The Tarheel Tour Interview with D.J. Fiese

This week we interview Olde Sycamore Open Champion D.J. Fiese. The Smyrna, GA native opened the event with rounds of 65-62 to take a 5-shot lead into the final round where he outlasted Alex Hamilton and Rob Oppenheim to win his third professional title, and the $15,000 first place check, by one shot.

D.J. You entered the final round with a five shot lead. Obviously it is extremely rare to go into the final round of a tournament with a lead that large. How did you approach the final round knowing you had such a big lead over the rest of the field?

D.J. Fiese: Well, I tried to keep it pretty much the same. I tried to stick with my game plan and continue to play the way I play. Obviously I was playing well, so I wanted to do everything pretty much the same way I did the day before.

This wasn’t your first win in the professional ranks. You have won twice on the Hooters Tour, both times coming from behind to win the tournament. How much harder was it mentally to play with such a big lead in the final round?

D.J. Fiese: It’s hard because everybody else has nothing to lose. They’re just running and gunning and shooting at flags and you’re over there trying to stay aggressive but also trying to minimize your mistakes. It was very difficult mentally to stay aggressive because your mind’s telling you subconsciously to be conservative. It was difficult. It was definitely more difficult than chasing somebody from behind.

When you stood on the 15th tee you looked up at the leader board and saw that Rob Oppenheim had posted a 9-under par 63 and your 5-shot lead was now a one shot deficit. What kinds of thoughts were going through your mind? Did it re-focus you?

sponsored links

PRE-PAID LEGAL

MONAVIE

MonaVie products deliver the phytonutrients and antioxidants you need to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

TITLEIST

Learn about Titleist golf balls, golf clubs and accessories.

BUSHNELL

This is life, and this is how we magnify it.

D.J. Fiese: When you have a five shot lead, you don’t want to lose the golf tournament. What runs through your mind is, what’s going to happen if I lose? What are people going to say? What am I going to think? What’s everyone else going to think? Then you just have to get into what you’re doing and fire at the flag. My thought process went from trying to minimize mistakes; to I’ve got to make birdies. It kind of took things back to what I was used to, how many birdies you can make. I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could the last few holes and then see what happens when I get in.

You work with sports psychologist Bill Moore on the mental side of the game. What kind of advice did he give to help you play the final round on Friday, and what made you decide to work with a sports psychologist in the first place?

D.J. Fiese: To answer the second half of that question first, I started working with a sports psychologist when I was in high school. I just felt like something was holding me back. I was showing too much emotion on the golf course and you know as well as I do, golf’s not a game where you can get mad and play better, so I wanted to harness some of that energy and turn it into a positive thing. That is what turned me onto sports psychology. To answer the other part of the question, I work a lot on my pre shot routine, what I do before I hit the ball, conservative targets, aggressive swings, things like that. A pre shot routine is pretty much a ritual and you try and stick with that. If you can focus on that part of it, hitting the golf ball is much easier to cope with. We work a lot on game plan, a lot on my pre shot routine and a lot on just trying to get out of my own way.

The mechanics in your golf swing are really good. Dr. Moore preaches feel as a major part of his philosophy on how to play golf. How do you manage to mix solid mechanics with a move based on feel?

D.J. Fiese: I try to keep it simple. If I can keep the club square throughout my golf swing, and keep it on plane, I can be dynamic through impact. This means I can make an athletic move. We all have our own move unique to us. I try to keep it as simple as possible so I can make a good aggressive pass at the ball, making my own athletic move. Generally speaking this allows me to hit the ball where I want it to go.

After winning the British Open Padraig Harrington said that after he made a double bogey on the 18th the final day, had he lost the tournament, he would have had a hard time coming back from it, possibly never being the same player again. While the event at Olde Sycamore certainly isn’t on par with the British Open, what would the ramifications have been for you had you not been able to hold onto that 5-shot lead and not won the tournament?

D.J. Fiese: I would have to agree with him. If you lose a lead like that it’s very difficult to swallow. Look at what happened to Greg Norman at the Masters. He was never the same player after that so that’s one of the things that creeps into your mind. How am I going to deal with it if I lose? I don’t know how I would have reacted or how other people would have received me. I think that’s a lot of it. It would have been difficult; it would have definitely been difficult. My whole motto is you get knocked off the horse, you jump right back on and I suppose that’s what I would have done, but you never really know. It would have been very, very difficult for my psyche to lose that golf tournament.

You have now won on both the Tarheel Tour and the Hooters Tour. You have come from behind to win and now you have won from ahead. Where do you go from here and what are your goals for the remainder of the 2007 season?

D.J. Fiese: One of the things I really want to do is continue to prepare for Q-school. That’s obviously why we play all year is to try and gain status, either through the course of the year Monday qualifying or through Q-school at the end of the year. My game plan is to chase the Nationwide Tour and try to get out there and catch lightning in a bottle. If that doesn’t come to fruition, then I’ll continue to prepare for Q-school and try and have my game peak at the right time this fall.

Thanks for your time D.J. We wish you the best of luck the rest of the year and hope to see you on television playing the PGA Tour next season.

D.J. Fiese: Thanks guys I appreciate it. I’m sure you will see me at a few more Tarheel Tour events before the end of the season.