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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 11, 2017

Sergio Garcia

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. You've had a love-hate relationship with that 17th but today was definitely some of the love. Take us through it.
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, great yardage, obviously a little bit -- the wind was a little bit into off the left, 123 yards. It was a solid 52-degree for me. I mean, I hit a good shot, but it can go there, it can go three yards past. I don't know, it can do anything. It was nice to see it bounce and kind of spin back into the hole. Maybe because I needed it after the start I had. It kind of made quite a poor round into -- not a great round but a decent round. If I have a good day tomorrow, I'll still be in good shape.

Q. What did you think of the crowd reaction after the shot on 17?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, no, it was great. Obviously it was a hole-in-one, so if they don't react to that, then something's wrong. Yeah, the reaction was great. I wish we would have had the amount of people on the concert because there was a lot more, but yeah, it was good fun.

Q. How many of those have you had?
SERGIO GARCIA: That's my 12th.

Q. You said Wednesday that you weren't going to know what the feeling was going to be like to be introduced as Masters champion until you got there. What was it like?
SERGIO GARCIA: The feeling was great. I was a little bit nervous early on. I think I wasn't quite in the tournament because of everything that's been going on with -- obviously after the Masters win and media and people congratulating you left, right and center. You know, I felt like I was a little bit up in the clouds, and when I woke up, I was 4-over after 6. That didn't help, but then I started hitting better shots, started hitting better putts, and at least we were able to salvage a round there at the end that, like I said, we have a good day tomorrow, we still have a solid chance going into the weekend.

Q. 12 aces in your life you mean or --
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, five in tournaments and seven in practice.

Q. You've won on that hole, you've kind of lost on that hole, and now you've done this. Talk about how you feel about it in general as a finishing hole, where it is?
SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I mean, we all know what 17 can do. You don't have to be very far off to -- my ball obviously landed probably three yards on, but if you're three yards off, instead of 1, you're probably making a 5. Adam's shot wasn't that bad. It was just a tiny bit right. I thought it was going to stay there, and it came all the way back to the water. It is tricky. It's not easy. It's probably one of the hardest 125- or 140-yard shots that we get all year, and with the greens being firm like they are, probably those front pins are the easy ones. It's going to be a test throughout the whole week.

Q. The way it started, do you talk to yourself after three or four holes and say, hey, come on, hang in there?
SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I was trying to pump up myself a little bit and calm myself down a little bit, try to -- I was telling myself, okay, let's try to make two or three birdies and get back around level par. I felt like I was probably going to do it. I obviously had a good birdie chance on 7, and then hit a good shot on 9, but I hit it over the green.

But then I birdied 10.

I had a fairly good putt, birdie putt on 11, missed it.

Hit a good putt on the next and missed it.

Almost made birdie on 13.

I felt like things were starting to go a little bit more my way, and unfortunately I bogeyed 15, but was able to finish nicely. I'm happy with that. That's what I want to take back home, and tomorrow I want to come out there, concentrate like I should, and shoot a -- you know, if I can manage to shoot 4- or 5-under tomorrow, I'm still going to have a great chance. An under-par round tomorrow will be key to get back in it.

Q. Have you ever had to hit a shot after someone had an ace? That would seem --
SERGIO GARCIA: I'm sure I have. I'm sure I have.

Q. It's not an easy act to follow I would imagine.
SERGIO GARCIA: No. At the same time -- you know, at the same time, I have to say that you've seen something great, so that's always a positive. I'd rather see -- I'd rather hit after someone making a hole-in-one than hitting it in the water. So yeah, definitely. You know, it's obviously -- it's not easy, and because all the hype that you get after the hole-in-one, but unfortunately for Scottie, he just pushed it just a touch.

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