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BMW CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 9, 2009Scott VerplankLEMONT, ILLINOIS JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Scott Verplank into the interview room here at the BMW Championship. Scott, great week for you last week, runner-up at the Deutsche Bank. If we can just get you to look back at that week and then also to comment on your preparations for this week's tournament. SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, you're right, last week was a pretty exciting week, really. Disappointed I didn't have a chance to get in a playoff, but I played really good most of the week and struggled a little bit on Sunday but had a really strong finish. So that's kind of what you play for. I kind of had my back against the wall and knew that if I didn't kind of run the table with five or six holes to go I wouldn't have a chance. Tiger does it a lot, but I don't do that that often, so it was pretty cool. JOHN BUSH: And back here at Cog Hill, just thought your thoughts on that. SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, actually I walked the golf course yesterday. I didn't play. I was pleasantly surprised to be honest with you. I didn't think it was as crazy as I though it might be, looking at some of the other redos that we've had for places hoping to have a major. It looks awfully long, like every course that's trying to set a new world record, I think, for longest course ever to hold a tournament. But hopefully our staff will set it up where even little guys like me can play. Q. How tough is it to bounce back so fast after Monday, not just for you but for everybody? Is that an ongoing thing of discussion coming into a tournament so quickly? SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I think that most players would prefer to finish on Sunday last week, just because I was -- it is, it's pretty tough. I mean, it's already Wednesday. It's kind of one of those deals where you lose track of what day of the week it is. I was talking to one of my football coaches, buddies, yesterday, driving out here, and I said, "Yeah, it's kind of like playing a Sunday night game and then you've got a Thursday night game." You've got no turnaround so you don't have any time to waste; you've got to get prepared for your next opponent, which sits out here at about 9,000 yards long. (Laughter.) You go from playing the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night and you've got the Steelers on Thursday. That's about how it is. You don't have a lot of time for rest and relaxation. Q. In terms of facing the Steelers out here, what were you fearing from what you may have heard, and then what were you pleasantly surprised about? SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I've just seen some of the courses that have been redone with the hopes of getting a major and haven't been all that impressed with most of them. They're all ridiculously long, and the greens are usually not what I would build. But you know, they stayed pretty close to the original design, I think, and the original feel of the golf course. And really, having said that, the tees, the new tee boxes look great, just the whole -- they've spruced everything up. It looks really nice. I'm looking forward to playing today just to see how it plays. Q. Just curious, when you're playing five out of six or whatever this would be for you in terms of weeks how you conserve, less balls after the round, if any at all, fewer before? You said you walked the course yesterday. Would you normally play it? Just slight little things like that just to sort of keep your energy level from going completely down to zip? SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, last week I didn't hit one ball after a round. I just warmed up and went and played and left, kind of on purpose. One, I wasn't feeling good early in the week, but then things were going okay, and I thought, why go to the range and ruin it. (Laughter.) But yeah, yesterday I just didn't feel like I needed to play golf yesterday. I need some days off in between. So I was anxious to see what they had done to the green complexes, so I went and walked about 12 or 14 holes yesterday. Q. The Deutsche Bank people are pretty excited about Labor Day, so I don't see that changing. How would you feel about taking a week off after Deutsche Bank and going Chicago, TOUR Championship? SCOTT VERPLANK: I'd be great with that. It would kind of depend on our football schedule, Oklahoma State. I was a little disappointed last week that we had a tournament during our home opener. But it doesn't matter. I wouldn't mind. We have a pretty good game this week, too, so I wouldn't mind being home, but I'm really thrilled to be here. Q. Did you answer the question? I'm not sure. SCOTT VERPLANK: I think it would be fine. It's better that we at least have a week off before the TOUR Championship. I think that's a good thing. But you would probably get more support from the one or two -- one guy that matters, just play two in a row, then have a week off, then play two in a row. Q. Slocum? SCOTT VERPLANK: I would like that, but my opinion doesn't matter that much. Q. You finished runner-up last week and moved up to 5th. Where did you finish at Barclays, like 9th? SCOTT VERPLANK: 9th at Barclays, yeah. Q. Do you think that's an appropriate movement, taking yourself out of the picture? SCOTT VERPLANK: You know, I've thought about that a lot. That's a great question. I don't know. I've played out here for so long, and say the last 10 years, 10 or 12 years, I've been fairly consistent in the Top 30. But most of the time you go into the fall wanting to play a couple of decent events to make sure you get in the TOUR Championship. Well, you know, this time I really haven't played -- I've really played below par this year, mediocre at best, until the last -- I think I've had five Top 10s in the last two months. But up to that point I played terrible, to be quite honest with you, from my thinking about it. And I guess, I think it's kind of a good and bad deal. Obviously if you play good in the Playoffs, you get rewarded. But I look at like the Money List, I'm still just 30th on the Money List. But my way of thinking for the last 20-something years, I'd have to be grinding pretty hard to get in the TOUR Championship, and I think I'm pretty much a lock now. As far as that goes, I'm excited. But I'm not sure that that's -- maybe that's just the new way, the way things are now. I still haven't quite adjusted to it, but I'm hoping to take advantage of it. I've got two great opportunities here to really make my wife and kids happy. (Laughter.) Q. Going back to the British next year? SCOTT VERPLANK: Absolutely. I couldn't sleep on Monday night because for the first time in about ten years I didn't get to play