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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 12, 2016

James Hahn

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. Just some overall comments.
JAMES HAHN: Yeah, it was a great day today. Started off with a birdie on the first hole. It's good to get all the emotions out and all the anxiety out after a big week last week. Driver was great all day. Hit a lot of fairways, made a lot of putts, shot 5-under with a couple bogeys. It was a good day.

Q. How did the course play on this Thursday?
JAMES HAHN: Course played a little firmer. The fairways were firmer. I was having shorter irons into the greens, but the greens were soft enough where you could fire at them. They were only rolling out a couple yards. Greens were rolling smooth, as well. So any time you had a birdie putt, you had a good look at making birdie. But all in all, the course is in great condition, and as you can see, there's an 8-under, possibly 10-under. Yeah, it's exciting.

Q. When did you realize that this score was possible today?
JAMES HAHN: I took a peek at the leaderboard on the front nine just to see what other guys were doing. There were already 4-, 5-unders after 10, 11 holes, and any time you see that on this golf course, you have to keep being aggressive out there. I haven't been aggressive on this course historically, just because it plays really tough, very firm, smaller greens. You're just trying to play safe. But seeing guys shoot 7-, 8-under, it kind of makes you fire at the flag a little bit more.

Q. So the leaderboard let you know that --
JAMES HAHN: And I was playing with Bill, and he played well, shot 6-under today. Every day I try to at least beast the guys in my group, at least one guy. But seeing Bill play so well, hit a lot of fairways, made a lot of putts, that I was just trying to keep up with him. Ryan Moore actually had a good round except for the last couple holes. So seeing him make a lot of putts, you know, it kind of gives you a little bit more confidence to fire at flags and try and make some birdies.

Q. Was there one shot that was the most memorable today?
JAMES HAHN: There was a lot of them. 9-iron on the first hole, hit it to about 10 feet, made the putt for birdie. 17 is always cool, hit a pitching wedge in there to about six feet, made that one for birdie. Had 3-iron into 16, hit it to the front edge, two-putted for birdie. These are all shots that set up a good round and just keeps the momentum going. Birdie on 16 and 17 and par on 18, I'll take those every day of the week.

Q. Is there anything you've learned your first four trips around here?
JAMES HAHN: You really have to take advantage of the par-5s and play the par-3s very smart. Hole 8 is playing tough. It's a long par-3, and anything in the middle of the green is good. You know, just seeing the guys, seeing how Bill plays it and asking him during the round what clubs he hits off the tee, you just try to follow what the veterans do out here. You don't really question it. I hit 3-wood off of hole 2, ended up making birdie. You can be aggressive, you just have to pick when and where.

Q. How much of an indication is this momentum -- did you think about last week at all?
JAMES HAHN: Yeah, the momentum has been going the right way. The results haven't been as well as I wanted. But eight missed cuts, I feel like the momentum was already changing somewhere around week five, six, seven and eight. I know that's kind of silly to say, but you're hitting -- I'm hitting good shots. We're picking the right clubs. We just weren't making the putts that keep the momentum going. We weren't getting the up-and-downs on the front nine to really have a good chance to post a low score. Momentum is a crazy thing. Once you start thinking positively, it feels like you can pull off any shot out there on the golf course.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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