June 30, 2008

How's the summer treating you?

"I'm at the Dogwood right now. This is a really good tournament with a great field and I don't have to get in a plane to get here. I'm not flying to anything this summer. I didn't want to have to get in a plane and go to Rhode Island or Colorado or wherever to compete. This works great for me."

Is there any specific part of your game you have been working on since NCAAs?

"I had one golf lesson with my teacher at Sea Island, Ga., Jack Lumpkin. We worked on some small parts of my swing. I've been working a lot on my swing and my putting. Other than that, I've been trying to work out and get a little bigger and stronger this summer."

"Today I made several really tough left-to-right, right-to-left putts. For whatever reason I would have a great approach and leave myself with a fairly straight putt and have a harder time with that.

"That's what it all comes down to. You get to a point where everybody hits it good - everybody hits it far, it's just a putting contest. I'm going to go out there this afternoon and just work on some pretty simple, straight putts, get a little confidence back and see what tomorrow brings."

On 2008 All-American Jay Moseley's return as graduate assistant for the 2008-09 season.

"Coach (Mike) Griffin having Jay is really going to help our freshmen with the learning process. This will be his sixth year here at Auburn - that's a lot of experience and knowledge he can pass on to our younger guys.

"It's going to be a fun season. The three freshmen we have returning and the five we have coming in are all very talented."

You're a rising senior, can you recall what the transition to collegiate golf was like?

"I came to Auburn after a good junior career and that I was ready to compete and win college tournaments and I realized my game wasn't ready. I had some things to work on. You come to college and the courses are longer, pin placements are harder, everything about it is tougher. From week-to-week you have to bring you're A-game. All of these golf courses expose you. If there's a part of your game that's not ready it's going to show in your score."

"Wow, that's a good one! It's hard to pull against someone who works so hard to be so good. But by the same token, Rocco's in his mid-forties. He's not going to have many more opportunities like this. It's hard to pull against a guy like that , as well. I really wanted Rocco to pull it out. Tiger's going to win 20 more majors. Rocco's only got a few more chances and you hate to see a chance like that just inch away past him."