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July 16, 2009
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Tag Ridings, thanks for joining us after a 4-under par. Maybe some opening comments. Just as we mentioned as you walked in, tied for seventh a couple weeks ago at the Travelers Championship, so maybe your game is moving in the right direction. Maybe some opening comments about a good start to the tournament for you.
TAG RIDINGS: Well, I mean, I haven't gotten off to great starts most the year, so I did at the Travelers and kept it going for four rounds here. That's the plan here obviously.
This is a golf course that I think you need to get off to a good start on because it's either soft conditions and people run away with it, or it's hard conditions and it's hard to make birdies one way or the other.
So I think it's important here to just kind of get off to a good first round and be in the hunt the whole week. I'm really excited about it. I've never really done it here, so it's good to be in contention.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: As far as your conditional status this year primarily, how difficult has that been to get in a rhythm where you don't know if you're gonna be able to play week in and week out.
TAG RIDINGS: It hasn't been tough to predict so much as where we're getting in, but it has been tough to miss some of the really good golf courses, hometown events like the Nelson and the Colonial there. You really want to play there, especially you can sleep in your own bed. It's tough to be laying on the couch 20 minutes away going, Hey.
But outside of that, it's been a little bit come and go with scheduling. Canada looks like I'm an alternate for next week, but somewhat confident that I'll get in there regardless. Top 10 wouldn't hurt to make me feel like I'm definitely gonna get in there.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Okay. Questions.
Q. Where would you rank the conditions as far as the wind as far as other courses you've played this year? Does right up there with some of the more difficult conditions?
TAG RIDINGS: The golf course is not firm yet, but it's getting firm. So I wouldn't call it difficult yet. But the wind is very steady and very strong, especially on 4 and 6. You can't feel it with the wind coming over the tree line left to right, so it's tough to really play for it until you watch the first guy slice it 50 yards right like I did.
But there's some really good wind blowing out there right now. And as far as the wind goes for this year, this is a tough as we've played in any wind this year for wind. At least where I've been.
Q. You talked about getting off to a fast start. Talk about the first nine. You obviously got off to a great start.
TAG RIDINGS: Yeah, my game plan is really conservative here. The greens are so nice. They're probably the best we've seen all year from where I've played. We've seen a lot of good greens, but these are probably running 11 and they're perfectly smooth and very readable, which is always fun.
I'm just going for greens in reg, stay away from the pins. Hit some really nice shots starting out and made some very readable putts. Then I birdie the the two par-5s, so all of a sudden I was 4-under without doing anything but what I'm supposed to be doing.
And then you get on the other side and I made a couple bogeys with the wind really picking up. So the fast start was due to a nice strategy really.
Q. This is obviously a shorter course. Like you said, people can go really low here. This course can also play pretty difficult given the conditions, right?
TAG RIDINGS: Absolutely. If you miss greens here, you're in trouble. There are some pins that are just vicious. Even on the side I shot 4-under on, I had to grind pretty hard on a couple of tough par saves because the greens are very undulating. Even the flat spots you'll have some run-off and some really slippery 3- and 4-footers around.
You really don't want that when you've missed a green to have to it somewhere below the hole trying to find -- you might need to chip it to ten feet to have a decent putt.
Q. Just standing out there, it feels like there's a little breeze but it doesn't feel like it's really blowing, gale force. Is it just the way the wind comes through the trees and funnels down the fairways and stuff like that?
TAG RIDINGS: It is, and that's what make it difficult. If we were in open ground, you would feel that breath on your face at all times and you'd play for it and know it was there and you'd trust it and you'd hit a good shot.
But when you are up there going, I think it's there. I think I want to hit it over there. Makes it tough to make a really confident swing. So that's the hardest thing about it.
It is a good solid breeze, but trusting it is tough because there are several times when you don't feel it at all.
Q. Can you go back a little bit and talk about you mentioned missing some of the courses you really wanted to play and sitting on your couch. Did you watch those tournaments, or did you try to keep the TV off? Did you go somewhere else?
TAG RIDINGS: When I was a little younger I would just turn the TV off and go be mad and do something else and blow off some steam. I'm kind of getting over that. I've got some good friends in those tournaments playing really good, so I'll go, yeah, I want to see what's going on. I turn on the TV for a little bit. I can't watch it all day long.
If I'm not practicing -- which I was practicing quite a bit at that point. I wasn't playing very good at that point in the season, so I had to practice. But when I did, I came home and watched a few hours of it.
Q. What sort of started to turn your season around with the strong showing at the Travelers? What's been going well in your game? Obviously you said you didn't watch very long while you were practicing, but watching, was that motivating?
TAG RIDINGS: Definitely. The motivation is always there for me. I'm kind of a grinder. I've always been at the back of the pack out here. I've never raced out to a big lead out on the west coast.
You know, I've always just been kind of stumbling along trying to catch up. So the motivation has always been there. But I got off -- in some of the practice sessions I brought my video camera out and looked at some alignment issues. That's really kind of been the main thing. Trying to align my lower body to match my upper body, which I guess is important, because it's starting to show results finally.
Q. You feel like you're in a rhythm now with the upper and lower body?
TAG RIDINGS: The results are coming. I need to go work on it a little more on the range. I didn't have quite the steadiness I needed. It's getting better.
Q. You really sliced it 50 yards right on 6?
TAG RIDINGS: Well, the short story, yeah. The long version is I hit a draw up the right side that didn't turnover that got a little higher than I wanted it to and caught the breeze and rode about 50 yards right of my target, which was 30 yards right of the fairway. There's the long version.
Q. Were you in another fairway there?
TAG RIDINGS: I was just middle of the trees. It hit a tree and actually probably kicked left to stay as close as it did.
Q. (No microphone.)
TAG RIDINGS: Not too bad. I had some success from there today.
Q. Can I ask a stupid question? Just about your name, is it a nickname? Are you named after somebody?
TAG RIDINGS: Not after somebody in particular. It's Taggart is the full name, and that's -- it's an English last name, but my mom got it out of the Ayn Rand novel. You'll always get the long story from me if you ask for it.
End of FastScripts
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