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RBC HERITAGEApril 17, 2015Graeme McDowellHILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA JOHN BUSH: We'll continue the Team RBC parade here. We'd like to welcome Graeme McDowell to the interview room here at the RBC Heritage. 2‑under par, 69 today and he currently sits one shot back from Matt Kuchar. GRAEME McDOWELL: It was about as benign as it gets out there this morning. You don't often play this golf course with so little wind and with the golf course being as soft as it is. You know, phenomenal score from Jordan Spieth. Obviously, 62, can't do much wrong at the minute, that boy. But it was there to a certain extent if you played well and you could attack these greens and the green surfaces are perfect. I got off to a slowish start, first nine holes, which was the back nine. Hit it good, just couldn't seem to make anything. And bogeys on 14 and 18, probably the two toughest holes back there, but rallied a bit in the front nine. Birdied 2 and a couple of good birdies to finish. It was nice. Keeping me there or thereabouts, and I'm excited to be on the leaderboard going on to the weekend. JOHN BUSH: Matt took the tartan jacket last year. Are you looking forward to getting your second one this weekend? And your goals for the week. GRAEME McDOWELL: It would be nice to be there or thereabouts on Sunday. We'll take it from there. A lot of good players on the leaderboard. Looking for a little bit of wind across the links to keep us honest, because two more days of benign conditions, as Jordan has displayed, anything can happen out there. So I think from a leader's point of view, being up there close, I think we'll definitely be hoping for some wind. Q. It's a little bit hard for somebody who is second after two rounds to sort of fly under the radar on Friday, but with Matt and Jordan playing so well today, do you feel good? Yesterday you said you really needed a good round. Do you feel good about where you are now heading into the weekend? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, I tried to go out there this morning and realized that tied for the lead after one round doesn't win you anything in this game. And you really just have to try to keep your head down. I really felt like I had to push the accelerator this morning as much as I could. Coming out of the gate, I birdied 10 and I was close on 11, close on 12, and had a chance on 13. And just couldn't make any of them. And then a little bit of momentum stoppers with bogeys on 14 and 18. But I felt like I wanted‑‑ I felt the opportunity was there to go low this morning and it just didn't quite happen for me. But a couple of birdies to finish and I'm right where I want to be. It's, like I say, a good leaderboard and I love this golf course, and looking forward to the challenge this weekend. Q. Did you feel a lot of momentum or hearing a lot of cheers or roars in front of you in the gallery with Jordan in front? Did that pump you up a little bit? GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, the atmosphere was pretty good out there. The first nine holes it was a bit early and there wasn't too many people on our back nine. But the front nine got pretty busy. I was aware that Kooch was going well in front. I wasn't aware that Jordan was shooting 9‑under, to be honest. I heard a few cheers go up and I thought Jordan was certainly under par, but when I saw 62 on the leaderboard I thought, wow. Like I say, when you're on, you're on, I suppose. And he's the hottest player on the planet right now and rightly so, and great for the tournament that he's on the leaderboard going into the weekend. And fair play to him for even being here this week. I don't think too many of us would‑‑ I don't think anyone would have not let him have the weekend off and understood why. Q. It might be a little early to be looking at names at the top of the leaderboard, but there are some pretty good ones that are heading into the weekend here. GRAEME McDOWELL: Yeah, it's a quality leaderboard. This tournament, one of the most traditional events on the PGA Tour and some fantastic names that have won here. And it's great to see a packed quality leaderboard to really do this tournament justice, I suppose. Obviously RBC does such a great job here and I think the players love coming here, especially after the rigors of a major championship last week. It's such a good week to come and decompress and play a completely different golf course, and enjoy some Southern hospitality in this part of the world. I love coming here, and like you say it's a good leaderboard this week. Q. You know what it's like to win a major and sort of follow it up with what comes after. When you look at what Jordan has done this week, how impressive is that? How hard was it for you to sort of get grounded again after Pebble? GRAEME McDOWELL: We were just talking before we came in. Jordan looked like a key that had aged about ten years yesterday. He looked tired. And the few days following a major championship win, it's a whirlwind experience. The demands, the media demands, the things that happen, you know, nearly the fact that every person and player and caddie and official you meet wants to shake your head and wants to tell you what he thinks of your performance, which is so amazing. But it's also so immensely tiring. Talking about flying under the radar, it's the complete opposite. You feel like you're under the spotlight for the three or four or five days right afterwards. But I have to say I saw him this morning early for breakfast and he said, If I can just shoot a few under par today and get in the weekend and go have a nap this afternoon. He did a little bit more than that. I guess being 21 you have a little more bounceback in the system. That's great. Great to have him here and amazing to have him on the leaderboard as well, so pretty cool. JOHN BUSH: Thank you, sir. GRAEME McDOWELL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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