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DESERT CLASSIC

January 18, 2019

Adam Hadwin

La Quinta, California

Q. Gained a couple shots today. You said yesterday you were disappointed to be five back after one round now you're three back.
ADAM HADWIN: No, I played another solid round of golf, obviously Phil was on one, considered one of the easier golf courses in the rotation as well and I was able to gain a few, which helps. Now I get to go to Nicklaus tomorrow and hopefully continue to hit the ball well and make some putts but nothing is guaranteed, obviously. You still got to put the ball in the right spots and still see the putts go in. But I'm playing some extremely good golf again here in the desert and just got to keep moving forward.

Q. You must always like your chops when you come to La Quinta to play, given what happened a couple of years ago, but what stood out about your round today?
ADAM HADWIN: La Quinta is one of those courses where obviously if you're hitting the ball well off the tee -- it's much more narrow than the other two golf courses -- but if you're hitting it well on the tee you got a lot of wedges in, you can be aggressive and the greens here are always so pure and so if you can dial in the speed you can make a lot of putts during the day and I wouldn't say it was the fastest of starts, it was kind of average, saw a couple putts go in. You've always got 5 and 6 in the back of your head there, especially starting on 10, you got those two holes on the back side that you know you can get at and I kind of sandwiched those with a couple birdies before and after. So outside of kind of a little whoopsie there on 8, a couple bad shots, another great round.

Q. We talked so much about how well you played here the last few years. You're playing well again. What is it about these conditions that or the course for example that is conducive to your game?
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, you never quite know, but being in Phoenix now for a few years full-time, this is, I play on this grass, this overseeded grass all the time. This is what I practice on every day when I'm back there, so there's definitely a comfort level with the courses and the type of grass and the greens and so it probably helps reading putts, seeing break, I don't of to worry about grain like we did last week in Sony and all the Bermuda surrounding it, I really struggle with that. So certainly that adds to it, I get a lot of support here as well, which always helps, yeah, it's hard to say.

Q. Having mentioned that, you struggle with Bermuda and stuff. Do you feel like you need to get ahead start playing out here on the West Coast before going to Florida because of that?
ADAM HADWIN: Very much so. Yeah. With that said though we're pretty fortunate, I haven't played Honda the last few years primarily because of the Bermuda issue and the wind. Tampa is overseeded, so there might be a little bit of grain in the greens, but not much. Now THE PLAYERS will be overseeded. And then Bay Hill's the same way. So it's kind of one of those weird things where really the only one is PGA National. But to your point, I do feel like the West Coast is kind of where I make hay a little bit, get the year started off on a good note and then even though summer months when we run into some of the other Bermuda golf courses and stuff, I don't, I just haven't fared as well, I just haven't figured it out yet, I don't know whether it's going to jump or fluff or and I haven't figured out around the greens, whereas this grass it's much more predictable for me, I know how the lie's going to come out.

Q. To layer on top of that, with the compressed schedule and the changes and a lot of tournaments together on the West Coast and now in Florida how do you make those decisions especially early in the season on what to leave out and what to play?
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, it's tough, I've usually played Torrey, which I'm not going to play this year, kind of added Sony as a swap I guess this year. I haven't played Pebble, so I'm going -- or I haven't played Pebble in a few years -- I'm going to go back up there. But I sort of look at it, I got a few, a few events such as THE PLAYERS and obviously the Majors are circled, but I'm not currently qualified, so it's a little bit of a moving target I guess. But you just circle some of the big events, the events that you know you're going to play, the events that you want to play well for and then sort of go from there, build the schedule off that. I know that I play well on the West Coast, so I'm going to try and play as many events as I can without burning myself out too much for the rest of the year, but, yeah, that's kind of how I do it.

Q. Thoughts on heading to Nicklaus tomorrow? Some thoughts on that golf course and how it sets up for your game?
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, I mean obviously I play these three courses very well. Again, it's not as certainly not as demanding as Stadium. I think it's a little bit easier second shot wise, but you still got to, you still got enough holes with your got to put your ball in play, you can still make mistakes, so this tournament become as bit of a putt-fest and who can make the most amount of birdies. And I've been doing okay the last couple years here as well, so just keep hitting quality golf shots, keep giving myself 15-footers and hopefully see a few go in.

Q. You're second right now. Is there a goal you have going into that final day that you want to be at a certain spot?
ADAM HADWIN: Yes and no. Obviously I want to be within striking distance. Anything can kind of happen on Stadium. If you play well I've shown that you can score at Stadium. I shot 7-under the other day. So you can score, you can make some birdies, especially with the weather now that we're going to have, it's warmer, ball's going a little bit further, but there's enough trouble out there that if you're not quite comfortable with your swing you can make some mistakes. So last few years, what, I've been maybe a couple off the lead, in the lead, and tied, I don't know, something like that, so anywhere around there and then a good round. I just, it's exciting to be playing well and hopefully I'm right there at the end of tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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