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SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

October 25, 2015

William McGirt

Las Vegas, Nevada

Q. I thought your back nine on Thursday was pretty fantastic, but today was just outstanding.
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, it was a great day. I started off kind of sluggish, but I kind of, I don't know, found something there with the putter on 8. Made a good one on 8, made a good one on 9. Hit it close on 10, made a good one on 11, hit it close on 12, had a great two-putt from short of the green on 13, ended up making about a 15-footer there. Hit a great putt on 14. I still don't know how that one missed. And then had to take my medicine on 15, hit it to about 30 feet and made that. And then the bomb on 16.

I think the best of the day was the up-and-down on 17, though. It was pretty special.

Q. Yeah, it looked like you were looking at that after you were walking out after on that chip. Did you think it had a chance to go in?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Oh, yeah. I had a spot picked out, and it probably landed within an inch of it and just hit perfect and started trickling down the hill. I was going to watch if it missed, what it was doing by the hole. About a foot short I still thought I had a chance. But had a great save there. The putt on 18, I'd love to have it over again. I just didn't believe what my eyes were telling me. I watched Peter's putt and still didn't really believe it. Hit it a little bit farther right than he did, and I thought it would break, and he just didn't move.

Q. Now how long do you wait to find out here?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, my flight is not until 11:00, so I've got all afternoon. I don't think it'll hold up. I think 15, maybe 16 will probably get it done. But starting where I started the day, to end up where I did, I'm tickled to death.

Q. When could you tell that this round was going to become special?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Probably after I made my --

Q. One of those birdies?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Probably after the one on 13. I hit it in there about 12 or 15 feet on 14, and I could see the line plain as day, and hit it right down the line, and it just broke hard at the end. You know, and then obviously the one on 15 was kind of like, okay, if we can somehow -- if it goes in and we can somehow go 3-3-3, we've got a chance. I made the 3-3 and gave myself a chance on 18 and just didn't quite hit a good enough putt.

Q. What was the emotion to hear this crowd pulling for you even when you came out of the trailer just a minute ago, people clapping for you? When you came here today nobody was paying attention to what you were doing?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, I had about eight or answer people out here. Lee, the general manager, it's a lot of his friends. If you heard them yelling "Summerlin crew," that's them. I met them out here a couple years ago. You know, it was nice. After the eagle on 16, we were standing on 17 tee, and you could hear everyone going, oh, my God, he's 9-under. It was kind of one of those things where I needed earplugs. But it was great. The crowd has been great this week. I just wish we could get some more people out here.

Q. Talk about playing 12 today. You were able to birdie it. What did you enjoy about playing that particular hole and what makes it such a challenging hole because not too many birdies get made on that hole.
WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, when you look at today's pin, it's borderline impossible to get it close, but I hit driver just trying to hit it left, hit a big kind of sling hook off the tee to get it left of the water and had a good number. I think I had like 94, 95 yards, so I could get plenty of spin on it. If you're back there hitting 8-iron into that pin, you've got zero chance of getting it close. So I went ahead -- I was swinging it good, just go ahead and keep the hammer down.

Q. So was it as rewarding a birdie as any of them?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, that one may have been one of the best of the day, simply because of the way I played the hole. I mean, it was a very tough pin. It almost didn't even look like it was on the green.

Q. Your dad was a Shriners patient?
WILLIAM McGIRT: My dad was a Shriners patient.

Q. Can you bring us through what that was about?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah, my dad was born with clubbed feet, and he was 10 or 12 years old, and he had his surgery done at the Shriners Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. I mean, it's such a great organization and what they do for kids. You know, it's crazy to think that the biggest problem that they have is finding enough patients to treat. You know, there's children born with disabilities and problems every day, and you would think there would be enough patients, but that's one of their biggest challenges. I've tried to jump in and help them as much as I can, simply because it hits so close to home. You know, what they did for my dad makes it really easy to jump in and support them, and they've been very supportive of me, as well.

Q. He was fine after the surgery?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Yeah. You know, the thing is his feet never really grew much after that. I think he wears a size 3Â½ EEEEE, so his foot is really short and very wide. The problem is he doesn't have a lot of range of motion in his ankles, so he has trouble walking on really hilly ground and then really soft ground. But you know, the surgery has come so far in 50 years.

Q. If your round holds up or not, it was still an incredible round. What does it mean that it was this tournament?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Well, I mean, if I had to pick one of the places that I want to win my first event, it would obviously be Greensboro, Charlotte, Hilton Head or here. The first three simply because I grew up in North Carolina, in Charlotte and Greensboro, that connection. Hilton Head, I live in South Carolina now, tournament director is a good friend of mine. Those three would be the obvious choices. But if it was this one, it would be great, simply for the organization and everything that they do, it would be great to win here and be a part of that.

Q. Where is dad now?
WILLIAM McGIRT: Dad is probably sitting in his recliner right now going crazy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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