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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 7, 2016

Patrick Reed

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

JOHN BUSH: Like to welcome Patrick Reed to the interview room. Patrick, one way of starting your title defense is an 8-under par 65. If we can get some comments on just an excellent round.

PATRICK REED: Yeah, to start the day I felt like I was hitting the ball really solid. I felt like I was playing really, really well, just some of the putts weren't really falling.

Felt like my speed was just a tad off. I would leave one short and then hit a good line and hit it a little too firm. But then when I hit that hybrid from, hit it through the fairway on 9, hit that hybrid from that rough and knocked it on green. Somehow from there it just seemed to kind of let everything kind of click.

I started hitting a couple kick-ins. Hit it really close on a couple holes and then there on 18 any time you can hit a great 3-wood and pour in a 18, 20 foot eagle putt always helps.

JOHN BUSH: Good stuff. We'll start with questions.

Q. Go right to 18. Can you give us the details on your drive and what you had left in there and what did you hit?
PATRICK REED: Just, I knew I could really swing it and I knew if you draw it pretty hard off that tee you can hopefully get a good bounce and get it rolling a little farther. So I hit a nice big draw off the tee and then I had 295 flag and honestly, I didn't think I could get it all the way to the green. I thought if I smoked it, I'd get to the front edge and it just happened to ride the wind a little bit and kind of just keep on going. And once it gets on that green I know it's going to just keep feeding. I left myself really a pretty basic straight uphill putt from 18 feet breaking maybe a cup.

Q. What did you hit in there?
PATRICK REED: 3-wood.

Q. Unlike a lot of guys, you played a lot of golf the last two, three months. You played well. What was, I guess, what was the thinking behind pulling that off?
PATRICK REED: I've always wanted to play on both tours and be a worldwide player and I had to play that much at the end to keep status on the European Tour to fulfill my membership.

And it was one thing coming into, I knew how tired I was, I knew I had to figure out how to kind of handle it. And when I started going I started playing some solid golf. I had some things that my new coach and I were working on and it kept me going and kept me motivated and played some really solid golf and it seemed to carry over into the off season, which was only three weeks so not really an off season and then I was back here grinding away.

Q. Did it not even feel like sort of just feel like a continuation of last season or end of last year? Did it not feel like a new year almost?
PATRICK REED: Kind of. Didn't really feel like I had a break. I only took 10 days off and honestly, I'm kind of one of those guys that if I take four days off I'm itching to get back it. I always want to practice, play and I don't like sitting at home. I like to grind and play and so because of that, I'm able to come out and play all those events like we did. But I can guarantee you this year I won't be playing that many.

Q. How much fun were you and Jordan having out there today and were you kind of pushing each other all day long?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, any time I play with Jordan we always have a good time and we seemed to play pretty solid with each other. So, just another day to go out and play some golf with a friend and we went out and played some fun golf. Both of us did.

Q. How cool is it to get to do it again tomorrow?
PATRICK REED: It's going to be fun. It's always nice to start the week at the last group of the day and going to the second round still in the last group. So that means you're doing something right and you're playing some solid golf and hopefully I can continue and come down Sunday, be in a good position.

Q. What about this place do you like, this course?
PATRICK REED: Everything. There's all the holes seem to fit my eye really well. The one hole that really doesn't really fit, suit my eye is 14, yet today I hit it in there to three or four inches. And kick-in birdie. So I guess it fits my eye a little better this year than the past two.

So it's nice to be back and any time you can step up and have the views that have you around here and this hot sunny weather, it's always nice.

Q. Is there any extra motivation this week, whether it's just being back here, whether it's -- talked about this the other day -- the attention that Jordan and headlines that Jordan and Jason and Rickie have gotten, was there any part of you that was sort of there was extra motivation to perform?
PATRICK REED: Not really. All my motivation comes for the things that my coach and I and my team and I are working on. That's all the motivation I need to go out and play some golf. At the end of the day, as long as I improve in my game and I feel like I'm getting better and improving at the weaknesses that's all can I ask for. I can't control what other the other 31 or 32 guys that are in the field do. All I can control is what I do. That's the only thing I really focus on and at the end of the day that's all for me that really matters is how I play.

JOHN BUSH: All right, Patrick keep it going tomorrow. Thank you, sir.

PATRICK REED: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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