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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

July 29, 2017

Sam Saunders

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Q. Your thoughts on how it went for you today?
SAM SAUNDERS: Yeah, it was real smooth today. I just kept it cool out there and played golf. I hit some good shots. I hit a couple of loose shots but really my misses were all on the right spot, which you have to do out here. You've got to think your way around this golf course and I've done a good job of that so far this week. I had a couple putts go in out there, so it was nice.

Q. So many birdies out there, guys firing at the pins and making a lot of shots. How much pressure is that?
SAM SAUNDERS: The greens, some of the best greens we putt on all year, the putting surfaces are fantastic. If you drive the ball well, you can get at a lot of these greens and you can get a lot of these birdies, I don't want to say easily but they come easily if you hit good drives and good shots.

So you're going to have a lot of good looks. You just have to stick to your own game plan and try not to get too far ahead of yourself. It's still a lot of golf left.

Q. Every week on the TOUR, we've been talking about Arnold Palmer, your grandfather. This was his first win in 1955. Did he ever tell you any stories about winning in Canada?
SAM SAUNDERS: We talked about it a little bit. Nothing in great detail. I think the relief of getting that first win, something I'm looking forward to very much. Because you get to a certain point where it would be exciting but in a way it's a relief and I know for him it was that, and hopefully I can keep giving myself a chance tomorrow.

Q. Tremendous back nine. What was working so well for you as you made the turn?
SAM SAUNDERS: This is a golf course you had to drive it well on. I drove it well on the back nine. I think I only missed one fairway -- two fairways, excuse me. But I positioned myself in the right spot where I still had opportunity to make easy pars on those holes and got a couple putts to fall in. It was nice.

Q. We've been seeing you make a lot of big plays this season a lot more and I said to you, do you feel like this is a more consistent season for you. What was your answer to that?
SAM SAUNDERS: Well, I'm still unfortunately in the position that I'm in where I need to do something good these last few weeks. I do feel like I've played solid this year. I haven't really had any big downs.

But unfortunately you see that I am 143 on the FedExCup. But I like this tournament and I like the events that we have left, so I feel very confident about getting myself into the FedEx Playoffs and would be really excited to make my first one of those.

Q. Now tomorrow, I'm sure you know, is Arnold Palmer Day. This is the place where Arnold Palmer made his first PGA TOUR career victory. What does this place mean for you? What would it mean for you tomorrow to do something big?
SAM SAUNDERS: Well, obviously I try not to think about it too much, but I have, this being where he got his first win, and I'm still looking for mine. If I was fortunate enough to be in a position to do that tomorrow, that would be something special. I'm really going to try to focus on my game plan and just stick to playing golf out there.

Q. A pretty good day for scrambling and overall a solid round for to you put yourself in contention on Sunday. What stood out about today's round?
SAM SAUNDERS: Just stayed calm. I finally really feel comfortable out here in these situations, not getting ahead of myself. It's really easy to, you know, you see your name up there and you see yourself getting close to the lead to kind of put on the brakes and just be satisfied with the position you're in. And I really worked on that yesterday late on the back nine. I was hitting a lot of good shots and the putts weren't going in. And I said, you know what, I have to keep the pedal down. Guys were making birdies.

I did that well today. I didn't try to force anything but I kept my foot on the gas and tried it really stay aggressive out there and not be satisfied with just being up there. Tried to get on top.

Q. When you see a 62 in the morning wave, how does that creep in your mind when you go out there?
SAM SAUNDERS: I saw what Robert was doing out there. Obviously playing fantastic. Not sure what he did on the last hole but I thought he had a chance for 59 there, which would have been cool to see. I knew the pins were gettable today, and the greens have stayed soft. That was really the biggest thing is the that greens were soft, so you could be aggressive to some of these flags out there.

Then the way these greens roll, if you hit putts solid, online, they are going to go in. They are extremely true surfaces. You can get on a roll out there and have some fun.

Q. This course, obviously you know how special it was to your grand father. How does that affect your game and your mentality when you do come out to play?
SAM SAUNDERS: Well, I obviously know, 1955, his first win, the Canadian Open. Would it be more special? Yes. But any PGA TOUR win at this point -- I don't have any. So that first one's going to be pretty special no matter what, and I really hope I can just stay calm tomorrow and just do what I know how to do and try to give myself a chance.

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