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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2015

Branden Grace

Kohler, Wisconsin, USA

Q. It has to feel pretty good.
BRANDEN GRACE: It was a tough day, long day, but it feels pretty good. Ball striking was good. Got out of the blocks pretty well, and then I think the main key today was the driving. I don't know how many fairways I missed, but it wasn't a lot. Any time I did hit the fairway, I hit it quite a good distance up there to give myself a chance with the wedges. And I managed to hit the majority of them in a decent fair amount of feet and managed to make some good putts which was a big help. And then to finish off like that was spectacular. It was a great bunker shot and walking up there you think, geez, just get lucky with the lie. Managed to do that and then one thing led to another with a great birdie.

Q. (No Microphone.)
BRANDEN GRACE: Definitely, I think that we both played some great golf today. I think we both made one or two mistakes around the turn or on the back nine with a couple of wayward shots, but we got lucky, which you need on a day like today and on a round like that. And to keep the bogeys off the scorecard.

But Martin played great golf. He got the putter rolling, he said it's the first time this year it's pretty much happened. If he keeps it rolling like that tomorrow, he's going to be tough to beat.

Q. Not having played the course before, do you think you're sort of getting the hang of it almost?
BRANDEN GRACE: I think I'm finally getting the hang of America. This is a dream to play out here. I think I've been playing some great golf. The U.S. Open was a good one coming into this and even The Open Championship, just getting the confidence up, knowing that I can do it, can play in this environment and under this pressure.

I think today was a good key and it was a good round to get myself back into it. I know there's still a lot of golf to be played by the guys behind us, but I'm in a good position heading into tomorrow so it should be fun.

Q. How excited are you about tomorrow?
BRANDEN GRACE: Yeah, I'm as excited as can be. It's another chance, this is what we all play for. We all play to give ourselves the opportunity to get close to a Major Championship and we're all here, and the top guys are all here, for the same reason, we want to win this thing. It's just getting out tomorrow, getting out on the first tee with a smile and hopefully the smile can be there all day.

Q. How much are you thinking about getting a share of the lead before you take that shot?
BRANDEN GRACE: Well, to be honest, there wasn't really that many scoreboards out there, I just didn't really think of making the shot. It was such a tough bunker shot, just trying to get it on the green and to feed it close. Managed to hit the perfect bunker shot. But the day that it is, the back nine, there's some opportunities. So I'm sure the guys that's behind me, they're going to make some birdies coming in. So I'm sure I won't have the lead, but it's never a bad thing, it's never a bad thing coming out a little behind and heading into the final day.

Q. What did you feel out of the bunker there? Could you see it? How was the lie?
BRANDEN GRACE: It was good. I got fortunate. A lot of these bunkers, which is in our favor, are a little bit soft, so the ball's not always going to run down to maybe the down slope or down to the bottom. My ball stayed up a little bit on the upslope, which made it a little bit easier. Then it was just trying to get it up there, trying to make it land soft and then I managed to do it with a great bunker shot.

Q. What did you have for your second shot?
BRANDEN GRACE: I had 167 to the pin. So it was about 160 yards just to fly that bunker. I've been hitting my irons spot-on the whole day and I thought it was just a stock standard 9-iron. We thought the wind was a little bit more off the left than maybe hurting a fraction, which it did, when we were walking up, but I got a little bit greedy.

Zach said just right of the pin, but when I saw Martin hit his shot, I thought he hit a great shot and he just landed a little bit on the wrong side of the slope and just managed to down the right. I wanted to down the left and didn't really think that it's a little bit further to fly and ended up going straight at it. But it worked out, got lucky and it worked out. Lucky that I took the opportunity.

Q. With you guys near the top of the lead, what will you think about and what won't you think about out there tomorrow?
BRANDEN GRACE: Just try to stick to your game plan. If it's another day like today there's going to be some low scores, you're going to have to attack some pins, but you can't attack all of them out there. Just staying patient and just try and make the birdies. It's going to be a tough day, Jason and the guys are playing some great golf and he's going to be a tough competitor tomorrow.

Q. You said at the U.S. Open that your nerves went away after you saw how nervous Jordan and Dustin seemed. Putting yourself in position again, will the nerves kind of sneak in or do you feel confident?
BRANDEN GRACE: Yeah, I think every time you step on the tee box, whether it's a major just a first shot you're going to get nervous on the first shot. I wouldn't say they were more nervous than I was at the U.S. Open, it was just maybe a little bit of a mindset. Just seeing them taking a couple good breaths and thinking that they were maybe a little bit more nervous than I was, that's all it took for me. Hopefully I'll find a little bit something similar to that tomorrow when I get on to the first tee and just run with it.

Q. How do you feel the group here with running the PGA, but especially the fans here in Wisconsin have embraced you?
BRANDEN GRACE: It's been great. Obviously I'm not a big name out here yet. We're trying to work ourselves up the leaderboards and up the rankings, but they have been great. There's been a couple of "Gracey" cheers out there, which is nice and the crowds have been great the last couple of days. I think coming out today, we had an early start this morning and the guys have been out from 7 o'clock, so it's been a good day.

Q. What did you do between finishing your round and then going out again?
BRANDEN GRACE: Just went home, to my fiance. George is staying with us as well. And I just had a chilled morning. I had a little bit of toast and some stuff with them and just killing the time a little bit. Had a little half an hour nap and just to recharge the batteries. Can't remember the last time I had a 4:50 alarm, so that was a killer this morning, but it's all worth it now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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