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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 1, 2018

Bryson DeChambeau

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. What a beautiful round of golf to open up your first time here at TPC Scottsdale. Talk a little bit about your round.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I played fantastic, I drove it pretty well. Struggled a little bit late in the day, but that's something I'm going to go work on on the range. Struck it well and made some great key putts to keep my momentum going. That was the telltale story of the day is just trying to keep that momentum going. I knew I was playing well and, shoot, even the last couple weeks, even though I missed the cut, I knew I was hitting the ball well, putting the ball well, it was just a matter of getting everything to come together.

Q. We have to ask you, as a first-time player here, what was it like there on 16 on game day?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well I can tell you that was actually my first time playing the hole. I didn't -- yeah, I didn't even have a chance to play before. I got in on Tuesday, or Monday night, didn't play it Tuesday, I was working on my game and trying to rest my body. Didn't realize that it was a nine hole pro-am and so I only got to play the front nine. But clearly it worked out in my favor where I got enough rest and I was able to hit some good shots on the back nine. That atmosphere was just something else, I never experienced something like that. But it was nice to hit it in there close and everybody give me applause.

Q. 5-under par today, currently in the lead. Comment about your opening round.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, played well, really well, I struck it well, hit the driver really well. Got a little off kilter at the end, we were playing, unfortunately, just a little slow and they told us to pick it up, it kind of threw me out of a rhythm. But other than that it was fantastic. I made some great key clutch putts, one on 2, a little 16-footer that was big. Went and birdied the next hole. So that's kind of a good momentum little swing for me. If I would have missed the putt and then made par on the next hole it's just the opposite. So that's what golf is, it's a little bit of momentum and I was fortunate enough to accomplish that and keep it going, be 1-under par instead of 1-over par, and that just kind of pushed me to shoot 5-under today.

Q. You mentioned you didn't play 16 earlier in the week that was your first experience. Talk about that.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: My first experience. Yeah, that was insane. I just tried to block it all out, even though it's really difficult to. You just look down at the ground and try and look at the hole and that's all you look at. But it was a great experience for me and I was grateful to hit one in there to about seven feet. Unfortunately missed the putt, just misread it, that's the way it goes. I guess I should have had a practice round on that hole. But other than that it was fun. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to it tomorrow as well.

Q. As a guy who likes to compute all the variables, how much more difficult was it for you on 16 to really try to block it out and simplify it?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Oh, I mean, yeah, what's funny is like I was a little more nervous than I was at the Masters when I was an amateur, I can tell you that, that's for sure. It's just different. You're going to get booed or they're going to cheer for you. That's it. There's not going to be middle ground. So you definitely want to have the crowd on your side on that. Made it a little interesting. But I think tomorrow a big key for me is just going to be rhythm. If I can keep the same rhythm going and control the tempo and the putting and keep that face going square at impact with that rhythm it's going to be fine.

Q. You spent a lot of time the last few months with Rickie. What have you seen in his game in the off-season the last couple months that maybe caught your eye?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: His game, he's just so consistent. He's so good at understanding -- he's played obviously all the courses quite a bit, so that helps for consistency. But I think I definitely learned that it's a patience game. You got to take every week in stride, you got to make sure you're rested, well rested. That's something that he helped me on a little bit. Told me that it's a long game, it's not easy, and you got to make sure that everything is focused in on the day and you can't be tired for it. So that's definitely one thing that I looked at is his consistency and his ability to be consistently in contention all the time. So just learning, I'm learning from the best players out here and I hope to keep doing so.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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