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TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2017

Graham DeLaet

Cromwell, Connecticut

Q. I know that wasn't the finish obviously you wanted but four birdies and an eagle in the first round, great playing. How did you get it done?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, thanks. I started off, hit it to a foot on the first hole and made a nice 15-footer on 11, which is our second hole. I felt like I had birdie chances kind of all the way through the back nine, made seven pars in a row and I played nicely on the front nine here. It is always kind of bittersweet to end with a bogey but it was a good day. I played nicely.

Q. Take us through the eagle at 6?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I got a little bit fortunate, my tee shot way right and I took a drop from a sprinkler and I dropped on a cart path and took relief from the cart path and was able to get a little bit better angle. I don't know if I would have been able to hit a high draw hybrid up around the tree, and I didn't realize it, I thought I was just short of the green and Joel, he's got better eyes than me. He's like, "You've got about ten feet." I think it was even closer than that. Nice putt there.

Q. You've had some top five finishes; relying on that information today in the first round?
GRAHAM DeLAET: This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year. I love this golf course. It's one of those things, just fits your eye. Only reason I missed it last year was I wanted to be at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. This is one on my schedule every year I love to come to and feel like I've had good success and I've been knocking on the door a few times, so hopefully this is the year.

Q. Walk us through what happened at 6?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I got a little bit fortunate. Hit my tee shot way right and took a drop in the sprinkler, got a little bit more relief from the cart path and had a bit of an angle. Hit a high draw hybrid, thought I was short of the green but ended up being eight feet. That was a nice break I got because I thought would I have had to lay up.

Q. You started birdie, birdie, put together a 65. What went into the round today?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I played nicely. Felt like I had chances all the way around. It's all a little disappointing ending the day with a bogey especially when you have a nice clean card and playing well. 5-under par every day on the PGA TOUR, you'll be in good shape. I'm pretty happy with that still.

Q. A lot of players like to play here. What about you?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, it's fun. I was just telling those guys, this is one of my favorite courses of the year. I feel like especially the back nine, there's so many birdies to be had and eagle chances kind of thing, but if you're a little bit off, it can make you look a little bit silly. So it's a fun golf course to play. There's a lot of action, especially with 15 coming down the stretch there, you can make a two there or a six there pretty easily. It's just a course that's always sort of fit my eye and I've had some decent results here.

Q. We missed you last year here because you were representing Canada at the Olympics, but great way to welcome you back to Hartford today.
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, thanks. This has always been one of my favorite events of the year. Got off to a good start obviously today but got a long ways to go. Was happy with how I played.

Q. Talk about your round and what went well for you today. I know maybe you want to forget 9 but in terms of how things went?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I played well. Just played solid tee-to-green. I made a few nice putts. I had a chip-in on 4 and one of those days, it's never fun to bogey your last hole when you've got a clean card and you feel like you're playing well. But 5-under par is a great round out here and I'll take it.

Q. What is it about the course?
GRAHAM DeLAET: It's just a course I really like. It fits my eye well. Everyone kind of has those courses that they just love to go to every year and this is one of them for me.

Q. Can you talk about the eagle on 6?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, I got a little bit fortunate. I took a drop, I was standing on a sprinkler head and was semi blocked out and took a drop on the cart path and got not much of a different, maybe a couple feet different angle, but it was enough to be able to hit a high drop around the corner. I couldn't see it from back where we were but it ended up being six, seven, eight feet, something like that. That was a nice surprise and a little bit fortunate.

Q. What was the scoring area, greens or fairways?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think it's a little bit of everything. Obviously to shoot under par, you've got to make some putts. But I hit one in there real close on the first hole, about a foot, and you know, when you can hit a hybrid from 230 or whatever it was in there close, even a 2-putt birdie would have worked there but obviously it was nice to make the putt. Felt like I was pretty solid all the way around tee-to-green today.

Q. Usually there's a difference in scoring in the afternoon.
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, there's not much for wind. Might be a one-club or half-club wind. We didn't have much all day until maybe the back nine. It's a nice day. The warmer it is, the further the ball flies and the rough was a little bit damp this morning which makes it a little bit tougher. Generally the scoring is a little bit better in the morning but we'll see what happens. I don't expect to be leading by the end of the day but I know I'll be in good shape.

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