Robert Garrigus

July 28, 2012

An Interview With: tremendous amount of opportunities on the golf course to shoot low scores. And ROBERT GARRIGUS you know, that doesn't happen very often. So I'm taking advantage of it, and you DOUG MILNE: Pleased to know, everything is going well this welcome Robert Garrigus into the weekend. I needed to go low tomorrow, interview room. Our 54-hole leader at the too. Just three days. A lot of guys haven't RBC Canadian Open. Can you talk about been able to hold on to the lead this year. your round? And it's tough. It's that final ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yes. round pressure. Everything is going I kind of started off a little slow and then I through your head. You're in the spot light hit a perfect tee shot on the par-5. Hit it in and the guys behind you are trying to get a couple of feet, made eagle and started you. So it's going to be tough to block that swinging really well. Got my distances out, but I'm look forward to the challenge. dialed in and made a couple long putts. I It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow. got one on 9, 11 and 12. Those are really Q. What's the mentality tomorrow. What do you do? Do you go out in hard putts to make. a bit of a defensive mode or do you just go You know, it was a fun day. nuts? I had fun with Willie and Scott, and we ROBERT GARRIGUS: Well, kind of fed off each other. And there was that's the thing. Today -- I'm going to be kind of a little lull there. I think our best patient tomorrow, and when I have a ball was pretty good. green light, I better make a good swing DOUG MILNE: Let's have because that's when good things are questions. going to happen. Q. You've established a 54-hole You know, today the first scoring record for this tournament. Wiped out Arnold Palmer's mark from 1955. three holes I had one green light and I ROBERT GARRIGUS: kind of hit it wrong. And I'm going to have Sorry Arnie. to go out and make birdies tomorrow. I Q. What does that say about think I'm going to have to get to 21 under the course this week? I guess obviously your par which is crazy to say at this golf mindset going into tomorrow will be you gotta course and a national open, but that's the make a lot more birdies? way the course is playing. ROBERT GARRIGUS: And hopefully if I can get out Yeah. And the soft conditions. The and get off to a good start on the Front 9, course is getting a hair firmer. Not too you never know how low it can go. I just much. But it's getting a little firmer. That need to stay patient, and that's the biggest 3-iron I hit on 18 went 290 yards. We thing is not get ahead of myself. Play one weren't expecting that. shot at a time. It's the biggest cliche we But you know, the course is got out here. One shot at a time means a soft, and I've been leaving myself a lot to us because we're not thinking ahead

054fac1315ff3875456728ea165eab 1 49.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com to like where is this flag or what am I going ROBERT GARRIGUS: to do on 18. You just gotta think about the Yeah, I had a two-shot lead. next shot. That's the most important one, Q. Does it help at all that it's what my coach always preaches. So only one shot, which is pretty much next to that's what I'm going to go do tomorrow. nothing, as opposed to a four-shot lead? Q. What club did you hit on 4? ROBERT GARRIGUS: ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, absolutely because I know a lot of Driver, 5-iron. guys that have had four and five-shot Q. Secondly, what kind of lie leads this year that have gone out and did you have and what was the issue on 18? didn't know how to handle it. Was that against the bridge? I know how to handle it. It's ROBERT GARRIGUS: fun. This is what we leave for. Having a Yeah, it was right up against the bridge, one-shot lead and playing good golf, this kind of where the grass met the bridge is a blast. I'm very blessed to be in this and as it grew over the bridge and it was position. I gotta go make birdies kind of at the bottom of the crest. So I tomorrow. I know I can't shoot even par kind of had to -- I had to nice it out of that and just expect to win a golf tournament. lie and catch part of the bridge, and So I'm looking forward to it. It's going to hopefully the ball -- top part of the bridge be a lot of fun. and bounced up, and that's exactly what I Q. Just followup on that bridge did. shot. That was pretty fantastic. I was watching If I hit it a millimeter fat, I it there. You had the rules official. What were break my wrist, and I was really scared to you looking for there? ROBERT GARRIGUS: Well, even do that. Even thinking about I might since the bridge, they marked the bridge be top of this ball because I don't want to in the hazard instead of cutting the hazard have to take any grass. And I hit it lines to the edge of the bridge. So if you perfect. I clipped the ball probably about hit it on it, you could get relief. Instead, it an eighth of an inch underneath the was in the hazard so I couldn't ground my surface of the ball. So it's probably I had a club. little smiley face on it afterwards. But I I had the official test the had to nice it up there. It was kind of ground for me, because I couldn't test it scarey. Q. What club? because it was in a hazard, to tell me if ROBERT GARRIGUS: there was any bridge underneath my golf Pitching wedge. About 152 yards. ball. And he said there was a little bit, but Q. First contact it made was at it was a couple inches ahead. So I was the bridge? thinking, oh, boy. But luckily I picked it ROBERT GARRIGUS: perfect. Yeah. When I hit the ball I kind of niced it. It came out really nice. I It felt like the ball hit the bridge and kind of thought I was almost going to get up to the popped up in the air. It didn't look like it. I green to have a birdie putt. That was the don't think it looked like it on TV, but I issue. We were just trying to figure out know that either my club or the ball hit the what my options were. I wasn't going to bridge. take a drop. Q. Did you have a lead in I'd made one bogey all Memphis going into the last day? week, so I was definitely going to hit the

