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20.07
The Open Champion:
Brukte hybrid-kølle i
stedet for treer-spoon
I'm sure I won't get much
sleep over the next two,
three, seven days, who knows,
forteller Todd Hamilton i et
intervju.
Todd Hamiltons verden er
snudd på hodet etter seieren
i The Open på Royal Troon.
Her er et intervju etter
seieren fra
pressekonferansen ført i
pennen av STEWART McDOUGALL:
STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies
and gentlemen, The Open
Champion, Todd Hamilton. It
was a tough day.
How do you feel now that you
are The Open Champion?
TODD HAMILTON: It's a very
special feeling. I think
right now I'm more tired
than I am excited. I'm sure
the excited part will kick
in here once I leave the
golf course and am able to
spend some time with my
family. But obviously it was
a great day for me. I think
the fans got treated to some
wonderful golf, if they
stuck it out to the very
end.
Ernie struggled a little bit
toward the start of the
incoming nine, but as a true
champion does, he fought
back, made a bunch of
birdies on a tough nine
holes of golf. I was very
fortunate to be the one
sitting here right now. I
think it could have been a
number of three or four guys
that could be here talking
to you. As luck would have
it, I'm the one you have to
talk to.
Q. Maybe you could take
us through the 18th hole.
The first go-round you
bogeyed it and had to come
back and then shot to really
win it for you in the
playoff?
TODD HAMILTON: Yeah, I hit a
2-iron off the tee in
regulation, usually a very
good club for me. I hit a
lot of good shots with that.
I got it going a little
left-to-right and with a
strong wind it went quite a
ways to the right. It looked
like the lie was decent and
I could somehow bounce it up
on the green, but a lot of
times, even though the lie
looks like it's nice, the
grass is so lush, it's
really a heavy grass and it
grabs the club, which is
what happened to me and shot
it straight left. I thought
I hit a pretty good pitch
shot. Obviously you don't
want to dump it in that
bunker, I had to go over a
portion of that bunker. I
was trying to get it up over
the hole and make a chance
for a putt. Unfortunately I
didn't make it and we had to
go extra holes. But it was
truly a great experience for
me today.
Q. Can you just talk
about your nerves all day,
how you harnessed your
emotions? And also comparing
your nerves on the 72nd hole
and I guess the 76th hole,
were you less nervous, more
nervous?
TODD HAMILTON: To be honest
with you, and this is no lie,
I felt very calm the whole
day. It reminded me a lot of
how I felt in the final
round of the Honda Classic,
which I won back in March.
Sometimes I get in
situations where you should
be biting all your
fingernails off. I'm usually
kind of a nervous guy,
especially if I haven't been
playing very well, which I
hadn't coming to this
tournament. But sometimes I
get out there and it almost
seems fun. And I think today
seemed like it was fun for
me. I'd never been in a
position like that, at least
in a tournament as grand as
this, and to be out there
for the first time in a
position like that and feel
very calm was kind of an
oddity. But as I said, I
felt very calm the whole day,
believe it or not.
Q. Was there any thought
to chipping on 18 and where
did you learn to judge putts
like that from off the green?
TODD HAMILTON: The last hole
of the playoff?
Q. Yes.
TODD HAMILTON: I've always
been blessed with a pretty
good hand/eye coordination.
I feel that my penmanship is
nice and neat, people can
read it. I don't know how
that translates to golf. But
my hands have always been
very good to me, whether it
be chipping or putting. I
hit a lot of those shots in
the practice round, not from
30 yards off the green,
though. But that club that I
use, a hybrid club, it takes
the place of my 3-wood. And
I use it a lot off the tee
and around the greens when
you're able to bump-and-run
shots, such as the one on
the last hole. It's a very
versatile club. It's about a
14 degree loft, so it's
basically a 1-iron, which is
great to chip-and-run shots
with. It is difficult to
judge that far off the green,
judge the distance. But the
fairways are cut so tight
and they're nice and firm,
so it's basically a green,
maybe the grass is just a
little bit higher.
Q. What's it called, is
it called anything, the club?
TODD HAMILTON: It's made by
a company called Sonar Tech.
Q. Who is going to be
more famous, you or Norma
Jean, the elephant?
TODD HAMILTON: I hope me.
Q. How do they react to
you back home?
