	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

WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

October 26, 2017

Patrick Reed

Shanghai, China

Q. Played well, clean card. Do you feel like you left some out there anyway?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, there was a couple out there I felt like I left but all in all just a really solid, steady day. Coming into the day, I told Kes that we needed to get off to a good start and I did just that. I felt like after the first couple holes where the driver was a little loose, it seemed like everything started to tighten up.

I was hitting some quality iron shots. I only chipped once today, even though I missed a couple greens, I missed probably three or four greens by inches.

So I still had putter in my hand. That's key around here. If you can have the flat stick in your hand all day and not have to chip, you're going to have a pretty clean card.

Q. Last week was more survival after Thursday. Do you think this week's going to be more of a race to the finish?
PATRICK REED: It seems like this place always is. The past four years, you'd have to shoot 20-under or better to win the golf tournament. The only year it wasn't was when Bubba want in a playoff, and I think that was in 2011. It was rainy, miserable and windy.

So when it's like this, you can attack the golf course. I haven't seen many days where it's been sunshine and really calm. Scores are out there to be had and you just have to go out and shoot low ones.

Q. Is it tough to stay patient on a course like this when you know that's what it's going to take?
PATRICK REED: Yes and no. It seems like this golf course, I mean, these first two days, you're going to start on either 1 or 10 and it seems like besides hole 2 and 3, you're just trying to hit greens, or if you're going it make a birdie, make a long putt.

You have opportunities at 7. 8 is a hard par 5 but if you have a good drive you have a chance there. Really it seems like you're holding on again until midway through the back nine, once you get to 13, 14 area, you can start attacking the golf course again.

The big thing about this week is just not making stupid mistakes and dumb errors out there. I felt like I did that pretty well today.

Q. 66, feel pleased with that?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, any time you go out and shoot in the 60s in your first round at an event, it's always good. Gets you off to the right start. It's key around here.

Q. Birdied the last three holes. What was the key there?
PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing was the last three holes, you can get aggressive if you hit good tee shots. I felt like I was hitting the driver pretty well. So I was able to be really aggressive on 7 and get down there to 30 yards and chip up the green. You'd be upset if you didn't hit that within five feet, so I was able to convert there.

8, laid up to a perfect number. Nice little soft wedge in there to four or five feet, so I was executing shots how I needed to.

18, my eighth hole, which was nine, I felt like I hit two really good shots there. Actually thought I got kind of an unlucky break because it didn't get over the ridge and stopped pretty quick. Any time you can make some putts, it makes up for a lot of things.

Q. Saw a lot of mud balls out there. Did that affect you at all?
PATRICK REED: There was a couple out there. The biggest thing is I feel like here and just like last week in South Korea, it's really Sandy. So even though there's mud on there, it's a lot of sand base. So it almost seems like as you hit it, it kind of explodes it off and doesn't really affect the golf ball.

It's a guessing game. Sometimes it can affect it and sometimes not. Luckily we're able to avoid a lot of them.

Q. Obviously only day one but good position going forward?
PATRICK REED: Yeah, that's the key. You can't win golf tournaments on the first day but you definitely can shoot yourself out of them. To go out and shoot a low number like that, set yourself up to go out and play a good three rounds, and hopefully have a chance at the end.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297