The Tarheel Tour Interview with Andy Bare   

Andy Bare recently Monday qualified for the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC. The Jacksonville, FL native took advantage of the opportunity by firing rounds of 70-66-68-70 to finish the event at 14-under par tied for 20th. The finish earned Bare just over $52,000, the largest check of his career in only his second career PGA Tour start. After the dust settled, we sat down with Bare to reflect on the week.

You shot 65 at Pinewood Country Club to grab one of the four qualifying spots into the tournament, an accomplishment by itself. What were your expectations once you got into the event?

Andy Bare: I figured I would probably play well enough to make the cut just because the tournament was at Forest Oaks. I played the golf course so many times in college but I really didn't think about too many other expectations other than that.

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This was your second shot at a PGA Tour event, the first being the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006. Was it more satisfying to shoot 70-66 at sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the U.S. Open or to finish 20th at Forest Oaks last week?

AB: Well it's two totally different atmospheres. I would have to say more satisfying would probably be this event. Anybody can strike lightning in a bottle for one day at an Open qualifier and get in, but I think to maintain if for four days in a PGA Tournament especially when you're kind of in contention on the weekend, it kind of says a lot to me. A lot of people told me that they're more proud of the two rounds of 70 I shot than they were the 66 and 68 because I kind of got off to a bad start both of those days and battled back.

Let's talk about that. On Thursday you began your tournament by making three bogies on the front side, shooting 39. You then proceeded to make five birdies on the back, posting a score of 70. How were you able to bounce back from such a rough start to play great golf on the back nine?

AB: It was funny. I really didn't play too poorly on the front nine. I couldn't quite get the speed of the greens. Every time I had a birdie putt, I kept leaving it short. A couple of those bogies were three putts just from leaving it probably five feet short and missing those. When we got to number ten Jason Martin who was caddying for me throws me a new ball and he says “This one will work buddy.” Then I threw it in there about three feet on ten and made that and then made about a12 footer on 11 and just got rolling. I think once you make a couple of birdies and you get back to where you're feeling good and you've got the juices flowing, it's a little easier.

You played the back nine at Greensboro in a staggering 16-under par this week and the front in two over. Looking back would you say the difference in the scores could be attributed to nerves or did the back nine just suit your eye better?

AB: You could say it both ways. On Friday I started on the back nine and I think I shot 31 again. For some reason it fit my eye a little better. The two par fives were good to me on that side all week with the exception of on Saturday number 15. But the front side just has a few more holes that you're trying to make Pars on. The par threes are tougher I think on the front, but yeah on Sunday I was a little nervous starting out. I guess you could say it was probably a little of both.

You are very familiar with Forest Oaks Country Club, having played it so many times as a member of the UNC-Greensboro golf team. How was the golf course set up differently this week than it was when you were in college?

AB: The way that the tour sets their pins, it's not quite like it is in a college tournament. They like to use the corners, but Forest Oaks has lots of collection areas off to the sides and the fronts of the greens. They like to put the pins very close to the edges of the false fronts or the bowls on the greens and they had a little more rough than usual, but the golf course itself was just what I remembered.

The scoring at Forest Oaks was the lowest on the PGA Tour this season. Why do you think it was so receptive to scoring this week? When you were in college did you consider it to be an easy golf course?

AB: In college I never thought it was that easy and then every year the PGA Tour guys just light it up. It seems like at least 20-under always wins. The greens were soft but they weren't smooth which isn't susceptible to good putting, but the guys still made putts. There wasn't a lot of rough but in places it was thick. There were so many wedge shots into the greens that you could get aggressive on the approach shots and get it pretty close.

Having now competed with some of the top players in the world and having played a golf course set up by both the PGA and USGA, what are some of the things that you need to work on to improve your game to be able to compete on the PGA Tour on a consistent basis?

AB: Well I was just thinking about that yesterday as a matter of fact. I was looking at my stats for the week and surprisingly I was right up there in driving distance. I putted very well. I think I was tied for 13th with putts per greens in regulation. I think the one thing that I noticed about the tour guys is that they're great iron players. It doesn't matter from what distance they always hit great iron shots and are very good chippers of the golf ball. One thing that I need to improve on is my scrambling with pitch and runs and chip shots around the greens from rough and poor lies.
I'm pretty good chipping it from the fairway, but I really need to work on it from the deep stuff.
The Wyndham Championship is the week after the PGA Championship and right before the FedEx Cup so a lot of the bigger names choose not to participate. Did you feel like you had a better chance to finish the tournament in a good position because most of the top players like Tiger and Phil took this week off?