TODD HAMILTON: If my dad
hasn't had a heart attack,
he's probably getting
flooded with phone calls
from neighbors and friends
around the area. I wish he
could have been here with me.
My family was fortunate
enough to be here, and they
were also at the Honda
Classic in March when I won
the Honda tournament. Maybe
they should travel every
week.
Q. How come your dad
can't make it?
TODD HAMILTON: I don't know.
You know, I never even
thought to ask him if he'd
like to come over. To be
honest, I don't know if he
could sit on a plane for,
what was it, seven or eight
hours for us. He's pretty
jittery.
Q. The players, both
today and over the previous
rounds, came unstuck in
bunkers. You spoke about
your game plan of going over
or staying short of them.
Was avoiding the sand traps
important to you today?
TODD HAMILTON: Yes, it was,
especially with the wind. A
lot of crosswind,
right-to-left, especially in
the outward nine. And with
the fairways as firm as they
are, with the little lumps
and mounds on them, it's
very difficult to judge what
kind of bounce you're going
to get. Because of that
you've got to pay a lot of
importance -- pay a lot of
attention to being way short
or being past.
I know a lot of times where
the pins were on the front
nine, if they were right and
it's a short hole, sometimes
the play was to take driver
and hit it as far left as
you could to have an angle
on the flag being at the
right-hand side. But I think
-- I'm not sure, I think I
was only in maybe two or
three bunkers the whole week.
And my bunker game is not
the best, so that was very
fortunate.
Q. Your game plan was
conservative today. Was
there ever a time during the
round that you thought I've
g ot to be more aggressive?
You were laying back quite a
bit sometimes.
TODD HAMILTON: Not
really. The best part of my
game is the chipping and
especially the putting, so I
just tend to play to my
strengths. So if I could get
myself in position to hit a
shot on the green, whether
it be five feet or 30 feet,
I felt that I was going to
do well today. It seemed
like the wind was blowing a
little bit harder when we
started than it had the
previous three days. And I
knew it was going to be a
difficult test, especially
with some of the pin
positions. I felt that if I
could get to 10-under par
that was going to be a
pretty good target to shoot
at.
Q. We've talked to you
over the last couple of days
about your travels and the
difficulties and all that.
Were there ever times when
you said -- you came close
to saying, the heck with
this, this isn't worth it,
and what did keep you going?
TODD HAMILTON: There was a
time back in, I believe,
late '91, early '92, I was
playing the Asian Tour. I
didn't know it at the time,
but the people that backed
me financially, two people
in particular were going to
put together some money to
allow me to go play the
Asian Tour one more time. I
don't know why this happened,
but I ended up winning the
Order of Merit in 1992 on
the Asian circuit, which
allowed me a one-year
exemption to play the
Japanese Tour.
But prior to that there was
no reason that anything like
that -- that you would guess
anything like that would
ever happen. My golfing
wasn't as consistent the way
it should have been or as I
hoped it had been, and I
thought about not playing
golf. The flip side of that
is, I don't know how to do
too much other than play
golf. So that's probably the
reason why I stuck it out.
I went over there to the
Asian Tour in 1992 with not
really any expectations, and
it's probably a good thing
that I did not know that
that was the last bit of
money that the backers were
going to put in. So it seems
like probably a fairy tale,
and to me it really is.
Q. How much have you
thought about the Ryder Cup
before this week, and will
you think about it now?
TODD HAMILTON: To be honest,
I haven't thought anything
about it. I hadn't played
well for a couple of months,
two or three months. I don't
even look at the standings.
I know Tiger is usually top
and all the other normal
guys that are on the team
are always up there. I don't
even know what the standings
are. Hopefully this bit of
magic that I will have today
will continue.
Q. Ernie mentioned this
when he was here, that there
is this community of people
who make their living
playing golf outside of
North America. What is that
community like, and what
does this win mean for
people who play golf in Asia
and South America and all
these other places?
TODD HAMILTON: I've always
felt that if you can win
golf tournaments, whether it
be a junior club
championship, ladies club
championship, THE PLAYERS
Championship in the States,
I don't know if they still
have it here, the Benson and
Hedges here in Europe or the
Japan Open, I've always felt
that if you go through the
trials and tribulations
throughout a four-day
tournament and win a golf
tournament, that can only
benefit you in the long run.
