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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

August 11, 2016

Patrick Rodgers

Silvis, Illinois

DOUG MILNE: Patrick Rodgers, thanks for joining us. Off to a great start with a 6-under 65 in round 1 of the John Deere Classic, capped off with a nice birdie there at the 18th hole. With that said, just a few comments on the round, the weather and so forth.

PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, today was a really solid day for me. I felt like I was very consistent tee to green and gave myself a lot of opportunities to make birdies. My only bogey was a three-putt. My only missed green was in the fringe, so I played really solid golf. There wasn't a whole lot of opportunities to make mistakes, so that was nice.

The difficulty of the break was what it was, sitting in the car for a couple hours, but was real happy with the way I remained focused and was able to get back into it mentally to put together three good holes to finish it off.

DOUG MILNE: You're coming off a tie for third last week. How much of a momentum wave are you still riding from last week?

PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I feel like I've been playing really well for a long time. I've felt really comfortable with a lot of different areas of my game. I'm working on a lot of new stuff, and I've felt really sharp for a lot of weeks now, and it was nice to finally put it together and put together four solid rounds and be patient and have a chance coming down the stretch. It's always great to get those feelings back. I had a lot of those in the amateur days.

Just trying to build on that momentum. Like I said, I've been feeling very comfortable with my game for a while, and it's nice that it's shown on the golf course.

Q. At this point of your career, how nice is it to get on a course that you've already played in a tournament several times?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I mean, this season has been a little bit of a grind just preparation-wise. Even with as much as I had played through exemptions and as an amateur, there was still a lot of new golf courses, and each week felt a little taxing in preparation, and this is incredible. This is my fifth time playing here, a course that I probably feel more comfortable on than any on the TOUR, and it just feels comfortable coming back here because I truly feel like it's a hometown event for me. It feels nice.

Q. The fact that you are comfortable here, do you feel like you want to play here going forward?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, this is definitely an event that has been incredibly gracious to me over the years. Playing here as an amateur twice and kind of being in contention as an amateur is something that I'll always remember as long as I play.

Honestly, I haven't had the professional success here that I wanted to, and it kind of leaves me with an unsatisfying taste in my mouth coming back here. Like I said, I treat this event as a hometown event, and it's really nice to get off to a nice start, and I hope to keep it going forward the rest of the week.

Q. Can you share what you did in the car for two hours?
PATRICK RODGERS: I just listened to music and hung out with my girlfriend and my friends, so just tried to take my mind off it. Delays are always hard when you don't know when you're going to go back out. Everyone sits there and looks at the weather and tries to figure it out all by themselves, but it's a little bit challenging to not know when you have to be ready. But I tried my best to get back really focused during my warmup and really happy with the way I played the last three holes.

Q. Why the car?
PATRICK RODGERS: Oh, it's just so crowded in the clubhouse that it was nice to get some AC and get away from it and listen to some music.

Q. With the weather looking like it might be raining tomorrow, how do you kind of prepare yourself for what might be a really short day, a really long day, a really long Saturday, schedule all over the place?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I've played enough tournament golf that I've played in weeks exactly like this before where they're just on and off or you have a long break in between a couple of rounds, so I'll just try to draw back on that experience. New Orleans is one that comes to mind from this season. You've just got to be ready when it's your time to play, and so just -- I think it's that much more mentally taxing, but you've got to be ready when your tee time is, even if it's 6:00 p.m.

Q. The fact you played here as amateur a few years back, did you find yourself once you were out here pressing a little bit to bring that back, particularly on a familiar course like this?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, no doubt. I think this event has been tough in a couple different ways. I think my first year was on the back end of my first four-in-a-row stretch as a pro, and that was a little bit difficult, and then last year I played okay and missed the cut by a shot.

Like I said, it's not the success that I've wanted or expected to have at this event, but it's an event that I hold dear, and I'm excited to get off to a good start. But 6-under is not going to win this golf tournament, so I know I'm going to have to make a lot more birdies.

