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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN


April 3, 2010


Bryce Molder


HUMBLE, TEXAS

JOHN BUSH: Okay. We'd like to welcome Bryce Molder into the interview room. Our co-leader at 10-under par after 54 holes.
Bryce, rough start, couple bogies on your first four holes, but you battled all the day and then you ended there with an all world par. If you can just comment on the day.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah. It was -- certainly a round that if you knew I had slept overnight with the lead and had watched it, you would assume that kind of the nerves got the best and uncomfortable, and part of that is probably true.
It was a tough day. I just couldn't quite find the club in my swing. And so it was just a little off. But, you know, my goal going into the day was to see how many shots I could get aggressive with mentally and get prepared and go hit the shot. And I actually was very happy that I did that quite a bit today and fought and used my putter to kind of hold it in there, and I feel good.
JOHN BUSH: The putter was good on that last hole. Take us through the par on 18.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah. 18, I was just finally getting some momentum hitting the ball and felt really -- you're never going to feel comfortable on that tee, but felt like -- I felt good. I hit it and looked up and it looked pretty good. It was turning a little left.
At that point I knew the water was probably where it was going to end up being.
That being said, you know, my goal is to step up there and commit to a shot and hit it. And I did that. I actually take some confidence -- not very often you take confidence hitting it in the water. It was a good swing.
Then I dropped it on the side of the hill with a 6-iron and hit it to 15 feet. And with the way the day was going, just kind of know when I've got some momentum with my putter, I just tend to make those putts. I actually said that to my caddy. I said, I don't even know which way this is breaking, but this is the kind of putt that I usually make (laughter).
I'm not even -- not because I'm so clutch or something. No. You just kind of know that kind stuff. It's just kind of the way momentum goes. It was good feeling. Left side of the hole caught it. Not that I'm any kind of prophet fit or anything.
JOHN BUSH: Questions.

Q. You talked about how maybe sleeping on a lead -- what do you think it does for you to have had a day like this where you fought through that and at the end of the day, you're still in a good position?
BRYCE MOLDER: A day like today can only help. You know, the tough thing to come back from is the days where nothing goes wrong, when you do everything well, and that's why I talk about guys that shoot 63, 64, 62. It's hard to come back because you didn't have to face any kind of adversity. And I did throughout the round.
My goal is to -- I knew over the last two days, I was going to face some times where it didn't feel very good, where I was uncomfortable out there and hit some poor shots and all you can do is just be ready for that, handle it as well as you can.
Luckily, like I said, my putter kind of held me in there. I always kind of know that if I can just kind of get it going the direction I want it to go, then I'm usually going to be okay.

Q. Talk about the playability of the course in terms of you're punished for poor shots, but it seems like you can also --
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah, it's a very good golf course from the fact the wind blew 15 to 20 the last two days. It was very playable and very tough. Then today, the wind didn't blow very much, but it was still a very challenging golf course, as you could see from the scores were just -- not great, but I think it's a golf course that will set apart who is playing well, and, you know, the staff has done just a great jobs.
These greens are absolutely perfect. It's perfect, like you said. It rewards good slots and it punishes bad shots. It does a really good job with the wind switching around a little bit. Does a really good job of making you uncomfortable on at least three or four tee shots a day, no matter what the wind is doing.

Q. As a Georgia Tech grad, did you get to play Augusta much?
BRYCE MOLDER: We played once a year while in school within the rules of the NCA, that the coach could take us over there because we were within the state of Georgia. So I've been there four times, played it, and, you know, I'd love to get back there some day and play. That's way out there.

Q. That was the other part. It's only a round away.
BRYCE MOLDER: It's only a round away. You know, this is actually good therapy for me just to keep repeating this because I just said it a few minutes ago, but the guy I worked with, the sports psychologist this year, was about the process and nothing else. Getting committed to the process and that's it. Let go and play, and wherever it goes, deal with it.
That sounds so simple, but that's all it is. I want to get on the first hole and commit to my line and shot and let it go, and wherever it goes, it goes. I'm actually getting closer to getting there, but, you know, Augusta I'd be lying if I said it wasn't, you know, in the back of my mind. Wouldn't just be a huge thrill. That's a lot of steps away.

Q. What specifically like wasn't working for you or do you feel like you had today?
BRYCE MOLDER: I didn't drive the ball very well, and particularly I -- for the last two weeks, I've been playing a little bit of a draw, and the draw wasn't working very well. And I'm actually, I'm kind of in a little transition going back to playing my fade, which is what I like to play. But when you're not sure, it's difficult.
And so I tinker around with some different swing thoughts and some shots out there while I'm playing until something feels good. It took a little before something felt good. And so that was the biggest thing. I even made a bogey or two without really making any bad swings.
I think part of that just being a little uncomfortable, and a little bit is just the golf course. It kind of presses on you and presses on you, and you hit some marginal shots and you end up in a bad shot.

Q. The wind a good bit less today and the greens so good, why don't you think the scores were lower?
BRYCE MOLDER: You know, I don't think the greens were much more firm. I don't think they were faster. I don't even think that the pin placements were that much more difficult. I think that -- I think you get used to a wind direction after a day or two. You'll see if the wind blows 21 direction all four days, the scores will get a little lower because you start getting comfortable with your lines off the tee and club selection.
And I think the hard part today was there was about three different wind directions, and even blowing a maximum of ten, it was switching a little bit. So sometimes it's actually tougher if it's a 5-mile an hour breeze and you're not sure which direction it's going than a 20-mile per hour breeze and you know exactly where it's going.
I was surprised that the scores weren't a little lower. There are some stretches where I can make some shots.
JOHN BUSH: All right. Let's go through the card real quick. The bogey on 3, Bryce.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah. I haven't gotten that hole yet, but I hit a hybrid off the tee and I hooked it a little bit. Went in the water, actually made a good bogey.
The next hole, par 5, I hit a pretty good tee shot. Really uncomfortable second shot because there's not a good place to miss it. I left myself with really, really hard bunker shot and 3-putted from about 50 feet.
The next hole is one of the tougher holes of the day, No. 5. I hit a really, really good drive there and a good 6-iron and made about a 20-footer.
No. 8, par 5, I hit a good drive, missed it just a little short of the green and hit a wedge up to about 4 feet.
No. 9, like I just talked about, I actually hit a really good hybrid and didn't know the wind was blowing as hard as it was and as much into our face as it was. Came up short. Didn't make a good chip. Made bogey.
Number 10, threw it off the tee, sand wedge in to about 15 feet and made it.
No. 12, short par 4, I hit a driver. Pin was in the front. Hit a good flip wedge up there to about 5 feet and made it. And turned around, once I got some momentum there, and played probably 6 bad shots on 13. Drove it in the fairway bunker, par 5, and fatted it out and left it short, and just altogether just a really ugly 6 bogey.
Then I hit a really, really good 6-iron. I was between a 5 and 6-iron on No. 16, and thought short is better than long, and hit it just perfectly and landed just on the front edge, trickled up to 4, 5 feet and I made it.
JOHN BUSH: Bryce, tomorrow should be fun. Play well.
BRYCE MOLDER: Thanks a lot.

End of FastScripts




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