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BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2018

Troy Merritt

Nicholasville, Kentucky

Q. 10-under, eight birdies, an eagle. One shy of your career-low round. Did you feel this coming in your practice round?
TROY MERRITT: You know, I've played well ever since -- I played okay at the John Deere. We had what we called a sloppy 10-under. I made a lot of birdies, but also made a fair amount of bogeys.

The game was coming around. I put my old putter back in play last week and started making some putts. You know, felt pretty good on Tuesday, and then felt pretty good in the nine-hole pro-am yesterday. Today just continued hitting the same shots and made the putts and didn't make any silly mistakes. Posted a 62.

Q. You've been pretty consistent the second half of the season. A lot of made cuts; a new caddie on the bag. What else have you changed? Putter? Anything else that's making a difference in your game?
TROY MERRITT: No, you know, I've just been really consistent. We've worked really hard on short game since Wayne came on the bag back at Valero. As a result we've gotten the ball up and down a lot more. You're going to save yourself a lot more and not make near as many bogeys.

We haven't been putting the low rounds together, but staying around 2-, 3-under par each round, which is going to get you some made cuts.

Only problem with the way we've been playing is we haven't done much on the weekends. We've had a lot of finishes outside of the top 35, and as a result, we've made 15 out of 22 cuts and we're still sitting at 131 on the points list because we can't have a weekend.

So that's the goal. You know, just kind of keep this momentum going into tomorrow. Hopefully the weather cooperates and then build on it into the weekend.

Q. Excellent start. Get some comments on you round, please.
TROY MERRITT: I was very pleased with the way I struck the ball. Hit the driver very well. With ball in hand in the fairways it's pretty important to get the ball in the fairway, and it gives you a chance to get a preferred lie and be able to attack the pins out here with it being as soft as they were.

The course has dried out quite a bit since Tuesday when I first played it. It's a fun track. If you can get the ball in the fairway and the right the ball in the right quadrants on these greens you can make some birdies.

That's kind of what we did today. Got it in the fairways, hit some good shots, and made a lot of nice putts.

Q. Seems like every year when you come to the Barbasol Championship you're up there in the mix the first couple days. Why does this tournament just bring out the best in you?
TROY MERRITT: You have to take advantage of this one. We play for fewer points this week. Guys are really battling to keep their cards. It's hard to make a move up the points list this week. You've got to do your best to get a Top 5, Top 10 finish just to try to advance up on that pints list.

To do that, you have to play well. You have to set that mindset: I've got to go out there and contend to win this thing, and hopefully the shots and the putts fall.

Q. Take us through 6, 7, and 8 there as you were finishing up your round. Start with the eagle on 6.
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, 6, is a bit of a tricky little tee shot. When the tee gets off the back of the -- off the back of that (indiscernible) you can kind of cut it around that tree there. I didn't cut it far enough, was in the rough, and blistered a 4-iron in there that actually ran through the bunker down the hill and just over the green and made a nice 35-footer for eagle.

Kind of fun to watch that go in. Was just trying to get it about 15 feet under the hole on 7 with that 7-iron, and flew a little further than I was expecting and ended up ten feet below the hole and rolled that one in.

Continued to play aggressive on 8. Just bust driver down that left side. I wasn't expecting to hit it 360, 70 yards and have 65 yards in, but took advantage; hit a nice wedge shot in there and kicked in the birdie.

Q. It's the first day, but you have some separation: 3-shot lead over Romero heading into tomorrow. Does your mindset change?
TROY MERRITT: No. It's just one of those things where just get the ball in play. I'm guessing with the weather forecast might be playing it up again tomorrow. First and foremost, get the ball in the fairway and get as many looks as we can get.

If we don't make birdie, just make sure we're tapping in for par.

Q. How badly did you want that last putt for 61?
TROY MERRITT: You know, I've shot a couple 61s on TOUR, both for 10-under par. So just kind of cruised by 62 when I've been in this position. I was very happy just to post 62. I left it a little short. Had I hit it firmer I think I would've missed it left anyway.

Just slightly misread it, but 62 is 62.

Q. 7-under in the clubhouse; is that motivating? How do you view that when you go out there?
TROY MERRITT: You still have to play your game. Still taking one shot at a time. Playing on Tuesday and Wednesday knowing that there are birdies out here, you're going to make your fair share. Just make sure you don't do anything silly and make a couple bogeys.

This is a week where scoring is going to be pretty good. You might have to get upwards of 20-under to have a chance to win this thing. We were just fortunate enough to make a lot of the birdies and we didn't make any mistakes.

Q. You talked about changing your putter back there last week. Was it a big change?
TROY MERRITT: It's a putter that I've used predominantly the last three years. I actually accidently left it at home when I went to Pebble this year and used my backup the week of the Pebble and finished in the top 10, so I kept that putter in the bag until last week.

I just wasn't making anything. I was kind of losing my comfort with it. I just went back to Old Trusty. It took maybe five, ten minutes to get the hang of looking at it on the ground again, and I rolled it well last week I rolled it well today.

Q. Is it basically the same putter?
TROY MERRITT: Basically the same one. I actually did get it regripped. I put a smaller super stroke on it. I've never used one before and I like it.

Q. Have a nickname for the putter?
TROY MERRITT: Putter is called Mollie. I did not name the putter, but she is called Mollie. You should treat her with respect.

Q. Do you like this course, the setup and everything?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, this is a cool course. I think Lexington is a great town, too. I had never been. It's really cool. It's cool to see all the equestrian estates and the horse farms. We really don't have anything like that out in Idaho. We have a lot of land but we've got a lot of cows. (Laughter.)

Q. M-o-l-l-y?
TROY MERRITT: -i-e.

Q. Where did you get that name?
TROY MERRITT: Oh, that's stamped right on it. Yeah, Yes! named her Mollie, not me. But it's a very appropriate name. I like it. It was my grandparents' first dog when I was a kid, so Mollie is a good name for it.

Q. What kind of surprised you today about the course that really kind of helped you?
TROY MERRITT: The fairways were firmer than I was expecting. You know, you could get the ball a little further down and get wedges into your hands. With where some of these pins were it's nice to have shorter putts and short wedges into them, versus trying to hit 8-irons and 7-irons into them.

So I would say the fairways being just a little firmer than Tuesday, Wednesday.

Q. Was it important to get a really low round today?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, you just don't know. You don't know how much golf we're going to get in. If it storms, rains really hard, are they going to get into Monday? Is it going to be a 54-hole event? You just don't know, so you go to take advantage of the opportunities when you can. It was beautiful weather today, so just tried to do what we could today and we did it.

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