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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 1, 2018

Ryan Armour

Dublin, Ohio

Q. Some comments on your round today. Obviously familiar surroundings. Just off to great start through 36 holes.
RYAN ARMOUR: Yeah, I didn't know what to expect. I had only played here one time before and played horribly. But I'm a different player over the last year, so I just went out with a game plan of fairways, greens and it's been working kind of all year. And I holed some putts early in the round and I didn't keep it going late in the round, but I hung in there and salvaged some pars coming in. So happy where I'm at.

Q. When you say you're a different player this year, why do you say that?
RYAN ARMOUR: Just everything we have worked on, my teacher and I over the last 12 months. I was never real accepting of the high launch, no spin golf. I wanted to curve it and kind of play low and close to the ground and how I grew up and it just doesn't work anymore. So I had to gradually incorporate trying to elevate the golf ball. And my teacher Jason Carbone has done a really good job of doing that.

Q. You know that you're going to be here for the weekend. How special is that?
RYAN ARMOUR: Yeah, it's good. That's why we play. We are here for Saturdays and Sundays. So if I'm not working Sunday there's a problem. So I'm glad, I'm happy and it's great to be in Buckeye land and there's a lot of support out there. So I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Had you ever attended the tournament before?
RYAN ARMOUR: I had never been to the tournament, no. Even when I was in school I didn't come out. I'm not a big, what is it? Watching golf guy. When I was growing up I went to Firestone all the time and watched the World Series. I loved it. But I would be one of the kids on the back, like way out away from the crowds just watching every shot come in, how this guy shaped it, how this guy spun it. And I was never one to trek around 18 holes. Then as I got older through high school, I liked being on the range watching the pros work. So I was never much about seeing them play as much as I was seeing how they worked and what they did.

Q. How receptive is it out there right now?
RYAN ARMOUR: It is. It is. Very different than last year. You still have to hit quality golf shots, though, and the hole locations are difficult. If you get in the rough, you're done. The rough is as thick as we have had all year. Vijay's a pretty strong guy and he couldn't green it out of the rough a couple times today, as well as he played. So you got to keep it out of the rough.

Q. We talked to you last year about how important Ohio State is in your life. The meaning to you. It's on your yardage book, on your bag, it's a part of who you are. I saw you walk up 14 and Flash an O H I O to somebody in the crowd. Just how, how important is that to you, just being from there, it being a part of who you are, and getting an opportunity to represent them here?
RYAN ARMOUR: I mean I love it. I'm choking up little bit, actually. Growing up as a little kid, it was Ohio State football. That's what it was. I grew up in Akron and I took college visits to other places, Stanford and where else, I can't even think off the top of my head. But in my heart I always knew I wanted to come play at Ohio State for Coach Brown. He was out there today and it was pretty cool seeing him follow me around. I wish I could have done this 15, 18 years ago, but hey, whatever happens, happens.

Q. A part of your story is you're 42 now, and the tenacity to chase this dream for -- and you've had ups and downs in your career. You had to go back and rebuild a little bit. And I just wonder your personal pride in that of being out here still chasing?
RYAN ARMOUR: Honestly, I don't know what else I would do. I mean I love to compete. I love to play golf. And those range sessions when you're not hitting it good aren't always fun. But when you do play well, it is very rewarding out here. And I think it shows something to my kids too, that just because you don't win right away you can still keep battling. They were joking, it was a couple weeks ago, I forget who it was, but -- oh, it might have been in New Orleans, we were playing with Mitchell and Jaeger, and I mean they're in their mid 20s and I'm in my low 40s, and Johnson Wagner's in his upper 30s and we're just joking around with each other, and we're the old guys now. So it's fun.

Q. Have you always wanted to play in this tournament?
RYAN ARMOUR: Oh, yeah. You always want to play here. I want to get -- I mean I want to get a win so I can get into Firestone, because I've never played there either and it's going away. I mean these two events, here and Bridgestone, are just icing on the cake for Ohio kids that grew up playing golf.

Q. Is it any more pressure having familiar faces physically here watching you? I saw on 18 somebody special to you was right there. You greeted them when you came out. What's that mean to you?
RYAN ARMOUR: It's great. I think that other times in my career, I probably wouldn't have been able to accept it as much. I would have put too much pressure on myself. But through last few years of learning how to just be who I am, has allowed me to accept people that are supporting me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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