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HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2011

Brandt Jobe

IRVING, TEXAS

Q. Brandt, birdies at 2, 3 and 4?
BRANDT JOBE: Yeah, I started out really well. I didn't know what to expect. We had that little north wind and it was cool and hitting in the sun a few shots you didn't see and kinda showed up and birdied holes I didn't expect to birdie, so that's nice out here.

Q. And you were able to cap it off with the nice birdie at the 16th hole. I know you thought that eagle putt was a little faster than it was.
BRANDT JOBE: Well, you know, after watching my playing partner chip it off the green, I thought let's cozy this down, if it goes in, it goes in, great, but I didn't want to leave a 3-and-a-half footer downhill so that was disappointing. I made some good putts today but I hit some bad putts today. That was kinda disappointing. One of those days.

Q. Talk about the condition of the golf course. We had hail damage earlier in the week. How's is rolling?
BRANDT JOBE: You know, the greens were good. I was actually surprised they were as good as what they were, I'll be very honest with you. I thought after the hail damage we were going to just see a lot of bumps and it was going to be difficult but they did a great job out here. The greens were great.

Q. Good start.
BRANDT JOBE: Thank you very much.

Q. Talk about No. 2.
BRANDT JOBE: I don't think you expect to birdie No. 2 or No. 3. I hit a 4-iron in there and I hit it to 5 feet and made that. Then hit driver 3-iron into 3 and made about a 15-footer in there. So those two are surprise birdies. If you made pars there and I gave you par I would never play the hole. So that was a nice way to start the day.

Q. This looks like a day where scoring could be pretty good. The winds are light and receptive, don't you think?
BRANDT JOBE: To be honest with you, I'm surprised the score aren't better. I definitely feel like I left shots out there but 4-under is leading right now and you've got a lot of guys that only have three or four holes left that's on the top there.
It is surprising but I mean, I will be honest, this isn't a -- this is a tough course. If you mishit a shot and you've got a 40 or 50-footer, that's the defense, without the wind. The greens are difficult, they put 'em in some tough spots and sometimes there are difficult places to 2-putt.

Q. And the wind apparently is coming up all week end which I guess you've got to expect around here.
BRANDT JOBE: You should expect 10 to 20 out of the south. (Laughter.)

Q. And I think they're going to see that the rest of the weekend.
BRANDT JOBE: That's how this course plays. Today was very different and I think that's the other thing, too, so different. Clubbing became difficult and I play out here a lot and it was still difficult.
It was like playing a new golf course today and then it will get back to how it normally is with that south wind. And the scores, it's a difficult golf course, this is a big golf course.

Q. And greens will dry up a little bit, too?
BRANDT JOBE: Be firmer, tougher, the pins will be tougher, and we'll be scrambling. And scratching our heads.

Q. Do you think your familiarity dealing with the north wind helped you? That's not the norm?
BRANDT JOBE: Yeah, it's not the norm. No, I think having played here enough I know a little bit where not to hit it and where to hit it and both of those holes I was playing defense with my shot and if it did this, left was okay on 2, and I was even taking it front right on 3 or short. Short, actually, at the green. It just got on the green and rolled up. Knowing the golf course helps a little bit. Sometimes I think it hurts you because you know too much and you know where not to. I'm good at the where not to's.

Q. You talked before you played here a lot, but you have had trouble getting things rolling here tournament week sometimes. Now nice is it to jump up there and be in the mix?
BRANDT JOBE: This is the first year that I can think of that I played when we had the Colonial first and then this, and I kinda got all the family and friends and the -- getting frustrated with myself not playing well.
You want to play well in front of family and friends. By this time this week here you're kinda used to it and maybe that helped because usually I play better at Colonial than Byron Nelson this year, you never know.

Q. You got all the frustration out of the way and now you can relax and play golf?
BRANDT JOBE: I'm kinda numb to it now.

Q. Did you think anything about the greens earlier in the day because of the hail damage?
BRANDT JOBE: I talked to Paul before I started and he was telling me a few of the holes that got affected and that all of them didn't but this went down in a row and pleasantly surprised. Obviously they did a great job and they were probably up all night, all day trying to get this thing ready to go.
If you saw something it may have looked like there was a couple more ball marks, other than that, boy, I tell you what, they did a fantastic job, you just wouldn't have known that that would have happened. Hats off to 'em, we appreciate that.

Q. You guys were able to repair whatever you saw?
BRANDT JOBE: We had a local rule because there is no way to decide is it a hail mark or a ball mark.

Q. When it's golf ball sized hail it's hard.
BRANDT JOBE: They give us the ability to fix all the "pitch" marks on the greens.

Q. Did you have to fix any?
BRANDT JOBE: There was a little more than normal, just certain areas, you know, parts of the greens where it looked like it came down more but I wouldn't say any different than a normal round.

Q. Pin placement, was it -- do you feel like they tweaked any pins today?
BRANDT JOBE: I didn't really notice that they did anything different because they mix 'em up but these are tournament pins. They're tough and maybe that's why the scores aren't better, maybe the pin placements are a little more difficult. And maybe they did use a couple of pins Thursday instead of Saturday and Sunday but overall the course was great.

Q. With your past history here with Byron and everything, what would it mean to keep rolling all the way through?
BRANDT JOBE: It would be huge. For all the guys that live here, anybody when they're playin' in their hometown that's like a Major to us. Anytime you win a Major, that's huge. It would mean a lot but it's early.

Q. I don't want to jinx you.
BRANDT JOBE: Right now it's a good start, and I put myself in a good position in the first round for me. My track record and history hasn't been that great here so I'm going to keep plugging' away and see what we get.

Q. Ball strikin' the best thing you did today?
BRANDT JOBE: Ball strikin' was good today, putting was ordinary at best. A little work on that and we'll get it going.

Q. Thank you, we'll let you get to work.

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