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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 2, 2017

Daniel Summerhays

Dublin, Ohio

Q. Comments on your round today?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: I played great today. I drove it well again. I don't know exactly who I'm talking to, but I really only hit one -- I mean, even the couple drives that ended up in the hazard on 11 and on 18, I actually hit them really solid. A very fine line on 18, trying to keep it inside the -- if you're in those traps, you're dead. If you barely pull it, which I barely pulled it on 18, you end up in the hazard. It's kind of like a mini par 5, I feel like.

Besides that I drove it really well. Besides one iron shot on my 4th hole, I hit my irons very well, had some nice looks at birdie. Probably over-read a few putts there, the greens may have been a touch on the slower side, maybe half a foot slower, but I was scaring the hole a lot. And really looking forward to the weekend.

Q. You had a career changing win in 2007, what does coming back to the area mean?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: It obviously does something to me. I can't put my finger on it, but I've had a good run here in Columbus. I started my professional career here two years after that, I came back, almost won the same tournament again two years after that. I finished fourth in The Memorial Tournament -- everybody was watching Tiger's chip-in from behind 16 that year. So they were glued on that.

I don't know what it is. I enjoy -- probably reminds me somewhat of the conditions at home with the grass and the weather, the trees, everything. But I can't necessarily put my finger on it. Maybe it's just this time of year when my game starts to round into shape and I start feeling more confident in my progress.

Q. You had two major finishes last year, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. What kind of confidence does that give you?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: Yeah, I actually had a few of those thoughts out there today. As you get in the thick of things. Besides the majors, this is right up there with the quality of field and obviously the quality of the golf course, the difficulty of it. So I had those thoughts, kind of can recall on some of those feelings because those are special memories that I've had, especially at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. I didn't necessarily finish exactly how I wanted to, but those rounds on Friday that I shot at the U.S. Open definitely gave me confidence to perform on the weekend.

Q. Looks like you're going to be in the final group, five back, how do you handle that? Do you have to be aggressive there?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: Yeah, I mean it's only halfway through. So I've seen, in all the -- I think I've played 180 something Tour events now, and I've seen a lot of leads evaporate really quick. I've also seen guys extend them. I have no idea what will happen, but honestly I can only control -- it's easy to say, but I can only control what I can control, continue to have the swing thoughts I've been having, stay calm inside and continue to play my game.

It's funny, I was driving to the course today and my family was all in the car with me and my young son, Jack, who loves golf, we were trying to organize like a little tournament. There are not going to be any good players. Who am I going to play against? Buddy, you're just playing against yourself. See if you can beat your best score every time. That's good advice for yourself. It sounds simple but honestly when you grew up playing, I remember my dad, it's Old Man Par you're playing, it's only you and the golf course. Hopefully I can stay within myself and whatever result follows will happen.

Q. Looked like you had a hard swing, you would have fallen back in the water. Were you not going to take any chances, just get it into the course?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: I didn't want to be on SportsCenter for a bad reason tonight. I couldn't necessarily get enough speed. It was a tricky situation because I could either just chip it out like I did and have a full wedge shot. But with that full wedge shot I'm worried about spin with as much pitch in the back of the green. It was different using that backstop with a 7-iron or a 6-iron versus a 60, 55 degree wedge. Or it could come all the way -- and it almost did. I was just debating whether I could get enough speed on the club to get it right down in front of the green where I didn't have to deal with a bunch of spin, I could use the backstop. But eventually I decided against falling back into the water.

Q. Does that go through your mind? Like for say a person that doesn't golf --
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: It wouldn't be a life and death situation, it would probably be more embarrassing. Dudley Hart, I remember at Pebble, on No. 6, he was right near the cliff, walking up on the side slope and his ball was really close, kind of muddy, slippery conditions. I'm like, that's legitimately a life and death shot there, if he slips he could tumble over the cliff. Wasn't quite that bad.

I hit a good drive there, just unfortunate to barely pull it. I honestly hit it too good where it really had a lot of steam. Honestly if I was a foot shorter I would have been able to have a nice shot up at the green.

Q. Yesterday you talked to us about you had in some ways kind of exceeded some of your expectations, and maybe some of the expectations others had placed on you. And I was wondering about the second part of it. Was there a time people didn't think you were as good as -- I know you had an uncle that's done really well in golf?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: I mean, you just look at me, I'm not anything -- I'm not a Dustin Johnson or Adam Scott to behold. So I think that way, you know, people could write you off. I think honestly -- I don't know what other people expect from me. And it probably doesn't matter, to be honest. But I hope to give myself proper expectations. It's a tricky line between expecting too much and then making that frustrate you versus being excited for whatever comes your way.

So, yeah, I expect to go out and play well this weekend. I'm really excited. That is my expectation but I'll be just fine with whatever result comes.

Q. A lot of guys in the field are due for Monday qualifiers for the U.S. Open, that's not something you have to worry about. Does that free you up at all, is that something where if you did have to play a Monday qualifier, you would be thinking about it while you're here?
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: Yeah, it's a lot of work. And the last four or five years I've had to do that. Early on in the week I was scrambling getting to Brookside and The Lakes and Wedgewood and Kinsale, all of the courses that they rotate around here. So it's definitely nice to not have that on my plate.

It's let me add Memphis. I'm going to go down to Memphis and play, which I haven't played for the last several years. So it's allowed me to just kind of have the peace of mind knowing that I'm going to be at Erin Hills. So that way scheduling-wise has been very, very nice.

Q. That's a pretty small Utah contingent, you and Zach and Tony. How do you do that? They have a significant winter there.
DANIEL SUMMERHAYS: Yeah, I'm glad to not be the only Utahan anymore, it actually is really nice. Three players from a small state, population-wise. And a winter state, nonetheless, is pretty impressive. I'm really proud of Tony and Zach and all they've done. Hopefully along the way I was able to inspire them. And hopefully the guys coming up will be inspired by Tony and Zach. I expect more Utahans coming down the pike.

Growing up my dad had a net in our little rec room and we pounded balls. We hit balls right off the carpet. It was concrete underneath it. Probably wasn't the best thing on our wrists and elbows and everything, but we learned how to make good contact with the ball. So we had different things like that to do during the winter. And I have the same. I have a mat that I hit into, a net in my home. It runs about a 11 on the Stimp.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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