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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

July 28, 2016

Emiliano Grillo

Springfield, New Jersey

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon, welcome back to the 98th PGA Championship, Baltusrol Golf Club. Pleased to be joined by Emiliano Grillo.

Thank you for spending some time with us. Really well played this morning, six birdies, a couple bogeys. Tell us about how it felt out there, not only in your game, but the weather, the heat.

EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, it's obviously perfect out there. It's pretty hot, so the ball is going pretty far. Usually out there, we can hit 8-iron pretty far, almost about 180 yards with the heat. The greens are absolutely perfect. There's not a single grass out of place in this golf course, so that helps a lot out there. And you know, there was no wind and it's absolutely perfect conditions for scoring.

JOHN DEVER: Now you played pretty well in majors this year, especially a couple weeks ago at Troon. Did this short stop between majors, is that helping you carry on that momentum from a couple weeks back?

EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, definitely helps, especially last week we play in Canada with very tough conditions, and that helps really going into a major. It's great playing good anywhere. It doesn't matter where you play good; and to bring that momentum into a major, it's very good.

Q. Your first run through the majors, just okay at the Masters and U.S. Open but you played nicely at Troon. Did you think that was a good boost coming into this last major?
EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, definitely. Like I say, playing well anywhere in the world, it helps your confidence. It doesn't matter if it's here, Argentina or China, it doesn't matter.

If you play good and you make some putts, it doesn't matter where -- bringing that into this tournament, one of the biggest four on the planet, it's a big boost.

Q. When you did not birdie 17 or 18, are you disappointed or okay; the only two par 5s back-to-back, and then two pars.
EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, a bit of both. Making par out here, it's not a bad score. On 18, I was a bit unlucky. I was in a little divot on the second shot, and so I had to hit kind of a low shot, instead of hitting a high one, which it kind of lands soft on the green. It was perfect for my hybrid, and I had to hit it a little bit down, and when I hit it a little bit left, I couldn't make it up-and-down from there. It's a shame that I cannot make a birdie on 18, especially such a short par 5.

But 17 is a tough hole. If you make par every day out there, you're going to be happy.

Q. You played very well on the greens today. What did you work on during these practice days?
EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, I've been working really hard on my putting, especially on putting. It's been a -- I played my whole life with the line. I still have a line on the ball. I just don't use it. We are trying it this week. It kind of worked today, so hopefully it will continue working. But like I said, we've been working really hard for the last year, and especially on the greens.

Q. What do you mean by, you don't use it? So you still have the line on the ball and it just goes anywhere?
EMILIANO GRILLO: Usually when it's a shorter putts, inside nine or inside ten feet, it helps me focus more on the spot that I want to roll the ball on. You know, like I said, we just tried it today and it worked.

Q. And secondly, I'm curious what it's been like to have five months to get ready for the Masters, to have two months to get ready for the U.S. Open, but then you've got the British Open, the PGA --
EMILIANO GRILLO: The Open. (Laughter).

Q. Did you get that, Renee? It's The Open. The Open; PGA Championship in Rio, one after the other. Where is your mind in all this? Is it different?
EMILIANO GRILLO: I'd rather do that one week, one week and one week. Because if you play good the week before, you can carry that on into the next week. That's what I've been doing. I played well in Troon. I played well last week, and you know, I'm carrying that into this week, which is very important. It's not like the past two weeks weren't important.

But we're playing this week here and this is the important one. And we're going to do the same, carrying on to Rio, and hopefully we can carry on the Playoffs and so on and so on.

Both cases are good. You can play the Masters pretty fresh. You can pick your calendar going into the Masters. But this year it was very hard to pick a calendar. So far, it's been working.

Q. You missed the first three fairways, but you made a great putt on No. 3. It was the important point of your round?
EMILIANO GRILLO: Yeah, definitely. It was one of those things that helps you to get going on your round, especially avoiding a bogey so early on the round. I was able to make a great putt on 3 and a great putt on 4 to go under par. I think that was a key moment for the day. Definitely after that, it was all very steady.

Q. What things did you work on for the practice round that helped you get such a low score today?
EMILIANO GRILLO: Everything. This is my third week, so it's not like I worked really hard on any special aspect. We did some on the putting, which is the most important thing in golf, and the weakest part of my game. This is my third week. I'm getting really tired going into such a tough week.

So we didn't do much practice. Just taking it easy and get to know well the 18 holes.

Q. What did you hit for your second on the 18th, and off the tee, as well.
EMILIANO GRILLO: A 3-wood and then a hybrid on the second shot. With a 3-wood, it allows me, if I pull it a little bit, it will catch the rough and don't go in the water. And if I push it right, it's probably going to be in the bunkers or maybe not.

But you know, it's a good hole. You can hit a driver and then you can probably hit a 5- or a 6-iron if you hit it good. But I had a good round going, and then I wanted to take care of that.

It gives you the chance of carrying in two, so I think it was the right play. It was just a little bit unlucky on a divot there in the fairway.

JOHN DEVER: Emiliano Grillo, 4-under 66. Thank you, sir, for your time. Have a great week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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