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RBC HERITAGEApril 16, 2014Nick FaldoHILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA JOE CHEMYCZ: We'd like to welcome Nick Faldo, the 1984 champion to the interview room. Nick, looking at the results, and you haven't been here since 2006. So welcome back. NICK FALDO: Well, time flies. JOE CHEMYCZ: Talk a little bit about your preparations for this week and your expectations. NICK FALDO: Well, I drove here and so I'm ready. That's it (laughter). Preparation is slim. I'm doing everything on‑‑ all on fond memories at the moment, trying to gear myself up a little bit as a golfer. But between my TV schedule and other things, it's kind of like start preparation on a Monday. I'm looking forward to it. This idea came to me I guess the end of last year. I've got to. I tried Muirfield and enjoyed it. Injuries stopped me, so I'm trying to rebuild the body and get a game that's playable. But as I said, I'm out here for three reasons: #FreshAir, #TakingExercise and #Curiosity. Just to see what's in my bones. JOE CHEMYCZ: You had a chance, and you played the Champions Tour event in Mississippi at the end of March, how did that go? NICK FALDO: I played that, yeah, but exactly, my preparation was in China for two weeks. So I flew in and went off to play. So that was quite a good effort. It was good just to get to know‑‑ learn a few things, as always. We're always finding some feelings. So I worked on that a little bit. Had a few decent practice sessions. But then if I get overexuberant, then the shoulders get locked up. So I have to get some really good physio to keep me going. Q. You said one of the things you're out here for is curiosity. Do you miss playing 25 times a year or something like that? NICK FALDO: Well, the problem is as you get older you can't run, jump or throw it as far as you used to. That's the problem, isn't it? So you'd have to have pixie dust, I could play like Nick Faldo used to play, I'd rather be a golfer forever and a day. Things change. You change directions. I was fortunate, I played 29 years or something, which is a lot. Now I'm in my 10th year of TV. But, yeah, hopefully I can‑‑ yeah, as I said, I'm in a good place. This is a good thing. I can go and play. I tried this before a couple of years ago. And as soon as you tee it up, oh, you could do this, you could do that. You've just got to go out, and as I said, just go and play and see what happens. If it's a bad day, it's a bad day. Maybe I can shoot more than a couple of good holes. Q. Why did you decide to come back and play here? Did you have fond memories winning here? And what has changed for you? NICK FALDO: A few things have changed in the last 30 years. I can't think what (laughter). Once I realized it was 30 years. This was the first event I won in America, so I thought that would be pretty cool. And I thought Hilton Head is in theory perfect for me. It's through the trees. It's dead flat. I pick the flat courses now, because I've got dodgy ankles. So I thought, why not? It comes off after the Masters. It's a good run. I'm just trying to squeeze one in. My next season I've got an invite for the Greenbrier, invite to the Scottish Open and then our Open. That's my season, I've got three in a row. From April to July. Q. With the practice day you used to prepare yourself for a PGA TOUR event. Is it possible to bring back the Faldo that used to work harder than anybody else out there getting ready? NICK FALDO: I probably practice one percent compared to what I used to practice. That might not be far from exaggeration. I've seriously got to limit myself, I learned the last few weeks, that if I can warm up with 40 balls, maybe I can do a practice session of a hundred balls. That's fine. Then I go to chipping and putting. I can't stay out there forever anymore. So I better find the feeling quick. But it's interesting, with science your caddie has a mobile phone, he can fill me in on all this sort of thing. You've got a couple of looks at your swing, and so I'm trying to rekindle a few old swing thoughts, yeah. Q. How impressed have you been with how Jordan Spieth has been in the beginning of his career? And then on Sunday how impressed were you? NICK FALDO: Yeah, that's the word, "very impressed". For a youngster‑‑ we use the phrase a lot, don't we, old shoulder on shoulders, maybe‑‑ old head on shoulders. But he says, he did an interview, I believe, with Rich Lerner and he said he's got‑‑ likes to play‑‑ what was the right word now, well, "old school". He likes to play old‑school golf, where so many kids now just aim and fire. And if you're a little smarter than the average player, you realize you don't have to go for everything. You don't hit shots you know you can't pull off, and you move your targets around. I'm impressed watching through television, how he seems to focus in so well, every shot is working to get it close. You can kind of even sense that. I was talking with his caddie and he worked hard that visualization, seeing it all. And he's got no scar tissue. He doesn't have any bad memories, that's the great thing. You just hit a shot and there's nothing in the memory banks right now. Just wait (laughter). Q. Were you able for get out of or did you have to get out of any TV duties on Thursday and Friday? How difficult is it to work around your TV schedule and play? Did you ask out of this tournament? NICK FALDO: No, I don't normally do Thursday, Friday Golf Channel here. I haven't done that in the past. So, you know, hopefully I'm first reserve for the weekend (laughter), just in case. Q. Nick, Jack Nicklaus gave Jordan advice before the tournament. "Hit every shot in the middle of the green and work off of that." He finished in second place, and obviously he's still thinking about that still wondering about that. What advice do you give him after not winning last week to go on to the rest of the season? NICK FALDO: Well, as we say, I don't say, you've got to throw yourself in the deep end without water wings and find out. He did that. That was his goal from October, everything was planned. That interview he gave Saturday night, "That was my intention to be leading the Masters." And he learned from it. Obviously it was a big swing, we know down 8 and 9. And then he couldn't quite‑‑ and then the swing got a little out of tempo. That's the sort of things you'll learn. You'll learn from those feelings in your body and how your body reacts, how you react to your shots, all sorts of things. But that's learning from experience, isn't it? That's the most important thing. He would have felt something in his golf swing that causes those off shots to the right. And that makes you a better golfer, the next time you come back you recognize that feeling. That, oh, I remember that. I was doing this. You work on that so you don't do those things again. Q. To go back, you were asked about TV. Is there a plan B or any discussion in the event that you would be playing late on the weekend? NICK FALDO: Well, Jim likes talking (laughter). I won't hold him back. He can cover for me until I run in. I'm sure there will be a plan B. But we'll worry about that Saturday morning. I'll call Nantz and say, "Hey, guess what?" Q. It sounds like listening to you on television that you are enjoying yourself with this analyst role. Is it something you expected to enjoy as much as it sounds like you are? NICK FALDO: No, I never expected. As I was saying, I did 29 years and thought I'm not going to come to any golf tournaments for another 29 years. And I don't know how it happened‑‑ well, I do know how it happened. I had a go way back at The Open at Troon, Mark Loomis said, do you want to come and try this? I did eight hours with 20 minutes break, eight hours a day, one 20‑minute break. And that was it. That was the start. And I enjoy it. And I hope I can bring the viewer closer to the TV. I hope they go, "What's he talking about?" Q. Golf‑wise, tomorrow and into Friday, what's your goal? You talked about how your game has had to change and it's hard to think ahead for the weekend, but strategically what are you looking at? NICK FALDO: The best goal is to make the cut. That would be‑‑ that requires an awful lot of good, consistent golf. That's the intention. That's the style of this golf course, if you play nicely, you never know what you could shoot. But just go and play and don't scare myself. That's the goal. Just go out and see what happens. JOE CHEMYCZ: Thank you. Play well this week. Appreciate you coming. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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