What they said: Rory Sabbatini

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MORE INTERVIEWS: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial transcript archive

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Rory Sabbatini into the interview room here at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Rory, quite a week for you last week at the Byron Nelson. Now you are back at a course where you obviously have had a lot of success with your win 2007. So look back on last week and also ahead to this week for us

RORY SABBATINI: Well, obviously, I'm still recovering from last week a little bit. That was a fantastic week. Obviously, any time you win out here on TOUR it's a wonderful occasion. But especially winning a tournament that bears Byron Nelson's name on it. So that's pretty amazing. But I'm looking forward to this week. Obviously, I've had a pretty good success here at Colonial, and I really enjoy playing here. I don't live too far from here so I've played it quite a numerous times since the redesign. They've done a wonderful job. They kept a lot of the succinct intricacies about the golf course out here so that makes it challenge and just toughened it up a bit. So it's going to be play a little tougher this year, but I still think, weather permitting, it's going to be receptive and you are going to have to play well to win this week.

JOHN BUSH: You missed the cut here last year, but take us back to 2007, the win, including that third round 62.

RORY SABBATINI: Well, obviously, this time of year, obviously we all know the weather in North Texas gets a little suspicious. We had to finish Saturday's round on Sunday. I got off to a good start on Saturday. When play was suspended I was a little apprehensive about coming out Sunday and finishing off the round if I was going to be able to continue the trend I was having on Saturday. And I managed to actually build on what I had going on Saturday and finished off at 62 which obviously put me, I think, joined with three people for the lead going into Sunday. And then Sunday was just a crazy day, a lot of action going on. Obviously Bernhard (Langer), I was playing with him played fantastically. We all know he is one of the most determined golfers you will every see. He struggled through his career and managed to overcome the struggles that he has come with. We know that going into the final round doesn't seem anywhere near as challenging to him. Obviously, he was playing well. Jim Furyk played well and it just happened that all three of us ended up in a playoff. Probably one of the most memorable putts I hit was the first playoff hole. It was fortuitous that I hit a putt that I hit before and knew very well. As soon as I struck it, I just knew I hit it on the line that I wanted to, with the pace I wanted to, and when I looked up, it just confirmed everything. And it was quite magical. I had a lot of friends from out of town come in that week. It was an experience that I will never forget.

JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. Rory, I'm sure you've seen a list of the guys that have won both the Nelson and Colonial; Snead, Hogan Nicklaus, what does it mean to be on that list now?

RORY SABBATINI: Well that list is very impressive. There is a lot of great names in the name of golf in the history of golf on that list. You know, if I could accomplish even half as much as some of those names on that list, it would be a career that would be absolutely magical and just being associated with that is amazing. But, you know, I think in order to really justify and earn my place on that list I've got a lot of work to do.

Q. Rory, you finished, I think 2007, T3 over there, and won here, I'm wondering is it a lot more difficult to get that close coming after the win? What I am getting at is, how hard is it to put the two together and win both?

RORY SABBATINI: Obviously, the challenge is very tough, you know. If you think about it, the number of players that play 42 events in a year and managed to win 2 times in a year is -- the list isn't very long. So to do it two consecutive weeks makes it even tougher. But the way I look at it is, I'm feeling comfortable with my game. The putter has been exceeding my expectations, cooperating very nicely. And obviously coming to Colonial this week the greens here are just absolutely incredible. Obviously some of the best greens we'll play on all year. Quite significantly smaller than last week's greens and not anywhere near as much undulation. So the situation is, if you could drive a ball well and put it on the greens in regulation, you are going to give yourself a lot of good opportunities at birdies. And just try to use what's going on last week with the putter and, you know, hopefully give myself some opportunities to make some birdies and see what happens.

Q. Rory, it looked like you had a lot of equanimity last week, I mean from afar, that's how it appeared. I wonder if that's true, and if you could put your finger on anything else that made you play as well as you did for the entirety of the tournament?

RORY SABBATINI: You know, I think, Phil and Amy Mickelson going through what they are going through really just kind of put that final striking on the nerve of everything that other people in my life are going through right now. And it made me just really kind of sit back and take a look at the big picture and realize that this isn't life or death what we are doing out here. We are out here, we are doing what we want to do for a living and not that many people have that opportunity. But to be able to not have to deal with a lot of what other people in the world are dealing with right now is a blessing. Honestly, when I went out there on Sunday it was just like, you know what, I'm going out here to play golf, have some fun. Every time my brain started to start wandering off and wonder what people were doing, or anything like that on golf course, I had to refocus and go, you know what, hey, let's just think about everyone else and what they are dealing with right now. It really helped to calm my nerves and helped in a way to distract me from what I was doing.

