The Tarheel Tour Interview with DJ Fiese

We are here with Cabarrus Classic champion DJ Fiese. DJ shot rounds of 67, 69 and 69 to finish the event at eleven under par and beat Matt Mincer by two shots. DJ earned $20,000 for the win. It was his second win on the Tarheel Tour. He also won last year at the Old Sycamore Open. He has now earned $27,900 in only three events this season on the Tarheel Tour.

Thanks for dragging yourself away from fishing to talk with us today.

DJ Fiese: Yeah, well, that’s hard to do, but for you guys, I’ll do anything.

You're a player that can go very deep at times. I seem to remember at Warrior you shooting 60 or 61 out there.

DJ Fiese: I think 60, if I remember correctly.

Sixty, that’s right. Anyway, you're a guy that can go very low. What is it in your game that clicks when you go out there and shoot something that low?

DJ Fiese: At Warrior for instance, I attacked the golf course with my driver a lot. I had a lot of short irons in there and the par fives are very reachable. I actually shot a low one at Old Sycamore in the second round, and that was more so with the putter. Generally speaking, whenever you shoot a low score, it definitely has to do with making putts. I think the putter getting hot is the key to a low score.

This event was a lot different than the one that you won last year at Old Sycamore. At Old Sycamore, you won in the last round with a five shot lead and sort of had to battle the nerves to hang on and you actually gave up the lead briefly, got it back and won the tournament. This time, you went into the final round tied with two other players. How was your mental mindset different this time than it was last year?

DJ Fiese: I was much more comfortable. I've been in the position before where I’m in the lead. There were a bunch of guys within a couple of shots of the lead, so it was pretty much a shoot-out. One thing I did do different is I didn't look at the leader board until I got to 18. I just really didn't think it mattered what anybody else was doing. I was just trying to take care of my own deal, so added pressure by knowing my position wouldn’t have been very good for me when it came to striking the golf ball. I was trying to just keep that mindset. I felt very comfortable though. The week before I was in contention but couldn’t quite pull it out. So I was very comfortable and I had had a previous experience very close to the tournament. It just kind of gave me a sense of peace, really, that I just went out there and took care of my own game and saw I had a three shot lead going into eighteen, and that relaxed me.

We had a chat on the putting green out at Cabarrus after round two, and you were telling me how little confidence you had with the driver and that you were struggling. How do you think you were able to win with so little confidence off the tee?

DJ Fiese: Well, the putter erases a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of putts and they weren’t five or six footers. I was making 20, 25 footers all week, so I felt pretty confident that no matter where I hit it, I could get it in the hole. My sports psychologist came up and worked with me after the first round to try and help me feel a little more comfortable with the driver, and I was hitting this high right shot which just kind of came out of the blue, usually at the worst times. I just tried to pick my target, get into my target and not really worry about where it was going, and most importantly, what Dr Moore helped me with, was just accepting where the ball went. That allowed me to get it around. My irons were good enough that I was hitting greens and giving myself an opportunity to make a putt. I couldn’t attack the golf course like at Old Sycamore. I had to play a little more conservatively, and my short game and putting really was the key for me.

Have you had any equipment changes that might have helped you over the last couple of weeks?

DJ Fiese: Right before the event at Sapona, I switched putters. I was putting with this two-ball blade, which is a face-balanced putter. I was missing everything right and all I could think of was I wasn’t able to square the face at impact, so I went to this heel-shafted putter. It was kind of a joke. We were playing in the practice round and I started making a bunch of putts and I figured I’d put it in the bag and see what happens. I gained a lot of confidence with it at Sapona. I made a lot of putts there and it carried over the Cabarrus.

You’ve been out here a long time, you’ve won tournaments on a lot of different tours, but going back to the beginning, what inspired you to decide to become a professional golfer in the first place?

DJ Fiese: You know, in college I was really thinking about going to law school, and my girlfriend at the time, who’s now my wife, was in law school and I saw what she had to do and I realized I didn't like reading or writing that much, so I decided I was going to go ahead and try and pursue a professional golf career. It just so happened that I met Tim Simpson, who plays the Champions Tour now, and we kind of revamped my swing and it allowed me to play at the next level. I wasn’t very long in college. I was the biggest guy on the team, and I hit it 20 yards behind everybody else. I had to chip and putt it better. Now I hit it at a distance where I'm not the longest guy by any means, probably just above average, but I'm able to get it around and attack the golf course now because of a little added length. Part of that’s the driver and the golf ball and the way the technology’s going, but a lot of it had to do with my fitness, and I'm big into working on my game. It was just something that I wanted to do and I thought I had to give it a chance to say that I did it. I haven't really got my career started as much as I wanted to, but at the same time I've had a lot of success and a lot of things to build on. It would be nice to get to that next level. It would be nice if the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour would have that third level of tour where you could have the ability to move up. Unfortunately there isn’t one, so you have to go through Monday qualifying and Q school to get it done, and hopefully the way I’m playing this year, I can get over that hump and get through Q school.

