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CONSTELLATION ENERGY SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPOctober 12, 2008D.A. WeibringTIMONIUM, MARYLAND PHIL STAMBAUGH: Your 2008 Constellation Energy Senior Player Championship Champion, D.A., congratulations. You win with a score of 9-under, 271 here at Baltimore Country Club this week. Quite a win. You're fifth on the Champions Tour, your first major, ending a victory drought of 0-for-64, we looked it up, in the majors. Congratulations, a nice win. D.A. WEIBRING: Thanks. It will all sink in as time goes on. But I did always believe that I could win a major championship, and didn't get it on done the regular TOUR. I had my chances and I had a great chance in THE PLAYERS Championship at Sawgrass years ago, having the lead the majority of the week. But sometimes things happen and they just fall into place. They did this week, and it was great having my wife with my, Kristy, she has not been out I don't believe for any of my wins on the Champions Tour. 1991 was the last time she was on time when I won, so that was really special. It was great to have my kids, my son, Matt, who plays the Nationwide Tour, and his wife, Steph, she has really become our little sports psychologist. She gives Matt a thought or two every day when he goes out to play or practice and she's been doing that with me. She sends me a little text message this morning that I wrote down and kept in my pocket and read it a couple of times today as I walked around the golf course, just real positive things. I got text messages from my daughters Katey and Allie, and just little things that we have as a family, positive messages. But to have all of that with you as you're trying to play, I really wanted to win for all of those people who kind of supported me. I knew the people here wanted Nick Price to win and they wanted Fred Funk. I understood that. They were very polite to me. Nick's a great player. He's a Hall of Fame player. He played very well. He didn't have the putts roll in on the last day or so. We had a turnaround on 17 that was kind of amazing. I had a couple fortunate things happen. I played well. Didn't play my best golf but played well in the final round and have not been rewarded. It was just my time. I'm very proud to have won, and hopefully I can carry that through and have a real good month here. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Take us down the stretch when there was that turnaround. D.A. WEIBRING: Real quickly, played pretty solid on the front side. 2-putted at 1. 2-putted at 2. Good drive at 3. 3 putted at 3 and putted past the whole and missed about, I don't know, a 3- or 4-footer, but hit a good putt. I was really determined today to play my round of golf, just my caddie, Troy, who I'll explain what Troy did, but Troy is a very good player. I just wanted to have he and I play a good round of golf today and just see what would happen. I was in-between clubs at 1, and was in between clubs at 2 and 3 and I left the ball just short of the hole, and I 3-putted at 3. The first putt at 3, it might have been 40 feet. But I hit a good drive and a good 5-iron and just didn't think it was the time to challenge that back pin. 4, I played conservatively all week and lipped-out. Hit 3-wood off the tee every day and lipped out for birdie there. 5, wedge around the corner, spun back down and made about a 5-footer for birdie can got back to even par for the day. 2-putted at 6. Little too conservative with my wedge shot there. Hit a really good four hybrid u. P the hill at 7 and hit a great putt from about 12 feet, that just kind of died off the left edge. 8, I hit driver there most of the time. I've hit 3-wood the last couple days, and I wanted to hit driver and get it down the fairway. And I was conservative and hung the drive down to the right and normally it kicks off down the fairway but mine didn't and kicked down the hill and hung up a foot still in the heavier rough, and this is the advantage of having somebody on your bag who is a good player himself that can give you some confidence. I had 148 to the front. The grass was growing with me. I wanted to take a 7-iron and just be sure I got to the back of the green, but the ball really could have jumped. And Troy said, "Dad, I think it's an 8 and it's going to come out of there." I got aggressive and when I went through the turf. The ball came out and I didn't think it was going to get to the green honestly, and I turned and the ball carried to the front part of the green and rolled up to about four feet from the hole. That was a great break. There are times you hit shots that you didn't get a real good shot and it comes up too short. I trusted him and I hit it hard and I was aggressive with it, and I was rewarded and that's a swing or two. I thought to myself that, you know, just keep playing. That may come back and be a turning point but you've got a long ways to go. I drove it just in the left rough at 9. Put it on the front part of the green and made another good two putts. So I left a number of balls short of the hole putting up the hill in the right direction. I trusted my putting touch all week. I made a good 2-putt there. 10, on the green, proper angle, two putts. 11 I played a really good 6-iron pin-high, eight feet maybe and made it for birdie. 