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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 10, 2018

Henrik Stenson

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. How satisfying was that in the afternoon?
HENRIK STENSON: I'm pleased with that. As you know, it normally plays, I guess, awfully harder in the afternoon in general around here. Wind kind of picked up a little bit, and you're at the end of the day for the greens, so I'm very pleased with that. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, as per orders, and wiggled a couple in, and I wasn't in much trouble at any point, really. The only bogey came when I guess I let my mind wander somewhere else and I 3-putted from 15 feet on the 7th. Other than that, it was pretty spotless.

Q. Does your brain have to work harder on this course do you think than most others?
HENRIK STENSON: No, I think it's -- I mean, it's a tough golf course, technically. You've got to stay on it and stay with it and you can't really relax, but I guess I was just being too confident on the 7th green when the other guys were putting, and all of a sudden it was my turn and I just bashed it five feet by and missed. But in general I feel like the game plan is pretty set in stone. I know where I'm trying to hit my shots and it's just about executing.

Q. Are you ever tempted to get out of your game plan? Does the course or any of the shots tempt you that way?
HENRIK STENSON: Not really. On the occasional one, maybe on a par-5, but you know if you go and it's a low percentage shot and it doesn't go you're going to be worse off. I think that's the same at Augusta; sometimes it's almost better on the par-5 to miss the green in the right spot than to actually hit it in the wrong spot or try and hit it on to the green in two. So leaving yourself the right pitches and right putts is crucial.

Q. What do you consider the smartest shot you hit today?
HENRIK STENSON: The smartest shot I hit today? Came up with a good one now, didn't you. Well I guess the smartest shot might have been on the second. I didn't get my tee ball, my 3-wood to turn around the corner, I was in the rough and I was just playing for front left and I got it down there and left myself the right kind of angle and the right pitch and managed to do up-and-down for birdie. So I guess that's one of those that you're trying to slide something around a little bit and with a longer club and it doesn't come off, you might be in a really bad spot, so it's all about knowledge around here, knowing where you can miss and not on different pin locations. I think if you look at the greens, pretty much every green's got one or two really accessible pins and one or two really tough pins, so you just got to know when is the green light and when it is the red light and what time you figure that out, otherwise you're not coming back here.

Q. Knowing what you do about the way this course usually plays in the afternoon with the wind picking up, when you saw the low scores this morning does it give you more pressure or is it just part of it?
HENRIK STENSON: No, I think you've just got to stay patient there. It's always better scoring opportunities in the morning, as a rule, and I'm going to get my morning round tomorrow, so I've just got to try and make the most out of that one. Greens are fresh in the morning, and the only thing that kind of surprised me a little bit this year is that they're a little bit more lush and a little slower than we have seen a lot of other times. I don't think they're the speed early in the week here that has been up to what we have sometimes seen in the past. So not saying it's going to stay that way. If the weather stays like this and they start letting it go a little bit day by day, I'm sure we're going to get some firm and quick greens by the weekend. But as of now, I think they have been a little slower than expected.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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