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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

August 13, 2016

Ben Martin

Silvis, Illinois

Q. 9-under par 62; you started off with five birdies, four birdies of the last five. What happened in the middle there?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, 62, I think that ties my best round ever out here. It was one of those days where all the putts were going in. I think I got four out of the last five. It would have been nice to get the first five and the last five, but strong start, strong finish, and yeah, what more could you ask for.

Q. Was it something you could feel when you got into it?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I told Alex on Thursday, this is the best that I've felt all year standing over the ball, whether it's off the tee, the fairway or with the putter. Yeah, I think once you see -- I made a good one on the first hole, and you just kind of see them going in and just kind of rode that momentum throughout the round.

Q. You know you were playing preferred lies out there, but how was the condition of the golf course?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, it certainly helps. I probably would have had a handful of mud balls today if we weren't playing it up, so we'll see how the course dries out tomorrow, but we all play it the same way.

Q. Strong way to finish, the putt on 17 and then the one on 18. Were you even able to see the cup then?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, I just left it in the hole because I was trying to cozy it down there for a 4, but I started on the line I wanted to, and I felt like if it got to the hole, once it was about 10 feet out, that it had a chance.

Q. You got things rocking and rolling quickly out there.
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, birdieing the first five holes of the day. You want to keep pace on just one shot at a time, but you start thinking low numbers. I had a stretch in there, I didn't play bad but didn't give myself a whole lot of chances for birdie. Made some easy pars, and then to close it off birdieing four out of the last five and kind of keep pace with the guys in front of me for tomorrow was awesome.

Q. It's getting dark quick; how quick was it getting dark for you guys out there?
BEN MARTIN: We were talking about it the whole day. Even from the first tee we were thinking, we've got five hours to play at least 17 holes because if you tee up on 18 you finish it up. We felt pretty confident we'd finish, and then as the day kept going we were making good time. It will be nice not to have to wake up at 4:30 and getting to sleep in a little bit tomorrow.

Q. Obviously you want to play quickly and keep it going?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah, let's keep it going. I told Alex, my caddie, on Thursday, I feel great over every shot. I think when you have that feeling, that confidence, that's really when you can play well in this game. Golf is such a mind game, so just feeling good over a shot like you're going to hit a good one, you certainly give yourself a better opportunity to do that, and I just kind of rode that same feeling since Thursday, and we'll come out tomorrow and hopefully have it again.

Q. 121 on the FedExCup; big round in a big tournament for you, right?
BEN MARTIN: Yeah. I think that's a little bit of a motivator. Now, I expected to come out and have a better season than that, and so I think that those expectations to start the year with where I am will kind of help me out tomorrow, thinking that this is kind of what I should have been doing all year. So it's nice to finally start to put it together because I haven't had the season that I wanted to. Ups and downs, but this week, like I said earlier, is really the best I've felt all year.

Q. Those weren't just five-, six-footers you were making earlier, they were 10, 15 -- what was it about the putter today?
BEN MARTIN: You know, I think whenever you have the pace of the greens down like I did today, then it just frees you up to roll the putts. Whether it was from 10 feet or 40 feet, I felt like I really had a great pace, and so really it was just about getting it on the right line. I think I did leave maybe one putt short on 16 that would have gone in, but other than that, just had a great feel.

Q. Do you recall the last time you putted like that?
BEN MARTIN: Maybe never. I mean, that might have been the best putting round I've ever had. 62 ties the lowest score I've ever shot out here. I've shot 60 at home. But any time you play like that, that very well could be the best I've ever putted.

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