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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS


January 4, 2012


Jonathan Byrd


KAPALUA, HAWAII

CHRIS REIMER:  We'll start off real quick, just welcome our defending champion back to the Hyundai Tournament of Champions here.  What's it like returning as the defending champion?
JONATHAN BYRD:  It's just a good feeling.  You know, this is the fifth time I've been on‑‑ actually it's not the fifth time.  One of my tournaments I didn't get to defend.  But fourth time.  It's just a good feeling.  You know, ever since walking in the airport when we finally got here to Maui, seeing the signage up and my son looking at the picture of me pumping my fist, and he looked at me and he said, "Dad, I think you're famous."  I said, "At least for this week I am."  But he's seen my picture all over the place around the hotel and golf course and everywhere, so that's been fun.
Those are great memories to relive.  It doesn't happen that much for most of us mortals, so you want to enjoy that.  They're just good memories as a family.
But other than that, I was able to get on the golf course on Monday, see the golf course, and out there a little bit yesterday.  The course is in better shape than last year, running faster.  You get out there and you just get excited to get the year started.  Before you get here, it's hard to get worked up to go again because you're at home and you like being home.  But once you get here, you're ready to go.
CHRIS REIMER:  I was putting the media guide together, and actually you have the lowest scoring average at this course of anybody with eight or more rounds.  What is it about this course that you like or fits your game?
JONATHAN BYRD:  Well, I just enjoy it.  I think it's one of those tournaments where it's the first tournament of the year, you've got wide fairways.  That's great because everybody has got a little rust in their game, and we're not quite tournament shape ready, most of us.  So you need a little bit of room for error.  But also, you know, you've got to‑‑ in order to play well here, you've got to score well and you've got to have good touch around the greens, because with the wind and the slope and everything, conditions change pretty quick, so you have to be able to adapt.
I enjoy that part of it.  That helps me not get mechanical when it's that way.  You've got to adjust to the lies and the wind, and I just think that's fun.

Q.  I just want to ask you this about defending this particular title:  It seems like because of the small field that this might be the, quote‑unquote, easiest to defend just because of that, and obviously there have been several multiple defending champs.  Do you feel that way?  Do you feel like if you're ever going to defend a tournament, this would be the one to do it?
JONATHAN BYRD:  I don't think it's easy to defend any tournament.  The guys that win multiple‑‑ Stuart Appleby, Ogilvy, the ability to be able to defend a tournament and win multiple times, even if it's a course you always play well, it's difficult.  It's mentally difficult, because you have expectations, and it's just kind of managing all that.  The guys that do it, great job.  But I mean, yes, it helps.  28 guys in the field I think is the number?  It's a lot easier to beat 28 guys than it is to beat 144 or 156.  I mean, my son could figure that out, and he's five.
So yeah, I mean, that's great.  And then a course you enjoy playing, so that all adds to it.  But I mean, my approach last year when I got in playoffs, I told people, the worst I'm going to do is finish second in a playoff, so that helps you with your mindset going into the week.  This tournament the worst you're going to do is finish 28th.  You've got a top‑30 finish at the start of the year.
But it's a good opportunity.  You're going to get four rounds in, you know you're going to knock some rust off, and yes, I'm trying to have a great week this week, but I'm trying to keep it simple.  I'm not thinking about winning, I'm thinking about taking care of the things I need to take care of, and hopefully that gets me in contention with nine holes to go.

Q.  The kind of mindset to go ahead and win, have that first one of the year, like the first week, for the rest of the year you've got that in your back pocket already, what kind of feeling is that?  Does it allow you to play a little more freer?  You don't feel that pressure of I've got to win this year, I've already got one?
JONATHAN BYRD:  The 11th year on TOUR, the two things that have, I guess, given me the most security or been the best feelings or boosts to my seasons was winning here last year, the first tournament of the year.  I've always won kind of towards the end of the season, whereas just like it was stressful, stressful and then I won, and it was like, "whew."  Winning the first tournament of the year, it's like, wow.  It really doesn't get much better than that.  Going to Sony and you've already won a tournament, when 75 percent of the TOUR or 85 percent of the TOUR hasn't even played yet.
And then secondly winning tournaments, having two‑year exemptions, or three‑year, it just kind of sets you up when you get that schedule and you're in the majors.  It sets you up.  Now you're in them and you can set your schedule, and you can't win a major if you're not in them starting the year.
Those types of things do give you a little more freedom.  But it doesn't guarantee that you're going to have a free‑wheeling mindset.  I've still gone into tournaments when everything is set up, when my year is set up, and I still get in my own way.  So you still have to kind of guard against that, and still, when you approach a tournament, you have to approach it the same way, whether you're having a bad year or a good year, and then that tends to breed the best results.

