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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN


March 28, 2012


Kyle Stanley


HUMBLE, TEXAS

JOHN BUSH:  We'd like to welcome Kyle Stanley here in the interview room here at the Shell Houston Open.  Kyle, what a great start to the year you've had.  Just talk a little bit about your season up to this point, including your win in Phoenix.
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah.  It's been great.  You know, I've tried to be a little bit more process oriented this year than maybe last year and kind of focus on maybe some weakness in my game, kind of what I've been doing.
The win early was nice.  I'm not sure I expected to go out and get one that quickly, but it was good and, you know, just really just trying to get better.
JOHN BUSH:  Making your second start here at this tournament and you're coming off a little bit of a break.  Talk about how refreshed you are right now.
KYLE STANLEY:  I played eight out of the first nine weeks.  I was pretty tired.  Tampa, I took Tampa off, didn't touch a club, went up to Pittsburgh a couple times.  I saw the tournament games up there.  I got back to practicing the second week.
JOHN BUSH:  Questions.

Q.  Kyle, obviously we haven't seen you.  You moved on.  Can you take us through the emotions of what you've been through this year and a tough loss and come right back and get the win, that's all been like for you.
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah.  As far as emotions go, you know, couple weeks are kind of a blur, you know, especially -- you know, San Diego -- I probably wouldn't go back and change anything about it.  I think I learned a lot about myself, you know, and my golf game, and, you know, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to respond to that.  But, you know, I wouldn't really change anything about it.  I think it was really good for me, and I think it definitely made me a tougher player.

Q.  Then to come back and do what you did the following week.
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah, to come back was great.  You know, I'm not sure what was better, being able to bounce back like that or winning the tournament.  I mean, it was nice, but, you know, I played so well in San Diego, and, you know, my game wasn't going to go anywhere the following week.  I think the only thing holding me back was mentally I didn't get past what happened in San Diego.  Just try to move on from it quickly, and I knew I was playing good golf.  That was the main thing.

Q.  Kyle, how much are you thinking about Augusta?  And I know you kind of have to keep your mind on the tournament at hand.  You find yourself sort of thinking as you size up shots out there, "I might see something like this next week"?
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah.  You know, actually I spent Sunday, Monday, and yesterday at Augusta, so got some good work in.  But, you know, I hadn't -- that was really the first time I've seen the golf course since college.  I think we went down there maybe my sophomore year.  But yeah, I got some good work in, definitely tried to recreate situations, spots maybe I'll be in during the tournament.  But, you know, that's I think the biggest thing is -- on that golf course is just getting your ball in the right position to those pins.

Q.  Anything about this one sort of remind you of that one?
KYLE STANLEY:  I don't know.

Q.  Not really?
KYLE STANLEY:  Not really.

Q.  Getting in the week of playing versus how this course plays in terms of how it helped your preparation for Augusta?
KYLE STANLEY:  Say that again.

Q.  For you it's more a matter of just getting in a week of play somewhere as opposed to --
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah.  You know, last year is the only year I played here, but, you know, the greens were great, they're fast.  I think just the condition of the golf course is probably pretty similar.
But yeah, I think -- I didn't really want to take three weeks off, you know, going into Augusta, I really like the golf course here, and so I thought about playing this week, might be able to get just a little -- get some good momentum going into next week.

Q.  Kyle, how much is what you've been through this year, the ups and downs, how much do you sense when you're out on the course it changed you in maybe the way you look at things?  You said it could only make you stronger when you go through things like that.
KYLE STANLEY:  Yeah.  I think, you know, it was really kind of just a big growth opportunity for me.  I'm not sure I feel any different out on the golf course, you know, now than I did then.  I mean, it's obviously nice when -- it's obviously nice when you win.  I think there's maybe a little bit more of a sense of, you know, feeling like you belong.  But other than that, I'm really just the same guy.  Nothing really changed about how I approach being on the golf course.

Q.  I saw in your bio you had 6,000 new Facebook friends.  What has the support been like for you on Tour and outside Tour?
KYLE STANLEY:  Well, I'm not sure about Facebook.  I think it's Twitter, like this the couple weeks was kind of cool, actually.  The support has been great.  I think that's really ultimately what got me through those couple weeks.  People I didn't even know, my family, friends, and just the team of people I have around me, I kind of really, really relied on them and that's what got me through that.

Q.  Kind of off topic a little bit, but I know, do players look at the schedule every year?  How much do the courses kind of govern where you want to play?  For instance, I know in a couple weeks, the Texas Open is being played at the new Greg Norman course.  It didn't rank real high in this Golf Digest poll.  Kevin Na hit a 16 there last year.  Do players look at a course like that, is it an intimidation factor, probably not the right word, do courses kind of govern where you're thinking of playing every year?
KYLE STANLEY:  Last year being my rookie season, I hadn't seen a lot of these golf courses.  So it was kind of my first go-around.  But, yeah, this year, lot of based on my schedule.  You kind of find out what courses you like, which ones you don't, which ones suit your game well, which ones don't.  And that's kind how -- at least for me, that's kind of how I set my schedule.

Q.  Have you been to San Antonio to that course?  Did you play last year?
KYLE STANLEY:  I did.

Q.  What were your thoughts?  You didn't have a Kevin Na moment.
KYLE STANLEY:  Great tournament, very difficult golf course.  Very windy last year, and, you know, hitting mid irons into some of those green complexes was very difficult.

Q.  Are you pretty much of a stay-in-your-own-sort-of-world kind of guy, or have you been kind -- have you been sort of watching the way some of the top players are going to be firing off and playing really well right now?  You've got Rory doing what he's doing, leading the Masters, and Westwood has won four times in a year, and Tiger won last week and all that.  You kind of pay attention to that stuff or are you sort of in your own world as you head into the first Major?
KYLE STANLEY:  It's kind of hard not to notice it or pay attention to Tiger's win last week.  It was awesome, good to see that.  I mean, for the most part, yeah, I don't -- I can only control myself, and, you know, when I'm not playing golf or when I have weeks off, I don't really pay much attention to what's going on.  Try to just kind of get away from it a little bit.
JOHN BUSH:  All right.  Anything else?  Kyle, we appreciate your time.  Play well this week.
KYLE STANLEY:  Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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