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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSICJune 11, 2015Greg OwenMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Q. Just 64 top of the leaderboard. GREG OWEN: I know, day one. Got to feeling good. Oh, I played great. I hit the ball how I was expecting to hit it. When you pick a shot and you commit to it, and most of the time the ball went where I wanted it to go. I putted well. Greens are fantastic out here, quick. All in all, it was pretty comfortable. I mean, there are shots that get your attention. All in all, played really well. Q. This is not a course that usually gives up 64s on a regular basis. There's two today. Just ideal conditions, and kind of just when given the opportunity, you made good? GREG OWEN: Yeah, the fairways aren't as firm as they normally are. They firmed up since the practice days because of the rain, but they're not bouncing like they can do in previous years. The greens are perfect. I mean, they really are good. They're rolling properly. They're accepting good shots. It's all about hitting fairways and greens. I hit most of them today, so it's always well for a good score. Q. You're a guy that's still out chasing that first career PGA TOUR win and it's been -- you've been around for a while. Do you now sense -- do you allow yourself after one day to think maybe? GREG OWEN: No, not at all. There's a long way to go. First things first, keep playing well, you know. Keep the same feels and keep committing to my shots, and, you know, I've had a couple of nice little breaks today when I didn't hit the ball straight where I wanted to, I was in the right position to miss it. You know, there's so many top class guys out here, you can't even think about that. I didn't even see the leaderboard until the 8th green because it's pointless. There's 54 holes left around a tough golf course and lot of below par scores. The weather stays like this, it's going to be perfect. Keep playing with experience now, so I know you can't get excited. It's about keeping a level head and concentrate on each and every shot. Q.  Is it big on a course that can be tough like this to have that first good day and have the confidence you've seen what this course has? GREG OWEN: Obviously you feel like you can play it. The shots I'm picturing, I'm hitting. It suits my eye pretty good. You know, you got to keep taking it in. You can't lay off now. You got to keep playing and keep being aggressive, because there's going to be guys coming at you. I'd be surprised if somebody doesn't shoot low this afternoon. The course is in fantastic condition. Hit fairways and greens, that's when you score your best. Q. You said there are 54 holes left. To be atop the leaderboard, when is the last time in a PGA TOUR event you've been in this position? GREG OWEN: I don't remember. I know where I need to be, and I haven't been in that position for a long time. Because I've not played well. I've not felt comfortable on the golf course. And when I felt comfortable, I didn't hit the ball properly. When you get those kind of differences, anything can happen. Q. But you feel good now. GREG OWEN: I got some old feels back in the day and I feel good. I feel -- I'm healthy and fit and I'm putting well. That's a big bonus for me, confidence with the putt. The ball sets up on the line you want it to set up on. You feel like you're going to hole putts. I'm putting really well. I got to be committed to the shots and hitting good shots and rolling the ball. Q. What is your history here at this event? GREG OWEN: I have no idea. Again, I enjoy coming here and I enjoy playing here. I've got a great friend Tim who puts us up for the week. English guy back from my home town in England. Very relaxed week. I enjoy the golf course. You got to play well around it. Hospitality is great. I don't look at past results because it means nothing. Q. Did your friend, is that the first time you came here, was he here? GREG OWEN: He moved over in 20, 30 years ago. Long time ago. Just a few years ago, they just started walking the course and introduced themselves. From then on, it's been great, been very comfortable. I'm going to go to the gym, and then I'll be in his backyard in the pool. Q. Like being at home. GREG OWEN: It is, exactly. Q. You'll get a chance the see this course in the afternoon tomorrow. What approach will you -- will you take a different approach? GREG OWEN: I'm going to picture the shot I want to hit and attempt to hit it and see where it goes. I want to keep playing well. It's been so long to finally hit the shots I want to hit, I just want to keep hitting them. So wherever that leads us, it leads us. Golf is a funny game. You can run away with it or get sucked up with it. Hitting the shots. Q. Breathe easy and let it rip? GREG OWEN: Try. I'm going to try. Q. Bogey-free opening round for you, Greg. Tee to green, it looked easy for you. What was it like inside the ropes? GREG OWEN: It was -- it felt pretty comfortable. The breeze picked up every now and then. It was swirling a little around here, so getting that right was a little awkward. If I missed the shot, I missed in the right place and putted really well to not make any mistakes with the long putts. I'm very happy, yeah. Q. This season so far has been a bit of a struggle. At what point today did you know that it was going to click and come together for you? GREG OWEN: It was actually at Byron Nelson, the last round I started to get some good feels about what I need to do and actually -- when you feel it, you actually see the ball do what you want it to do, then you start getting confidence. Last round at Byron Nelson did that. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play Memorial, because I really enjoy that place. It's probably my favorite course of the year. But it's good to practice well last week and bring it out to the tournament this week. Q. Whatever you found today, how do you kind of bottle that up and ride some momentum tomorrow as well? GREG OWEN: Keep the same feel and go with it, trust it. A lot of golf is about trusting. When you get a little swirling wind, pick your shot and trust it. Most of the time today, I committed to everything I wanted to do, and as I say, I putted well, made -- took my opportunities. Keep doing that, just see what happens. Q. Decent scores to be had out on the course in Memphis today. One of those was carded by Greg Owen. 64, you must be very, very pleased with. GREG OWEN: Yeah, very. I played really well. I think I missed two greens by like a foot. Most of the fairway -- I think I missed one fairway. Back to my old European days. Fairways and greens. The putting has been great today. Every chance I've had, I've capitalized and haven't made any stupid mistakes. Q. When you mention those statistics, 89 percent greens in reg. Quite good accuracy. GREG OWEN: I missed one fairway. That was by 6 inches. I don't know whether that carried or not. Very happy with that. Felt good coming into this week and nice to play well. Q. Your best round of the year by two shots. What's suddenly happening in your head that's making things happen? GREG OWEN: I was talking to Tim Byron (sic) out in New Orleans and getting old feels back and my old coach back in England, been struggling. I'm getting back to how I play golf and put a few little things to make it a little better, getting back to my old self and my putting has improved, so that leads to good scores. Q. Your last event, Byron Nelson, your last rounds were in the 60s. Is there something you feel from the confidence? GREG OWEN: Again this whole field, knowing I can do it, but if you're not feeling out there, it's hard to say I'm going to do it. I made three birdies in the last four holes at Byron and made the cut. That gave me a huge boost. Sunday round again I played like this, and, you know, I understand didn't get to play Memorial but carried on and take it to the next tournament. Practice has gone really well. I was feeling very good before this week. It's nice to always show it on the course. Q. I was watching your swing. You really looked like you're in a good rhythm today. GREG OWEN: It's been awhile. I've been searching for a long time. Q. Greg, just standing here talking, as they went through the leaderboard and I mentioned to Greg, I watched him swing the golf club, looked like he's in wonderful rhythm today, and you said it's about time? GREG OWEN: It's been a long time since I've played as well as I've played today, just feeling like I'm going to play well and I'm actually playing well. Things are coming together. I'm getting some good old feels from back when I was playing well. I feel like my old self getting on the golf course again. Expect to go hit shots and actually seeing them materialize as well. It's been good. There's a couple of little errors I would like to clean up, but I hit most fairways and most greens. Very happy. Q.I was going to say 11 of 14 fairways, 16 of 18 greens. I guess the two greens missed, I saw one at 9, 3 inches off. You hit the green at 14 and it rolled off. GREG OWEN: Oh, just on the back edge. Very happy with that. I can only think of two fairways I missed. I don't look at stats. I know if I'm playing well and I'm in control of what I need to do, it's crucial. Q. Take us through the stretch, 16 through 1. As you make the turn, there was four birdies in a row. I think the one you made at 18 was about 35 feet. GREG OWEN: That was a little closer. Got the wrong angle on that one. It was about 15 feet there. Just 16 obviously a par 5. Hit a really good 4-iron there and kicked a little to the right, caught the fringe and left me a nasty into the grain chip. I chipped it down and holed that. 17 is a good hole. Hit the left edge of the fairway and give me a great angle, 8-iron to about 10 feet, rolled that in nicely. Greens are putting perfectly. They're the best greens I've putted on this year. 18 I hit a nuke of a 3-wood. One of the fairways I missed. I hit it through the fairway into the bunker, like 300 yards. Got a pretty nasty stance to it but managed to hit a good 8-iron. There's some slopes out there. With the pace of these greens, you got to allow a lot of slope. I putted really well and very happy. Q. Good start, keep it going, 6-under on top of the leaderboard right now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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