The Masters, the U.S. Open or the British Open, and obviously I really missed it. So I think next year I'm going to be exempt to all those, so I can't wait. I'm already making plans. Q. You couldn't sleep Monday night because of that? SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, that and just a little jacked up about getting right there close. But you know, that's hard. I never sleep good the first time in a hotel anyway. I don't know about you. But yeah, I thought about that, and that's a big deal. Plus at my age I wasn't sure if I would ever get to play in the Masters again, and now my little five-year-old is going to get a chance to caddie for me. Q. In the tournament? SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, in the whole tournament. (Laughter.) My oldest three kids have all caddied a couple times in the par-3, and now I'm going to get my youngest one, so that's pretty cool. Q. In your stroll around yesterday, did you notice any of the greens that were maybe a little bit more interesting than others in terms of undulations? SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, you know, 18 has been repositioned, and it's a little smaller, or at least I think it's going to play smaller. It certainly looks that way from looking around it and then standing out in the fairway. The front of the green is a little tighter. The water comes in and it's closer. I was back there standing at a couple hundred yards back where I'll probably be, and going, wow, this is a pretty tough shot right here. Not that it wasn't a tough shot before, but it's going to require more of you. If that was their goal, they did it. But like I said, they didn't change things dramatically, which I was happy with. I think the 14th green looks better, that little par-3. 16 is similar. 17 is a little different, but I think it's good. I generally was pleased with what they did. Q. Did you play with Harrington on Monday? SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. Q. What was that experience like being with the Irish guy in Boston? Was he getting a good bit of feedback, to the degree that you pay attention to that stuff? SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, he had a few extra folks out there. But I played with him in the Ryder Cup in Ireland in a singles match, so it was a little subdued compared to that. (Laughter.) But we've played a lot over the past years, and I enjoy playing with him. He's a great guy. We had an interesting day because he got off to a hot start and I got off to a slow start, and then he kind of hit some wild shots, and I kind of came on, then all of a sudden we were at the very end and both of us have been kind of beating our heads against the wall, and we still had a chance. It was an interesting day. I think we both fought hard, and unfortunately the other guy fought just a little harder. Q. Just curious, all these years later, as time has gone by, has your win in this tournament as an amateur become more impressive to you as it gets farther away, realizing what you accomplished? SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I don't know if more impressive is the right word, but it's such a long time ago, honestly. It's like two or three careers ago to me, with all the different stages I've had. Yeah, looking back, what a great experience, I mean, really. It's a neat deal. It's pretty out of the blue. It's one of those deals that obviously doesn't happen very often. And it's kind of a shock, regardless of who you are. It's kind of a shock. Most guys out here I think would be pretty shocked if an amateur came out here and -- maybe won last week or won this week. That's the kind of field that the Western Open had. Anybody that was anybody played in that tournament in the '80s and '90s. It's a great field. It's like some amateur kid coming out here and winning one of these Playoff events. Q. Do you know what you were doing at the time? Were you still -- I know you had all the accolades and NCAA titles and stuff at that time. Were you still a little bit naïve and maybe didn't really understand the magnitude of it? SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah, no doubt about it. That's probably why I won, because I was just playing just like I did all summer. I mean, it was my fourth tournament in a row to win, and I played better the week before. I did. I came in here and said, well, I'd like to play against these guys like I've been playing against these guys my age. Q. What was the week before? SCOTT VERPLANK: Porter Cup. I probably should have -- looking back, I should have known. I had a ten-shot lead at the Porter Cup with four holes to go, and I got bored and bogeyed the last four holes and won by six. So I should have said, you know what, I need to move on. So then I come here and won the tournament. Looking back, if I could have advised myself, I probably would have turned pro. But I don't regret that because I went back to college and had a great time and graduated and accomplished goals that I had set out for myself. But if a kid did that today, I'd advise him to turn pro. Otherwise I'd advise him to stay in school. Q. Leaving early wasn't all that popular a deal. SCOTT VERPLANK: No, it was a $500,000 deal, not a $50 million deal. If it was today, if somebody did what I did 24 years ago, he'd be hitting the jackpot. It's just that times have changed. Q. Did you get a chance to see the 15th hole, and if you did, what do you think your strategy will be on the shortest par-5 out here? SCOTT VERPLANK: You know what, that's the one hole that was too big a hill to climb yesterday. (Laughter.) I wasn't going to do it. I know that hole pretty well. You've got to hit a good drive in the fairway, and then I don't know how much they've changed the green. But hopefully I'll be able to get to it in two. That will be my only chance for birdie. Q. What has Thorpy said to you over the years? I know he's got a big needle. SCOTT VERPLANK: Can't repeat most of the staff. Q. Anything along the signs of you've got the trophy, but I've got the money? SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, that was the deal when we were playing. I mean, I'll never forget when we were walking off the 16th hole, the first par-3 -- or first playoff hole, par-4, it's raining, we both hit it in the fairway. We hadn't talked all day. I'm too shy to talk to the guy, and he's like this big. And I'm like, I hope he doesn't tackle me or something. I just looked over, and I said, "well, you've got your money," because he was going to win the money. He's like, "Yeah, but I want something else." And I went, "Yeah, me too." And that's the last thing we said. He was funny, though. We've had a great relationship. He's a good man. JOHN BUSH: Scott, thanks for coming by. End of FastScripts |
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