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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 28, 2017

Graham DeLaet

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Q. Two solid days, great position for the weekend. Before we get into the overall game, great stretch, 15, 16, 17, what did you find there?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I hit it close on 15. Actually looked like it was maybe going to go in, and then 16 I had a pretty simple little bunker hot in front of the green and hit one close on 17. They were all kind of three stress-free birdies. Those were nice. Didn't have to think much about them.

Q. Statistically, you're doing everything very solid. You look great tee-to-green and everything looks good. How do you prepare for the weekend when every box seemed to be checked?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, I guess keep doing what I'm doing. Obviously it's easy to say but my game feels good. I think you hit it right on the head. It's just solid everywhere around. I'm driving it nicely. If you can hit it in the fairways here, it's soft enough, you can attack almost every single hole.

There's a couple holes, 6 and 8, that played pretty tough today. But other than that, it seemed like if you were hitting in the fairway, you got great looks almost everywhere.

Q. Lovely round, a couple of big finishes, the one on 8, the bomb, 82 feet I think we measured. Sum up your round.
GRAHAM DeLAET: It was really solid. I made a bad bogey on 10 from the middle of the fairway, 115 yards out. It was just really solid the rest of the way after that.

I can't believe that putt on the last didn't fall, but that putt on 8 should not have fallen. So they kind of even out. But I'm in good position. Game feels good, and hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. You've talked about this golf course not being one where you've had a good record before. Is it that you're playing better or you're figuring this golf course out finally after all these drives?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think it's more, I feel like I've never driven it well here. Hitting in the fairway -- pretty much every time you're in the fairway here, with the exception of maybe 6 and 8 today. Because they are playing so long into the wind, you're going to have a good look at birdie as soft as the greens are.

I think that's the key, especially going into the weekend, is hitting fairways. If I can do that, I'm going to be in good shape.

Q. How happy are you to see a shootout, or would you prefer to see it hard and fast like last year?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Either way, you're going to have to play well. This golf course is really difficult when it's hard and fast. It's not really built that way. You can't chase anything to the greens. Last year it was really tough. Scores were still really low.

No matter what, you have to to play some good golf. I I'm looking forward to the challenge. I know the crowds will probably be big tomorrow and fun, and I need to try to embrace that.

I'm within striking distance, so another solid round tomorrow or something really low, I think I'm going to need two really good ones or like one really special to get the win. But I'm in the hunt.

Q. Can you feed off this crowd? Can you use it to kind of start that accelerator?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think so. It's pretty fun. David made a couple good putts coming down the stretch today and there was some excitement in the air. I hope to make a little bit of noise but we'll have to see.

Q. 8, can you take us through the long one?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I was pretty lucky. That thing was moving, probably about 90 feet or so. I think I was maybe going to be on the back fringe if it didn't hit the flagstick. I also hit a good putt on 9 that didn't fall, so they evened out. It was a good day nonetheless. I felt like it was a really solid, stress Friday other than a poor bogey on 10. I played really nicely.

Q. 8-under, you don't know what the lead is going to be now. Are you satisfied with where you're at heading into the weekend?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Yeah, I'm in the hunt. Just to make the cut here is pretty good for me. I'm happy with where I'm at. I think it's going to take two really good rounds on the weekend or something really special one of the two days. But I'm in the mix, so I'm excited about it.

Q. Do you feel like you figured something out about Glen Abbey, or just a case of past years here, you were struggling with your game?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think more than anything, just hitting fairways. The course is so soft that you can go at almost everything if you're in the short stuff. And the rough isn't that long but it's just enough to make you kind of second guess.

So if you're in the fairways, I think that's going to be key for me this weekend. If I continue to hit fairways, I'll have a shot.

Q. Do you think you built some momentum after the eagle on 18 last night?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I don't know, it's a whole new day. I mean, yesterday it was kind of a rush. We got out of here and eight supper at almost ten o'clock and it was right to bed and up first thing in the morning. It didn't even feel like it was that long ago and I already played another 18 holes.

Obviously it's great to finish with an eagle in any round, to go to 4-under, 6-under or even par, it's always a nice way to finish.

Q. How did you find the wind? Did you have any trouble with it?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think it's actually going to be a lot more difficult for the guys in the afternoon, especially our last four or five holes it was picking up but it was bouncing around quite a bit. Especially down in the valley, we were up top and we couldn't quite figure out exactly where it was coming from.

If it continues to do that, I don't think we're going to see the scores continue to go down, down, down. But it's still so soft, that guys are still going to shoot some good numbers.

Q. You're the low Canadian right now. How does that feel in the National Championship?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Well, we're only halfway there. So there's a lot of good players here from our country. That would be a feather in your cap obviously to be low Canadian at this tournament. But we're all here to try to get the curse -- the Pat Fletcher curse, if that's what we're going to call it now. We all want to hoist the trophy.

Q. Are you surprised Adam didn't make the cut?
GRAHAM DeLAET: That's golf, man. It's tough. It's a lot harder when you're inside the ropes than on the outside.

Q. Any idea what it will be like on the weekend if you happen to be in contention going into Sunday?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Well, I mean, judging by what happened with Jared last year and David the year before, obviously there's going to be a ton of support. It would be fun to be in that mix and feel that kind of energy.

I still have to shoot a really good number tomorrow to even be in that mix. I've got a long ways to go.

Q. Guys suggest that that can almost be detrimental. Do you see it that way? Do you have to embrace it?
GRAHAM DeLAET: I think there's added pressure. There's pressure no matter what when you're coming into the weekend in contention, but you want to play well, more, this week, because it is your national open. It means a lot to you. I think that's the key is to try to treat it as another golf tournament. Just try to stay focused and do what you need to do and obviously feed off the energy when you can.

Q. Being in a group with David, did that help?
GRAHAM DeLAET: Of course, we played a lot of golf over the years, practice rounds. This is eight years out here for me now, so we've been paired together a lot, and the second time here at Glen Abbey.

It's fun. I was really rooting for him to make that putt on the last hole. I hope it didn't cost him. But he'll be back.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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