Great stuff!! I don't get a chance to watch any US Tour coverage anymore but did anyone get Jay's action from yesterday at all? I might have a look on YouTube to see if I can find it.
Alex
Go to www.PGATour.com and look on right hand side of the page.
Click on "all videos" and you'll see a few for Jay.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Jay, congratulations. You battled hard out there. You played awesome and a lot of excitement. You've got to be really, really proud of yourself.
JAY WILLIAMSON: I am. I'm sure I will be, you know, later. I'm very, very disappointed, because you know, my life certainly changed for the better today but it could have really changed for a lot better.
But you know, I've said it already, I'm pretty realistic. Hunter played better than I did today and he deserved to win. And you know I think he made one bad swing and that might have been on the 17th hole when he hit the ball in the bunker.
I have a lot to be proud of. We had a great week. I'm glad Whitney came up today, flew all the way up from St. Louis to watch about six holes.
You know, it was a great week and I mean, part of me can't really believe it. Part of me is really upset. Part of me is, you know, excited. I've got so many -- I've got a huge range of emotions at this point.
Q. Obviously whatever it was that you guys have -- you can work with it -- (inaudible) -- during regulation?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Absolutely. I just tried to hang in there. I didn't play great today. I didn't play as well as I played the last couple of days. I really tried to hang in there.
Hunter like I said didn't miss a shot. I remember on 13 walking down the fairway after he had made a birdie on 12, and I made an unbelievable bunker save on 12. I remember saying to my caddie, I've got to doing some to put the pressure on him and I hit a great 5-iron in interest about 20 feet.
You know what, my putter, it was really good today. I feel bad if I reprimanded my putter, but I just couldn't hit the putts that I needed to make to win today. I was so close, and it will probably make me sick to think about it, but I was oh, so close.
You know what, if I made that putt on 13, who knows what could have happen, and I didn't. But I still had a chance. I mean, I played 18 as well as I can play it. I hit two 7-irons in there perfect, and I just couldn't make a putt.
Q. What was it like inside today when you got up, went out and practiced?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I could tell that my blood pressure is high; put it that way. I've got a headache.
But you know, it was -- I mean, this is what -- you know, when I decided to turn pro, this is the kind of thing that, you know, that you're supposed to look forward to. I think the next time I'm in this position, I'll be better.
Yeah, I was certainly nervous. But you know, I hung in there and I did as best as I could.
Q. What was the difference between your putts on 18?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I think that they were just different enough to kind of confuse me a little bit. I think my first one I was a little bit farther down the hill, and quite honestly I've never had a putt to win on this tour. And I was thinking about that, I said, all you have to do is knock this in and it doesn't matter what he did and I just hit it low. I wasn't out of gas, emotionally, but I was on empty.
And then the second putt, I just wasn't going to miss it low again and I hit it too hard and too high. Neither putt I'm proud of, but I'm proud of my effort today.
Q. What were you thinking when you saw Hunter's second shots on 18?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Fabulous. I mean, I couldn't believe it. He took a lot of time on the first one because that wind as a little bit tricky out there coming done the stretch and he hit it way up in the air. He hit two fabulous shots. He won the tournament on 18 which is what you're supposed to do.
Q. You guys came up 18 the first time, incredibly tense moment obviously, but it seemed like you were sharing a light-hearted conversation chatting. What were you saying to one another?
JAY WILLIAMSON: You know what, I was basically just telling him, great shot and he was saying the same thing to me. Hunter is, you know, we were both trying to do the same thing today obviously.
And he just -- we were just congratulating each other on good shots. Under the circumstances, you know, I don't know how many guys hit shots within three or four today but there weren't many. To do it in the last group like Hunter did, he hit a fabulous shot.
Q. You just mentioned how your life has changed for the better; what is your schedule like for the remainder -- I guess you're in Buick, and what will this allow to you do on the PGA TOUR?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Quite honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know what the schedule is. With the new schedule, I haven't looked at it. But I know I'm not going to Springfield and I'm not going to Omaha and Wichita and a lot of places -- I say that now.
You know what, I need some time to think about it. I've got to putt it all together. Joan is trying to tell me what I'm doing but I still can't -- really, special temporary; there's a lot of stuff going on that I need to educate myself on and just make sure that I make the right decision, because I am in a pretty good spot on the Nationwide Tour. But then again, even if I could get into the Top-125, then I wouldn't be in the reshuffle next year.
