Glover Post-Tournament Interview

June 22, 2009

Q. How does that feel?

GLOVER: (Holding trophy) Heavy. It feels great. I didn’t expect this Thursday, to say the least. But I was playing well coming in. And I knew if I put four together I might have a chance. But pretty good.

Q. Sunk in yet?

GLOVER: No. I’ve got, I don’t know, two or three days, probably. But obviously very excited and just happy I hung in there.

Q. You told us when you came out here in 2002, you were kicking yourself, because you said this golf course sets up really well for you. What is it that you think that sets up well for you, and why do you think you were able to translate that this week?

GLOVER: The length for one. I’m fairly long. I’m not statistically as long as I used to be on TOUR. And I usually drive it fairly straight. And I knew after ’02, I knew if I had my driver worked out starting this week, I could play well here.

And then the soft conditions allowed me to go at some flags, and I was putting okay and made some birdies.

I like the way it looked. And anytime a course suits your eye or you like the way it looks; a lot of the tee shots and into the greens and stuff, you can feel you can play well. That was the main thing; I liked the way the course looked.

Q. You said yesterday you are a scoreboard watcher. Football analogy. There was a point there when some pretty big names were starting to make some moves. Were you paying attention?

GLOVER: Sure. And yesterday I said that would happen. And we were waiting on it. You knew Tiger and Phil were going to make a move, and they did. And Ricky and I started coming back. That probably motivated them more.

But, yeah, I was watching. You have to. I do. You don’t. I do. Just like to know where I sit and what I need to do.

Q. Didn’t seem to unnerve you. You seemed unflappable out there considering the theatrics of the event that you were immersed in.

GLOVER: I’d be lying to say I wasn’t nervous. I had the knees knocking pretty good on 16, 17 and 18. But I pulled it off and executed some pretty good golf shots.

Q. U.S. Open Champion, you will be for many years to come, what is it like now and what does it mean?

GLOVER: I don’t know yet. It hasn’t sunk in yet. But I get to play in some cool tournaments for a while, so that’s fun.

Q. Hartford?

GLOVER: Yeah, I’ll be there. Absolutely. I dreamed about it as a kid and pulled it off. Here I stand.

Q. What did you learn about yourself when everybody was getting bunched up and although you didn’t shoot under par, you at least held it together there at the very end? What are you feeling about yourself?

GLOVER: I held it together. And that’s important. The patience thing I’ve been preaching all week to myself and you guys and everybody else here that ask me what I’m feeling, it paid off.

I could have gotten upset with myself after 9, chip it out, wedge it close, whatever. But I was patient.

I made the turn and said, all right, put a good nine holes together and see where we stand. I did. Bogeyed 15 and birdie 16 and parred on the rest, and even on that back nine in contention was all right.

Q. Did you ever feel that you were fighting the top guys on the leaderboard, but the fans, as well? They were rooting for Phil obviously?

GLOVER: That’s okay. He was the favorite coming in. They liked him from ’02. And he’s the No. 2 ranked player in the world. Rightly so.

It didn’t bother me. It didn’t motivate me or bother me or whatever, but just the way it is. After Tiger finished, Phil’s the man on the golf course, and that’s fine.

Q. What did you hear from the crowd?

GLOVER: He was maybe three groups ahead. And I guess it’s like what they used to say at Augusta; you could hear a “Jack roar at Augusta. You can hear a “Phil roar.” I knew something was going on kept my eye on the board.

Q. All different players and big names on that trophy, yours will be etched in there tomorrow, what does that mean to you?

GLOVER: I don’t know. I get to be beside them. I don’t know. It’s an honor to be on the trophy with names such as that. I hope I don’t downgrade it or anything with my name on there. It’s an honor, and I’m just excited and happy as I can be to be on here.

Q. You seem very humble in what you just said. Don’t want to tarnish it?

GLOVER: What do you want me to say?

Q. You just won the U.S. Open?

GLOVER: Just being honest. I’m happy and excited and honored, and that’s the truth.

Q. When you qualified for the U.S. Open, did you think in terms of winning or just playing in it?

GLOVER: I found something in my golf swing at the qualifier, worked on it at home and started hitting the ball well with my driver. I had a feeling if I could get it in the fairway and make some putts, I’d do all right. Because my attitude’s been good, and I’ve been chipping and putting good and I hit it really well all week. Today was a struggle.

I think nerves got in the way of my golf swing a little bit, but I held it together.

Q. Talk about how much you love literature and how much you’re doing reading; tell the fans some of your favorite authors so they can go read some of the stuff you’re reading.

GLOVER: Any murder mystery. I read any of them. It’s like watching TV; you can read them in one day. Clive Cussler is probably my favorite. Daniel Silva. There’s two.

Q. What does this do for your confidence?

GLOVER: If I can win this one, I guess I can play all right. I should play all right every week. I’m just kidding. I don’t know yet. I hadn’t gotten there yet. I hadn’t put the tee on the ground since Thursday. It’s going to be a big confidence boost.