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SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

October 22, 2015

Patrick Rodgers

Las Vegas, Nevada

Q. Great start last week and then here in Las Vegas. An opening 65, take us through it.
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, it was a good day today. Nice to have those premier tee times, first off, so the sun was just up in time for us to tee off. But greens were perfect out there and got off to a great start, was really patient and had a great front nine there, and then wasn't my best on the back but held it together, and I'm happy with the way the day finished up.

Q. Three birdies and an eagle on that front side. Talk about the eagle, and a loss of concentration at 10?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, just missed the fairway off 10, but 9 was a great hole, was able to put one in the fairway there, a long ways down there, and hit a really cool 4-iron to about five or six feet, so it was nice get 3 there for sure.

Q. We've gotten used to seeing guys coming out of college and turning into ready-made pros. You're another one of the products coming through. Given what Emiliano did last week, does that fill you with confidence or is it your own top 10 that comes into this week with good form?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, absolutely, seeing guys your age having a lot of success definitely gives you confidence. Jordan kind of paved the way for everybody, and to see what he's done, it is very motivating. At the same time, you know, you have to go out and hit the shots. Nothing is handed to you out here. But for sure I'm very motivated to come out here and play well.

Q. You've had an early tee time here on Thursday, you're 23 years of age in Las Vegas. You're not off until late tomorrow afternoon. Are there any distractions that get in the way for you?
PATRICK RODGERS: No, no, for sure not. I'm excited to have my family in town tonight and I'm sure we'll have a nice dinner, but no shenanigans.

Q. First group out today, what was working so well for you?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, the sun was up just in time for us to tee off, but it was nice being the first off. The greens were perfect, and they're so good out here. Just perfect bentgrass greens, so I feel really comfortable. I was able to roll in a few putts, especially during that front nine. Definitely wasn't my sharpest there on the back, but all in all, a very good start, but I know I have a long way to go.

Q. Your strokes gained putting was pretty high for the round. Did you find something out there that worked?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, last week was tough. You had poa annua greens which are always a challenge around the hole, and I definitely missed my fair share of short putts last week, so it was nice to get on some bentgrass this week and tweak my putting just a touch, and it paid off. I felt really comfortable on the greens, and I will feel comfortable going forward.

Q. You said that you had kind of a nice time off. Do you feel more energized being out here?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I think it could definitely be an advantage, the break that I had. It definitely wasn't exactly what I was working for, but I definitely made the most of my eight weeks off, and I felt really prepared last week, and I'm going to try to use that to my advantage, as well.

Q. What did you do during those eight weeks off that you didn't play to keep your game in shape, or did you just stay away from the golf course?
PATRICK RODGERS: Well, I had played 12 of 15 weeks leading up to that break, so the first four weeks I took completely off of golf. I didn't do anything golf related, and I just had a good time with my friends and with my girlfriend.

Q. What did you do with your friends?
PATRICK RODGERS: I was a little bit everywhere. I spent some time in Florida, I moved to a new house, or a new condo, went up to Chicago, went out to Stanford to watch a couple football games, a little bit of everything.

Q. Your team is doing well right now.
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's been exciting the last few weeks.

Q. So when you got back on to the course, you said -- was it hard to get the rust off?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I was definitely rusty. When I first started coming back, my game wasn't very good a month beforehand when I started getting ready, but I knew the really important thing was that I was ready to go on Thursday in Napa, and I feel like I've been pretty good over my career at being ready at the right time.

Q. You said you tweaked a little bit of your putting game in the last day or two?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, it was just nice to get on some really, really nice bentgrass greens. They're perfect. If you roll something really well around the hole, they're going to go in. So that was very, very refreshing, and it was, like I said, nice to be first off with perfect greens, so I took advantage.

Q. How does this course complement your game?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I can take advantage of some of my length. I feel really comfortable on the greens. Some of the greens are pretty big with a lot of breaking putts. I feel like I putt well on those style of greens. But I know it's going to take a lot lower than 6-under par to win this tournament, so I've got a long way to go.

Q. A lot of guys have struggled at 17 today. What's going on at 17?
PATRICK RODGERS: I can't speak for anyone else. I thought I had a weird wind and I didn't hit a very committed shot. The wind was in off the left, and I tried to hit a low draw and felt like I didn't maybe have enough club. That was poor mentally for me, but it's not too hard of a shot.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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