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SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 4, 2018

Brian Harman

Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

ALEX URBAN: Like to welcome Brian Harman to the interview room here at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Brian, 5-under in the first round. Some opening thoughts on the round.

BRIAN HARMAN: Feeling great. The course is a little tougher than it normally is. The wind was blowing. It's fun to -- a little different challenge out there for sure. I think the last time I was here we had the south wind, so 1 was into the wind, 18 was into the wind, so it's totally flipped this week.

ALEX URBAN: Open it up for some questions.

Q. How much does experience matter here, especially in these kind of conditions? This is a more normal direction, but a little bit harder miles-per-hour wind. How key was that for you?
BRIAN HARMAN: I think it helps more than it hurts. The only time it hurts is there is some spots on the course that might be a little bit slower than they have been in the past and so you're kind of counting on a little bit more run out than you're maybe getting. But the more experience around this place, the more you know how the hills kind of hit everything is definitely better.

Q. Bogey-free. Is that something that you would expect on a difficult course that is kind of tricky and the first tournament of the year?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, obviously whenever you get to count on your birdies, you're doing something good, especially in tough conditions. But you have to dial it back just a little bit on days like today to make sure that you stay in play, make sure that you're a little bit more towards the middle of the green, stuff like that. So, yeah, I'm very happy with it. Did I expect it? Most rounds I don't go bogey-free, so I did not expect it.

Q. What did you do in the quote/unquote off season? How do you prepare, what did you change?
BRIAN HARMAN: I killed a 162-inch deer with my bow, I got a new rifle built, I've been shooting some long range. I'm about to get into reloading, reloading the bullets and then I practiced a little bit.

Q. In what order was that chronologically?
BRIAN HARMAN: That order.

Q. What was the highlight?
BRIAN HARMAN: Exactly that order.

Q. You're sort of known as the guy with the fighting spirit, a bit of an underdog, bulldogish sort of style of play. Are you still thriving on that sort of thing? And now obviously you had a great year last year and moving forward?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I'll take that on. That's, for me, that's a compliment, because I want to be the guy that's a hard out on Sunday. That's kind of where I've always tried to see myself and so if I'm starting to get a little bit of that, that would be great.

Q. No pun intended on the bull dog there.
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah.

Q. The equipment switch this year. I guess it traces back to Zurich? I wonder if could you kind of talk about how that evolved and where you are now?
BRIAN HARMAN: Thanks for asking. Yeah, I played with Johnson Wagner in the Zurich tournament last year, and we played different golf balls. He played a Titleist ball. We decided to play his ball during the alternate shot. Really, really clicked with me, it was kind of made me feel like a kid again. I was able to hit some flighted shots, especially in the wind and I switched to it next week and won. I've got new woods in the bag this week, new Titleist woods in the bag, so I've been very, very pleased. A little more consistent and really striking it well.

Q. You're not fully Titleist?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I am.

Q. Through the bag?
BRIAN HARMAN: Through the bag.

Q. What irons do you have?
BRIAN HARMAN: Titleist. The, whatever, 2018 CB's.

Q. Titleist make any rifles or bows or have you checked?
BRIAN HARMAN: I wish they did. They would be awfully accurate if they did.

Q. What does this bow look like?
BRIAN HARMAN: It's a compound bow. It's a standard, a Mathews Switchback. It's a bow hunting bow. Compound. 31 inches.

Q. Is that this kind (Indicating)?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yes.

Q. What is it made out of?
BRIAN HARMAN: Carbon fiber.

Q. What's the key the next couple days if it keeps blowing this way, what's the key?
BRIAN HARMAN: I think it's supposed to keep blowing. You really got to be able to flight your golf ball off the tee. Not only low, but high. There's some holes when you get it downwind if you can get it up in the air and keep it up in the air you can really get it going. But into the wind, being able to control your golf ball and not let the wind take it a certain direction, keeping it in the fairway where you can stay aggressive, because like take a hole like 10, for example, 10, if you can hit it down the middle of the fairway it's a fairly easy second shot. But if you let the wind take your ball left or whichever way it's going you get up high and it doesn't get down the hill or it gets down into the rough, then it becomes a very difficult second shot. So it's kind of you're on one side of the spectrum or the other. If you can control it, then you can attack the course and if you're not, you're kind of playing safety.

Q. Curious about the bow thing again. Did you field dress the deer?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah. I take care of all the animals. Yeah, nothing gets wasted, we eat it all.

Q. And what's the I guess your favorite dish?
BRIAN HARMAN: My favorite is a shoulder roast. Actually take a shoulder and I wrap it up in tinfoil with a bunch of different stuff and I stick in the oven at 210 for 10 or 11 hours. It's great for game days. It's wake up in the morning, throw the shoulder in, it tastes just like pot roast. Most of the other stuff turns into ground meat like chili, spaghetti. If I had a better place to age it would be like eating steaks, but I don't have a good place to age it yet.

Q. Where would be a good place to age it?
BRIAN HARMAN: A freezer. A big freezer. I don't have a hanging freezer. I need a walk-in freezer where so -- if you kill a cow, right, and you tried to eat it right then, it's going to be stiff, it's going to be, you can't chew it. They age all that meat. They age it for weeks. I don't have a good place to age it. It takes time.

Q. My apologies for dumbing down this conversation, when you pull down the road towards the Ritz, I'm not trying to suggest it's equal to Magnolia Lane, but what's that feeling like the second time coming here?
BRIAN HARMAN: It's, you don't realize how much you enjoy it the first time until you come back the second time. It's like, wow, here I am again and this is, this is just as awesome as the first time I was here. I think you actually appreciate it more. Because the first time you don't really know what to expect, you don't know, but the second time you can really kind of take it in, I feel like.

Q. Any key par saves or anything that was, that even close to making a bogey?
BRIAN HARMAN: Made a really nice bunker save on 13. Actually, I hit a really great drive and it just barely creeps down, and hit a good second shot, but it came up short in the bunker. I get up-and-down there and then I birdied the next hole. So that's kind of a quick where it could have gone either way right there.

ALEX URBAN: All right, thank you, Brian, good playing.

BRIAN HARMAN: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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