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BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP

July 21, 2018

Sam Ryder

Nicholasville, Kentucky

Q. Sam, career-low on the PGA TOUR: 9-under, 63. Excellent play out there. If we can just get some comments on your round.
SAM RYDER: Yeah, just got off to a good start. Obviously been a long day. Got here early and had to play -- didn't tee off in my second round, so...

Just been playing really well. All about staying patient out there. I played really well in my first two rounds, too. I was 8-under and felt like I should be a lot lower.

But just got off to a good start. Birdied 1, birdied 2; had looks on every hole on the front. I think I shot, what, 6-under on the front. I had good looks on every hole. I think I missed maybe one green, and that was -- I had a straight up the hill kind of 25-footer on whatever it was, 13, 14.

But, yeah, just played really well. Had a couple good opportunities; hit good putts that didn't go. Like I said, just stayed patient and let the round come to me. I wasn't really thinking about results or how low I was going. I was just taking it one shot at a time.

I only got one practice round on this course prior to Thursday, so I'm just getting a little more comfortable with some of the tee shots. A lot of the tee shots out here are blind; you can't see your landing area.

So, yeah, just getting more and more comfortable on the course. It was nice to see a couple putts go in.

Q. You did come into the week really on a high note. Now you have seven consecutive rounds in the 60s. Is there anything that clicked last week at the Deere that you carried over to this week?
SAM RYDER: You know, my coach, Adam Schreiber, was there, and a lot of what I've been doing is just kind of getting back to what I was doing so well last year. Actually had a little bit of a grip change. Just going back to some of the drills and rehearsals that I was doing all last year.

Like I won -- the Web Tour is in Omaha this week. This is the week that I won watching Jordan Spieth win the British. So just kind of same time of year. Seem to play well at the same time of year. I don't know what it is.

Yeah, I'm just trying -- I think early in the year I was kind of feeling like I needed to do something different, be maybe someone I wasn't. Just getting back to doing all the things I know I do well. Just focusing on my strengths. Did a lot of the really good work with my putting coach, Jeff Pierce, too, last week, pre-Deere.

So that's kind of been the difference-maker for me. Just putting good to even adequate to be able to not turn a 66 or something into 70 or 71.

Q. And lastly, we didn't talk to you earlier today, but you did play the first two rounds with Brittany Lincicome this week. Talk a little bit about that experience, how impressed you were with her game.
SAM RYDER: Yeah, I said it yesterday - or two days ago now I guess after the delay - but I was really impressed the first round. She had a couple big numbers, but she could have easily shot right around par or 1-under yesterday.

Today she made a couple more putts; strung off like three birdies in a row on the front. Yeah, she played awesome. It's obviously a little bit different game. She hits it really hard and can spin it. But like just the distances difference and bringing the trajectory up a little bit is where she struggled a little bit.

But she drove it awesome. She's a really good player, and more importantly just a really good person.

Q. Were you aware you were close to the course record there?
SAM RYDER: No, I wasn't really. I didn't know about the course record because, what Troy shot, does he have the course record?

Q. Yeah, he had it the other day. Tied it.
SAM RYDER: So I figured I was probably around there. That's not what I was thinking about. I was just kind of thinking about putting myself in position to have a good day tomorrow and try and win a golf tournament.

I figured the guys were going to be going low behind me too. I was kind of looking at the leaderboards. I saw I was climbing a little bit. Then I guess just shooting 9-under kind of propels you a little bit after two really solid ball striking rounds in the first two rounds where I didn't feel like I got a lot out of it.

A lot was my management and execution around the course and just getting more comfortable on the course. Yeah, I was able to put a nice one together.

Q. Some people may expect you to get tired out playing the second round like you did and coming back. Seemed like you fed off it. Feel like it helped you?
SAM RYDER: Yeah, I'm definitely tired, I'll tell you that. I can feel it in my legs and hips and stuff. I'm definitely in need of some rest going into tomorrow.

But when you start making a bunch of birdies and you get 7, 8, 9-under, a little bit of adrenaline will carry you through those last few holes.

Yeah, I was more focused on eating and drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated, all the cliche stuff. But, yeah, it's been a long day, so I am definitely looking forward to getting off my feet.

Q. To make up nearly 20 spots on the leaderboard today, what was it that allowed you to do that?
SAM RYDER: Well, when I was having lunch between my rounds I was like, Man, I feel like I barely made the cut and was not playing up to my standards and I was still in like 20th place.

So looking that, I felt like I could have been a lot lower but I'm still in a good position. So it just kind of gave me a little bit of confidence to be like, You're still right there. You're not out of golf tournament. Shooting a round like 9-under helps get you back in the mix.

Q. You played with Brittany the first two rounds and now you find yourself -- you could be maybe in the last group. Been an interesting week for you.
SAM RYDER: Yeah, it has been for sure. No doubt. It's a different feeling for sure playing with Brittany out here. She had a huge following out here, a lot of support.

It was really nice to see people come out and support her and root her on. I think we were kind of in the background playing with her. You could sense the crowd behind her big time.

It's great. It was good for the tournament; it's good for her sponsors because she's sponsored by Pure Silk, Barbasol.

All in all it was an awesome experience for her. I know it's something that she said this is not something I plan on doing multiple times, or again even.

But to do it and to show up today and shoot under par -- and she beat some guys that have been on the tour for a long time -- definitely is a testament to her game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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