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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 2018

Ian Poulter

St. Louis, Missouri

Q. 2 under, how do you feel about it?
IAN POULTER: 3 under. They got my scoring wrong on the last. It was a 4, not 5.

Q. Even better. Talk about that.
IAN POULTER: Round was good. Off to a real flying start and a bit of a momentum stopper, I think, on the 17th hole. Had 105 yards, hit it just not quite hard enough. Didn't get up and down from the front right greenside bunker, which led to a bogey there, which was a little frustrating. Made a good up and down par on 2 after hitting hybrid in the hazard. And the only other bogey was on the long 4 where I drove in a fairway bunker and couldn't quite reach the green, so didn't get up and down from 70 yards.

But the rest of the round was very solid. I feel pretty comfortable.

Q. Off to an early start and going out in the afternoon tomorrow under par. Nice way to start?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, you definitely want to post a number on the fresh greens. They've kept them a little slower than what I would have liked. There's more grass on them, which is definitely going to scuff up in the afternoon. So the morning wave definitely has the advantage on the greens. So, yeah, when you look at that, rest in this heat for tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, it was a good day.

Q. (No microphone). On the 9th. Were you in there?
IAN POULTER: I was in the fenced off Blue area.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: A temporary obstruction. If it was out of bounds, I would have had to go back to the tee.

Q. You mentioned over there that you were going to get in on Wednesday morning. (No microphone).
IAN POULTER: I saw the weather forecast on Saturday last week for Monday, Tuesday, heat wave coming through. It's going to be 97 degrees Monday. I don't normally play golf on Mondays anyway. And then I saw the storm possibilities on Tuesday, and Katie and the kids were arriving home 5:00 on Tuesday afternoon. So for me it made sense to go home. I hadn't been home since the 20th of May. So it was good to get back, have a rest, unpack, fill the fridge full of food, and a couple of nights sleep in my own bed and come up early Wednesday morning.

I got out on the course. I played the back nine, and then I walked around the front nine and then hit some chips and putts around that front side. So I feel relatively refreshed after just a couple of days at home as this is -- you know, it's five weeks in a row. So it's a lot of golf.

Q. With this kind of course, is it one you can get away with just one practice round? It's fairly straight in front of you?
IAN POULTER: Yeah, off the tee, everything's in front. You can see everything. You can see the bunkers, landing areas. And especially when it's as soft as this. It's not like you need to know too much about how the ball is going to land into the greens. It's going to be very soft. So, yeah, I mean, it was a perfect opportunity to make a couple of days rest.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: For sure. Absolutely. I mean, it keeps you going. It's been a good run. I mean, the only disappointment was obviously at The Open. So we've got -- with that said, putting myself on the board is great. It's great for your adrenaline. It's great for your mindset. It's good for your confidence levels, and it keeps edging me closer to making the Ryder Cup team. There's definitely a lot of energy to come from that.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: Five in a row is about max. You don't -- very rarely when you go more than five in a row is almost pushing it, especially in the heat. Canada was quite hot, and Akron was very hot. Obviously here is always going to be steamy.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: 20th of May. I flew to Wentworth, and then I based myself out of our UK home from then.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: Not quite. Not quite. I definitely left some on the table last week. Definitely left a little bit in Canada. Big disappointment at The Open. So it's been good. It's been a continuation of decent form. But I haven't quite finished off the way I would have liked to have finished off a few of those events.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: I think I've got two weeks. I've got this week, and I've got New Jersey because I think it's picked Sunday night of the Denmark event, which is the -- the third day of Boston, if I'm right. So, yeah, I got two weeks to try and push in.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: So it's -- I'm close, but I need a little -- I need a push. So, I mean, if I can push this week for sure, if I can have a strong week in New Jersey as well and edge in, it would be fantastic.

Listen, it would be lovely to just -- I could have got it done last weekend. That's why I'm a little frustrated that I didn't get it done, but I think I can squeeze in if I play well here.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: I'm trying not to think it, but I know it's there. I'm close enough now where one good week in the next two weeks can push me in. So I'm close. It's on my mind. I want to be there in Paris. So hopefully we can make it.

Q. (No microphone)?
IAN POULTER: No, never have. No. I mean, it is unusual. I don't normally do that, but when I'm playing the way I'm playing, I'm swinging the way I'm swinging, there's no real range work required. So all it is is familiarizing myself with the golf course. I felt like one round would have been enough from what everyone had said that had come here and played. So I took that opportunity.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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