Definitely very good for
your mental outlook. I hope
that it sparks me being a
rookie on the PGA TOUR, I
hope it sparks them on to
good things.
I know we had another rookie
this year win in the States,
Zach Johnson, who came off
the Nationwide Tour, killed
them in the Nationwide Tour
last year, won the
tournament in Atlanta. So I
hope our victories we've had
can spur guys, whether
they're rookies on the PGA
TOUR, guys on the Canadian
Tour, guys on the Hooters
Tour or the Challenge Tour
here in Europe. If they look
at us and see, if that guy
can do it, who's that guy, I
should be able to do that. I
think that's good for the
game of golf.
Q. Can you just reflect a
little bit, even though it's
so sudden, on the journey
that you've taken and the
kind of story that you've
written for yourself this
week, and really for golf to
a degree, and how much this
will change your life?
TODD HAMILTON: Not just this
week's story, but I think my
pro career, not to be
conceited or anything, but I
think it's a pretty neat
story. I struggled playing
on the Asian Tour for five
years starting in 19 -- I
believe '88 was my first
year. I had a little bit of
success over those five
years. As I mentioned
earlier, I won the Order of
Merit in 1992, which allowed
me to play golf in Japan.
When I got to Japan, I had
success early on. It was new,
exciting, lucrative for me,
and I was enjoying myself.
And then I went through a
stretch, 3, 4, 5 years where
I didn't do as well as I
should have done,
considering the way I had
played when I first got
there. Last year I won four
times on the Japanese Tour,
which kind of, like this
week, you never would have
thought something like that
was going to happen. I used
that confidence that I
gained last year and that
allowed me to get my PGA
TOUR card, which to me was a
very special goal that I
wanted to attain. I had
tried -- over 17 years I had
tried 8 times to do that,
tried five times right out
of college, then while I was
playing in Japan, I didn't
try for I think it was ten
years, and tried the
previous three years. For me
to qualify for the PGA TOUR
and get my Tour card was
like winning The Open
Championship and allowed me
a place to play, a place
that I've always dreamt of
playing.
I didn't know how I'd fair.
I'd played some events
before, two events in the
States before, but I'd never
had my Tour card. I was
never a full member. So the
last year and a half has
really -- has just come out
of the blue. I knew I was a
decent golfer. I knew I
tried hard. I knew I worked
hard. Sometimes I think what
kept me back -- two things,
I put a lot of pressure on
myself to do well and a lot
of times I felt like
tournaments like this, if I
happened to get into them, I
didn't really feel that I
belonged. So m aybe all that
can change now.
Q. Can you fathom how
much this is going to change
your life, now that you
don't have to worry about
your PGA TOUR card?
TODD HAMILTON: Right now I
have no idea what's in store
for me. I'm sure I won't get
much sleep over the next two,
three, seven days, who knows.
But I mentioned earlier
sometimes these problems are
good to have, it's like
paying taxes. It's a good
problem to have.
Q. How many times would
you guess over the course of
four rounds did you use that
hybrid club around the
greens? And somebody
characterized you as
something of a range rat, is
that an accurate description?
TODD HAMILTON: To answer the
first part of your question,
at least three times each
round I used that for
chipping purposes. I
probably used it another two,
three times off the tee
boxes, so maybe five times
every day I used that club,
whether it be off the tee or
chipping.
The second part of your
question, as far as being a
range rat is probably very
true. As a kid I enjoyed
playing golf, and I still
do. I don't remember what
age I was, but a nine-hole
course I grew up on I played
7 rounds in one day, I
almost played a whole
tournament in one day.
I enjoy playing golf. I
think a lot of the time that
I spent in Japan, the TV in
Japan is really not that
good, so it was useless for
me to go back to the hotel
and try to watch TV, so I
would just stay at the golf
course until it got close to
dark, whether it be chipping,
putting, hitting balls, I
would do it. I enjoy playing
golf, sometimes to a fault.
I tend to play too much
golf. When I take weeks off
to go home, I have a lot of
friends that like to play
golf that are decent golfers
that drag me out. So to a
fault maybe I play too much
golf. But it beats working,
that's for sure.
Q. It seemed like your
caddy was in your ear all
day keeping you loose. Can
you talk about your
relationship with him? How
long have you guys been
together?
