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KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2018

Barry Lane

Benton Harbor, Michigan

Q. Great way to start a Senior Major Championship. 5-under.
BARRY LANE: Yeah, I've been playing really well for a while, really. I played really well but I was a bit too aggressive, so I was hitting balls by the flag and bouncing them into the bank with wedges, so I was a bit disappointed. But I had played really well the other week in Texas and didn't really putt very well. But we had two weeks out here and I practiced really hard every day on the putting and wasn't really much better until yesterday afternoon when Camilla said, it looks like you're strangling a snake, so just grip it a little bit lighter. And it just freed me up. I mean, I putted lovely. I played really nicely too. I actually had one 3-putt on the first, but a couple of good up-and-downs. All in all it was a nice way to start.

Q. Four birdies on the front nine. That must have settled the nerves a little bit.
BARRY LANE: Yeah, I don't know. I left two short right in the middle as well, but I just hit it nicely, hit some really good shots in there, made a good save at 17 out of the bunker that lipped out actually for two. So we were all, we were 8-under after 7 between us. So it was a pretty good game. But great guys to play with and, yeah, so it was just a nice day.

Q. Then just the one blemish on the card on the 1st.
BARRY LANE: Yeah, I just actually hit a really pretty good second shot in there but I just a little bit too racy with the putt and knocked it about three and a half foot by and missed it. I actually hit the flag on the shot, which was a shame because if it would have missed it above been stone dead but finished 15 feet away. But I just kept battling along and hit a couple of wonky shots there on a couple of holes but just kept it going and you're not going to hit it perfect all the time so all in all very happy.

Q. Great way to finish with two birdies as well.
BARRY LANE: Yeah, nice, I hit very close at 8 and then I holed a nice sort of 10-footer there at the last.

Q. Fourth appearance here at Harbor Shores, do you feel like you figured out a secret?
BARRY LANE: I don't think you're ever going to figure out a secret around here. You know where the flags are so you know where your areas are to try and hit it and you can use the slopes. But if you miss the slopes then it becomes very difficult. We were lucky with the weather, it was not windy, the ball was going a lot further so you had a few short irons in. But they're all tucked in these little areas and if you don't quite catch the ridge or you catch it too much it will spin 30 foot away. But if you're like four yards out left it will stay on the ridge and then you're just dribbling it down there. So I hit it in the right areas, you can get a score going if you hit it in the right areas. I made one bogey I think and Wes made two for 66 and he made two eagles. So if you hit it in the right spot you got a chance, but if you start missing it, then it's a really difficult golf course. But it is my fourth time here, so I should learn, but I actually played really well the first year and I played like crap the next two times it was here. So it's just nice to get off to a good start and hopefully I can build on it the next three days.

Q. We speak a lot during the year and we know how much this tournament means not just to you but the other European guys out here, so to be in this position after the first round it doesn't get any better than that?
BARRY LANE: No, absolutely. It's all about just literally the first three days getting yourself, if you can get yourself in with a chance. It does mean a lot for our Order of Merit and it means a lot -- obviously if you do really well might get in the U.S. Open. I missed out by like just a thousand dollars to get in there last year. So it's just another tournament and just treat it as another tournament even though it's a major for us, we don't have many, we have our two that we're lucky enough to get into, but it's just be nice to play well, it's nice to play well in America.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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