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CROWNE PLAZA INVITATIONAL AT COLONIALMay 20, 2014Jimmy WalkerFORT WORTH, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Jimmy Walker to the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Jimmy, you just got done playing a practice round. I think the front nine, possibly. If you want to talk a little bit about the conditions and your thoughts coming into the week, then we'll have some questions. JIMMY WALKER: I feel good. I hit it really well last week at the Byron at the HP, and I just didn't really putt well. I'm not saying I didn't putt bad, but just didn't make a lot of putts. Got out here today and the greens are rolling really nice. The greens are perfect. I think the cool Texas weather we've had this spring has really made the greens just about as good as I can ever remember. It was windy today. I don't know what the weather's supposed to do the rest of the week, but the golf course is in great shape and looking forward to the week. Q. You mentioned the wind, how tricky is this course when it is windy? JIMMY WALKER: It didn't seem like it was swirling too bad on the front. It was a very consistent direction, so it was very playable. The back, I can't remember if it swirls too much back there, but it feels like the wind was at a pretty constant direction, and you could judge it fairly well. Q. Obviously, this is turning into a breakthrough season for you with where you are in the FedEx and the Ryder Cup and such. What are some of the things you're proudest of? What are your biggest goals going forward that you'd like to clinch, be it Ryder Cup, the FedExCup itself, what have you? JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, I mean, all of that. Being number one at the end of the fourth playoff event would be a goal. Obviously, playing the Ryder Cup, looking at‑‑ I don't know how the whole Olympic deal would shake down. Making the Olympic team would be awesome to be a part of something like that, especially I think it would just be incredible to be part of that experience. So those are just the goals. But just keep playing well. I'd like to win again, maybe again, so that's the plan. Just go out and get in contention and have a chance to win. Q. How many times have you been able to play Colonial throughout your golfing career? Has it been that many? JIMMY WALKER: It really hasn't. I just haven't been able to play the last couple of years. Whether it be fatigue, tired, a little hurt, needing to go home and just rest and relax. I've always had a bunch of qualifiers right around this time for the majors and stuff. So I haven't played this since 2011. I think that was the first time I played it, so it's been a while. But I am a big fan of older designed golf courses, Perry Maxwell. I know this was done a while ago. I think it's a great layout. There are so many bunkers off the tee that look like they're in play, but they're another 90 yards down the fairway. They've got good greens, good green complexes, and you have to think your way around the golf course. Q. As a Texan, is it kind of extra special to play a legendary course like this and obviously one that's tied into Mr.Hogan? JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, I'm from Texas. I do consider myself a Texas guy and wanted to play all the Texas events that I could this year. So I'm not playing a couple that I would normally play to play all of them this year. My schedule has been a little different this year than it has in the past. So it's been about trying to manage and figure out the best golf courses that suit my game, where I need to play, and that type of thing. So I definitely look forward to coming back and playing this year and looking for a good week. Q. What about your game do you feel suits this golf course? JIMMY WALKER: Well, it seems to be a golf course that if you want to score, you need to be in the fairway. The rough is up a little bit, and I know the greens should get a little quicker, little firmer. So the fairways will be a premium. If I drive it well this week, I think I'll play pretty well. I feel like everything is right there and my golf game feels good. I've been putting well and scoring. So it's just a matter of getting out there and doing it, really. Q. I've asked a couple of the other guys this, but I assume it's never a disadvantage to have length off the tee? But at this course it's probably not much of an advantage to be that long here, is it? JIMMY WALKER: I wouldn't say that. It's definitely, with the wind today there were a couple on the front where I hit it down there really far. On No. 2, I think I had 30 yards to the front of the green. I had hit driver on 7, and I had 70 yards to the green and into the wind. If you're hitting a nice, penetrating ball flight, it's definitely an advantage anywhere. The closer you can get, the better, to