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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 12, 2016

Cameron Tringale

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Cameron Tringale, thanks for joining us here after a 7-under 65 here in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship. A lot of low scores out there, but right now you're tied for the lead. It's early, but has to feel good to have that round under your belt today.

CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, good start out here. You know, the course is set up for scoring, and it was nice to get out there and make some birdies. You know, if you didn't do that, you're just looking at the board and seeing everyone else do it. Nice to get out in front, especially in the morning, and put some birdies on the card. 7-under, very happy with it.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Can you imagine playing in any really more ideal conditions? Obviously it's hot out there and the ball is going to go farther, but there's almost no wind out there.

CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, I mean, I said, the most I probably played was half a club. You know, it's gentle on the greens, and the fairways were rolling, so you could get it out there, and then hitting shorter clubs.

A couple of the pins were surprising for a Thursday, at least the few years I've been here.

Q. What do you mean when you say the course was set up for scoring? That wouldn't include wind.
CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, I mean, they can't control the wind, but it looked like some of the pins were maybe a little easier. It looked like there were a few Saturday pins, at least compared to the past couple of years. The fairways are running, so the golf course is going to play a little shorter. But having the greens receptive, you know, helps control the ball, your second shots into the greens.

Q. How much fun is it to play this course when you can score it, and if this was a Monday qualifier and there was only four spots available, do you think you're in? Do you think it's going to hold up?
CAMERON TRINGALE: If it was a Monday qualifier probably. Maybe not against this field. We'll see.

Q. No, I mean, but say today is a Monday qualifier.
CAMERON TRINGALE: I don't know, I think there's a lower score out there. Sorry, I forgot what you were asking.

Q. Well, I mean, how much fun was it to play this course? I'm sure you've been here on days when scoring was not ideal, so today it was.
CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, it's fun. I mean, it's such a venue setup to where you can make a lot of birdies. I mean, the last three holes are dramatic. It was nice to have a few birdies on the back nine heading into the last few holes because anything can happen. I played them 2-under, and that's great. I'd take that every time. It was fun. Fun day.

Q. At what point in the round did you realize it was going to be conducive and that everybody was going to light it up? How long did it take to realize that?
CAMERON TRINGALE: Just a few holes, really. I mean, I think I saw a board on 5, and someone was already 4-under. So you just knew it was out there. Our whole group played really well. Will and Daniel were making putts and hitting good shots, and that's always good for the mojo of the group, just to see putts going in. We had a good time.

Q. Is there more or less pressure when you're on the 17th tee and you're having a great round versus just a normal round, something like you don't want to give it away?
CAMERON TRINGALE: Well, I mean, in a perfect world, it's no different. I think you're going to have to play that hole four times, and in and of itself it doesn't change. Mentally for me, you know, I'm trying to approach that hole the same way if I'm 3-under or 3-over or leading the golf tournament. That's where I'm putting my attention is it's 123 yards, and let's hit that kind of a shot.

But to your question, I think having momentum makes it a bit easier. You don't feel -- you feel like you've hit some good shots, and so this shouldn't be any different.

Q. Coming in off of Charlotte, were you happy with your game? Were you expecting to light it up like this? What was the state of your mind and your game coming here?
CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, I mean, my results haven't been very good to be honest coming into this week. But I felt like my game has been quite a bit better than the scores I've been shooting. I had a great couple days of practice Tuesday and Wednesday where I made a lot of birdies in a game on Tuesday. That makes a big difference when you see balls going in. I really feel like I have a great grasp on the speed of the greens this week and the lies around the greens, knowing how to navigate the tight Bermuda.

So I felt like, hey, I definitely can play well, and nice to see it come to fruition.

Q. Did you work with anybody or do anything Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, any technical changes?
CAMERON TRINGALE: Nothing technical, no. Mostly mental to be honest because physically I've been very capable of good golf. Mentally it's been -- I think that's what's kind of held me back. I've been tied to the result a little bit too much and kind of got to a point where I said, this isn't working, so I need to do something else to -- and just enjoy myself out there. When I'm thinking about the score and thinking about the finish, that just tends to make things get worse.

Q. Where was this tournament on your list of big deals, if you know what I mean, like majors and all that? Was this an important goal for you?
CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, I mean, this is a huge tournament. I didn't really -- I didn't sense -- it didn't feel as big as it probably is to me because it's my fourth week in a row, I'm kind of just in that playing grind, and it's actually exactly how our team had planned it to be. As normal as we can make this event, the better. Just letting it get in the way of our year and my career I think is the best way to approach it, not to put it on a pedestal, even though it is very worthy of that.

Q. You had eight birdies and one bogey, but I think the bogey was on No. 5 and it's been so far one of the tougher holes on the course. If you would walk us through that hole and what has made it so tough for you and why you think it might be a challenge going forward for the rest of the field.
CAMERON TRINGALE: Yeah, sure. My drive went a little left. I was in the rough. Kind of had a hangy, ball-below-the-feet lie, and the pin is front left, so left of that green you might as well write a 5 or a 6 down if you miss it. I just missed it a little bit right in the rough and chipped it about four feet past and missed.

But I mean, it's a really tough hole because of the green. It'll play into the wind this afternoon, and you really have to leave your second shot short or right of the hole. It's always a hole that's kind of given players trouble around here, myself included. Hopefully I'll learn the recipe for the next three days, fairway first.

Q. If you could pick out one shot that stood out, what was the biggest or most significant shot you played there, coolest, whatever you want to define it?
CAMERON TRINGALE: It's a fairly insignificant shot, but the tee shot I hit on 10, I hit a 3-wood and was feeling a little uneasy just about the way -- I wasn't sure where the wind was. It was starting to kind of switch at that time, and again, that's a hole where you really have half the fairway -- if you miss it left, you're in trouble. I was just proud of myself for hitting a nice, solid, really flushed a 3-wood off the tee, and it set me up with a wedge and ended up making birdie. But that's a tee shot that scares me a little bit, so to hit a good one and then to convert that, take advantage of it with a wedge was pretty satisfying.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Cameron, thank you. Good luck the rest of the week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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