What they said: Steve Stricker

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Transcript archive: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Steve Stricker, thanks for joining us after a first round 7-under par 63. One bogey on the day if we can start with some opening comment from you please.

STEVE STRICKER: Well, it was a great day for scoring, we saw it right away early on this morning with some low scores and the conditions were just, I guess, right for good scoring, you know, very little wind, soft conditions on the greens and the greens being a little slower than normal I think is the reasons why the scoring was so good. Fortunately I was able to take advantage of that this afternoon. The wind stayed down a little bit.

It picked up a little bit at times, nothing like we normally see here, and laid down again for us at the end. It was a good day. I made a lot of putts which is always a good thing. It was a good start.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You mentioned outside that you have been working a lot on your putting, that might be a surprise to some people because you're regarded as such a good putter but I guess you could never be too good of a putter.

STEVE STRICKER: It's something you can always work on, every part of your game. Putting I've been working on over the last four or five years with my ball striking that I think my putting has taken a back seat. Even though I've been putting fairly decent I feel like I can putt better and I worked on it the last couple of weeks. I put a little more focus and attention on that and rolled the ball great today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'll take some questions.

Q. In what ways did it play differently with the changes?

STEVE STRICKER: I think the changes -- I like the changes a lot. I think they gave us some better visuals off the tee on some of the holes with bunkering. Some of the tees that they moved back, I think the angles have gotten a little better. It took away some of the longer ball, the longer hitter's advantage, I think. It kind of played more into a guy that hits it, you know, middle of the pack as far as distance goes. They moved back 11.

They added some bunkers on some key driving holes or driving areas that if a long hitter is going to take on that bunker he's got to carry it a long ways now. It kind of forces everybody on the same page and kind of backs everybody up in the same area at times, unless you're going to be aggressive with it. I'm not a long hitter, so it's kind of good for a guy like me. I just think the conditions were good. I think the biggest thing the greens are soft, so I think that's why you are seeing good scores. They are not fast so guys can be very aggressive putting it.

Q. As far as the week goes along, do you expect that to kind of change as the course firms up as we get to the weekend and what not?

STEVE STRICKER: I see the fairways firming up but I don't see the greens really firming up. I think they are going to continue soft all the way through. It just doesn't seem like they have the appearance or the structure to get firm. It doesn't seem like there is a lot of root structure there. A big ball mark when you do land on the green, and it's hot. I don't know how much they can really stress the greens out when it gets this hot. They have to keep them fairly soft to keep them growing and alive. I see everything firming up except for the greens. If the wind blows that's what's going to dictate the scoring here. But if it continues to be soft, I think the scoring is going to continue to be good.

Q. How key is wind to a course like this? I guess really any course, you guys are so good, that's the great equalizer, isn't it?

STEVE STRICKER: Yes, I think wind is a great equalizer, but I think here more so when the wind blows, it's a very difficult course to drive it on. There is a lot of doglegs and a lot of turns in the fairways. You know, when the wind starts to blow it becomes very difficult to get the ball on the fairway. From there it's hard to hit the greens. I think this course is a course where it starts from the tee box, if you are driving it in the fairway, you are going to have some opportunities. If not, you can do a lot of scrambling.

Q. Could you just talk about this year for you? It sound like you are disappointed with the putting, or maybe you are trying to get better with the putter?

STEVE STRICKER: It's been a good year. I've had some opportunities to win. Putting hasn't been poor, it just hasn't been as good as what I would have liked it to have been. It's an area where I started concentrating on. I have had a good year so far. A couple of disappointments in not winning a tournament or two earlier on, but so far it's been very solid.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Steve, let's go through your card and maybe take one or two final questions.

STEVE STRICKER: 10, a utility wood and 8-iron to about 15 feet. 17, I made a bomb. I hit a 3-iron in the fairway and pushed an 8-iron to about 30 feet, made that. 18, a 3-wood and a 6-iron to probably 20 feet. 1, was probably a 15-footer. 2, was a 3-wood and a little wedge to about, you know, 12 feet. 4, I hit a utility club and tried to take it over the left bunker and it hit it in the face of the bunker and rolled all the way up to the front of the bunker up against the lip and actually made just a good bogey out of that.

I had all I could do to knock it on the green, and I hit it out to about 30 feet and 2-putted. 6, I hit a 3-wood and a sand wedge to about 20 feet. 7, was another 20-footer. 9, was a little bit less than that, probably about 15 feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Anything else? Steve Stricker, thank you, good luck.

STEVE STRICKER: Thank you.