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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

September 4, 2015

Brendon de Jonge

Norton, Massachusetts

DOUG MILNE: Brendon de Jonge, thanks for joining us for a few minutes. 6-under, 65 Round 1 of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Outside you talked a little bit about being surprised with today's round, commenting that you hadn't been playing well into it. A few comments to expound on that, and then we'll take a few questions.

BRENDON de JONGE: It's been a tough stretch for me the last couple of months, unfortunately. I felt like my game was okay, but the scoring wasn't. And then obviously everything today sort of clicked.

Q. Does a run like this come out of nowhere? Did you see any signs in your preparation this week that you might have a good round in you?
BRENDON de JONGE: It came completely out of nowhere. It's out of left field. I felt like I played pretty good at the PGA, made the cut and then struggled on the weekend and then missed the last two cuts, just really couldn't put my finger on it. I wasn't doing anything really badly, but wasn't doing anything great. Struggled to put a score up. A pleasant surprise today.

Q. How much of a surprise was it and how difficult were the conditions? Obviously not a lot of low scores out there?
BRENDON de JONGE: It was a big surprise. Obviously when I got on the range this morning the wind was blowing pretty good. We knew it was going to be a tough day. I chipped it in on the first hole, which kind of put me at ease a little bit. And then kind of went from there. As I said, I didn't see it coming.

Q. A couple of things; how long was that last putt?
BRENDON de JONGE: Probably 15 feet.

Q. And just what was it like the last few -- last couple of months, I guess?
BRENDON de JONGE: Frustrating. Very, very frustrating. As I say, I haven't been able to put my finger on what I've really been struggling with, just as I said, not doing anything great. And it's been difficult to put a score up. But it's definitely frustrating. I feel like I've been working hard. So hopefully this is reaping up a few of the benefits of that.

Q. Without looking at the stats, seemed like every time I looked up or a couple of times I looked, you missed short putts, could your score have been lower today?
BRENDON de JONGE: No, I made some, as well. I made a bunch of mid-length putts. And I missed probably three or four short ones, but I did make a bunch of mid-length putts.

Q. I think we talked two years ago, if you're going through a rough patch and you're coming to a place you had past success, did you think about that at all this week?
BRENDON de JONGE: I did. I've always liked the golf course. I've always felt pretty comfortable on the golf course. It does, it helps when you're struggling definitely to go to somewhere where you enjoy. Yeah, that was I guess the one positive going into this week.

Q. When people are thinking about who is going to be the first round leader, were you thinking you would be the first round leader today?
BRENDON de JONGE: No, not at all. Obviously I was going out there to play the best round I could. But it's a long way go to. Being the first round leader is great, but it's a long way to go.

Q. What does it do for your confidence going forward?
BRENDON de JONGE: It helps to put a good score up, definitely helps. I've struggled to shoot a really good score. So to shoot 65 really helps.

Q. Not to sound negative, but that's what I do. Having been at Muirfield Village, part of that team, which you would have thought you would be two years later, some of it's out of your control, some of it isn't, how do you assess that?
BRENDON de JONGE: Obviously I was looking to build on The Presidents Cup. I felt like I really played nicely for the entire week. To have the season I had last season following up The Presidents Cup wasn't what I wanted by any means. And then I start off this season great. I lost in the playoff early in the year and had a couple of really good chances to win, which is what I was looking for.

But obviously two years later the big thing was to get that first win, which I haven't. That's still the glaring omission. I need to get back to playing the sort of golf that I have for a long time where I've been consistent and been in contention a lot, which is what's been lacking recently.

Q. Outside of the Opens and the PGA or even the PLAYERS, would there be a better place to make your first win than a FedExCup playoff, can you think of one?
BRENDON de JONGE: No, I can't think of one.

Q. Me neither.
BRENDON de JONGE: Maybe in Charlotte, because obviously a hometown event. Other than that it would definitely be a FedEx event would be great.

Q. Can your performance this week, if you continue this, put you on that Presidents Cup radar for one of those two captains picks and does your relationship with Nick help that at all?
BRENDON de JONGE: I don't think so, I think that ship has probably sailed. There are so many guys that are playing such good golf on the International Team right now. One great week wouldn't warrant a pick for me. I feel like it's going to be a very, very strong International Team, regardless of who Nick picks for those two. I think they're going to put themselves very, very well in Korea.

DOUG MILNE: Thanks for your time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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