any golf hole, really. Length is always an advantage, it's just taking advantage of it is the hard part sometimes. Q. You've been the FedExCup points leader for quite a long time now. Do you feel like there is somewhat of a target on your back having the lead for such a long time? It usually goes back and forth a lot during the course of the season? JIMMY WALKER: Yeah, I've had it for a while. Winning three times pretty quick sure gets you out in front. But I've continued to play well. I've had some good top 10 in some big tournaments, and I feel like I'm just right there to knock on the door to try to win again. As far as a target, I don't know. The caddies make a bigger deal out of it than anybody because Andy gets to wear the orange bib every week, and that's his nickname now, Orange Bib. Everybody calls him Orange Bib and Super Caddie. Definitely makes you want to keep playing well. It's nice to see your name at the top, and I think anybody will tell you that. To stay there and to keep increasing the lead is big. I'm not going to play a lot in the next month, month and a half, so who knows what's going to happen. But I can just control what I'm doing, and that is come out here and play good this week and see what happens. Q. Kind of along the same lines, how do you‑‑ when you win that many times in a row, is it tough to take a deep breath? Do you ever relax? You won three straight there pretty fast. JIMMY WALKER: It's definitely been different. You go to the golf course and you expect to play well. You expect to play better. I feel like I'm demanding more out of my golf game now, and it's tough to do. It's tough to play at that high level every week. I just don't. So it's a matter of managing your emotions when things aren't going as well, or when things are going really well, it's about keeping everything pretty much in check. So that's kind of where I'm at with the golf. Just managing things. Like last week I felt like I couldn't get a putt to go in for birdie and started to get frustrated, and probably got to me a little bit more than it needed to. So it wasn't the best‑‑ it wasn't a great week of golf last week, but I felt like I was hitting it well, and just wasn't getting anything out of it. Wasn't scoring, wasn't keeping any momentum when I found it. That is the hardest thing. Keeping all your emotions in check when things aren't going the way you want them to. It's very seldom in golf that they do. So that is the tough part. Q. Andy's last name? I wanted to check with you. And then going forward, you said you're going to play a little less in the summer, but I'm sure both of the Opens are on there. How big is a major in this magical year in your grand scheme of things? JIMMY WALKER: Like trying to win one or just playing in one? Q. Win one. JIMMY WALKER: It would be huge. It was fun playing Augusta. It was a golf course I really enjoyed playing. I felt like it really suits my golf game. I've been told that I would like Pinehurst. The British Opens all seem to be, I don't know. I've only played in one, so I can't attest to them being all the same or different. The PGA Championship, it's always a different kind of style golf course every year with the PGA. So definitely would love to win one. I mean, it would be huge. I've contended well in the last two bigger events, The Masters and THE PLAYERS, and those are golf courses I really enjoy playing. So that always helps. You get to a place and you feel comfortable and you like the tee shots. Nothing really scares you, really. So time will tell on Pinehurst and the British or the Open and the PGA. But definitely looking forward to it. I'm going to take a little time off. I've played a lot of golf, and need a little bit of a break to finish up the rest of the year. We've got a lot of golf coming up starting right before the Open, and it's a big run to the end. So a little time off and rest up and get the body in good shape for that. Q. So is this going to be your open tune‑up, or will you play again between now and Pinehurst? JIMMY WALKER: This is it for me until Pinehurst. Q. Your caddie's last name? JIMMY WALKER: Andy Sanders. Q. Have you ever played Pinehurst, and what are your plans for practice? JIMMY WALKER: I haven't played Pinehurst. My plans are I've got to be in Miami for something on the Friday before the event, and I think I might just go there Saturday. We'll see. I'm not huge on getting to golf tournaments super early, but I may get there and go play a day. May come back for a day, and fly back up with the family. I always like to keep big tournaments kind of the same. It's just another week. Same preparation. I don't like to do anything extra special. It's just golf. You go out, you see the shot, you hit it, and go try to make the putt. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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