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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSICJune 12, 2015Brooks KoepkaMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Q. Nice work, Brooks Koepka, 67 to follow up the 64 yesterday. How are you with that? BROOKS KOEPKA: Pretty pleased. I felt it could have been easily a 63, 64. Couple putts didn't drop. Playing really solid and pleased to be there. Q. Let's have a look at some of the action. BROOKS KOEPKA: We had a good number with the heat and everything, about a 35 shot, which was a good number for me. Easy one. Q. Let's go to 15. The putt was looking pretty decent here. BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, it was. I was kind of shocked to see it go in. Burning a bunch of edges and nothing really fell. Previous five holes it felt like I made a couple good putts and nothing went in. Q. Talking about we're going to 16. You have this chip? BROOKS KOEPKA: This is actually quite embarrassing. Into the grain. I was trying to make it, but it just kind of hit and just jabbed out a little bit. I guess it all works out. Q. That was for eagle. Still frustrating after holding the birdie putt? BROOKS KOEPKA: More embarrassing. Really didn't deserve a 4. Q. In terms of your position now, 9-under heading into the weekend, really strong position. Just how confident and strong do you feel now going into the weekend? BROOKS KOEPKA: I feel good. I haven't blitzed the golf course yet. You can shoot 8, 9-under in a round out here. I feel like the greens are so good, you put the ball in the fairway you really take it 8, 9-under. Being in the lead is nice, but would have liked to have been a few more under par. It is what it is. Q. In terms your game development, you graduated from (inaudible.) BROOKS KOEPKA: It can be big, obviously. Get two wins, it's a good year. It's going well. I've made some adjustments. I'm pleased that it's starting to peak right around a Major coming next week. We still have three Majors next week. Didn't really do anything too exciting. Hit a bunch of greens and was putting the ball really well. Maybe speed control a little bit off. Burned a couple edges leaving it short or firmed it through. Overall solid and pretty happy where I'm at. Q. Seemed like there were a bunch of pars at the start of the round and you were able to get in it gear and push it to 7, 8 then 9. How were you able to do that? BROOKS KOEPKA: Just be patient. Set a new strategy the past few days, trying to play a little less aggressive, middle of the green. Pars are pretty good. Made so many bogies and double bogies the last few weeks. Trying not to do that. You can keep the bogies off the scorecard, you can make a bunch of birdies. Should be an interesting weekend. Q. You got a good spot going into the weekend. You've been in this position before, you already won this season. What do you draw on from the past experiences as you look at the final 36? BROOKS KOEPKA: I'm still trying to learn. I was talking to my college coach, Trey Jones, about it, Florida State, still trying to learn. I'm still 25. I've been out here for a year now. Just trying to learn and make sure I'm ready for the Majors, make sure I'm ready for five years from now. I just got to be patient. Q. Have a nice dinner tonight. Got a big weekend ahead of you. BROOKS KOEPKA: Thanks. Q. After an exciting start, last 13 holes, 3 under par. You have to be pleased with that. BROOKS KOEPKA: Playing really solidly. Nothing to get excited about. Playing solid golf, no mistakes, being very patient, waiting for my opportunities to come. And when they have come, I've kind of taken advantage of them, but I still feel like I could be about 5, 6-under par more. Really haven't been firing on all cylinders, but good enough to be at the top. Q. Yesterday you said were you pulling back a little bit to play a little less aggressive, maybe show more patience. Do you feel like you did that today? BROOKS KOEPKA: I'm doing a good job of that. I'm really trying to stick to my numbers and good lines. Maybe not right at the pin, maybe a couple feet left or work the ball into the pin instead of just getting up and hitting shots. Trying to actually hit golf shots. Get carried away on the range trying to hit the straight ball. Trying to work at the pins and flight is going to be key this week. Q. At No. 7, TV wasn't on yet. You were behind a little oak tree, hooked it around that tree underneath two big oak trees on the green. How lucky was that? BROOKS KOEPKA: It's a shame TV wasn't on. Actually -- that's what I was trying to do, believe it or not. We were trying to only hit the ball about 140 yards and kind of snap hook it. It worked out exactly how I saw it, but it was a little bit easier than it probably looked. Q. An incredible shot as I described it on the radio. Talk about the weekend now, because it reminds me a little bit of what did you in Phoenix as you head into the weekend there, playing really well but maybe not quite where you want to be. Is it similar? BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, similar in that as I expected. Obviously I wasn't leading in Phoenix. I'm up there and playing well, playing really solid, and feel if I can put together two solid rounds, I think, you know, hopefully get to 20-under, I think that would be a nice way to cap off the week. Q. I think 20-under would do it. Keep it going, Brooks. BROOKS KOEPKA: Thank you. Q. That was a good shot you hit there. Just talk about it. Posting 9-under on this golf course, 9-under some years is a winning score. You've done it through 36 holes. BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. Playing really solid. Feel like I should about 13, 14-under. Haven't really got the speed of the greens today was troublesome for me. I don't know why. Leaving a couple short right in the middle and then firming them and just kind of touching the lip. If I can put little bit of hard work on the greens tomorrow, make sure the speed is right and shoot about 5, 6-under, it should be good. Q. Is that the kind of number you're putting on tomorrow's round? BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. I think it's very attainable to get to 20-under if it stays like this. This golf course sets, you know, really well for me. I got to be able to hit it long and straight and really putt well, and the greens being so good, it's allowed me to do that. Q. You were battling high expectations. You're putting a big number out there at 20 right now. Is it just the way the game is going this weekend for you and the way the course sets up for your game? BROOKS KOEPKA: I like the golf course. I'm not setting 20-under as a goal. I feel it's very attainable. I haven't played that great this week. I feel like I kind of played ho-hum golf and gotten to 9-under. I'm pretty pleased. Q. You've hit a lot of greens in regulation these two days. How beneficial has that been? BROOKS KOEPKA: It's nice. I think that goes back to strategy, trying to pull back the reins a little bit and not fire at every pin. I feel if I miss two greens maybe everyday, off the top of my head, but it's just playing percentage golf. If you can give yourself opportunities, shots and putts up the hill, you're going to play well. Q. Is that about as good as you've done in the last few weeks? BROOKS KOEPKA: No. I just think that's probably -- I hit a lot of greens just in general. I don't think it's too crazy, but I'm playing well and looking forward to the weekend. Q. Final group, anytime you can play the final group on the weekend, I know you want to do it on Sunday. It's got to be what you shoot for, to be last guy on the tee teeing off on a Saturday. BROOKS KOEPKA:  Obviously it's not Sunday. You got one more day, but hopefully I can put some distance between myself and the field and try to make sure I've got a comfortable lead going into Sunday. Q. Talk about the birdies on 15 and 16, kind of got you a little separation. BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah. 15 was probably the first time I actually really gotten -- I made a putt. I felt six, seven almost previous I was hitting good putts, weren't going in. It's all speed control. Speed control was a little off today. But it was nice to finally see one go in. I felt like I kind of deserved one. Then 16 was laughable. The grain was into me on the chip. Tried to hit it low. It was going to check up right at the hole. Just a terrible chip. Got away with four. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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