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DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 18, 2019

Marina Alex

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Q. How did the round go? Just sum it up for us.
MARINA ALEX: It was a lot of fun. Yesterday was fun. Today's been fun. Made a couple less -- fewer mistakes today than yesterday. Just I was really bummed I missed that putt on 18 for a par, but it's okay. Just still kind of getting those short putts under control.

Q. It just seems like you're more relaxed from start to finish.
MARINA ALEX: Yeah, I think this atmosphere has actually probably been pretty helpful. All these guys are just having a good time, and I think it kind of takes a little of the edge off. So it's been a ton of fun this week.

Q. Has it been nerve-racking at all playing with these guys?
MARINA ALEX: Yesterday I was nervous on the 1st tee, but I think I kind of got the jitters out there, and also just nervous to start the year. You practice and everything, and off-season you just don't know what you're going to get out of the gate. So it was nice to just get that kind of out of the way.

Today was great. Patrick was awesome. Julio was super nice. Patrick's got an unbelievable game, so it was really fun to play with him. He's a great putter. Really good from inside like five, six feet. I think he made every putt. Sometimes he'd get up and be like, I'm going to finish, and he'd be, I don't know, outside of five feet. He wouldn't mark it or read it and just knock it in center cup, perfect speed. So that was pretty funny to watch. I was just like no one would do this on TOUR. And he made a really great up and down on 17 out of the bunker. He's got just great touch, so it was fun to watch.

Q. To your knowledge, have you ever hit the first shot in any season?
MARINA ALEX: I don't think so. That was fun. I didn't even know that was -- I didn't even put two and two together there, but, yeah, that was really cool.

Q. I know you were eager to get back out here and kind of pick up where you left off. Do you think you were able to do that?
MARINA ALEX: Yeah, I think so. The first nine I played yesterday, I was like, whoa, maybe I really needed to practice more in the off-season, I don't know. It was like what am I doing out here? But after that, I got into a really good rhythm yesterday afternoon, made a lot of birdies on the back nine, and it was just really good to get that feeling again and kind of get in the zone a bit.

Today was definitely more of a steady round. Would have loved to just not overthink and read that putt that I just had on 18, but it happens. So I think I'm still kind of in the thick of things, which is fun.

Q. And this tournament, the nature of it, do you think it will favor a certain kind of player or at least a certain kind of attitude?
MARINA ALEX: Maybe. At long as you're embracing the environment you're in, you'll be okay. I think, if music and cheering and all that stuff is tough for people -- I mean, music is definitely different. Getting on the tee box and just hearing some music playing, or even on the range when you're warming up -- some people don't really -- either aren't used to it or don't like it. You kind of need to get over that really quick because this say great event.

Q. How much music do you actually hear on the course? I heard it over there.
MARINA ALEX: 18 on the tee and 18 on the green. I'm sure whatever they're playing over on the grandstand. And this morning they had music on the range, which is fun. Kind of get everyone hyped up to go play.

Q. Was there any exchange of advice between you and Patrick or Julio?
MARINA ALEX: Yeah, there was a couple times where like, I don't know, him and his caddie maybe didn't understand the lies that they had just off the fairway in the first cut, and he would like smash these irons over the green. And maybe just like we were talking about flyer lies and like downhill lies and stuff like that. But he hits the ball so well.

He was telling me the first time he picked up a club, he hit a 7 iron -- he was trying to kill time. He said he was in Arizona like first season with the Cardinals. And he said he just piped a 7 iron like perfect. That was it. He was like totally hooked, and I was like who does that? (Laughter).

Had no knowledge of the swing or anything, just got up there and crushed it. Yeah, he loves golf, which is really fun. He takes his game very seriously. I respect that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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