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SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

November 3, 2015

Nick Taylor

Jackson, Mississippi

An Interview With:

NICK TAYLOR

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll go ahead and get started. Like to welcome our Sanderson Farms Championship defending champion Nick Taylor. Nick, why don't you just kind of talk about your thoughts oncoming in this year defending at your first PGA TOUR event where your first win happened, and then we'll have a few questions.

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I'm excited to be back. I was here for media day a couple of months earlier in September, and it was nice to come back and have some memories kind of come back with the golf course, and I played a few holes out here. And it was fun. I'm excited to get back out there and play the golf course. It's a golf course that I really like. And it's going to be my last event of the year. So I'm excited to kind of finish off on a high note and hopefully be in contention and try to win again.

THE MODERATOR: And you came from four shots back last year to claim a two-shot win. What do you remember the most about that final round 66 that you shot?

NICK TAYLOR: I remember making a lot of putts. The whole week I was reading the greens pretty well. But I made a lot of putts the final day and kind of kept my foot on the gas coming down the stretch and was able to make some key putts, especially I think 15 and 16 were big putts. I just remember making a lot of putts and kind of kept it going the whole day.

THE MODERATOR: And you're coming from overseas, so when did you get in? You were playing CIMB last week. When did you get in and how have you adjusted so far?

NICK TAYLOR: I arrived yesterday about noon, so I was able to stay up all yesterday, went to bed at a decent time and got a decent rest. So I think by tomorrow or at least Thursday morning, I'll be fully adapted fine. So it should be no issue.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. And then one last question and then we'll open it up. Not to put you on the spot, but you were the first Canadian to win since Mike Weir in 2007. What has the banter been like since you won with the other Canadian players?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, it's been great. They've been very supportive, and it's been great to see Dave had two great chances last summer, and Graham's been playing well for a long time and same as Adam. So it's been nice to have the guys playing well and hopefully we can keep that streak going for every year.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you. Questions?

Q. You were the only rookie to win on TOUR last season and rookies won the first two events of the season. How difficult is that to do?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I think the hardest part is new golf courses on your first year out here learning a lot. Luckily for me last year this was a new golf course for everyone, so it really wasn't any disadvantage to a rookie here.

But yeah, the younger guys are now, the better they're getting. There's more experience, in college you can play PGA TOUR events. There's more technology to get better younger, so it's pretty amazing with how young some of the winners are. I feel old out here being 27, so it's pretty cool to watch.

Q. Now that you've been able to get out on the course, what do you think it looks like?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, I know there's been a drought here over the summer. Obviously they've got a little more rain of late. I haven't been out there this week yet. I'm going to play nine holes today and the pro am tomorrow. We'll see. I think it'll play a little different than last year. I remember last year I was getting some roll on the ball and the greens started to firm up. But we'll see.

Q. How are you feeling about your game entering this week?
NICK TAYLOR: I feel good. The last couple of weeks I played pretty well. I was in a great spot going into the final in Vegas, and last week just couldn't really feel out the greens over there in Malaysia. But game feels good going into this event, so just get some rest the next few days and we'll see how it goes.

Q. Is there any part of your game you feel like you've improved on?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. I feel my ball striking has improved overall since last year. I feel like I read the greens well last year, so if I can kind of get the speed down and the greens being lighting last year, I just putt for a half hour, and they might be a touch slower, but they're still rolling very pure. So need to see the golf course, see how it's playing. If it's soft, it's going to be a little longer, so I think the scores might be a little higher than last year. So we'll see how it is.

Q. Coming off of Web.com last year and you came out here and got a win pretty early in the season. Seeing a similar pattern this year with Hoffman and Emiliano Grillo as well. How do you think that tour prepares you for the environment out here on the PGA TOUR, which is obviously a bigger stage?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. We were playing competitive. Scoring was unbelievable. It was an adjustment for the first bit. The scores are so low, you have to keep your foot down at any event. The cuts were 6, 7-under, and I don't care what golf course you're playing, if you're not playing that well, 6, 7-under just to keep playing on the weekend is tough to do.

So it definitely gets you prepared out here. The traveling is also something that definitely gets you prepared. Playing 20-some-odd events up there is very similar to out here, so it's a lot of benefits to play up there first and it was great for me to get up there for a year and kind of adapt when I came here.

Q. What was the advantage of winning so early in the season last year?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah. It's definitely a stress reliever. The rest of the year I knew where I was going to be; I knew where I was going to play, along with this year and next year. So it relaxes you, but you have to be careful not to do it too much so you don't, I guess, slack off a little bit.

But yeah, it's been great to know where I'm going to be, and I'm really excited for next year, knowing the golf courses again; and out of the four events I played this year, this is the third golf course I've played before. So it gives me a slight advantage compared to last year.

So yeah, it's been nice to know where I'm going to be.

Q. Does winning on a course the first time you play it give you added confidence?
NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, it gives you a lot of confidence. It's just a lot of great memories. I've only had one year there and it's been one for one, so it's nice to come back.

And defending is something you don't do very often, so I'm excited to do that. And there's a little added pressure, I think, just on yourself because you know you've played well here.

So it'll be fun. But again, yeah, it gives you confidence knowing that you've played well; and I feel good about my game, so it kind of adds to it, too.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Well, thanks for your time, Nick. Best of luck this week.

NICK TAYLOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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