Certainly, hopefully my performance today will help me maybe get some exemptions down the road. Hopefully I handled myself well and did the types of things that tournaments would want me in their events for, so we'll see.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: With his $640,000, as we understand it, he can become a special temporary member. That's as we see it right now. He's a non-member. He's still a non-member.
Q. He won't be in the standings?
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Right.
JAY WILLIAMSON: American European Tour player. Figure that one out. (Laughter).
Q. Could you just talk about 12 and 16?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I could have put a shag back down there on 16 and not gotten that up-and-down again. 12 and 16 were -- well, and then 14, for that matter, and 15 to be honest with you. Because 15, from what I understand, that ball almost went in the hole; that would have been exciting. I hit a great shot there. It's just one of those things. I really feel like if I was a great putter, I would have won by a lot today.
But I know what I need to work onto get to that next level. And you know, my up-and-downs are great. I've just got to be a little bit better the next time.
Q. How much thought do you give to -- inaudible?
JAY WILLIAMSON: A lot, actually. But I had a little downhill lie there and there's no way I could have flopped it because of the downhill lie. And that fringe has been sticky all week and I kind of -- I discovered that early in the week that you have to hit it a little harder on that fringe than you thought, and that's what I did.
My caddie pretty much talked me into hitting the putter there and I barely got it to where I needed to and it ended up perfect. I mean, you know, I hit 7-iron on the tee and I had 170 to the hole. I just can't imagine hitting 8-iron there. I felt like if I could, you know, hit one in there close, I could put some pressure on Hunter. I just didn't -- I should play to the middle of the green there. And you can't hit it over the green there obviously and I knew that when I did it.
Hunter hit 8-iron, and he's longer than I am and he barely got it up the hill. It's a tough hole. It's a diabolical hole like 15, like 16, like 17 and 18. It was a great week.
Q. Did you learn anything about yourself from today or maybe this week?
JAY WILLIAMSON: You know, I learned that I can play with these guys. I may have learned that in the last couple of weeks on the Nationwide Tour, but I really learned it today. You know, I learned that I'm going to be a golfer for a while now. A couple months ago, I wasn't quite sure. But now I want to be a golfer for a while.
Q. What were your thoughts on his composure down the stretch?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Well, you know, Hunter is unflappable. You know, he played a lot of golf in college preparing for this moment. You know, I played a lot of hockey and baseball preparing for this moment. That's probably one of the reasons why he won.
Hunter played great. He was unflappable. Like I said, he made one bad swing, and he deserved to win.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Did you go through your card yet?
JAY WILLIAMSON: I have not. Don't remember it. .
Bogey on 1. I was a little irritated with that. I asked for -- was a little controversial I think. I asked for a ruling on 1 and I was denied relief. Was on one of those French drains, hit my tee shot middle of the fairway on a French drain and I was denied relief. And Hunter did the same thing on 10 and actually got relief, same exact situation. So I was a little irritated.
Q. Same official?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Not the same official. But I think that needs to be fixed in the future. I don't want to bring up any controversy, because like I said, Hunter deserved to win, but that was not right.
So I made a bogey there. I didn't hit a very good shot.
Then what did I do, I birdied No. 4. I thought I hit a better drive than I did and I was in the first cut. I hit a 5-iron in there about 12 feet below the hole and made it. That helped me.
8, what did I do on 8 -- oh, I hit a great 6-iron about ten feet and made it.
Then 11, I hit a great wedge, one of the best shots of the tournament. That was exciting for an ex-hockey player, I guess; hit it in there a couple of feet and wiggled it in.
Then I birdied 13. I hit a great dive and 5-iron middle of the green and made birdie.
15, I got up there and I hit such a perfect shot on 15, this new TaylorMade driver I've got. I drove it so well all week, and I just think that ball almost went in. I couldn't really see it from the tee but I knew I hit a perfect shot. I just tried to aim it down the left side, perfect shot.
Then, you know, 16, 17 and 18, I made pars.
Q. Did you say your family flew in today?
JAY WILLIAMSON: They flew in from St. Louis today, yes. Their flight was about an hour late and so they got here, I don't know, with about six or seven holes left. She and my brother flew in from St. Louis. She had swim meets all week so just the boys came this week and she's my aspiring swimmer/tennis player.
Q. What's your caddie's name?
JAY WILLIAMSON: Steve.