12, I could have hit 3-wood and tried to chase it near the front of the green and I didn't think that was a way to play that hole. I laid it up into a good distance for a wedge and hit a great middle wedge at 92 or 93 yards to about four feet and made it for birdie. At that point in time, there was a little swing. I knew I had gotten to the lead, but I was still just trying to play my golf. I hit a good tee shot at 13 and went through the fairway just in the intermediate cut, which was going to take the spin off the ball into the green, and I hit a good 8-iron that landed on the front part of the green that rolled through, up through the fringe and I couldn't putt it but played it down the hill. Hit a really good shot down to 2 1/2, three feet and it really was not a hard putt. It must have kind of came off a little bit, I was really surprised, but I missed it from three feet and may have looked up a little quick. But that was a little dose of reality. Good things happen, and now little character check. Pushed my tee shot on 14 in the right rough, 7-iron on the green. Hit maybe another good 2-putt. I thought I had a perfect 6-iron at 15. I put it in the right bunker yesterday, trying to play a little cut in there. I was really surprised at that one because I was trying to hit it right at the flag and drove it left of the hole and the ball came out going a little bit right of the hole. But I thought I hit it solid and the ball came up short and hit the bank and went in the bunker, the last place you want to leave it, especially two days in a row. But I knew, I felt like I made a pretty good swing. I may have held on to it a little bit, I'm not too sure but I had to go work on that shot. My bunker game has not been my strength all year. I took a real positive thought, good lie and I played a wonderful shot onto 2 1/2 feet and made it for par, key up-and-down. Obviously Nick had a birdie putt coming down the hill and it could have been a swing or two. 16, I played 16 real well through the years. And I got a little more aggressive on my driver line today because I had driven it through the fairway in the left the last couple of days, hit a perfect tee shot. Hit a perfect middle wedge from 105 yards and into green really got firm and took a big bounce and went past the hole eight or ten feet. I had a pretty good breaking putt there that I just couldn't hit it real firm and missed the putt low. 17, hit a pretty good tee shot. Pulled it a little bit, but was trying to draw it off the slope there. I was in between yardage. I had 181 to the hole and we were playing six or seven more yards up the hill, and I knew there was a lot of slope back there. The last place you want to miss it was over the green but I had to make a choice; to where early in the day, I always chose a club less, leaving myself 30 and 40 feet sometimes. I thought I needed to take 5-iron, choke it down and just hit a solid shot and I did. The ball came up -- I had a little bit of a hanging lie and came out a little lower than I wanted to, but I choked that down a little bit and must have hit awfully hard on the green. I saw the reaction of the ball rolling on the green and knew I didn't have much left over there, and then Nick and Jeff both hit great shots in there. Played as good a shot as I could have played, still ran it by 10 feet. I hit a good putt but thought it would go to the right and hung on. That I would say was the other very fortunate thing that happened today. I got a bad break by going over the green because I think I hit a pretty good shot but just like on 8, where I thought it may not get over the water, this one hung on and went in the hole. I guess that's maybe the difference when you win and when you finish second or third, which I've done many, many times. But then I went to 18 and I really looked forward to hitting that tee shot on 18. I used some old, positive thoughts of certain tee shots when I was growing up and tried to visualize that, and made just a great swing at 18 aggressively with the driver and hit it down there in great shape. I had 162 to the hole and I realized, one-shot lead, Nick had driven the ball in the rough and was short of the green. I wanted to get the ball back to the pin, but a little adrenaline, I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made on 17 and knock it over the green. So I took 8-iron and hung on it a little bit, with the adrenaline pump I didn't want to hit it over the green and I left myself with a challenging putt, 45 feet, or 48 feet somebody said. And it must have broke, you know, eight feet. But once again, here I stood on the 18th green with an opportunity to 2-putt to win a major championship. And I looked forward to that challenge. I said to myself, I took a look at it and I said you know, I'm going to hit a great putt here and lag it down there and said, I might even make this. That was the attitude I had. I took my line and had a nice sense of peace and just aimed it and let it go. I didn't try to steer it, guide it. I just tried to aim the putt and let it go, and it came off the hill just beautifully down just short of the hole, and it was an enjoyable time to sit there and be able to wait. As I say, I was fortunate. Nick played very well and Jeff Sluman played very well in my group, as well. They didn't hole a putt or two. I'm sure Fred and Jay Haas and Ben Crenshaw all played outstanding rounds. I feel very blessed and I feel very fortunate to have won, but I've been in that spot a few times and I got a reward today. Q. It looked on 17 like you thought it went in, how often does that ever happen that you kind of react like that before the ball goes into the hole? D.A. WEIBRING: Not too often. I thought I hit a good -- what I was happy with was the speed of the putt I hit. I did hit a good putt up the hill but didn't think it was going to get in there way right. Not sure how it hung in there, but it did. I'm sure my facial expression showed that. I was, oh, my, that's all you can say. In this game, we hit so many shots, so many putts and chips, that we think we hit perfect, and they don't work out. And we always wonder. And then I guess maybe we are supposed to feel guilty when one goes in and we don't do it. I just thought, hey, that was a great break. I've got a bad break on the second shot and thank you very much and I'm moving onto 18, you know. I thought Nick would obviously hole his putt there and got away from him. That's a very difficult putt coming down the hill. Speed and line here are very, very challenging. It was a short distance