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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 9, 2016

Tom Hoge

Memphis, Tennessee

Q. Tom, 65 today. Just tell us how good that was.
A Yeah, you know, I hit a few nice shots, few wayward shots and was able to get by with it. That was the key. 9, hit it short of the hill 130. Was able to save par and really kept the round going.

Q. No bogies on the scorecard. How important is it for a Tour Pro have a scorecard like that? Mentally, is there something extra special about it?
TOM HOGE: It's big for momentum, something that I don't do very often, few bogies but to get around the golf course like this, playing difficult, firm and fast, no bogies, really fortunate.

Q. Two Top-10s on the card this year. 130th in the Fed Ex standings right now. Until The Playoffs, how do you turn those solid finishes into good onces?
TOM HOGE: I always had one day where I played average and not so great and got to have four good rounds together. So, it's a nice start today. We've got a long ways to go.

Q. You only played here once before. What is it about this course that suits your game?
TOM HOGE: I don't know if it's something about the golf course or Memphis in general. I made the U.S. Open qualifier twice. I made it both times. Memphis has been good to me.

Q. Great start. Good stuff.
TOM HOGE: Thank you, appreciate it.

Q. Let's talk about today's round, bogey-free, 65. This is a tough golf course. You have to be very pleased.
TOM HOGE: Yeah, I was real pleased with it. Got off to a little bit of a slow start. Didn't hit it close at all. Roughly pieced together a few good shots, 4, 5, 6. Made birdies there to keep the round gone. Was hole 9, had lay up to 130 and able to get up and down.

Q. You birdied 11 and 12. Then you fought hard. Pars all the way in. They weren't easy, were they?
TOM HOGE: No. I hit it out of position there a few times the last two holes and really difficult two putts and was lucky to get down in two both times.

Q. You played well here in Memphis and qualified for the U.S. Open again in Memphis. Is this your city?
TOM HOGE: I guess. I don't know if it's the food or the water or what it is but Memphis has been good to me. Hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. You like the heat?
TOM HOGE: Not really. I'm from North Dakota, opposite of this.

Q. Something is clicking here.
TOM HOGE: Something is good and hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. You must like Memphis then.
TOM HOGE: It's been good to me so far. I don't know if it's the food or the water or something but something is clicking for me.

Q. Talk about today. Obviously it's a tough course but to play it at 5-under and make some shots when you needed to -- and I know there's still a lot of golf left to be played but you look at the leaderboard your name is on the top.
TOM HOGE: Great start around this course. The lead won't go much further than that the next few days. To get out there with not much wind this morning was nice and then I made some nice putts. The greens are so perfect here right now, you get them on line, they're going to go in.

Q. The PGA, over the last couple of years, has had a lot of first time winners. You're looking to break through. I know you're looking for it every week but I know it's only Thursday but you got to feel good in positioning yourself here.
TOM HOGE: I was looking forward to the week because I played well last year here. I got to play three more good days. Such a tough golf course, you got to keep going well.

Q. Talk about coming in this event, you made like four, five cuts. You had a good weekend your last event. Is there something that is starting to click or any part of your game?
TOM HOGE: Nothing in particular. Things starting going well in San Antonio probably five, six weeks ago. I played well the last three weeks, had a couple bad Sundays. The key is putting four good rounds together. Two, three, but never four. Long ways to go yet.

Q. If you're looking to talk about Memphis and your success here, you came here to qualify for the U.S. Open two years ago. What made you pick this site?
TOM HOGE: Just kind of the location with the tournaments. If things weren't going to go well I would be right here and kind ready to go for the whole week. I didn't want it to affect two weeks there as well.

Q. Did you know much about this event, had you heard much?
TOM HOGE: Not much at all other than little bits I had seen on the TV in the past years. It suits my game pretty well, keep it in the fairway, generally I'm pretty good with the irons. So, you got to be real precise with your shots coming into the greens here.

Q. You hit it very, very well today. Can you talk about how happy you were tee to green?
TOM HOGE: For the most part I kept it in the fairway for the most of the round which is huge around here. I hit a good iron shots. No. 6 I hit a 9-iron to a couple feet. Nice to have kick-in birdies.

Q. When you look at what you have done the last two years, T-12 last year, and you qualified for the Open back to back years in Memphis, you're obviously very comfortable here.
TOM HOGE: Yeah. Something about the golf course obviously suits my eye. I think that a little bit of it getting some irons in my hands and feel pretty comfortable with them and then putted really well here last year and did today as well. Nice start so far.

Q. Birdies at 4, 5 and 6 to start your round. How much was that important for momentum?
TOM HOGE: Holed a nice putt on 4 and chipped in on 5. Big one was 9, I had to lay up to 130 yards and get up and down to save par. That really kept the round going and felt like I could keep the pressure on there.

Q. Talked about your ball-striking tee to green. Is that one of the things you feel like is improving over the course of this season?
TOM HOGE: Little bit. For me the biggest thing is driving. When I have the ball in the fairway I play pretty well and in the past it's only been two, three days I've done it. I got to piece together four good rounds this week.

Q. You can't remember the last time you had a bogey-free around on Tour?
TOM HOGE: Not many of them for me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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