If you could pick one player on the PGA Tour and compare yourself to them, who would it be and for what reasons?

DJ Fiese: You know, I would have to say I like Zach Johnson’s game. I wouldn’t consider him very much like me, but I think his ability to compete is pretty impressive. Everybody would like to be like Tiger, but in terms of guys that I watch, I love watching Ernie Els swing it, Fred Couples swing it. I think their tempo is beautiful, and I think that’s something that every golfer could relate to. Most average golfers, or amateurs, have poor tempo and it creates a lot of inconsistency. Good tempo can cure a lot of things, and those two guys, in my opinion, have some of the most beautiful tempo in the game.

So tempo’s obviously something you must work quite hard on. Is there a drill that you use, or could you give us a drill that perhaps might help some of our players that are reading this?

DJ Fiese: Well, one thing I learned from Tim Simpson, and he learned it from Sam Snead, was that tempo starts before you get to the ball. It goes into how you walk to it, how you waggle, and your grip pressure. A big thing that Dr. Moore and I work on is breathing techniques before I walk to the ball to help me keep calm. I try and breathe a little better, walk a little slower, waggle a little softer and grip the club lighter and that helps with tempo. That’s something that I really focus on. I try and come up with a really soft practice swing where I can feel my positions, and then I go ahead and give it a preview swing, which is a little more like the shot that I'm about to hit.

DJ, you’ve been out here and you’ve had success for the last few years. You’ve had success on many other tours as well. What do you think you need to do to ensure that you end up on the PGA Tour or at least the Nationwide Tour next year? What kind of progress in your game do you need to see?

DJ Fiese: I don't know if necessarily I need to progress any more. I think I need to do a better job when I get toward Q school at realizing that what I've got is good enough, that I've had success here and that I can take this to the next level and not have to change who I am. I think that’s the hardest part. The biggest thing that I've done before Q school every year is try and turn weaknesses into strengths and I don't think you ever really do that. So this year I'm just going to plan on going through it the way I prepare for any other tournament, and just stick to my game plan and what I've got is hopefully good enough to get to that next level.

DJ, you're known as one of the most avid fishermen on the Tarheel Tour. Give me the two best fishing holes on the tour.

DJ Fiese: There was supposedly a good one at Northstone last week. I tend to sneak into places I'm not allowed to fish, but I would say Walnut Creek up there in Goldsboro is going to be a pretty good spot. I think that one’s going to be what we call a honey hole.

What's the biggest fish you’ve caught on this tour?

DJ Fiese: I caught a five pounder at Sapona, and that’s the lake to the left of number one. Michael Townsend, who was fishing with me, pulled out a six pounder on the pond at seventeen at Sapona, and that’s the biggest fish I've seen so far. We had some pretty good success down at Oldfield as well on the pond right of eighteen.

If you're going down the stretch the last four or five holes of a golf tournament on this tour and you are tied for the lead, who is the person out there that you would least like to have to beat?

DJ Fiese: I'm a pretty competitive guy. I don't know if there's a person that I would least like to beat. Look at what David Robinson’s done over the course of a year. His body of work’s pretty impressive and that guy’s as big a competitor as I've ever met. He’s a pretty soft spoken guy, but if he wants to beat you, he’ll not only beat you but kick you while you're down. I would have to say David Robinson. Shaun Norris is another one that can go when he’s on, and he can hit it so far that it’s a different game. Matt Cannon knows how to win. I mean, the guy just flat out wins every year, and never makes a mistake. So those three guys, in my opinion, they also happen to be my friends, are as tough to compete against when they're on top of the leader board as anybody.

That’s a pretty good answer, DJ. Not bad there. Well, thank you for joining us. Congratulations on your win at Cabarrus, and we look forward to seeing you next week at Walnut Creek.

DJ Fiese: I appreciate it guys. You guys do a great job. Keep it up. Thanks a lot.