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THE NORTHERN TRUST

August 24, 2018

Tony Finau

Paramus, New Jersey

Q. Tony, great playing?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, Phil got off to a nice start today and had some good MoJo for the group. I was able to feed off that and make some birdies of my own on the front.

It's always a fun group when you play with Phil, Tiger. It's a different atmosphere, but it's a cool energy, positive energy, and again, Phil is able to get the group off to a great start. I think he birdied like the first five holes or something, and I was able to piggyback off that. I was happy the way I played today. Look forward to the weekend.

Q. You've played with Jim in the first few rounds of the PGA and played very well. Were you not even thinking about the pressure of The Ryder Cup? Is that something that's not even on your mind right now?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, it's in the very far back of my mind. I have a golf tournament to focus on, THE NORTHERN TRUST is a tournament that's the first leg of the Playoffs. One of my big goals is to get into THE TOUR Championship. I want to do that this week and just continue to play well, and all the chips will fall in place for me.

You know, to say that I'm not thinking about The Ryder Cup, is definitely not true. But it's not the most important thing right now. I want to play good golf and get myself in contention this week. You know, if it continues to prove to the captain and to the guys that make the choice, make the picks, that I'm worthy of a spot, then that's the case.

But all I can do is just, you know, put my best foot forward this week and play some good golf. So I've got off to a nice start this week, and look forward to continuing this good play Saturday and Sunday.

Q. How do you balance that? Because obviously that's such an important thing, taking care of business here. How do you balance that, wanting that so badly, but yet not wanting to, cloud your head or whatever --
TONY FINAU: Yeah, just play golf. Do your best to go out and play and the rest will take care of itself. My goal was to play my way on to the team, to The Ryder Cup team and I wasn't able to do that. So right now, it's kind of not in my hands anymore. There's still four spots left but it's not up to me anymore.

But IF playing some good golf in the Playoffs means I'll get a spot, then, you know, so be it. I'm happy with the position I'm in this week and look forward. I'm going to have a chance this weekend to do something pretty cool.

Q. When you saw the pairings in St. Louis, what was your reaction? Were you fired up about that? Did you see it as an opportunity?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I definitely saw it as an opportunity, for sure, playing with the Captain and just having Jim see my game up close. The first time he's seen me play up close was in Paris when I went for the practice, and just kind of showing him what my game is all about. It was a cool opportunity for me and I was actually able to play with him three out of the four days. We tied with him and I played with him in the third round. He got to see me a lot. I played some pretty solid golf, just to kind of show him my game.

Yeah, that was a cool experience.

Q. Have you talked with Phil about it the last couple of days?
TONY FINAU: We didn't really talk about The Ryder Cup. Just talked a lot about our kids. I'm a lot younger than him, but when it comes to the kids, I have the experience. Talking a lot about our family and not really any Ryder Cup talk.

Q. Back to Bellerive. What did he say about the birdies you made on Friday?
TONY FINAU: Didn't mention a lot, but I know he was kind of shaking his head. Seven birdies in the first eight holes that second round was really pretty special. To get off to that start, my attention changed: I was 5-over par, and it went from trying to win a golf tournament to just trying to play the weekend. That was my goal going into Friday and I was able to erase that deficit on Friday. I was happy to play the weekend there.

Q. You made THE TOUR Champs last year. Do you expect to be a top 30 player every year?
TONY FINAU: Yeah, I definitely expect it this year. After the confidence I had coming off last season, and just the feeling I had, being at THE TOUR Championship, knowing I was one of the 30 guys throughout the season that played my best golf, was definitely a goal of mine, and I've definitely set myself up this year.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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