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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 16, 2016

Brandt Snedeker

Honolulu, Hawaii

JOHN BUSH: Bogey-free 4-under par 66 for Brandt Snedeker, who joins us now in the interview room. Just get some comments on your round today.

BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I played really well. Ended up with a little bit of a shaky start, but played really well. A little disappointed, to be honest with you, with the round. I parred the two par-5s from the middle of the fairway. I missed a short birdie putt on 1, a short birdie putt on 17, and didn't really feel like I had good speed on my putts all day. But besides that I hit the ball fantastic and gave myself a lot of opportunities. Do that again tomorrow, I should be in good shape.

Q. You just mentioned the missed opportunities that you had and you still came in with a 66. What are the positives you take out of it?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, my ball-striking was fantastic. I drove the ball really well, besides one hole, with the driver, and hit a lot of quality iron shots, a lot of quality wedge shots. That part of the game is in great stead.

Just got to get the putter, more comfortable with it, a little more comfortable with the speed and being more aggressive with my putts. Playing too much break and kind of trying to die them in a little too much.

Q. Do you recall at Torrey Pines in '07, I don't know what start that was for you, but you were a young man on TOUR playing in the last group and what that was like and can you relate what Zac would go through tomorrow and be, or is it a case where these guys are so young they just don't care anymore?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Probably a little bit of both. I can definitely relate. The one difference was I had Tiger Woods teeing off right behind me, so that was a little bit disconcerting to say the least. And I don't think Zac views me as Tiger Woods, so I think he'll be okay. The nerves are going to be there. He's got a great caddie in Andy Martinez to kind of help him get through it, and yeah, the golf course sets up really well for him, so I don't see him having too many issue. It's a stacked leaderboard. There's a bunch of guys right there with a chance, so you can't get too worried about what's going on with everything else and kind of focus on his own game.

Q. Did the course play differently today than it did Thursday and Friday?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Not really, no. The wind wasn't up too much. A little bit of a different direction, but the golf course still played pretty similar. The birdie opportunities are out there; the wind is down, and you saw that today. Guys made a lot of birdies.

Q. You play quick, but the last group, in contention, do you have to sometimes fight to slow yourself down?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: I do. You know, playing with Kis isn't great because we both play pretty quick, but yeah, you have to kind of slow yourself down and -- I do a couple little things to kind of make sure that I'm doing something consciously to make sure I slow down and take my time and really spend an extra 10 seconds on every shot to make sure I'm clear and get through it.

Q. Is that a challenge?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Sometimes. Pretty much so it is.

Q. You said with the stacked leaderboard the way it is, is it tough to resist the temptation to scoreboard watch?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Yeah, I'm not a big scoreboard watcher. I can't control what everybody else is doing. I'm going to go out there and try and shoot as low as I possibly can. You see here in years past, guys shoot 62, 63 here on Sunday to get the job done. I know I'm going to have to make some birdies tomorrow. Even par or 1-under par is not going to get it done. Need to go out there and play like I did today and make some putts.

Q. Is it almost easier when it's so bunched that you can't even worry about any lead you have?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: No, no, I'd much rather be -- I would have much rather made those putts on 17 and 18 and had a two-shot lead, because I've found for me I play better when I don't scoreboard watch because I don't caught up in what's going on. I focus on what I'm supposed to do, and I've won from in front doing that, I've come from behind doing that, but any time you have a lead it's a good thing because you have more room to make a mistake and get away with it.

JOHN BUSH: Brandt Snedeker, thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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