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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 1, 2019

Justin Thomas

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. Another excellent round. I know you were a little frustrated the last few holes, but just an excellent round overall.
JUSTIN THOMAS: It was a very solid day. I played really, really well again from tee to green. The first -- kind of started to hit a couple shaky shots, the second shot on 13 and then 14. To only have one bogey through 36 holes is good, especially when it very easily could have gone in for a par. But I'm playing solid. Rick, when he's playing like this at a course that he loves like this he's going to be tough to beat. But 36 holes left and there's a lot of players that are within striking distance, so I just need to kind of continue to keep the hammer down and keep some putts rolling in and make some birdies.

Q. How much fun is it going back to the house and having Rickie there?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's good. No matter what we shot it's going to be a good time, but it's a little nicer knowing that we're both sleeping in and playing in the last pairing.

Q. You guys needling each other a little bit, giving each other a hard time a little bit?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Not really, it's -- we're both doing our own thing and once we get off the course it's not really much golf. We go home and we eat and we'll watch TV, watch movies, but it's, yeah, when we're off the golf course it's far from golf.

Q. You had one of those putts kind of go around the world before it went in. When you're making putts like that does that kind of make you say, okay, this could be my day, could be my tournament?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Not really, I mean it's the 13th hole on Friday, so it's not like it's -- I mean every shot counts, but it's not like it's that big of a deal. It's not like the one on Sunday at the PGA that hung there and went in. That's a little different story. But, no, again, the putts, even the ones that aren't going in these last two days, I hit really good putts, so I just need to continue to dial in my speed and play well tee to green and I feel like we should have a good chance.

Q. You're within striking distance through Friday that's all you could ask for.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Absolutely.

Q. How many times have you and Rickie been paired up together?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, we have played together on Saturday at the PGA I remember, we played -- we really haven't played together very often for the same category that we're in. I feel like we have, we haven't been paired as often as maybe either one of us would think the first two rounds. But, no, I know both of us, we would have signed up for this before the week started playing together on Saturday in the last group.

Q. By the time you guys got to 16 today it felt a little quieter than some days, just compared to Saturday in general. What are you looking forward to tomorrow on that hole?
JUSTIN THOMAS: It's going to be pretty wild. It seems like every year it gets crazier and crazier. But it's so hard to control your adrenaline, you have so many juices pumping and you're kind of like hands are tingling and it's a little shaky. It's just, it's a great atmosphere, it's a great hole. The fans are unbelievable, they are what makes this event what it is. And especially, not only being the last group, but playing with Rick tomorrow is going to be pretty out of control, so hopefully I can give them something to cheer about.

Q. Is there any interaction in past years that really stands out to you like stuff guys have yelled at you or anything like that?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, there's plenty of things that guys have yelled at me. I remember my rookie year here, or not my rookie year but my first year playing in the tournament, they, I was probably three weeks into dating my girlfriend and I hadn't posted anything on social media but somehow they knew the name, her name and they were chanting it before I was hitting, so they definitely do their homework. It's pretty impressive. It's a little scary, actually.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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