|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE BARCLAYSAugust 23, 2007Brian GayHARRISON, NEW YORK NELSON SILVERIO: Brian, thanks for spending a couple of minutes with us today. Pretty good round, you're currently in the lead, why don't you just take us -- BRIAN GAY: Pretty good? (Laughter). NELSON SILVERIO: Why don't you just give us some general comments on that pretty good round. BRIAN GAY: Yeah, it was obviously a good start. Ball was just falling out of the sky this morning with that mist and heavy air. It was tough to hit enough club the first few holes. I made some great saves early to hang in there and got hot making the turn. Birdied 18, 1 and 2 and birdied 8 and 9 to finish, so it was pretty good. Q. I guess we'll be asking this of everybody that comes in here, but does it feel like you're part of a four-week event or four-day event right now, the Playoffs? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, it feels different, I'm not sure how. That's what I keep saying, I keep seeing the Playoffs sign, so I know I'm in the Playoffs. Yeah, you think ahead a little bit, but not on the golf course. You just have to try to do your job out there and do the best you can. Q. We were talking to Briny a minute ago about how meaningful something like this would be, getting in the mix with the big boys in a Playoff event. Do you think the public would latch onto a more Cinderella-ish guy to use a cliché and it would be well received if you got up there with the guys on the top of the points list? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, I'd like to think so. I think some people would root for me. I think everybody enjoys rooting for the underdog just as much as the favorite. I think no matter who you're playing against, if you have a No. 200 in the world versus No. 1, I think just as many people will root for the underdog as the No. 1 player. Q. Do you know what number you are right now? BRIAN GAY: FedEx? Q. Yeah. BRIAN GAY: 76. Q. At what point did you start paying attention to where you were during the season; was it just a couple of weeks ago or this morning? BRIAN GAY: Well, I get a text every week, so it let's me know. Q. Every Sunday right, right? BRIAN GAY: They send a payout and a points distribution. Other than that, I don't really look at the list. I get a text message and I know where I stand. I don't really look at it other than that. Q. Did you alter your playing schedule at all this year to get more points or maybe add a tournament or add a couple of tournaments, maybe different than you would normally? BRIAN GAY: Not really. I've played pretty much the same events. Some of them are different times of the year. Certain places it's a different time of the year because you're so used to being in June or different time of the year. I've pretty much played the same stuff. Q. If I'm not mistaken, you had a very high finish here a couple of years ago. Were you kind of in a precarious standing in terms of Money List, at a time when you were trying to keep your card and that enabled you to keep your card? BRIAN GAY: I finished third two years ago. That was earlier in the season but obviously that helped a bunch. Q. Is there something about playing here that brings out the best in you? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, this course it seems like feast or famine. I've had several good tournaments and if I haven't done well, I've easily missed the cut. I finished third two years ago and last year played horrible, didn't come close to making the cut. Normally I do well when it's dry and fast here and this year, changing that here, it's obviously wet, so off to a good start. Q. Have you ever considered yourself kind of a streaky player? Have you ever been hot for like four weeks in a row? You can see where I'm getting at with this question. There's a lot on the table out there if you can go into the comatose-zone-type state for the next month. BRIAN GAY: Yeah, playing kind of in streaks, I don't know that I've been red-hot for four weeks in a row but certainly you go in cycles. I've been playing well the last few months and haven't really putted as well and not had great finished. I had a good week in Greensboro so that was good. I feel like I've been playing good. I just haven't been getting great finishes. Q. Do you feel like having that experience where you tied for third a couple of years ago in 2005, is that going to give you an opportunity to have an advantage over some of the other players who are not as used to this course? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, it's always nice to come back to a place where you've done well. You've got good thoughts and good feelings about the golf course and you've obviously hit a lot of good shots on certain holes that you remember and certain pin locations, so it's good to draw on that. Q. Can you just talk about what makes this course difficult? This is obviously the shortest played on TOUR, or among the shortest like a Medinah, but it's still tough and can jump up and bite you any time? BRIAN GAY: Yeah, the hardest courses we play on TOUR are the shortest ones, but they keep adding length everywhere. This course doesn't favor short or long. You have to get the ball in play off the tee, and you have to be precise on your approaches and keeping the ball under the hole and really watching what you're doing around the greens. The greens are fast with a lot of slope. I think you've got to do it all pretty well on this course. Although, it's not playing short right now. It's playing long today. Q. With a couple of good finishes, it would be hard for you in a normal circumstance to get into THE TOUR Championship, to be, you know, the top 30 on the Money List but with a couple of good weeks here, points being doubled and less guys behind you making massive leaps, being in the 70s, that's not an insurmountable amount to make up, and you could get in the mix a couple of weeks down the road in Atlanta; that must be a nice carrot to have dangling in front of you at this point in the year. BRIAN GAY: Yeah, that would be great to have the opportunity to get in the Top-30. I haven't really looked at any models of being in that position of what I have to do to get there and that sort of thing. I know the points are doubled, so if you play well, you're going to move up pretty quickly but I haven't really studied at all what exactly I need -- what place I need to be in to move on to Chicago. Q. What was your initial reaction when this idea was first broached to you and what's your view of it now? How has it changed since then? BRIAN GAY: I thought it was a pretty cool idea actually. I think it does add some excitement. I think that maybe I like the idea of giving credit to what guys have done to this point in the year. A lot of guys have said that it's a real playoff and everybody will start off the same right now; if you make it here, then you make the playoffs in any other sport and you have a chance to win; not necessarily everyone has a chance to win these Playoffs based on the resetting of the points. I don't know exactly how you do it, but you have to give a little bit of credit at least to what guys have done all year. But I think that would definitely add a lot more excitement if you really, anybody absolutely could win starting right now. Q. So a total reset. BRIAN GAY: Yeah, more of -- Q. Versus reseeding it like NCAA basketball or other models you right consider. BRIAN GAY: Yeah, it's hard to erase the whole year, a true playoff in any other sport, once you're in there, anybody can win. NELSON SILVERIO: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|