Q. I know you mentioned last week at the Travelers you started working with Matt. How long have you guys been working on your swing and have you started to see more of the benefits recently?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I started working with Matt in March. It's been an awesome transition because I hit the ball well immediately. I think one of the first events we started working together was Orlando, and I hit the ball awesome. I was hitting iron shots that I had never really been able to hit, and it was just a different sound. It was really flush and consistent. That's kind of the way I've been hitting it through the bag ever since we started working.

Like I said, the results on the golf course have honestly taken a little longer than I've expected because I've been playing really nice golf here for a little bit.

Q. That really ties into what I was thinking; you missed the cut at Barbasol. Did anything click in after that to have you get back on a good run here the last couple weeks and a T2 last week?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, that was a little bit of a wake-up call for me because that was just a sloppy event and I didn't play very well mentally, physically. It was a sloppy event, and you have to learn from stuff like that. So I just tried to get back to some of the stuff that had served me well over the years. Preparation has always been huge, and I felt like I was a little sloppy in my preparation there at Barbasol. So I just tried to make sure I took my time. I was really confident and comfortable on my lines on the golf course, both in Canada and last week, and I think that preparation has carried over to this week, and it's given me a good mentality to get ready for an event, and I think it's definitely helped.

Q. Is it hard to stay patient out here seeing what the youngsters are doing, guys your age, guys even younger than you?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, I think we all have high expectations, and managing those might be the toughest part of our job out here because almost every guy that comes out here has been successful at almost every level. They've won in college, they've won as a junior player, and that winning has been consistent. Coming out here and maybe not having the immediate success that you expect is challenging, but you just have to stick to what got you here, and I think at times it's been a little bit of a challenge for me, but I definitely feel like I'm working towards the right track and starting to play some nice golf on a consistent basis, so it's exciting.

Q. How much is trying to get into the BMW Championship on your mind? I guess that would kind of be a home game for you. I'm assuming you've played Crooked Stick a few times?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, huge, huge. I've probably put a little too much pressure on myself to make that event at times. Obviously that's not the end of the FedExCup, so my ultimate goal is to have a chance to win at the TOUR Championship, but that's definitely a stepping stone, and I really want to be there. An event doesn't get through Indianapolis very often, and I would love to play in front of a hometown crowd.

There's not a whole lot of us from Indiana on the TOUR, and I've always taken a lot of pride being from Indiana and representing the Hoosier State, so to play in that event would be huge, and definitely it's something I've got circled on the calendar.

Q. Can you also say based on the announcement with your sponsor and equipment, did you have to come up with a plan on how you're going to proceed going forward with equipment?
PATRICK RODGERS: Yeah, it was a little bit of a shock last week. I think it probably was to everybody. I feel incredibly comfortable with the equipment that I'm playing, and I've been playing well, so I honestly haven't thought too far ahead on what my plan of attack is. Everything is happening so fast here with this season and right into the post season that it would be silly for me to try to make any changes at this point or even think about equipment. Like I said, I'm really happy with what's in my bag, and it's going to be in my bag here to finish the season and hopefully serve me well.

Q. Speaking of your bag, you're not exactly in Colts country up here. Do you catch any grief for that?
PATRICK RODGERS: I caught a lot of grief last week in the Northeast. I don't know why Patriots fans feel the need to harp on a Colts fan. They've beat us down time after time. But no, it's kind of interesting, you forget about the NFL affiliation in the different cities that you go to, and then somebody will make a comment about our team, whether they like them or don't, and it kind of reminds you where you're at. Like I said, I'm really proud to be from Indianapolis. I think representing the Colts has been an awesome opportunity for me. It seems like everyone who lives around Indianapolis or in Indiana is a big Colts supporter and Colts fan, and I've always really respected the way the organization has gone about the winning process, and I hope I represent them the way they represent Indianapolis.

DOUG MILNE: Patrick, we appreciate your time. Great start today.

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