but very hard putt. Q. You looked like you got some emotion going when you were talking on the 18th there on TV, I was wondering if you could maybe speak to that, without getting emotional again. D.A. WEIBRING: I tend to be -- I think the older we get, I've always been a little bit emotional, but it's meaningful for me. Talking about the note I had in my pocket and the texts I had from my kids and the support I had; but yeah, I can't help it. It wouldn't be worth it if you didn't have someone to share it with. That's kind of the way I feel about it. And to have that chance to win, just win in general, I feel like I've worked hard on my career and as I told you yesterday, I wasn't a guy coming out of college that was pointed to: This guy is going to make it on TOUR, and I had to make my way all the way through. I feel like I had a good career on the regular TOUR and feel like I was a real consistent player, and I feel like I didn't win enough. You guys measure people on how much they win and if they win majors. And so I've tried not to let that bother me. You kind of measure your own self, do you give your best; do you work hard; do you provide for your family, all those things. But I do get inspired when my kids sense that extra motivation. When my son was coming up, I went though an injury and had surgery in '89 and '90, and my son was worried because he heard people talking in the galleries that, oh, he's hurt and he's going to lose his card. He was old enough to understand. And I saw him one day laying on the floor and he said, "Hey, Dad, if you win a tournament, where would you go on the Money List?" I wondered why all of a sudden that got his attention. I said, "Matt, I tell you what, what are you talking about?" He says, "Dad, I want you to win. I want you to win a tournament." It's pretty bold when your son shares that with you. I said, "Okay, I'll deal with it. What are you going to do on your side? What about your grades and your athletics. We'll have a little trade-off. But I promise you that I'll win next year." And I won in '91. I was Come Back Player of the Year and that was motivation from him. So I'm real proud of him because he's worked very hard. He's on the edge of getting his card to play the PGA TOUR. He's 17th on the Money List on the Nationwide Tour. Has not come easy to him. He was a two-time All-American and it's tough for a young guy maybe carrying a little bit of extra expectation. Through his wife who now counsels us a little bit and my daughter, Katey, she's a professional dancer, she texted me this morning and shared some thoughts. Allie, my youngest who is a junior at the University of Oklahoma has always told me -- when the kids were young -- (inaudible) -- you always pretend that if my daughter was here, and she had her big marker, she could draw a line from my ball to the hole. So forever, she's 21 now, I'd say, what color today and of course she goes, crimson or it's white. But she'll give me a color. I tell you, as I saw the putt on 18, and I saw a lot of putts, and I read mine going up there, to kind of impede the ball down, and if you make it more personal and fun rather than what the consequences are, then you have a better chances to perform. And that's my whole goal was to just play my game and hopefully it fell into place and I feel very blessed that it did. Q. Is your daughter-in-law a psychologist or just a positive person? D.A. WEIBRING: No, she's not. She's just a real positive person. Steph, they dated throughout college and been married a couple of years. She really did not come from an athletic family and didn't know anything about golf for sure. But she's taken such an interest obviously in her husband, and I just realized this a few weeks ago, that she would text him every day, and even during a little practice session, what are you going to focus on today, what are your intentions. And Matt's worked with different sports psychologists. He worked with Neal Smith in the off-season, and she got real tuned into what Matt was working on and tried to keep him on the right track. I got a kick out of it a few weeks ago where I heard she was doing this and then she texted me, here are your intentions for the day; I got a couple little notes. It means so much that they will take the time to do that. I complimented her that she should be an assistant captain for a Ryder Cup Team. She was joking some of the things she was telling Matt when he was playing in Salt Lake a couple weeks ago was the same thing Zinger was telling the guys on The Ryder Cup team. We were joking about it. I didn't receive anything from her all this week. We talked a couple of times and then this morning my phone buzzed and I got my little intention this morning. Just real positive, straightforward stuff. I read it two or three times today. Q. Can you share it? D.A. WEIBRING: It's basic stuff, play with confidence and enjoy being in that position. Both Matt and I tried to play a little more athletic, when you get a little nervous, but just straightforward stuff. It's more meaningful that she took the time to think about her father-in-law. I think I looked at it a couple times on the front nine. I think I was taking a look at it walking up the 16th. Just put a smile on my face. I just wrote it down on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket. My dad used to give me swing thoughts and I would write it down and put it in my left pocket. My son, Matt, at the U.S. Open when I had a chance to win with eight holes to go in Boston, I got sick the first day and it was Father's Day weekend. And Matt was seven or eight years old and I was debating on going to the first tee that Thursday morning. And all of a sudden, I felt a tug at my pants on the putting green, and it says, here, dad, maybe this will make you feel better. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Congratulations. End of FastScripts |
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