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DEAN & DELUCA INVITATIONAL

May 26, 2016

Bryce Molder

Fort Worth, Texas

Q. Bryce, you had two speeds today, cruise control and hyper speed.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah, I may have been just still asleep. It was a pretty early tee time. It was dark. It kept looking like it might rain, so it was kind of dark. We were kind of laughing, it was almost like they were about to blow the horn for darkness.

Yeah, I hit a lot of greens early, 20, 30 feet, and just kind of rolled it up close, and then all of a sudden hit a couple close when I made the turn, No. 1 and 2, got some close birdies, and then I've always loved these greens, so I got some good looks late and converted.

Q. Did it help you having the delay? Did it help you regroup?
BRYCE MOLDER: I don't know if it helped. Maybe so. Maybe just kind of helped wake up. Actually I went back out to the range and just kind of one little tinker here or there and found a little groove for the rest of the 12 holes. So yeah, maybe so.

Q. That birdie-birdie-birdie finish, very impressive, particularly the bunker shots.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah, you know, I was just trying to get it on the surface somewhere pin high right on 7. These bunkers are so good. They're almost -- if you knew you weren't going to be in the lip, you're not going to aim for them, but they're really nice. I was fortunate to get a good look, 20-, 22-footer, and again, you get it on line on these greens, and they're going to go in.

Q. Were you surprised how dark it was when you teed off?
BRYCE MOLDER: I mean, it wasn't dark to where you can't see the ball flight, but you're kind of reading putts looking a little funny at it. It was dark. It was weird, it was almost like late, late, late in the day. I heard a few people saying that.

Q. So where were you when they called play?
BRYCE MOLDER: I was on 16 green. You always hope that they're going to blow the horn when you're close to the clubhouse, and I was. So I wasn't bad. But yeah, so we had a good 12 holes left after that, but it was -- you know, it was pretty nice out. We got pretty fortunate when we came back out, too, because the wind died down for a couple hours, and it really wasn't supposed to today, so we got fortunate.

Q. Was there a single shot on your back nine that flipped a switch for you?
BRYCE MOLDER: You know, maybe just going down No. 1, I hit a good drive, and then I hit it in the greenside bunker, pretty easy bunker shot, but I was able to hit that to essentially a tap-in. Then the next hole I hit it down the fairway and hit a wedge to a tap-in. So then it kind of makes those 15- and 20-footers a little easier because you're not pressing on them. I think those gimmes early in the back nine were nice.

Q. This is a course that you certainly like to come to; did it fit your eye right from the start?
BRYCE MOLDER: I am comfortable around this golf course, even though there's three or four -- no matter what shape you hit it, there's going to be three or four uncomfortable shots out here for you because you're going to have to work it both directions. But if you can kind of get past those holes -- but more than anything, these greens, I absolutely love. I wait all year to get on bentgrass greens. We're finally here. I putted well last week. So for me, that's where I get my momentum.

To be able to just know on the back of my mind that I can get on a run like I did the last four holes is always there.

Q. So you may have seen this round coming?
BRYCE MOLDER: No, I have not. I was struggling last week with my ball-striking. I was just kind of -- I've been playing very well, very solidly the last two, three months, and you know, if you would have said I'm going to turn and shoot 29 on the back, I'd have been like, are you sure you're talking to the right person. But that's the way it happened. It all of a sudden comes together at the right time. Honestly, I could have putted really well the last four holes and only made one of those four, and they all happened to fall. But I'm certainly happy that they all did.

Q. Great 6-under round; how does it feel to get the tournament started like that?
BRYCE MOLDER: It's great. You know, when you wake up and you see what the radar looks like, to know that I'll be done right now is nice. But to be done and to have played really well is even better. I know that there will be some pretty good scores out there. I don't expect to be leading. But I'm certainly in good shape after day one.

Q. Talk about the finish, three straight.
BRYCE MOLDER: Yeah, that was -- four straight, yeah. I really was just trying to hit it to the fat part of the green and get a look. I happened to do that on all those, and it probably totaled up about 60 feet of putts. I just told somebody you could have hit four great putts on those holes and maybe made one, and I happened to hit four pretty good putts, and they all went in, so sometimes that happens.

Q. Did you give yourself a talking-to during the rain delay or what?
BRYCE MOLDER: No, I think I just kind of woke up a little bit when I went out to the range. You know, just kind of one little slight difference in swing thought, and all of a sudden I liked it better than I had and was able to play with it. You never know when they're going to happen, so if you can just kind of stay patient -- I was hitting a lot of greens early, just hitting it to 30 feet, and all of a sudden late I started hitting it to 15 feet and making them.

Q. Not much wind at times, so that was good.
BRYCE MOLDER: You know, we got really fortunate. I don't know if it's going to say that way, but the wind was supposed to blow pretty good today, and for our last nine holes really, it did not blow more than a half a club, and around here, that makes a big difference.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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