TODD HAMILTO N: It's a funny
story about that. I had a
caddy that caddied in Japan
probably the last two, maybe
three years. We've been
trying to get him a Visa,
he's from Canada, and we've
been trying to get him a
Visa to get him in the
United States. We've been
having trouble. I met my
caddy Ron Levin -- I met him
in Muirfield in 1992. I
qualified by winning the
Asian Order of Merit, I
qualified for playing The
Open Championship there. He
had met a girl that was
working at a bed and
breakfast that we were
staying at. I think they
maybe had a couple of drinks
or had dinner or something.
He casually mentioned to her
that he was over, I believe
he was caddying for D.A.
Weibring at the time. D.A.
didn't get through the
qualifying, so he was going
to try to stay over and pick
up a bag. He mentioned to
the girl that was working at
the bed and breakfast where
we were staying. She
mentioned to him there's a
golfer that's staying at our
place that's looking for a
caddy. I was told to look
for him in the parking lot.
I didn't have very much
success. We kept in touch
over 12 years. We're both
hockey fans, we e-mailed
back and forth. My team just
beat your team or your team
beat my team, whatever.
So I saw him out earlier
this year and I told him the
situation. I said you're
more than welcome to caddy
for me if you'd like for the
rest of the year. He said
sure, no problem. So he was
very instrumental in not
only today's round in the
finish of today but the
whole tournament. He really
kept me calm. I believe he
caddied here last time the
tournament was here at Royal
Troon. And he's been around
the block. He's only 34
years old but he's been
caddying for 17 years,
whether it be the Senior
Tour or Champions Tour, PGA
TOUR, LPGA Tour, he's
caddied everywhere. He knew
what today was all about. If
I could saw that Claret Jug
in half and give him half
I'd gladly do it.
Q. Did you establish a
residence in Japan or did
you commute? How many miles
do you figure you have
traveled back and forth?
TODD HAMI LTON: I did not
have a residence over there.
I usually traveled anywhere
from 4 to 6 weeks, I would
go over there for. I went
for as little as one week
one time, which was silly, I
don't know why I did that.
Four to six weeks was a good
amount of time for me. I
didn't really have a
residence. I had a hotel in
Tokyo, that after the rounds
were over or after the
tournaments were over I
would spend a lot of time
in. But as far as having a
place to hang my hat that I
could call mine, I didn't
have one. I would usually go
-- I would make five, maybe
six trips a year back and
forth to Japan. I'm not sure
what the mileage is, but I
know I slept a lot of times
on an airplane. I think it
was 13 and a half, 14 hour
flight going over.
Q. How long has McKinney,
Texas, been your home?
TODD HAMILTON: I've lived
there for about 11 years.
Q. After four victories
in Japan, how is your
popularity there?
TODD HAMILTON: I think last
year, I mentioned earlier I
had success over the 12
years -- early on in the 12
years I played there,
struggled a little bit and
last year regained some
confidence and some momentum
in Japan. I think they
enjoyed having me over there.
I felt that there were a lot
of foreign players, foreign
meaning Australian, U.S., we
had a guy from Colombia, a
guy from the Philippines. I
felt that us playing over
there maybe raised the
Japanese players' games a
little bit. I know we've got
a couple of guys, Shigeki
Maruyama, Hidemichi Tanaka,
that are very good players
that did well in Japan. I
played with Shigeki the
first time he won a
tournament in Japan and he
was elated. And I knew good
things were in store for him.
I played with Tanaka as an
amateur in the tournament in
his hometown and he beat the
pants off me. I knew they
were good players. I felt
that if they could expand
their horizons of Japan, get
some experience, try to
qualify for different Tours,
I felt they would do very
well, and I'm glad that they
have.
Q. When Ernie Els was
over the 18th and had the
putt to win, did you think
he was going to knock it
down or not?
TODD HAMILTON: Half and half
(laughter). I felt that I'd
played really well for four
days. I hope it didn't come
down to a bad tee shot on
the last hole in regulation
to mess everything up. I
think had he made it I still
would have been very happy.
I would have been
disappointed. But if you
could have told me at the
start of the week, Todd,
we'll give you second place,
you don't even have to
bother showing up, I would
have probably said okay (laughter).
But Ernie is a true
champion. He fought to the
very end. He struggled early
on the back nine, made some
birdies coming in and I'm
sure he'll win a lot more
Open Championships.
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