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TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2017

Troy Merritt

Cromwell, Connecticut

Q. So you said after yesterday's 65, an excellent round of golf, that the improvement came in your driving. Is it the same story today?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, we found even one more fairway after tee today. It led to one last green in regulation. The only difference today is I didn't make as many 20-footers. As long as you're tapping those in for par, it's not that big of a deal.

Q. Why is the driving better? Change in equipment, change in swing, what's happened?
TROY MERRITT: We changed the loft on it. It was a little bit of a degree flat and I missed the cut in Memphis. I drove quite well at the U.S. Open last week, and just didn't finish it off on Friday last week and missed the cut. The key is getting on the fairway, lot of skin on the greens, and the putter is warming up a little bit.

Q. Talk about the conditions yesterday, how does it compare to yesterday?
TROY MERRITT: I felt like it was a little trickier today I felt. Now we've got the wind picking up for the afternoon guys, kind of what we played in yesterday. I would say fairly similar to yesterday, maybe just a little bit tougher.

Q. You haven't been in the best of form recently coming off a rush of missed cuts. How is experience important? You've been on to it for a number of years. You know you guys hit these little lulls. Is it just a question of being patient or are you trying to wait things up.
TROY MERRITT: I've been trying to make baby steps here the last few weeks. Changing minor parts of the game, driver being one of them, putter being another. I'm not afraid to go out and miss a bunch of cuts and maybe throw in a nice finish every now and then. I know from years past I've done it several times and hopefully I can do it again this year.

Broke a sweat early in the round today. The breeze felt quite nice today. It kicked up kind of what we played in yesterday. It was a little calmer this morning. Greens were just a touch softer. Hit the driver well again today and didn't make quite as many lengthy putts for birdie. But, nonetheless, had a lot of tap-in pars and can't complain about that.

Q. Did it test your patience at all? It took a while to get the birdie on the card for you?
TROY MERRITT: No. I decided to change my attitude about three weeks ago. Everything's staying positive. As long as I can keep hitting good strokes on the putts, some will drop, some won't. Some good strokes don't go in. It's just how it is out here.

Just move on to the next one. Focus on the next shot after the one before is done, and see what you can get done on the next one.

Q. 68 today, under 7 overall, a lot to be positive about heading into the weekend.
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, absolutely. Hopefully we can play well.

Q. Troy, yesterday you talked about tweaking your driver in Memphis. What has that done for you here in Connecticut over the first 36 holes.
TROY MERRITT: It's a lot for me to go back to the cut I like to play off the tee. We've even fine tuned it since then. I've got my eye line where I want it now. I don't feel like I've gone so far left and I can aim it more towards the middle of the fairway and hit a one-, two-yard fade which is always nice. So I've just built confidence on that, and hopefully we can continue over the weekend.

Q. Had a pretty good fall at the start of this wraparound season. Things not going your way recently, but what do these first two rounds mean going forward?
TROY MERRITT: It just helps show that what we changed over the last three, four weeks are actually working out the way we want them to work. As long as we can continue to fine tune them and focus on those, I think we'll be all right.

Q. How about this course, you've played this event five times in the past and made the cut once. But what is connecting on this course this week?
TROY MERRITT: I've always felt comfortable on this golf course. I always felt like I could make a lot of birdies. I just made a lot of bogies as well. So I think so far it's just the confidence in the driver. I've hit a lot more fairways the first two days than I have in years past. I've had a lot more birdie putts, a lot more greens. I haven't been able to make a mistake on the greens so far, and hopefully we can continue that.

Q. Wasn't that easy out there today, was it?
TROY MERRITT: No, it played a little bit tricky. After coming out on Thursday, yesterday afternoon and playing in breezy conditions, it's always a little bit of a change of pace to come out the next morning and play with it pretty calm. You kind of have to adjust it a little bit. As a result, I wasn't quite as sharp with the irons to start.

Had the birdie looks, just wasn't making them. The breeze kicked up the last little bit and cooled things down a little bit. We all broke a sweat today, and it was just a nice morning for golf.

Q. You're in the hunt, so at least you're in a good spot at this point, you know?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, it's in a position after two rounds that we haven't been in in a long time. So just have to draw back on past experiences. Haven't been in this position a whole lot in my career. But I've always felt comfortable when I've been up here. Hopefully just continue to make a good golf swing, stay positive, stay in the moment, and good things will happen this weekend.

Q. What is it about this place that you say you like it here?
TROY MERRITT: It's always fit my eye. I haven't really had any good finishes here or that many great rounds, but it seems like a place I've felt comfortable with. I don't know the reason for it. Like I said, I haven't played overly well here. Everything looks like I should play well, I just haven't.

Q. You mentioned you're working on some things in the last three or four weeks with your swing. What is it?
TROY MERRITT: I changed up, I got a new putter in the bag at the players. I went away from the one I've used the last three, four years. I didn't make any putts there. When I went back home for three weeks, I changed my routine a little bit. Get over the ball, no practice strokes. Just find my line and hit it. A little bit more reaction versus standing over the ball for a long time.

It's finally starting to feel a lot more comfortable now. I'm really starting to trust myself a lot more than I did when I was in Memphis when I first tried it out. Then with the driver we just tweaked the lie on the loft just a little bit, flattened it a degree. It allows me to see less of the face, and it allows me to set up down the left side and hit that cut that I like to play.

Q. Talk about your round. What do you think you did well today?
TROY MERRITT: I stayed positive. I mean, I had a lot of birdie looks. I didn't make the same putts that I did yesterday. After you've made three, four 20-footers one day, you think you're going to make them the next day. Some types you don't. That's just the name of the game. You've got to keep putting good strokes on it, and eventually they'll go in.

Q. How about the wind today? It turned different directions. It came from the south yesterday and it's from the northwest. How much different and what sort of adjustments did you have to do?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, we really only played for about a little over half the round for us. It's a similar wind that we've played here in the past. So it's not like it was a huge, huge adjustment. But you just had to pay attention a little bit, especially coming downwind on some of these greens. Starting to firm up a little bit. You've got to be more careful. And we're able to make those adjustments just fine.

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