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AN INTERVIEW WITH BERNHARD LANGER
Newport Beach, CA, March 06, 2009 - PHIL STAMBAUGH: Same score you shot in the first round here last year. After three events, you've shot 64, 64, 65 in the opening round.
BERNHARD LANGER: That's not too shabby.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Just talk about the day. You had 1 under at the turn and then caught fire on the back nine.
BERNHARD LANGER: I actually played extremely well on the front. I had a lot of birdie opportunities. We made 2 on 8. I almost holed my tee shot. It finished like a foot short of the hole right online. Did I say on 8? That was on No.4, the 8 iron.
Then on 6, I made about a 12 footer for birdie. But I had other chances. I hit just about every green. Like No. 3, the par 5, I hit driver, 3 wood short of the green and missed about a 10 footer.
Then on No. 8, I hit probably my best shot of the day. Struck a 3 iron as good as I can hit it. Pitched right a couple feet from the hole and went over the green. Hit a really good pitch shot and then missed about a three footer for par.
So I hit two of my best shots, 3 iron and the great chip shot, and ended up making bogey. That was a little frustrating. But, again, I just drove the ball very well and hit some good iron shots and gave myself lots of opportunities.
Finally made a putt on No. 12. It was about a 14 footer or so, 12 footer, and then made a longer putt on 12. That was 5 wood off the tee and a pitching wedge.
Then 15, I hit driver and hooked a 5 iron. It was right on line, perfect. Hit the slope and then rolled all the way down to the right and made a long putt. Made about a 40 footer there for eagle.
Then 16, I hit driver, 7 iron to about 10 feet and made that one.
18, hit driver, 5 wood to about, it wasn't more than five feet or so, and missed that one.
I'm happy with my game. Playing well, just not making all the putts that I would like to make. Got to be patient out here.
Q. As defending champion, is it tougher to remain patient? You were 1 under through 11, so it looks like nothing is happening, and then you took off. Was it more difficult to...
BERNHARD LANGER: No, it has nothing to do with being defending champion. That was a year ago. A lot of things change in a year. Just try and play every shot as good as you can.
No, it's just you know, you hit a lot of it's not the longest golf course, so we're hitting a lot of 9 irons, wedges, and normally we make a bunch of birdies when we do that.
But the greens are fairly firm, and often from the first bounce it goes five, six yards forward, and then every once in a while it spins back. It's just tricky, and the wind as well. A lot of uphill, or couple downhill, shots.
It's just difficult to get the ball really close to the hole to give yourself short birdie putts.
Q. I don't know if you saw Jim Colbert's name on the leaderboard, but he said this is one of the courses where he still has a chance to win on the Champions Tour. Do you approach this course as maybe a course you can attack a lot of holes, or do you still keep your guard on because the greens are pretty tough?
BERNHARD LANGER: Well, we know the greens are tough and small and undulated to some extent. I'm still going to attack the golf course where I think I can. My length helps me to attack the par 5s, and I don't hit driver on every single hole. I hit 5 wood on one or two tee shots on par 4s. I hit 3 wood on nine and No., what is it, 13 I guess. I hit 3 wood off the tee.
So sometimes I hold back. I don't hit driver on every tee shot, but I hit a bunch of them and I hit them good. You got to shape and fade and draw them, and I did that very well today.
Q. As Phil said, you opened with 64, 64, 65 in the tournaments this year. Can you attribute that to anything?
BERNHARD LANGER: Not really. I think I'm well prepared. I practiced early this year. I worked through the winter. But, to every tournament I came to this year, I was well prepared. I spent a couple days -- I either played both Pro Ams or a practice round and the Pro Am.
I made sure I had everything in order with my game. I had a good lesson with my coach in January, and I feel like I know what to do with my golf swing. It's just a matter of being patient and making putts now.
Q. Did you mis-read the putt on No. 18?
BERNHARD LANGER: No, I think I read it correctly. But when I marked the ball and had to get it cleaned, I saw I was sitting in a big hole. It was one like third of the ball was below the ground. I knew if I just hit to normally that it would just hit the front edge of that hole and jump either straight up or a little left or a little right. It came out left and missed the hole. Didn't even touch the hole from that distance. That's pretty bad.
There's not a whole a lot you can do. I might have made a bad stroke, too. It didn't feel bad, but when I looked up I tried to hit it inside left and it was further left. Don't know.
Q. You take the overall lead with a birdie on that ball.
BERNHARD LANGER: Well, I'll take a birdie on that hole most times. When you hit it to five feet, you want to get more out of it.
Q. So you're irritated even though you're in the lead on this hole?
BERNHARD LANGER: I would like to be leading by two shots. You don't do that very often. Difficult read to get the ball onto the green. I'm not complaining. I shot 6 under. What else can you ask for?
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