Q. I'm helping around the tournament's Twitter this week, I have a couple of questions from the followers on Twitter. One gentleman says, you had a nice exchange with your son on Sunday on 18th green and he wanted to know does your son always tell you to make lots of birdies?

RORY SABBATINI: Every day before I leave to go to the golf course, when he is awake, right as I'm leaving, he always comes up to me and says, dad, makes lots of birdies today. I think it's something that, I know, we said to him once when he was two or three years old and ever since then it stuck with him. And every time I leave now, it is always the same thing. I'll tell you what, every time I leave the household he is not happy that he is not going to the golf course with me. There is nothing he wants to do more is be out here and play golf with me. It's exciting, and it's just a lot of fun and he really is at a fun age right now.

Q. One other question, you have been making a lot of gear changes over the last year, are you still playing the same ball? If not, are you testing any new balls?

RORY SABBATINI: Actually, ever since, I believe it was just after Colonial last year I switched balls within TaylorMade. I went from the The TOUR I-X, to The TOUR I which is a softer golf ball. I just really played the same ball ever since. It's a great golf ball. It performs well. I really had a lot of success with it. Callaway makes a great product with their golf balls. It's been enjoyable. But I really have to credit TaylorMade to a lot of this. Their new R9 driver, TP irons are just phenomenal. People ask me what I think. I honestly tell them, it's kind of like cheating, because they really are so good and perform so well, and extremely forgiving that it makes it a lot easier for me.

Q. How does the course play with the way they've changed it? How will you see it during the tournament?

RORY SABBATINI: You know, we don't see too much change generally in how they maintain the golf course here at Colonial. They really do maintain it in a pretty competitive manner all year round. Obviously the rough is cut shorter. But overall, the golf course, they've lengthened it a little bit. They moved a few bunkers. They changed the shape of holes a little bit. But nothing very dramatic. But in a sense I think you will definitely notice maybe a two shot average in scoring differential per round. It really is quite significant out there. They have made a few holes that before had started to play a little easier. One in particular being 14. You know you go through the stretch of 12, 13, 14, now, if you look at it in previous years, it's been a situation where guys were making birdies on those three holes. Now if you get through that little stretch even par you are going to be pretty content. You are definitely going to have to hit the ball longer and straight out there on this golf course now.

Q. You played a bunch of different manufacturer's club, is that right, do you know how many that is? Can you run us through that? You have changed a lot, right?

RORY SABBATINI: I've been through a few manufacturers. Obviously, I started my career on TOUR with Ping coming out of college. I was with them for, I believe, three or four years. Then I spent five years with Nike. And then a year with Adams. Now I'm with TaylorMade.

Q. Just a follow up, what's the moral of the story, it's the Indian, not the arrow?

RORY SABBATINI: Well, you know, the moral of the story, everyone is making good golf equipment now. But honestly I'm very excited about my prospects with TaylorMade. They have a product and quite a few different products that I've tried and are just extremely easy to work into. You know, not just for golfers that play out here on TOUR, but just for the general public. But everyone is making good products. You know what, I really am extremely happy to be where I am with TaylorMade. Right now I believe they make the best product.

Q. Just a follow up, a philosophical thing, Vinnie Giles, a southern gentlemen has said that he feels No. 1 rule as an agent, put the best 14 clubs in a guy's bag, that's the engine that creates everything. Do you think that a touring pro, the average TOUR pro plays equipment because it's the biggest buck, or it's the equipment that they want? If there were no money, would we see it different?

RORY SABBATINI: Obviously, it's up to personal preference. I'm sure you will find that there are people that play the equipment because that's the biggest buck. And you will find there is guys out there that don't play equipment just purely based on monetary gain. Honestly, I spent the first part of the year not agreeing to sign with anybody because I really wanted to weigh my best options and find out what worked best for me. You know, as I said, I'm extremely ecstatic with TaylorMade. It's been a wonderful relationship so far. It's a fantastic company to be associated with. Honestly, their products through the hole range, are just fantastic, and I found they suit me very well.

Q. You live with Fort Worth full time now?

RORY SABBATINI: Yes.

Q. When did you move here?

RORY SABBATINI: I've been in Fort Worth I'd say close to 18, 19 months now.

Q. It was Westlake before that?

RORY SABBATINI: South Lake.

Q. What is your home club here?

RORY SABBATINI: Actually Colonial and Mira Vista.

JOHN BUSH: Anything else? Rory, thanks for coming by, play well this week.

RORY SABBATINI: Thanks.

Transcript courtesy of sportstranscripts.com.