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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

March 31, 2017

Hudson Swafford

Humble, Texas

Q. Hudson, good golf. 16-under, 15 has been winning this the last few years. You're behind. Do you believe what you were seeing on the leaderboard?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: I was in the fairway on 13, the par-5. My caddy looks up at the leaderboard because right behind the green. He goes, "I think we might be at 10, 9." He says, "16 is leading."

I go, "No way, that's a 10, dude."

He said, "No, it's 16."

I got another glimpse, it was 16. I felt I was playing pretty good golf up to that point, I was 9-under and yeah, I couldn't believe it. 16 is pretty amazing.

Q. You birdied seven of the eight par-5s you played. This is No. 13. Is this one of the strengths, the short iron work?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: Absolutely. My wedge game has been good, been working on cone work. Kind of visualize my distances. Seeing the cones out there and how I want to hit the shots, different trajectories. Might hit a 52 from 100. Normally it's my 120 club. Kind of landing.

Q. Again a par-5. The putter rolling well?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: It is. It's rolling very well. Putter feels good in my hands. Kind of got a putting lesson from my putting coach right before I went to Tampa and just a little longer, little smoother stroke, and been running it beautifully, Tampa, Bay Hill, week off. It's carried over to now. It's been nice.

Q. You won for the first time earlier this year. If you can reach across and tap it. Three birdies in the last four holes including this one. How much confidence did you take not only the win but the style of the win?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: It was huge. Making three birdies coming done the stretch, staying up on 18, hitting a tee shot. Hitting a great 3-wood, didn't miss a beat. Stood up and hit a really aggressive 8-iron, a conservative target on the last hole and made a birdie.

It was kind of a whirlwind day. I really felt comfortable. My first win I was going to be a little nervous, maybe back-door into it. I went up and got it. So, you know, lot of confidence in that.

Q. Good luck catching the leader.
HUDSON SWAFFORD: Appreciate it.

Q. Hudson, back-to-back 66s -- 67, I should say. Put yourself in a really good position in the weekend.
HUDSON SWAFFORD: Making a lot of confident swings and really rolling the ball beautifully, kind of seeing my line. Speed has been pretty good. I've hit a couple that got away from me. Really rolling the putter great.

Q. Looked a little frustrating on the back. I want -- I don't want to poke holes through a 67 in windy conditions. You found a way to get it into the house.
HUDSON SWAFFORD: A little critical on the backside. Got a little sloppy but hit a lot of good shots, really a poor shot on maybe 16 and 17, kind of coming in. Maybe trying to do a little too much and -- but like I said, it helps when the putter can free up the rest of the game, you can kind of take a few more risks, and I feel like I've done that. It's really helped me.

Q. Do you feel this is a golf course that allows you to be a little bit freer with the wide spaces for you to swing at?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: Absolutely. The fairways are pretty generous, not a ton of rough. Kind of like what we'll see at Augusta. Maybe the fairways are tighter. The golf course is so pure. The greens are unbelievably pure. You just kind of match speed and line and you're going to make a lot of putts out here. Easier said than done. The greens are just perfect.

Q. Having the Careerbuilder win in your back pocket, what does it do for you on a Saturday?
HUDSON SWAFFORD: It kind of reiterates I belong here. I kind of had a tough stretch after the win and maybe got a little -- kind of got distracted. And I've really kind of got myself back into position, started playing good golf again about Tampa, kind of struggled on the weekend. Had a nice week at Bay Hill. Game feels really good. Feels like I'm doing the right things. It kind of showed.

Q. You had a great round, yet you're 6 shots back. You got room to make up, but you're playing pretty well.
HUDSON SWAFFORD: Absolutely. Playing great golf. 16-under for two days around this golf course, not too much wind yesterday, maybe a little bit early in the round. But I mean, it kind of blew a little bit in today's round. Maybe a little tricky. 16-under, that's ridiculously good golf. There's nothing I can do about that. I've got myself in a good position.

Weather pending on Sunday, I saw it's kind of bad, just kind of go out and play my own game. The guy continues to do that, hats off to him, but think about continuing to play my own game then just kind of pull back from what I did at Careerbuilder and go out and try to make a few birds and put a little pressure on him. I'll have as good a chance as he will.

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