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AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 17, 2018

J.J. Spaun

Irving, Texas

SHARON SHIN: I'd like to get started. Please help me welcome in J.J. Spaun into the Interview Room of the AT&T Byron Nelson.

J.J., great round of 7-under, 64 today. You really heated up in your back-9, the front-9 of the course with 6 birdies. Comments about your round.

J.J. SPAUN: Yeah. Solid round. Obviously kind of was, you know, neutral on the front -- or on the back which was my front and kind of had a chip-in -- I had a chip-in on 2 that kind of got the round going a little bit.

I mean I think 1 or 2-under was around 30th, 40th place but I feel like that chip-in was kind of the turning point for the round to kind of progress into something great and after that just followed up with a lot of fairways and greens.

Had a bunch of good looks at birdies pretty much the entire way in and, fortunately, couple of those fell in on the front side and was able to close out at 7-under.

SHARON SHIN: This is a new venue you for the players this year. How did it play to your strengths of your game?

J.J. SPAUN: I feel like you got to drive it pretty well out here. I don't think there's a tee shot or a shot in general that doesn't really -- that really needs your attention.

I feel like there's a lot of ways you can kind of get yourself in trouble even though it doesn't look that difficult off the tee when you're looking at it. But I played solid from tee to green. I hit a lot of good iron shots.

My short game was there to bail me out on some of the bad second shots and just putted well. So, I feel like, you know, it was sort of a ho-hum sort of round even though it was great but I just kind of kept the mistakes away.

SHARON SHIN: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. What has kind turned it around for you this week?
J.J. SPAUN: I think if you look at my stats, my putting was a lot better than the past maybe 6 events that I played so I didn't have a month and a half off in between a couple of those events so I was injured and had to take some time off.

As anyone knows, taking some time you have off it's kind of hard to come back and not only get moved past your injury or whatever, but to get your fuel back and see putts going into.

I worked really hard this week on my putting and my stroke and I feel like that time I put in really showed today because I made a lot of really good putts today, lot of putts that wouldn't be a -- I wouldn't have made a couple weeks ago.

Q. What was your injury?
J.J. SPAUN: I had a compressed ulnar nerve in my elbow and I was getting this pain in the back of my hand between my ring and my pinky finger and it happened at Phoenix, actually.

I withdrew during Phoenix and I saw two different doctors and saw nothing in there. I finally went to see a specialist in L.A. and told me from what he thinks, what he sees based on my MRI Is my nerve compressed my elbow. Basically an overuse issue.

So I had to take about four and a half, five weeks off, no swinging. So that was from Honda through -- my last was Honda and my first event back was RBC.

After Phoenix I didn't play and I tried to play Riviera and with this issue because it would come and go, wasn't really everyday, so after I took a month and a half off that was when things got better. RBC was my first week back.

Q. The rounds today seemed really slow. Is that because of the large greens or what's the biggest factor there?
J.J. SPAUN: Well, yeah. We were first off and we waited on every single shot on the front -- sorry, the back-9 which was our front-9, and I just think it's the fact that it's a new course and there's a lot of tricky approach shots and tee shots and the greens are massive so you know, normally you know, if you miss a green you kind of know what you got to do.

You miss it 50, 60 feet you're kind of trying to read everything. I believe the new layout for everyone not seeing this course before has to do with it as well as the big greens.

Q. How did the course play, what was the difference between the practice round and today?
J.J. SPAUN: It was, I would say, twice as firm as it was on Sunday -- I got here early, I played Sunday, Monday -- sorry, I played Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and it was a lot firmer and I was actually in disbelief it got that firm because I played a late Pro-Am yesterday and the greens were stopping, balls were spinning back, the fairways were kind of not really plugging but just kind of like not getting big bounces, and I was hitting tee shots with like a hybrid were going 280 and just running a lot.

Around the greens and on the greens they definitely got firmer. I was actually really surprised that it got firm that quick.

Q. Just to be clear, right elbow?
J.J. SPAUN: Yes.

Q. Had you seen the course before Sunday when you got here, had you played it last year or anytime before?
J.J. SPAUN: Never seen the course. Sunday was my first day out here. Played the front-9 Sunday, played the front-9 -- sorry, the back-9 Tuesday and the front-9 Wednesday in the Pro-Am.

Q. So some of your peers have said they called it a very fair test. They liked it. What's your impression?
J.J. SPAUN: Yeah. I think it's a pretty fair course, especially the fact that not everyone has seen it before. It's not going to favor a veteran or someone that's on Tour has seen this course multiple times.

So, I think the fact it's in new course. It's a course where you can't really fake it around, I think, you know. The fairways are pretty wide but there's also spots where you can, you know, get lazy with a tee shot and be in a pot bunker and have to pitch out or something like that.

So, I think -- lot with the greens, too, on approach shots. It's really deceiving from the fairways. I think on No. 4 the pin was back, probably the furthest back they can put it but from the green it -- from the fairway it looks like you have maybe five feet from that pin to like over the green.

But like when you get up there it's really subtle and you have plenty of room. Lot of us were short, just from in fear of going long. Lot of deception on approach shots as well and I think that's kind of cool, you know. It kind of makes you think and execute your shots really well.

Q. Do you embrace the fact this golf course is different?
J.J. SPAUN: I'll play any course that the Tour stops at. I know some guys didn't want to play, it's a new course and they heard bad things about it.

I just thought -- I thought it's a course, I feel like it's a course where the best guy that plays that week is going to win. No one really has like an advantage for being here before or any specific type of game like if you're a boomer.

I think that kind of wipes that whole scenario out by being that kind of course.

Q. Is there an issue where there's too many courses that you have a certain type of game, where it's not set-up for a certain guy?
J.J. SPAUN: I think most of the courses there's a lot of diversity, for sure, in the courses and layouts and stuff. You get the courses where it's long, you bomb it, there's no rough and obviously the shorter ones where there's rough everywhere, then you have the long ones with rough like Torrey Pines.

I don't really care where I play, personally. I feel like my ball-striking is always pretty solid where if it's a long course or if it's a short course off the tee, demanding off the tee I feel like I can compete there and I think this course is kind of a testament to both of those.

It's just -- it's whoever golfs their ball the best, I think.

SHARON SHIN: Anymore questions? All right. Thank you for your time and good luck the rest of the week.

J.J. SPAUN: Thanks guys.

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