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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 11, 2016

D.A. Points

Memphis, Tennessee

Q. Talk about today. Bogey-free, 64. You got to be really proud of that.
D.A. POINTS: Yeah, I am. You know, I had -- I haven't had a lot of low rounds lately and all of a sudden in Dallas a couple weeks ago I shot 62 and kind of gave me a little bit of a punch in the arm like hey, you know, I can do this, I can go low, you know, when I have the opportunity and today was one of those days.

I made some really good free swings early on and then I holed a couple putts and made a really clutch par putt on the 7th hole and when I made that one, I was like all right, you know, I was really pretty excited and played really solid. Couple loose swings on the back-9 but managed it well and finished with a birdie.

Q. Tell the listeners where have you been I used to walk with you when you were one of the consistent guys out here. Last year and a half has been a little tough.
D.A. POINTS: After I had a great year in 2013 I tried to get better and I went about it in the wrong way. I hired new instructors and tried really -- tried so hard to become a better player instead of just look at what I do really well and try to be more like that and it's taken me awhile to kind of see that and dig out of the bottom but, you know, I'm starting my way back hopefully to the top.

Q. Tell me about the putter. No longer the old Anser that I think your mom used or something, it's now a Spider. 27 total putts today, 110 feet of putts. That's good.
D.A. POINTS: The putter, this TaylorMade Spider putter swings well. Obviously Jason Day has been doing quite well with it.

I've had it off and on around the house. I tried it here and there and all of a sudden the week of the Byron Nelson I kind of feel like I swing this thing pretty well and, you know, I had an 8-under round there and okay, I'm feeling good.

I had a really good lesson with Brad Faxon about a month ago and slowly been able to really implement the stuff that he and I chatted about and I've gotten a lot more free and a little more athletic and not trying to be so precise on the green.

Q. And it's starting to payoff. Put you in a good mood, won't it?
D.A. POINTS: Yeah, sure will, especially with the birdie at the last.

Q. Talk about the way you played today because it's been a bit of a struggle for you this year.
D.A. POINTS: It's been a struggle and -- honestly, I've been getting better. I feel like I've been getting better every week and, you know, I've had some -- you know, it's not like I'm shooting 80 every week, it's just been missing a few putts here or there, one loose tee shot here or there and all of a sudden I shoot 1-over par and should have been 2-under kind of thing.

Today was nice. Made really good free swings especially early in the round and the putter has been feeling good for awhile now and just, you know, when you're reading them right and the speed -- these greens are so pure that if you're reading them right they just like to climb in.

Q. Nice to know that round is out there.
D.A. POINTS: Yeah. I shot 8-under 62 at the Byron Nelson a couple weeks ago and that was like the first time in a really long time, "Wow, you know what, I can go low." I haven't gone low in so long.

That made today I felt a little more comfortable after having that round couple weeks ago. So, I learned a lot just in that week and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of carrying it over this week.

Q. Fast and firm out there seems to just be -- you got to grind it every hole seems like.
D.A. POINTS: You do. The nice thing for me, because I'm not super-long like a Dustin or some of these guys or even a Berger, but it's nice because I can kind of plod around and hit my 3-wood and kind of chase it out there and not feel like every hole I got to step up and try to mash a perfect drive, and I did drive it pretty well today but the greens are perfect and the course conditions are awesome.

Q. You mentioned over there you're working with Faxon on your putting. Did the thing where he kind of does your tempo?
D.A. POINTS: They have like this little thing that you put on the butt end of a club and almost like a TrackMan for your putter, if you will, and we spent a little time with that and after we spent, I don't know, an hour with that he said, "Well, got some good news and potentially bad news." "What is that?" "Your stroke is great. I got nothing to tell you about your stroke. I don't want to change your set-up or how you grip it or anything."

He said, "Some people might think that that's not good news because you're not making any putts and if you come to see me for a lesson I tell you it's nothing to be changed. Might be frustrating."

I took it as positive. "Wow you, one of the best putters of all time likes the way I swing my putter. That's a good sign."

He said, "Okay. Now we got to figure out how to get you to be a little more athletic and to free up a little bit and not be so concerned about how you're putting" and what I've done is I used to always use the line on the ball and I used to be really methodical and very precise about that line.

Now I almost don't use it at all. I use it sometimes -- these greens are so pure, when I have the straight, 6, 8-footer sometimes I'll use the line just because, you know, if you can get it pointed at the center of the hole they're so good, it won't wiggle out of the hole.

So I started doing that and he sent me an article about how pitchers in baseball are trying to pitch faster, he said, you know, sometimes to try to keep the batters a little bit more on the defensive and stay a little bit more on the offensive, and I've always been a little bit slow on the greens and I've known that and so today even when I found myself -- even like on 18, you know, I really wanted to make that putt but I tried to make myself not take as much time as maybe some people would, you know, when they're really grinding and want to finish with a great score, I tried to just keep my tempo or my pace of going into the putts the same the whole day and try to keep it at maybe a slightly faster pace and it's good because I think I just spent less time trying to figure everything out, you know.

I think the way the article read was that pitchers spend less time trying to figure out should I throw a curve or slider or fastball, whatever, they just get up there, okay, yeah, fastball and throw it.

That's kind of what I've been trying to do a little bit and I started that at the Nelson and it's just gradually gotten better every week.

Q. Is that something that you never thought about, I guess the tempo leading up to it?
D.A. POINTS: Yes, I have but I didn't really understand it, you know, I didn't understand -- you know, because obviously we're playing for a lot of money. This is our livelihood. We want to not be, you know, too lackadaisical or too whatever about it.

But, at the same time, you know, if you spend too much time on it you can just kind of get into your head a little bit and I think that's what I've been doing over the years and especially as things got worse in my game and my scores weren't as good, you know, what do we do, we try harder and harder and harder and I've been trying so hard for the last two and a half years that this has helped me try just a little bit less without thinking about it, you know, without trying less.

Q. I know you didn't try to Monday qualify because you were playing here, right? First time in a long time.
D.A. POINTS: First time in 20 years I haven't done U.S. Open Qualifying. I played in the last four. It was really hard for me not -- to not go but in the status that I'm in, being a 151 to 200 status on Tour, I wanted to show Fed Ex st. Jude I was committed to doing everything I could to play in their event.

I talked to Darrell Smith, "Listen, man, I won't go, I'll play in your Monday Pro-Am, I'll do whatever I got to do" because, you know, this week could be more important than, you know, making the Open and finishing 40th which would still be a great week but it doesn't maybe do as much for me as, you know, a Top-5 or Top-10 or a win.

So, I just tried to really be smart about it and let the sponsors and the people know that I'm serious about getting my full-time status back.

Q. Win get you in the Top-60?
D.A. POINTS: I have no idea. Top- 60 in the world? No. I stopped looking because it's so depressing that they're so far down.

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