of the day.

Q. Are you allowed to say outloud that you don't like a Jack Nicklaus course?
BRAD BRYANT: Oh, yeah.

Q. No problem with that?
BRAD BRYANT: No problem. And it has nothing to do with -- Jack Nicklaus is one of the greatest men I know. I love him to death, and he married one of the most incredible women alive, Barbara; she's just amazing. I just -- you know, I think the world of Jack, but he and I play golf completely opposite. I hit a hard hook and roll the ball, and he hits a high fade and his ball -- he wants the ball stopping when it lands, and I kind of roll it. So we look at things differently.
So it's funny, because I have this -- it's like playing at Glen Abbey. It's a perfect Jack Nicklaus golf course, and I always struggle, because some of the key shots my ball is coming from the right, where it's narrow, so if I was a good player and could go both ways, if I could hit fades. It would be a lot better can you hit it --
Q. Bart --
BRAD BRYANT: I'm Brad. Bart is an accident waiting to happen out there. Any given moment he's able to shoot 62, my brother; he's amazing. Any golf course. Shot 61 at East Lake, or something ridiculous. I never have been able to go that low. But Jack Nicklaus -- they do such a phenomenal job of building golf courses, and Jack has a great eye for moving land. He does a tremendous job.

Q. The greens were slightly elevated. That calls for a left to the right high approach shot, and it's hard --
BRAD BRYANT: A lot of the holes out here, the green tends to crown away from you, so those back pin placements, if you can hit a high, soft shot, you can get the ball close to the hole. That's kind of Jack's trademark.

Q. How about 18?
BRAD BRYANT: 18, at this golf course you think of Jack building the 18th hole, always building it for a fader, and yet, if anything, a hooker has a bit of an advantage on 18 here, which is unusual for Jack. But it's a tremendous golf course, I think. I think they did a great job. And it's in incredible shape. I mean, it's -- it is amazing how good the greens are, the fairways are beautiful, the fringes are -- they've done a fabulous job of getting this course ready.

Q. Raymond is playing well today, 6-under with two holes to play. How do you explain the conditions with some of you younger guys, Champions Tourwise? How do you figure that?
BRAD BRYANT: This is a Raymond Floyd kind of day. He has a great feel and such a great short game. No matter how good you hit, today you're not going to hit all the greens. There are some holes that it's very difficult to get the ball on the green if you go towards the flag, because you're playing -- you're shooting downwind, and the ball will run through the green, so it's very difficult.
During the course today, everyone is going to miss a few greens, and Raymond is just amazing. When he drives the ball straight, he's going to shoot a good score, and he always has been that way. I'm sure none of the guys in the locker room will be surprised that Raymond played well today.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Anything else? Thank you.
BRAD BRYANT: One other thing. I should say that my caddy did a great job today; Tony was outstanding. Managing me is hard enough, but managing the wind as well, he did a great job today.

Q. Tony who?
BRAD BRYANT: Tony Smith. It's nice to have a young pair of eyes to read the greens, because he does a great job.

Q. Is he new to you?
BRAD BRYANT: No, he's been with me for four years. He's a great -- he's a big part of the success I've had over the last couple of years, Tony is. And on a day like today, it was very evident, I'm sure, that -- how should I say this? I will be happiest with my caddy of the day. I'll put it that way. He did a great job today. Tough day to caddy.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Brad, thanks very much.

End of FastScripts

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