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SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 27, 2017

Dru Love

Jackson, Mississippi

Q. Dru, you had quite an impressive round. Great start; 15 straight holes with nothing but pars and birdies. Ran into a little bit of trouble at 7 and 8.
Explain this round and what you saw that you liked.

DRU LOVE: Yeah, you know, out here early greens were perfect; not much wind. I able to take advantage of some good drives. Drove it much better today. Hit it pretty solid; holed a few putts. It was a pretty standard round. Just holed a lot of putts early.

And, yeah, I guess I ran into a little trouble. Hit a bad shot off 7, the par-3 and couldn't get it up and down.

I hit two really good putts on 7 and 8 I thought should have gone in. Both just lipped it.

Trying to take the positives out of it. Wish I could have finished a little bit better. As they say, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Today I didn't do a good job of finishing.

I'll take some positives from this round, and looking forward to going into the weekend with a shot.

Q. This is the sixth time you and your father have been in the same PGA TOUR event. Yesterday was the first time that you outscored him by just one shot. What was the commentary like at dinner last night?
DRU LOVE: Well, he went hunting last night. He didn't get back until late. I brought him some food. Not a word. We didn't talk golf at all. I tried not to say anything.

I kind of wanted to poke a little fun at him. I dropped his dinner and just looked at him and he just shook his head.

So, yeah, we didn't talk much about golf. We both knew we didn't play very well yesterday and we had some work to do today.

I don't know how he's playing right now, but I saw him tee off on No. 3. I hope he has a good round. I hope he can catch up with me. Maybe we can play together on the weekend.

Q. That would be great. Knowing where you stand going into the weekend, what's your approach come Saturday?
DRU LOVE: Just try to stay aggressive. I'm doing a really good job of saying in the moment. You know, when all the cameras showed up, you know, name on top of the leaderboard gets a little nervous, but I did a really good job today of staying in my routines. That's what my dad always preaches. Just trying to have fun.

My caddie, Barry Williams, did a good job of keeping me focused, but also have some fun and talk about fishing and hunting. Just had a really good time. This weekend like I said, I am going to stay aggressive and try to make bunch of birdies.

Q. Dru, you have to be pleased. The first two days, both under par, and you're in position now for the weekend. How happy are you?
DRU LOVE: Yeah, I'm very happy. I had a good round today. Took advantage of some calm weather this morning, good greens; I was able to hole few putts.

A little disappointed with the way I finished. They say it's not how you start, it's how you finish, and I didn't do a good job of that today.

I think take the positives out of it and not really look at the last three. Like I said, I gave myself a chance. I've got a shot this weekend, and in the last couple groups when it'll be warm tomorrow afternoon instead of freezing in the morning. I'm looking forward to that.

Yeah, had some fun out there. Never been in that position before. To see all those cameras show up and see you show up, it was fun. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Really looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.

Q. That's what I thought mean, maybe when all the cameras showed up everybody was around; the gallery definitely grew. Did you notice that? Did that have any affect on the round?
DRU LOVE: Well, when I birdied 1 and then hit a wedge in there tight on 2 and tapped that in, there was a leaderboard right behind 3 tee. I turned around to get a water, and the first thing I saw was, Dru love, first place alone, 7-under.

First time I've ever seen that in a PGA TOUR event. I've been there in other areas, other tournaments. It's a big moment for me. I'm starting to see some good things happen in my game.

You know, the cameras get behind you and people start walking around behind the greens and it's a little distracting, but I feel like I did a pretty good job until the last two or three holes.

Q. The course, the bermuda, the rough, the greens, it's kind of what you grew up on on Sea Island, right?
DRU LOVE: Absolutely. I'm comfortable on this stuff. I've been able to judge the fliers pretty well this week. It's been really hard to guess what it's going to do. It's been really windy. You get a downwind shot in the rough, you're taking 20, 30 yards off your shot. It's a guessing game.

I did a good job of hitting the fairways today and I read the putts, read the green really well. Definitely helps to have that home-field advantage.

Q. You're six shots ahead of dad right now. You got a little bet going with him or what?
DRU LOVE: No bets. There's a little silent bet going on, I'm sure.

Last night I didn't say anything about beating him by one. We both knew we had some work to do today. I hope he plays well, and maybe he can get out there and get good number and we can play together this weekend.

Q. Lastly, this is a big weekend for you. You go out there and play solid this week, and this could really set you up for some good things.
DRU LOVE: Absolutely. I've got second stage of Q-School in a couple weeks. I would love to not have to go to that. Good weekend, maybe a top 10, get into Vegas, and I'm setting myself up pretty good.

I've got pretty high expectations for myself. My game is in a good spot. I'm just ready to go again in the morning.

Q. On 7 you missed the green you said?
DRU LOVE: Yeah. I had 192 into the wind, and I think you've got to protect against going long there. I hit a 6-iron and didn't catch it very well. Came up way short. Hit kind of a bad chip and hit a really good putt that I thought should have gone in.

Then on 8, hit my tee ball way right in the rough and just misjudged the flier. I thought it was going to jump there and it just came out dead; downslope of the bunker.

Hit a great bunker shot and a really, really good putt right where I was aimed. Really good speed. Thought that one should have gone in, too.

You know, it happens. You get couple bad breaks in the wind and out of the rough, and you've got to hit the fairways here and you've got to greens here. Didn't put myself in that good of a spot there on the last couple holes.

Still got a shot this weekend.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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