Q.  Players always tend to have specific goals at the start of the year and they can be winning a major or playing better in tournaments.  Are there things for your agenda this year that you want to accomplish that you haven't?  You said 11 years on TOUR.  Is it majors?  What's on your agenda for the season?
JONATHAN BYRD:  Well, there's some things that are obvious.  I'd be stupid not to want to play on the Ryder Cup team.  Who wouldn't want to win a major?  Who wouldn't want to win any tournament on the PGA TOUR?  I mean, those are obvious goals.  I don't have to write that down to get motivated to do that.
But there's‑‑ when I sit down with my team and we think about, look at my stats, look at last year's season, there are three things that kind of stood out that I need to improve on statistically, and those are the things I try to‑‑ statistical goals and kind of mindset goals.  I want to have a little more easy‑going, lighthearted attitude on the golf course.  That helps me play well, to be a little more cheerful and lighthearted.
And then secondly, I want to improve my par‑3 performance.  This is going to sound really boring.  This is not headline material.  But I want to improve my par‑3 performance, which is kind of a strategy goal.  And then I want to improve my scrambling percentage and I want to improve my putting from 10 to 25 feet, and if I do those things, I'll play better this year than last year.

Q.  Is there a different kind of strategy, playing smarter, playing away from pins, playing toward pins?
JONATHAN BYRD:  If you look at stats for guys on par‑3s, most guys play them way over par, and I think it's the mindset when you get on a par‑3, you're on the tee box, you've got a perfect lie.  Whether it's 225 yards, I think there's a tendency to hit it at the flag a little too often.  So my mindset is if I have probably a 7‑iron down or a 6‑iron down with a good pin that I feel like I can be aggressive with, then I will go at that pin.  Otherwise I'm going to try to hit a lot of shots in the middle of the green and make a lot of pars.

Q.  We talked about with Keegan earlier when you talked about improving on something, and a lot of players, if they're feeling awkward or feeling like they're not getting what they need out of their game, I'm going to change this, change my swing, change that.  You seem to have had the same swing and the same improvement attitude.  Is that kind of the wave of the future for pros that want to play well?
JONATHAN BYRD:  Well, I appreciate that.  I haven't always on the surface approach it that way.  I work with Morris Pickens, who is a golf psychologist, and I work with Mike Bender and I work with Randy Myers on physical, golf swing, mental.  We've just the three last years tried to keep as many constants as possible to be able to manage a career.  With golf swing, to work on the same things, have the same tendencies, and then physically have the same things that keep popping up, and then mentally.
So the more things that we can keep constant, the better, and I'm a guy who will do anything to get better, but that can be a risk if you're changing too many things, whether it be equipment or golf swing or things like that.
So that's really helped me.  I've been injury‑free for pretty much the last three years.  That's helped.  You can't play well here when you're injured because it's just difficult.  And then also just to have gotten good ball‑striking‑‑ I've gotten good at every category, so now it's just kind of managing that and keep working on little things and getting better slowly.
And I think, yes, that is the‑‑ that is what the best athletes, the best people in any business, any profession do, they simplify it to something kind of manageable and then they do just this well and not try to do all these things well if that makes sense.

Q.  We just had Keegan in here.  I was just curious what you thought of the rise of the 20‑somethings, how they obviously had a great year last year and almost as many wins as the guys in their 30s.  What do you think of that going forward and the future of golf, that type of thing?
JONATHAN BYRD:  Well, I feel like I keep bringing up my son, but my kids give me great entertainment.  My son's nickname for me, he looks at me and he calls me "old man."  And not kind of like you say, hey, old man, like that.  He just has a different tone.  He's like, "hey, old man."  And I feel like that sometimes out here.  I mean, I'll be 34 in January, and just kind of the youth movement, it gets you motivated, it gets you working hard, which I appreciate that part of it.
But it's almost one of those things, you get a lead in a golf tournament, you don't want to look back, you want to keep focusing, and there's a part of me that doesn't want to look back at some of the guys coming up because they're good and they're talented and they're athletic and they hit it a mile.  The best thing for me to do is to try to not go looking for something that's not there that those guys may have that I don't have and just kind of keep focusing on what I can do and not look back.  But there's a lot of talent behind me, or in front of me.

Q.  Just one thing about being here in Kapalua.  There's a tendency to want to do things because it's a great place, you've got your kids here and so forth.  But Ogilvy hurt himself last year, Adam Scott had an injury here before.  What do you like to do here and what are you specifically trying to stay away from?
JONATHAN BYRD:  Well, my kids, we got the same room as we did last year, not from superstition, but we were on the bottom floor of the hotel.  We're on the bottom floor, we're right next to the playground and right next to the kids' pool, and that's kind of what my kids are loving.  My kids don't love the ocean.  It's too rough for them.  They haven't got into snorkeling or paddle boarding; they're too young.  One of my agents is taking his kids zip lining, and my kids aren't quite that age yet.
I still can get hurt.  I tweaked my ankle a couple weeks ago with my son playing football, flag football with him and his friends, but once the tournament season starts, I'm kind of being a little more careful with things.  But we love going to the pool.  We love walking down the beach, playing in the sand, and just kind of hanging out at the hotel.
And what things am I avoiding?  I've never surfed.  I mean, that would be idiotic for me to try to get on a surf board or to paddle board‑‑ I'm going to paddle board next week when it's a little calmer.  I'm adventurous, but I try to be a little level‑headed on that.

Q.  Do you like the Monday finish, or does it really matter to you?
JONATHAN BYRD:  I think it's cool.  I mean, we're always trying to look for the best product and get the most viewership, and I think‑‑ when I talk to my friends at home, they love this tournament because they watch it at night, and what better way to finish the golf tournament right before that football game.  I think it's a win‑win for everybody.
CHRIS REIMER:  Jonathan, good luck this week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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