054fac1315ff3875456728ea165eab 2 49.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com shot regardless of what happened. It was because they come out to watch us on tough. I decided to trust it. I've been their dime, and I'm very blessed, and I'm trusting it all week and I wasn't going to just -- it's so much fun to be in this flinch on that one. position. It's not very often you get in this I'd made so many good position, but when you do, you gotta swings the past three, four weeks to finish cherish it, and that's really what I'm doing. fourth at Congressional, striked it. I Q. Just in some respects is it finished 25th last week -- or in John Deere fair to say that maybe what happened in Memphis is the best thing that's happened to and absolutely striked it that week and just you? didn't make anything, got frustrated with ROBERT GARRIGUS: 100 my putting. This week I've been hitting it percent. I could have won that so good and I need to lean on that tournament and not known how to deal tomorrow because if I keep hitting it close with the failure. But I think winning a golf and give myself chances, it's going to be a tournament outright, that would be easy. fun day. And what I had to do was hard, just Q. Robert, just going back to Memphis, how are you a different player since dealing with all that and having to man up then? and do the interview afterwards and say, ROBERT GARRIGUS: I'm hey, I'm an idiot. I didn't know how to not even close to the same player. My handle it. You know, that really helped me fitness level is off the charts from where it in my career for sure. used to be. I rarely find myself sweating Q. Obviously you're a power player, and hitting a lot of three irons off the on the golf course, and if you remember tees this week. Given all that are you still Memphis, I was sweating like a pig. And I surprised you made only one bogey in three just think I'm more mature. rounds? And I actually like to know ROBERT GARRIGUS: where I'm at on the 18th hole instead of Yeah. I am surprised. I usually make a just being an idiot and not knowing I have few here and there because I hit it a three-shot lead and blowing it in the crooked every once in a while, and I can bushes to the right where I could have hit deal with that. I get to playing out of the it. It's a completely different feeling from trees and I get to playing out of the now to Memphis. I hits so many good fairways. Every time I've hit it in the rough shots in Memphis and I had one bad hole. this week I've had a really good lie. And And that's what I took out of it. And I that's what has to happen to be in my learned from it. position. If I hit it in the rough today and I was sitting on the 18th tee had some bad lies, I wouldn't have been at Disney and I looked at my caddie, and I able to control the ball like I did. was like, well, we got a three-shot lead It is kind of surprising, but and I know exactly what not to do. I kind my golf in the past few months has been of giggled it off, made par and won the exciting for me, just because I've been golf tournament. That's my attitude. striking it. And hopefully I do that My attitude is completely tomorrow. I got the same swing keys as I different. I like playing golf. I love being a have all week, just kind of relaxed hands professional. I like thanking the fans. I and turn and turn. It's been a lot of fun. like thanking the volunteers, you know,

054fac1315ff3875456728ea165eab 3 49.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com That's all I've been thinking about, and it's been pretty nice so far. Q. Doug put out a tweet about this earlier. You just referenced it as well. How is it you're under the pressure, leading a golf tournament the way you are today and yet you still have the time to go up and thank volunteers? I find that absolutely, in this day and age with the kind of new breed of golfer out there, new breed of player, I find that refreshing and pretty compelling? ROBERT GARRIGUS: I've been doing it for seven years, and I don't look for the accolades of thanking volunteers, but every single time I thank one, they come to me the next year and they say you're the only guy that thanked me that week. It makes me feel good just to say it. I like to do it after I make a bogey or a double just to give somebody some gratitude to just kind of get your mind off of things as well. I thank the volunteers as much as I can. You know, it's hard when I'm super focused and I've got my head down and I'm thinking about something, but if I see one, if I make eye contact with a volunteer, I always thank them, and I thank the fans for coming out. Like I said, it's on their dime. And we need the fans. We need the volunteers. We need the sponsors, and a lot of guys out here don't lean that way to thank the volunteers, and I've had hundreds of volunteers come up to me and say thanks for saying thank you. And that means a lot. DOUG MILNE: Robert, thank you very much for coming in. Appreciate it. ROBERT GARRIGUS: Thank you. FastScripts by ASAP Sports

054fac1315ff3875456728ea165eab 4 49.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com