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CIMB CLASSIC

October 30, 2015

Justin Thomas

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

THE MODERATOR: All right, Justin, great playing today. 11-under, 61. Career low round in relation to par. Your previous low was a 9-under 61 at the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii and it ties Nick Watney's tournament 2012 tournament course record. Talk about what was going right for you today.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it was obviously a great day. It was one of those days when you kind of get unconscious and get rolling out there. They don't happen too often.

But I just got off to a good start. Being 5-under through five, those first five or six holes are pretty scorable and I played them well. So that got me in it. And kind of got me in that attack mind frame.

And I really hit it well today. I gave myself a lot of really close, easy birdie putts. If I missed the green, I missed it in a good spot where I could get it up-and-down. So it was a fun day.

Q. When did you start thinking about the possibility of shooting 59?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It first came up in my mind after I birdied 11 or I guess 11 and 12, when I got to 8-under through 11, I felt like that I had a chance. You don't think about it too much really, so I tried not to.

But, yeah, I would say after I birdied 14, 15, I knew I just needed to get, I guess, two of my last three. And then, I mean, they're all pretty easy holes. They're all wedge holes. So it was obviously unfortunate not to get that number, but I'm sure I'll have many more chances in my career.

THE MODERATOR: And then speaking of your career, this is the third time you've been in the lead or could he lead going into the third round. Talk about what you learned from those past experiences.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I just learned to stay patient more than anything. Obviously, it's a great position to be in, but there's a lot of golf left. I just need to keep firing. As today showed, you can get hot out there, you can really make a lot of birdies. Looking at the leaderboard, it's, you need to make a lot of birdies just to kind of keep pace or get ahead of pace. So I just need to stay patient and play well, so just keep doing what I'm doing and have some fun out there.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll take some questions.

Q. So what's the game plan for tomorrow?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Try to make a bunch of birdies again. No bogeys is also nice. But I just need to just try to put it in the fairway and be able to attack as much as I can and make a lot of birdies.

Q. Can you share with us your thoughts about our golf course this year?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's great. I never have been here before. Especially this part of the world. It was my body's still adjusting. Today was actually good, I slept until 5:30, so I wasn't too tired when I got out here. But no, it's been great.

The course is good. The fairways are narrow. So it's a shame that it rains as much as it does, but obviously there's not a whole lot we can do about that. So, the course being soft definitely changes how it's played.

But it's still a great venue and you can see why a lot of guys come back here every year. The views out there are pretty cool. You got a lot of tee shots kind of looking down at the water or some lakes around the greens or stuff like that. So it's very, very pretty.

Q. Does it make a difference to you to be playing so late? Would you rather play on the front nine first or the second nine first? Is there a difference to you? You started at 9:35.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Oh, in regards to Thursday, Friday?

Q. Yeah.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I mean it's -- you obviously always have an early and late tee time, so that's just how it is. But I like the morning tee times. I don't sleep very late, so it's hard, being over here with the rain, playing early is better for me, because I usually can't sleep in the States past about 8:30 or 9. So those 1 o'clock tee times are hard.

But yeah, having two morning tee times here was ideal, I guess. But especially for all of us with the time change it makes it a lot easier.

Q. The pitch marks on the green, playing as you did right at the end, does that make a difference?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It definitely does. Honestly, it depends a lot on the greens. These greens doesn't spike up as easily as say like poa annua and/or bent greens or anything like that. But it's just kind of the texture of the grass. They're really not that soft, they have a good firmness underneath them, so it's not like you see a lot of footprints or anything out there. Obviously you're still going to get your spike marks and stuff like that. But everybody has to play with that. So you just kind of have to put that behind you.

Q. Talk us through the eagle on the third hole.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I hit a good drive out there. I had 213 front, 223 hole. I remember seeing the pin yesterday, kind of had a back stop behind it. I hit a full 5-iron about probably 218 or so, something like that. So, I knew if I hit it hard I could get it there, just be on the upslope, take a little loft off of it.

I hit it really good, just barely right of it. It landed maybe two inches or so just short of green or so and rolled up there to six feet and just an easy right-to-left putt. So it's always nice to get those 3s on the par-5s.

Q. (No Microphone.)
JUSTIN THOMAS: It's from the movie Wedding Crashers, actually. I don't know. I just, it's a funny movie, but I think it's a pretty good motto, just because it's, and especially in this part, nobody is really going to feel sorry for you and nobody really cares about -- I mean, obviously, some people, but in regards to players or you guys, you all don't care that I think my putt on 17 should have gone in and it didn't. It's just the reality that it is. You got to get over it and keep playing and just keep playing and try to do what you have to do.

Q. (No Microphone.)
JUSTIN THOMAS: I don't know. I guess just growing up, I was kind of growing up, when I was young, in his hey day when he was number 8 after Kobe and he was just killing it out there and it was fun watching him play. I really, you know, it's a shame I didn't get to watch MJ play in his prime, just from seeing all his videos and everything of what he did, it was very Kobesque and I just think it's really cool when those, you see guys like LeBron and people in other sports, when it's crunch time and it's like Steph Curry too, when they need to perform, they need to do something, they make it happen. And I just think that's a cool trait.

Q. Does it make any difference to you who you're playing with tomorrow? Does it matter to you who you're playing with?
JUSTIN THOMAS: No, if I get to the last group on Saturday for the rest of the year, I don't care who I play with, that's for sure.

No, but you have some people that you like to play with more so than others. But it's nothing against other people, it's just the nature of what it is. You're better friends with some guys more than others. But I guess I'll play with Steele tomorrow and he's a really good friend of mine. I don't know if we'll be two or threesomes. I'm assuming threesomes. So everybody out here is a great person and fun to be around, so I just kind of embrace all the parings, I think.

Q. What do you think actually that you did right that made your day a good one?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I hit the ball really well. I didn't really make too many mistakes. If I hit it in the rough, I seemed to have a good lie or could do something with it to get it up near the hole. But I had a lot of birdie putts that really weren't very stressful. I mean, I just think most of them maybe, except for one of them was probably inside of like 10, 12 feet. So, those are just kind of stress free where you can just get up there and you know you got four feet, just get your read and hit it. And being able to hit it solid like that just kind of takes, by the end of the day you're not as worn out. And it makes it a lot easier.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Justin.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Thanks, guys.

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