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SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 27, 2016

Trey Mullinax

Jackson, Mississippi

Q. I haven't seen you play much golf, but I've got to say, I'm impressed with your distance off the tee; you're 327 off the tee as an average here in this opening round.
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, I hit the driver good today. I hit a lot of good tee shots that were just in the first cut, took some aggressive lines. Driver was feeling pretty good today, and I hit it well.

Q. And you stayed patient out there; bogey-free, always a good thing on the PGA TOUR?
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, you never can complain with a bogey-free round. Just tried to go out there, and holes where I was out of position, tried to get in position to have an easy up-and-down or a chance at par, so I think me and David did a good job today of when we were out of position getting back in position.

Q. What did you learn in your PGA TOUR debut at Safeway?
TREY MULLINAX: I learned a lot. The weather was hard. My game I felt like was there. I played well at Safeway. I didn't hit it particularly well. The golf course was a little bit harder for me. I couldn't hit my driver as much as I wanted to. But to not have what I thought was my "A" game with ball-striking and still compete was very encouraging.

Q. Let me ask you this: Did you learn how to spend money? You won $60,000 in your maiden voyage. May not sound like much to a PGA TOUR player, but for a guy just a couple years out of college, it's a pretty big check. Did you treat yourself to anything?
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, my family came down to Napa, so that was enough. California is expensive, so we just hung around, and we had a nice little condo out there on the golf course, and we had fun with my family, and we went out and ate dinner that night.

Q. Do you have family down here close to Birmingham?
TREY MULLINAX: Yes, sir, my dad was here today, and my mom will be coming down this weekend hopefully, and my fiancÃ© and her family.

Q. What does comfort level mean to a golfer if you're trying to make sure that your swing doesn't get out of whack or anything like that, that you feel comfortable on the golf course?
TREY MULLINAX: For me it's just feeling comfortable with my golf swing, and then for me it's just about getting the green speeds down. The greens are really fast, they're really good, and for me it's about chipping and putting. Your ball-striking is never as far off as you think it is, and it's never as good as you think it is. Just trying to do your best to manage what you've got for the week, and then do what you can with the chipping and putting.

Q. What's the difference in this golf course compared to obviously waterlogged last year; does it play into your hands the way it's playing right now?
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, I mean, it's playing great. The golf course is in great shape. I thought they've done a great job. It's nice to see them have good weather because last year it was terrible for them, like 16 inches of rain. So it was nice to see them get some good weather. They deserved it. They put on a great tournament. The scores are low. The greens are so good to where if you're putting well, you're going to make putts. If you're driving it in the fairway and you're putting well, you're going to shoot some low scores.

Q. Let's get some comments on your round.
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, drove the ball well. Driver was working today. I putted the ball pretty well, and so I took advantage of the par-5s with my length. I think I played them 3-under today, and so just stayed patient. When I was out of position, got back in position to make pars. Any time you go bogey-free it's a great round, so just stayed patient, putted well and drove it well.

Q. A lot of golfers in the field, but you're the one they're chasing. Do you like having that position right now?
TREY MULLINAX: Yeah, it's nice to have a target on your back, 100 percent. The goal this week was to give myself the best chance to win, and today was a good start. We have three days left. I've still got to play tomorrow and do the best I can because there's a lot of good guys out here, and they're not just going to fold and let you have it, so you've got to go out there and you've got to get it and you've got to earn it.

Q. I heard you talk about how the greens were really good and everything. What's that mean? Is it just easier to read, or what do you like in a green?
TREY MULLINAX: Well, just putting on good greens are fast. We like fast greens, and we like having to see the imagination of a putt, if it's breaking left or if it's breaking right. The greens are really good. You can tell by the grain on what some of them are going to do. They're just really smooth and really fast, and they're perfect.

Q. What did you learn -- I heard you talk about it a little bit, but from last year and everything? I know the weather was a little different, but what was your biggest takeaway from today that you learned from last year?
TREY MULLINAX: Well, I made my first cut on TOUR was this tournament. I played in the Sony Open in Hawai'i, I Mondayed in and missed the cut, and I came here and they gave me a sponsor invite to this tournament after the Web season last year. Coming here and just being able to see the difference in the golf courses and knowing it and playing it just was huge.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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