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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP


August 10, 2012


Blake Adams


KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

Q.  Even par round in these conditions, you're way ahead of the game.
BLAKE ADAMS:  Absolutely.  It played very, very tough today obviously with the wind from my very first hole, a 9:10 tee time, so it was already pumping by the time I pegged it in the dirt.  I rolled around that back side with eight pars and a birdie, which is pretty doggone good in my book.  Made some putts, missed some putts, let two slip away there at the end, just a short one for par at 7.  I three‑putted.  Third three‑putt in two days, which isn't great.  But under the windy conditions you have to kind of expect some of those things to happen.
All in all, satisfied.  I shot even par on a very, very tough day.

Q.  You're the only guy who made it through 15 holes without a bogey.
BLAKE ADAMS:  Oh, yeah?

Q.  I mean, this is now your second major here in a row that you've been on that board and put yourself in contention.  Do you feel more and more comfortable each time you get up there?
BLAKE ADAMS:  I always do.  I always expect to play well, no matter if it's the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship or the John Deere Classic.  It doesn't matter.  I play against the best players in the world every single week, and if I didn't feel like I could win, I wouldn't show up.  I work hard, I practice hard, so I expect to play well when I do tee it up.  I've always had, I guess, a track record to play the harder courses better, the Open, this, on tough, tough days like today.  Hopefully the wind will blow hard the next few days, and we'll see.

Q.  And the next few hours?
BLAKE ADAMS:  I hope it pumps the next few hours, because it was pumping at 9:10 this morning.  I wore out the grooves in my 4‑iron all day today, which was not how I kind of planned on playing around this golf course.  The course is playing really long.

Q.  Was that just to keep it out of the wind?  Were you using that off the tee?
BLAKE ADAMS:  No, that was my approach shots on the par‑4s and whatever.  I'm hitting driver, 4‑irons into these par‑4s.  It played tough today.  My goal when I got up and saw that the wind was motoring was to try to play bogey free.  I did it for 15 holes, which is pretty good, and I was trying to play old man par, just make 18 pars, and if I made a birdie, great; if I didn't, I'll take even par.  I let those two slip away out there, but like I said, all in all, not a bad round.

Q.  On a day like this when you're grinding to not let one slip away, especially with the short putts that are probably getting moved around a little bit‑‑
BLAKE ADAMS:  I mean, every shot you have to really, really focus and grind over.  There are no gimmes on a day like today.  I had one or two that were inside a foot that the ball is wobbling and I'm moving and I'm a pretty big 'ole boy, and that wind is moving me pretty good.  You really have to concentrate on every shot and add them up at the end.

Q.  How much did the wind affect chipping and putting for you?
BLAKE ADAMS:  It was really, really affected.  Obviously the putts that were dead in your face, the ball was just check and stop, the ones that were downwind would just keep going.  The crosswinds were difficult to play, wind break over green break a lot of times.  You really have to think around the golf course.  You have to expect to hit bad shots on a day like today.  I just tried to hit it and go find it and hit it and go find it again.  You've just got to take it shot by shot, which is a lot easier said than done.

Q.  Vijay shot 69.  How good is that on a day like this?
BLAKE ADAMS:  Yeah, I don't know what‑‑ that's a tremendous score.  I assume that the wind was blowing on his first hole, too.  I mean, to be anything in red numbers is a great, great score.  Folks watching on TV back home I don't think realize how good that 69 is because there's a lot of‑‑ like a lot of pins that you can't even sniff getting even close to, so you're just banking on 40‑footers, and your lag putts are very, very tough to judge, and I don't know how many greens or fairways he hit, but obviously he hit a lot.

Q.  You got a bogey on 8 and a lot of people have been complaining about 8 today, the par‑3.  Was that‑‑
BLAKE ADAMS:  That was pretty tough, but I mean, so was‑‑

Q.  What happened?  Where did you go?
BLAKE ADAMS:  I hit it a little too high, and the wind just gobbled it up.  I was pretty short.  I had a pretty straightforward pitch shot, but I was up a slope into the wind, and I just didn't hit it long enough.  I was more worried about long than I was short, and just hit a good putt, but it didn't go in.  Making par there is tough.  14 and 17 are no joke, either.  The other one on the front side, I just ripped 4‑iron, it was dead in my face, and in the practice round I was hitting 7‑irons and 8‑irons in.  It's just a different ballgame out here today.

Q.  You might be closer to the top 10 by the end of the day if things keep going like this.  What's the game plan for the weekend?
BLAKE ADAMS:  Just fairways and greens.  I'm a pretty laid back guy.  Just an easy approach.  Just try to simplify things like I have the first two days, like I do every week.  It doesn't matter.  Like I said, yes, this is a big, big tournament, but to me it's just another tournament, so just go out, work hard, do my job tomorrow, and see where I end up.

Q.  Does playing on a day like today wear you down?
BLAKE ADAMS:  I think if you let it, it definitely will.  It was a long, long day.  It was a six‑hour round today.  It took forever to play.  But you can't let it.  You've just got to stay focused, take nothing for granted, even with the tap‑ins or one‑footers.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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