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NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CHAMPIONSHIP

September 26, 2015

Roberto Castro

Columbus, Ohio

An interview with:

ROBERTO CASTRO

Q. 3-under, 68 today. Talk about your round and how you played.
ROBERTO CASTRO: I played nicely today. Bogey-free yesterday; one bogey today. Got fooled twice on the same hole and made bogey.

But the golf course is something else. It really is. I would love to know on three or four holes a day if there was a single birdie in the entire field. Only so many birdie opportunities out there.

Q. At some point do you just give up on birdies? Does that ever enter in your mind in rounds like this?
ROBERTO CASTRO: No. I mean, if you get into that mode -- I've played a handful of U.S. Opens. You start going the other direction. So you're trying to make birdies, but like I said, three, four holes out there, you have to make a 30-footer.

And then there are 13 or 14 chances if you hit great shots.

Q. This is kind of random, but you Tweeted about Eastlake. You played there when you were in college?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Yep.

Q. Was that the home course for Georgia Tech?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Yeah, that's one of two home courses for Georgia Tech. It's a great place.

Q. So you got to play there a good amount?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Yeah, I played there probably 100 rounds by the time I played in the TOUR Championship two years ago.

Q. In that regard, tying to this tournament with this being a college course, what does that do for a program to have such a quality home course?
ROBERTO CASTRO: It should really help. I feel like at Georgia Tech it's helped. Playing a championship golf course week in and week out, you're not really shocked when you get out on the Web Tour or the PGA TOUR.

Q. This tournament, talk about the importance of winning this week.
ROBERTO CASTRO: It's important. I haven't won in a long time. I played out here for a year and four years on TOUR, and haven't won. Wyndham was my 100th PGA TOUR event.

So that's a focus. That's something I want to do.

Q. Do you look at the leaderboard on a day like today?
ROBERTO CASTRO: You can't help but see 'em, but last three or four holes I didn't see one.

I know what the course is offering. I know what it's going to take, you know, roughly.

Q. Two bogeys in three rounds of golf. You've got to be pleased no matter what the birdie number is. Is that going to change tomorrow or does that depend on the leaderboard?
ROBERTO CASTRO: No. Doesn't matter what the leaderboard is doing. I feel like I've had a good rhythm, good idea of where to put the ball around here, and I'll just try to do the same thing.

Q. You talked with Phil about finding something recently because you were sort of just paddling along, and then in Charlotte you gave yourself a lesson and something kicked in? What lesson did you give yourself, and what changed?
ROBERTO CASTRO: I just played so poorly Thursday/Friday in Charlotte but managed to make the cut. I told myself, I hit the ball pretty well all summer. There is no reason -- I don't need a revamp here. The same swing is there somewhere.

So I just went back to an old lesson from a couple years ago that -- actually during that playoffs run I had made I made it to Eastlake, the swing thought and what I was working on.

Just spent 30, 40 minutes on the range that night and just felt better about it. Just said, Enough of the grind. I got to try to play good or I'm going to go crazy.

Q. That was Friday night in Charlotte?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Yes.

Q. Like right after you played?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Yeah.

Q. What was the lesson? Was there something specific in it?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Just a backswing thought. Literally just a swing thought. Not just on the course. It's something I worked on on the range and took out on the golf course. It was just an overarching lesson I went back to over and over and over and over that good year.

I just went back to that and it kind of sorted me out.

Q. Birdies today, anything crazy?
ROBERTO CASTRO: Two birdies coming in. You know, actually 14, I burned the edge. Birdied 15, 16; 17 burned the edge. So four holes coming in there. I really strung four nice holes together coming in.

Q. Long putts?
ROBERTO CASTRO: They were all about 20 feet. Hard to hit it closer than 20 feet out here.

Q. A lot of guys are still in contention, but you've got more than a one-shot lead. Is there a confidence level heading into tomorrow that maybe you wouldn't have had if you didn't have what you had coming in?
ROBERTO CASTRO: No, I don't think so, especially on this course. There are no easy birdies or par-5s where you can slap it up there. You know, no chance.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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