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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 11, 2017

Patrick Cantlay

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. Patrick, there's usually a bit of a learning curve to this course; doesn't seem to apply to you today and hasn't seemed to apply to you this season. Why is that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I've played the course before. I played that junior tournament out here twice. I felt comfortable, and I prepped really well for this event, and I feel comfortable out here, and I like the fast and firm conditions. I like the golf course.

Q. Were you thinking about, coming up 18, the fact that you'd hit all 17 greens in regulation up until that point?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I did not know that. But yeah, I was just trying to make a par from over there. I hit it in jail.

Q. How much did the runner-up at Tampa, locking up your card, how much did that kind of help you, sort of take your mind off of that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it's very difficult to look at that tournament and say, oh, I locked up my card, that's literally not what I'm out here for, not what I'm trying to do, not even on my radar as a goal. But happy to be playing well, and that was another golf course where you had to keep it in the fairway and play smart, it was firm and fast. I really like it like that, and the course is in great shape.

Q. Is it a confidence booster of sorts out there?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, of course. It's always nice to play well. Any time you play well and give yourself a chance to win, it's a confidence booster, especially not having played for so long. That one was a confidence booster for me, just coming back out and being able to play. It's just nice being back out here again. The more tournament rounds I play, the more comfortable I get, and I'm enjoying it.

Q. When did you decide you were going for 12? Was it an on-the-tee decision?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I kind of saw in the practice round that hole location the wedge angle is no good. I figure you either knock it on the green or up there close and have an easy birdie, or if you hit it where I did over to the right you just try and make a par.

Q. Can you describe what you were facing on that second shot? Guessing you couldn't play at the hole,
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I couldn't at all. I chipped it over to 40 feet or whatever. That was really the only shot I had.

Q. After coming off a long layoff, did you expect to need more tournament reps to have the success that you've had?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I didn't really think about it. I just tried to prep as good as I could for Pebble Beach and went out and tried to win the golf tournament. That's the goal every week, and the results are kind of secondary to that.

Q. On 12, you were right, I believe; is there a situation over there that -- a lot of guys talk about right is not necessarily very good. Did you find yourself in a situation where par would be difficult?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm sure you could. The ball could end up in a bunch of weird spots. It's a Pete Dye golf course. You never know where it might end up if you hit it over in some of those moguls, but I think you could always pretty much, for the most part, give yourself a chance to put it back on the green. It wasn't that difficult to get it back on the green to 40 feet.

Q. Is there a situation where, because the wedge shot might be a little more favorable, that you might not hit driver to get there?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, could be.

Q. So you're not committed to four days of trying to drive it?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Depending on conditions and where I'm at in the tournament, how I'm feeling, I'm not committed to anything, pre me getting there.

Q. Is this a place, because you played those two junior PLAYERS here, is there a comfort level here?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I know the property and the routing, other than the greens, it feels very similar to me. There's maybe more pine straw and less rough. I like the golf course. I like golf courses where there's a premium on hitting the ball in the fairway and playing smart shots into the greens.

Q. A lot of guys talk about the game plan. Is 12 kind of how you're feeling that day?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I've got a good game plan for 12, and I think it's a very gettable hole, and I'm disappointed to walk off that hole any time with anything other than a birdie. But sometimes when you get out of position, you've just got to play a smart shot and take your lumps.

Q. For future rounds, is it one where the holes that are more wedgeable, for favorable to a lay-up?
PATRICK CANTLAY: For sure there are.

Q. Do you change more on based on how you're feeling that day?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it depends, depends on where the wind is coming from, where the hole locations are, the greens are firming up. Depends on a lot of stuff.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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