	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2017

Kevin Kisner

Charlotte, North Carolina

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 99th PGA Championship pleased to be joined by Kevin Kisner who opened up with a 4-under 67 today that included six birdies and a couple bogeys. He is the co-leader.

Kevin, thanks for coming. 2-under on both sides. Pretty balanced, might indicate that you had it going on all day; is that the case?

KEVIN KISNER: I did. I felt confident. I was hitting the driver nice starting out. There's about four or five holes that I have to birdie to compete and I birdied them all today. So that's kind of been my game plan. Make a lot of pars and get to a par 5 or one of those short par 4s, I can do my wedge game and get it to ten or 12 feet. That's my plan. Other than that, I'm playing for par.

JOHN DEVER: Can you take us through the three-birdie stretch?

KEVIN KISNER: 6 was a lucky one. 250 yards to the hole and I just smashed a 3-iron, barely covered the bunker and ran up there to eight feet. I don't know if I'm that good or lucky. Made that one.

Then made a great up-and-down on 8. A 3-wood ran through on the side of a bunker, no stance, and just got out on the green about 20 feet and made that. Then 8 is one of the holes I'm going to have to birdie almost every day. It's hybrid and a wedge for me, and hit a great wedge to six feet. Seemed easy then, but we'll see if it's that easy tomorrow.

Q. Which are the four or five holes, just to make sure that you have to birdie?
KEVIN KISNER: 7, 8, 14, 15. Throw one more in there. 18, easy birdie.

Q. A lot of the players have said this is a bomber's course. Do you agree with that, and if so, what kind of challenge does that create for you?
KEVIN KISNER: I'm going to say every course we play is a bomber's course anymore. But if they are not playing from the fairway, I wouldn't want to be doing it. The rough's brutal. I don't care how far they hit it. If they are having 7- or 8-iron, it's still going to be difficult to get on the green. The greens are so firm, you can't control your spin. If I can just keep hitting fairways, I'm going to like my chances.

Q. It seemed like something clicked for you last weekend at Firestone. What was that, and what have you really been working on these last few weeks to kind of correct after a little lull in the season?
KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, I've just been, a lot of average golf lately. Working hard with John Tillery. A lot on my pivot. Feeling like I'm loading better on my right side and trying to eliminate some of the push shots I hit. I always tend to block it off the tee. When I'm not blocking it, I feel pretty comfortable.

We've been working hard this week. Hit a couple loose ones coming in, so I'm going to go work on that and hopefully start hitting it like I did today, tomorrow.

Q. You've had success here in the past with different grass on the greens. You've talked about your affinity for bermudagrass. Do you like it better this way, putting on better bermuda?
KEVIN KISNER: I do. I love playing on the bermuda. I like the bent when I'm in the rough, but I like the bermuda when I'm in the fairway.

Q. Does that make you like the golf course a little bit better?
KEVIN KISNER: I think it's great for the golf course. I think it makes it play more difficult. The firmness, you're going to be able to keep it more firm, especially this time of year. But I love putting on the surfaces. They are pure. You know if you start it on line, even late in the day they were getting a little choppy, but you start it online, it's going to have a good chance of going in. I just feel so comfortable, I don't feel like I have to read it and over read it. I can stand up and put like I've grown up doing.

Q. When you mentioned the rough and you wouldn't want to be in it, which you were on 18, I wonder if you can kind of give some detail or description of what the lie is like, how you play the shot and how that one came out?
KEVIN KISNER: So on 12, I had 138 yards to the front out of the rough, and I think I flew a 7-iron maybe 60. Then on 18, I had 200 front and I was in between 5- and a 6-iron. It's just all dependent on your lie. That one was just thinned behind it. So I knew I could get a club on it. I knew it would come out knuckling, and just trying to judge how far it's going to run because it's difficult because it's been soaking wet and end of the day it actually firmed up a little bit.

Q. They talked on television and said your win at Colonial, the greens roll similar to what they roll here. Would you agree with that, and if that's the case, what is the stroke, what is the kind of stroke that works best on these greens?
KEVIN KISNER: I think any rhythmic stroke works best on these greens. When they are rolling this fast, you have to have perfect speed because they are big breakers, and you have to almost dive them in high side every time because you don't want the 4- and 5-footers coming back.

I don't like the comparisons to Colonial because they are mostly slower and bentgrass, smaller greens, with not as much undulation. Here I think it's more high side, speed, trying to will it in the hole on the last roll.

Q. When you talk about playing for par, what does that mean? Were you playing for par on 18, for example?
KEVIN KISNER: 100 percent. Just fat side of the green. Good example is 3. I had 7-iron to the right pin, which any other tournament on the TOUR we're probably hitting right at and I'm just trying to hit it 30 feet from the hole. Just too penal around the greens and the greens are too firm to miss short-sided. You're never going to consistently be getting that ball up-and-down.

I'm just going to be trying to stick to birdieing the holes they give to you to make birdie and if I'm in the fairway, I'm going to putt from 30 feet. I'm content with that.

Q. 13, what did you hit in your approach --
KEVIN KISNER: 13 is a par 3, the gallery -- I think I almost smoked somebody. I was more worried about that ball going off the green on the other side on 13, the chip shot. I was happy where it ended up.

JOHN DEVER: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297