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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 22, 2018

Justin Thomas

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. You mentioned yesterday, playing with Tiger last week, being in front of him this week, what's your take away?
JUSTIN THOMAS: There wasn't too many people out there this morning, being as early as it was but it wasn't bad. There were no issues with the crowd whatsoever and any time they ever say anything --

Q. Did you talk to Justin about trending the right way, and how much does a good score on this golf course confirm that?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It totally does. Like I said, I was playing well. I feel like I am playing well. This is a difficult golf course. It can make you look bad in a heartbeat pretty quickly.

I'm just trying to go out there and just keep in front of me fairways and greens. Berger's round was pretty special, to go bogey-free today, that was pretty awesome. I'd like to have one or two of those the rest of the week.

Q. How did the conditions factor in today? Was it pretty typical out here?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it gets windy this time of year here, and then, you know, you hate to say that, gusting and a 20-mile-an-hour wind isn't exactly typical or easy. It's a tough course with no wind, but you throw that in there, it gets pretty difficult.

Q. You had a string of birdies going, almost five in a row.
JUSTIN THOMAS: And had a great putt for my fifth. The wind picked up and gusted and held the ball out there left. It was pretty much going to end at that, even if I did make that putt, unless I made a 40-footer, there was no way to birdie 5 today.

Q. Have you played here during the year?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I haven't been here since Sunday last year, when I came out to watch -- thanks for bringing that up.

Q. Does living here, I know you're a professional, but does living here make it easier to make the transition from poa to bermuda?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I guess. The greens aren't very bermuda-like this week. They are a little bare in terms of there's not a lot of grain. They roll great and they can get fast downhill. They roll true but there's not like new fresh bermudagrass. The good thing coming off poa annua, most things are going to seem easier to putt on.

Q. I know you had won coming into here last year but how has your game come along in the year since you were here?
JUSTIN THOMAS: A lot. I feel a lot more confident in most areas of my game, and I feel that I can just get it around better. I don't need my best stuff to have a chance to win. It's just being a little bit smarter.

Q. Why do you think it's important for the PGA TOUR to support Parkland wearing ribbons today?
JUSTIN THOMAS: I would hope I don't need to explain that. It's awful what happened and any time the TOUR can support in any way a tragedy or something like that that would happen, we're always going to be for it. The PGA TOUR does an unbelievable job with giving back in any way that we can. Any time there's a ribbon on the tees for whatever it may be, you'll see most, if not all the guys wearing it. And if they are not, it's probably because they didn't see it. Something as simple and easy as this, it's the least we can do.

Q. Six birdies first round, you must feel pretty good, especially on this course?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it was a good day. Solid day. Just kind of picking my way around there. I had some opportunities to make some birdies and I felt like I capitalized on those. And on a tough windy day like this was a great start.

Q. When you're playing with Daniel Berger, a guy you know well, he said he feeds off your success early on; is it the same for you, when you see that you both are working off each other?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It was a fun group. I love playing with Sergio, too. The three of us had a good time out there. Obviously Sergio didn't play as well but yeah, Berger and I have been good buddies and battling it out for a while. It would be fun to keep it going for a couple of days and be doing the same on Sunday.

Q. Can you give us an idea of how this golf course could change over the next few days for you?
JUSTIN THOMAS: For everybody, it's a difficult golf course, not just for me. Everybody has to deal with the wind and the difficulty of the greens, the wind changing, the rough. It's right in front of you. There's no tricks, you just have to go out and do it.

Q. Is there a different vibe waking up in your own bed? How does that change everything for you?
JUSTIN THOMAS: The course is what it is. I don't know about the other guys, but I never play it other than the tournament, anyway.

Q. Just day-to-day.
JUSTIN THOMAS: It's nice. Any time you can be home. We don't spend too many nights in our bed or too many weeks in our own houses throughout the course of the year, so it's definitely a bonus.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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