Q. Your long time to play No. 1 with the ruling, I know you bogeyed there, but in retrospect, did that help you or hurt you or do anything?
JAY WILLIAMSON: No. Actually the ruling that I had -- I actually had -- well, I had two rulings on that hole. The one on the green, my ball was on a drainage and I actually dropped it in an area that was too close to the hole. So I wasn't quite sure what I needed to do and that's why I asked for the ruling again, and that did definitely take some time. You know, certainly didn't help but it didn't hurt.
Q. Where were you?
JAY WILLIAMSON: In the fairway. I hit it on one of those French drains.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Jay.
JAY WILLIAMSON: Thank you, guys, for all of the kind words this week. Appreciate it.
Interesting---Brian Gay is having a great year, John Riegger wins on the Nationwide Tour, Jay Williamson wins on the Nationwide Tour and a few weeks later finishes 2nd in a PGA Tour event. Apparently these gentlemen have taken "the student's job is to absorb and apply" to heart. They are on a roll. Fun to watch. If this continues Yoda will have to travel with an entourage!
Just watched the video of the way Jay and Hunter played the 18th - both times great quality approach shots!! Very accurate , very positive golf!! No fear of winning from either guy - exceptional stuff.
Life is short, no question, and you must play hard to win. But, if you do your dead-level best -- in his own words, "I fought as hard as I could" -- and then insist on kicking yourself anyway, then, IMHO, you are headed for the nut house.
Jay shot 66 in the final round of a major PGA TOUR event. He lost to a 65 that he stared down mano-o-mano for 18 holes and took to within ten feet of the 73rd hole.
A victory would have been sweet, but he should sleep well.
After all...
His pillow is stuffed with a PGA TOUR card and $648,000!
My post was not mean't to be negative in anyway but for Jay to have 2 chances to hold the trophy and and barely miss both times would be painful to any competitor.
Interesting---Brian Gay is having a great year, John Riegger wins on the Nationwide Tour, Jay Williamson wins on the Nationwide Tour and a few weeks later finishes 2nd in a PGA Tour event. Apparently these gentlemen have taken "the student's job is to absorb and apply" to heart. They are on a roll. Fun to watch. If this continues Yoda will have to travel with an entourage!
Plummer and Bennet have 21 players under their wing - then why not Yoda?
The $648,000 2nd prize that Jay Williamson earned at Hartford is well in excess of what the 150th player on the 2006 Official Money List earned. So Jay is now eligible to accept as many sponsor invites as can be offered to him for the rest of 2007. The Top-10 finish alone gets him into next week's Buick Open.
Item - Because Jay is on the non-members money list, he is currently not eligible for such things as Fed Ex Cup Points or money towards invitations to a future major.
If Jay Williamson's 2007 PGA Tour earnings equal or exceed those of the 125th player on the final 2007 Official Money List, then he gets a 2008 PGA Tour Card. He would be exempt in the category below that for the regular Top 125.
If Jay wins a PGA Tour event, then he'll be elevated to the regular money list and be eligible for the Masters, PGA Championship, Players Championship, Mercedes-Benz Championship and have job security thru 2009.
My post was not mean't to be negative in anyway but for Jay to have 2 chances to hold the trophy and and barely miss both times would be painful to any competitor.
I knew that, mb, and probably should have opened with that understanding. You have always supported this site and those associated with it, and I sincerely appreciate that.
I responded as directly as I did because one of the biggest problems these tour players have is being so doggone hard on themselves. The game of golf is so demanding and its margins for error are so small that negative situations are the norm. And it is way too easy to internalize the pain and frustration.
Dealing with the realities of the game is an everpresent challenge for the playing professional. In fact, I am convinced that negative 'self talk' is a major reason why many wonderfully talented golfers never reach a fraction of their potential. Personally, I think 'coping skills' should be part of the basic training of a professional golfer. Otherwise, the frustration will be met with anger or depression or drugs or alcohol or some lethal combination of the four. That way lies broken relationships, careers and dreams, and the wise choose another road.
Otherwise, the frustration will be met with anger or depression or drugs or alcohol or some lethal combination of the four. That way lies broken relationships, careers and dreams, and the wise choose another road.
Did anybody think about Mike O when they read that? I know I did . . .
__________________
Aloha Mr. Hand
Behold my hands; reach hither thy hand
Last edited by 12 piece bucket : 06-25-2007 at 10:04 PM.
Linear Mode