AB: I knew that the field wasn't going to be your normal PGA Tour field per se but the guys that were there, I mean they're out there for a reason. They're still good players and they can still shoot low scores so I didn't really factor that in too much.

You have had such a phenomenal week, how does this change the way that you approach the remainder of the 2007 season? What are your goals?

AB: It's definitely changed now. With the money I've earned I can afford to go and try pretty much every Monday qualifier on the Nationwide Tour the rest of the way. Getting a sponsor exemption into a couple of Nationwide's later in the year probably is not going to happen due to the lack of timing but I think this is going to give me a lot of confidence going into Q School, and I just need to plan my schedule wisely and keep doing the things I'm doing. I think I'll be all right.

What is your status with the PGA Tour after this top-20 finish? The FedEx Cup is coming up and you're not eligible for that. Can you explain to our readers a little bit about where you are in terms of being able to play PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour events in the future and what you have to do to earn your spot out there for next year?

AB: Well, I'm still pretty much just like anybody else. If you finish top-20 that's about as good as finishing last as far as the PGA Tour is concerned. It really doesn't get you anywhere as far as status goes. It might open the door for a Nationwide exemption down the road but we'll see what comes of that. Basically I want to get into Nationwide's and play well because there are enough tournaments left in the year where I possibly could make enough money to bypass the first stage of Q School. Other than that I guess I'd have to win three Nationwide events. That would be one way to get on the PGA Tour next year or just perform well at Q School.

You travel all over the country playing Mini Tour golf and obviously have been trying to get yourself on the PGA Tour for a while now. How do you feel about the PGA Tour initiating this FedEx Cup? Do you feel like it's taking away more and more opportunities for guys like yourself to get themselves their PGA Tour card?

AB: I really do. It all boils down to what the big names bring to the table in terms of sponsorship for a PGA Tour event. Tiger sells tickets and he brings in the money and I think in reality the FedEx Cup is boiling down to more money for the bigger name players and it's making it harder for the smaller named guy, and even harder for guys like myself to break through out there and establish ourselves on a larger scene. But if I keep working hard at it, eventually some of that money's going to come my way and I'm going to have opportunities to play in the big tournaments too.

Andy let me change the subject slightly. You went to UNC-Greensboro, which is right up the road from Forest Oaks. What was it like playing near home? I assume that the crowd must have gotten behind you and gotten larger and larger as the week went on. Did it affect your game at all; did it help you or hinder you?

AB: I've never really played in an atmosphere like that, being a hometown guy so to speak. Teeing off Sunday there were people in the crowd saying things like, “Greensboro's really proud of you” and stuff like that. I think playing with Joey Sindelaar helped as well since he is a former winner there and is a really nice and well-respected player. We both started playing well on the back nine, especially when the crowds were waiting for the leaders. I think there were four groups behind us so it's kind of fun making birdies coming in and hearing the roars.

You talked a little bit earlier about having Jason Martin on your bag this week. He, like you, is an accomplished player who attended UNC-Greensboro and has loads of experience at Forest Oaks. How did he help you this week and what exactly did you have him do out there other than carry your bag?

AB: Well to be honest with you I had Jason drink lots of electrolytes. That was kind of our joke all week was to keep him taking Amino Vital to keep him going because I knew he was tired out there and it was plenty hot. As far as on the golf course he was a great help.

I just had him keep me in a good frame of mind. He gave me a good kick in the butt a few times but he's also great with reading greens, especially out there. He knows the greens as well as I do, maybe better. On every tee he got me lined up right, and picked out a good target. One thing that I really liked was just him standing there and giving me good confident talk like “Make this swing, let's make this putt” and things like that. It really meant a lot.

Do you think that your finish in Greensboro this week gives more credibility to players at the Mini Tour level? You have exclusively been playing Mini Tours all year, yet you were able to show up, prove that you weren't intimidated, and finish high up on the leader-board. Do you think that your performance will be able to give confidence to other players on the Tarheel Tour?

AB: Yeah I think it should. Anybody that's playing well should get out there and try these things because if you can get through the Monday qualifier it's just golf. It's golf with a bigger scene and more money. If you can forget about all that, 68 is pretty good anywhere you play, and fortunately it goes a lot further on the bigger scenes like the PGA Tour. It definitely should give confidence to guys that if they can get out there and play well, doors will open up for them.

Great job Andy, and good luck in the future.

AB: Thanks a lot. See you out there.