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SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 26, 2017

Smylie Kaufman

Jackson, Mississippi

Q. Talk about a solid day for you. I thought you drove the ball really, really well. What was the best part in your mind?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, I think just peace of mind really. Been working extremely hard with my coach, Tony Ruggiero, just to kind of try to tighten everything up so it's consistent round to round.

I had some loose swings out there today, but really just the only mistake I made I grabbed the wrong club on 17. I had 90 yards to front of the green and grabbed gap wedge on accident. Just being stupid; just grabbed the wrong club.

That was my only bogey today. Other than that, I found the green most of the day. Wasn't quite as sharp as I had wanted to be, but if you got me on the green 16 times a round, you know, most of the time it's going to be pretty good.

Q. You had a good day. Talk about the fact that you are putting in a lot of work. You had some time off.
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah.

Q. How do you focus? I know you want to be tournament-ready, but you just practiced a lot, didn't you?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, I've really put in a lot of work. Credit to Tony and the rest of the team kind of keeping me on track. We kind of got our game plan back together, which is the first time it's felt close to where I was kind of my rookie year where I played really well for two years consistently.

For me, I'm just looking to get back to that kind of form. I've learned a lot of lessons out here. It's like last year, I think I learned more last year than I did the year before.

It's funny how your bad years you learn more about yourself and the mistakes you made just to try to keep yourself on track.

So feel good about this year; I feel good about this fall stretch. Going to use this tournament as a building block to finish out a good fall hopefully.

Q. Lastly, life is good. You're engaged. Got engaged at the Presidents Cup. I mean, that's exciting.
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah.

Q. And Team Kauffman was out following you around today.
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah. I had some buddies; I had some family, some friends. It's nice kind of being close to home and you can pack up the car and drive here.

Makes things nice just to kind of have some familiarity I guess with the people following you. So far been pretty fun.

Q. Opened up this tournament with a 67. How did you put it together today?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, just I was on the putting surfaces a lot today. Played the par-5s pretty well. Kind of holed the putts I needed to to keep the momentum going throughout the day.

Just one mental error. Grabbed the wrong club on a hole and that was my only bogey. Thought I grabbed the lob wedge and grabbed my gap wedge and flew the green. I wondering what the heck happened. That was the only mental error today.

Yeah, I feel pretty good about where my game is trending, the hard work I've put in. You know, especially watching all my boys play so well. It's been pretty motivating to try to get back to the top.

Q. Let's get back to the putting. How about on the second hole, the 30-footer. What did you see?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, it was just straight downgrain. Just moved fractionally to the left. Had a pretty good look at it. I think I hit that putt in the practice round. Felt pretty good about it.

Kind of just fell over the front edge; it was nice to see that one go in.

Q. You talk about the motivation you get from your buddies, a couple of spring break guys.
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, of course.

Q. What does that do for your psyche, and how does that get the best out of your game?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, I think I use them. You know, they've had some experiences in the game of golf. I try to learn from them. Just good guys to hang around. They work extremely hard, they work smart, but also like to have fun.

That's kind of my formula. I like to do similar things. They've been super supportive as well. It's nice to have some friends like that.

Q. What were the things going well for you?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, you know, I've got a little bit of familiarity with the place. Played it two years ago. Greens are in great shape. I feel really confident with my putter right now. I was on the putting surface a good amount today. Took care of the par-5s.

You know, kind of feel a lot better about my golf swing than I did all of last year. Been working extremely hard on being a little for comfortable on the golf course with what I'm working on.

Saw a lot of positives today in that regard. There are a couple things I need to clean up heading into tomorrow.

Q. How was it to have a bounce-back round after maybe not your best year last year?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, last year was definitely a learning experience. Definitely was just -- didn't have the best plan all year. Was kind of chasing it week to week. It's really hard to do out here when you're just a little lost out there.

I definitely learned a lot about the way I could fight, the way I could grind out rounds. Even though I didn't have my best stuff, at times I was in contention going into the weekend last year.

Just shows me that I don't have to be playing as, you know, top notch to be near contention. For me, I just kind of want to be around it heading into Sunday just so I have a chance.

Q. Speaking of that, how big is it to put a round like this together? I think the weather has been all over the place.
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to the way it's going to play the next three days. I think we'll get some rain tomorrow. Interesting to see if we play in some rain tomorrow.

I feel my swing is starting to feel a lot more comfortable when I play in the wind. I feel really comfortable. I always feel I have a better chance than anybody else when it gets windy out if I'm hitting the ball the way I should, because I flight the ball pretty well with my irons.

So I think that will be an advantage heading into the weekend. Hopefully I can go work on a couple different things just to tighten it up a little.

Q. Seemed like you were getting frustrated on 6 and 8, I think. What was going on?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, just didn't quite finish the way I wanted. I had a couple really good looks from the fairways. Just kind of the old habits from last year just kind of still around a little bit.

I'm still having to be very conscious of the kind of things I'm working on right now with the golf swing. Hopefully by the weekend it'll be more free and I'll feel a little bit more comfortable.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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