	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 3, 2019

Ryan Palmer

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. What was the mindset today?
RYAN PALMER: I know a low round was going to be huge as far as jumping up the leaderboard because I knew the winds were going to blow starting around noon, especially 2:00, and I thought if I could just go shoot honestly, maybe shoot 4- or 5-under par today just to try to establish a good round and a good finish. You know, the front is pretty gettable if you can get some shots in there, and I was able to do that, obviously birdieing the first four, and then some great shots coming in on 8 and 9. To shoot 29 on the front, it's weird how you can shoot a low front nine and the back nine seems to tighten up every time. I can't explain it. But had some great short game shots. Shooting 7-under par, I didn't really -- obviously I thought if I shot 9-under par I could win this golf tournament. Everybody thinks that. But to actually go out and shoot 7, pretty special day for sure.

Q. With that being said, how satisfying is it to be able to pull off shots when you absolutely to, the putt on 16 and the tee shot on 17?
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, the putts were just -- unfortunately that putt on 16 was off the green. But putting-wise all day today, I was so calm. It was funny, Randy Smith told me before I came out this week, when you're on the greens putt like you're in church because you're so quiet. And I did it today.

But the shot on 17 I'll remember for a long time. Everybody knows my history on the Bear Trap. Great up-and-down on 15, then made that birdie on 16. But to pull that shot off from 155 into that wind and holding a 7-iron to five feet, that shot will take me to THE PLAYERS with a lot of confidence for sure.

Q. How hard was it getting the yardage on 18? Seemed like you were maybe in between clubs on that second shot.
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, we were so stuck with the wind. We had 240 to the hole, 215, 217 to the front, and there was no way I was going to take a 4-iron over the water and draw it. I hit a perfect 5-wood. It just landed pin high and went over, and hit a great chip shot, and the worst putt of the day happened to me on the last. But what a day to hit the shots I needed to on 17 and 18 for sure.

Q. I imagine it was fun to play?
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, it was. I came into the round thinking 4- or 5-under par and just give myself a good finish. I've battled some back issues all week, muscular stuff, but I've been able to play okay. Finally today was the best day I've felt. Got off to the hot start. The putter felt so good, felt so quiet on the greens, and to birdie the first four, I thought, okay, this could be something special. Then I got through 5, 6 and 7, which you need to do today, and then to turn and shoot 29, I thought, oh, this could be something really good. For some reason you can't take that back nine after a good front nine. For some reason things tense up. But I had some good par saves, and everybody knows my history on the Bear Trap, so birdieing 16 the way I did, but to hit the shot on 17, I'll remember forever.

Q. And you had to stand up there for a while, too. I know the decision finally came and you held up that 7-iron, but you were holding that club for a long time. Were you committed to that decision the whole way even though there was a little bit of a wait there?
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, I was just trying to stay loose. I was trying to keep my back loose. James took it away from me for a little while. But then when I took it out, I was kind of in my routine, my thought process. I knew the shot I needed to hit. It wasn't a punch draw because the wind could catch it so easy, and you had to hold the shot for the wind not to take it. So for that situation, to pull it off as good as I did and as close as I did, that's going to carry me to THE PLAYERS with a lot of confidence.

Q. You saw what that wind was doing on the back nine; 7-under feels pretty good right now?
RYAN PALMER: You know, it does. Man, I wish I had the putt on 18 back. But no, it does. I'll tell you what, 10, 11 and 12, they're no cupcakes today, that's for sure. 12 is playing longer. The wind is playing into 13, and then 14 has got the cross and then of course you've got 15. There's no telling about 15, 16, 17. No, I love sitting in the clubhouse watching, that's for sure.

I was hoping to post today and put a lot more pressure on them. But still, I think it's going to be fun to watch. I think I've got a pretty decent outside chance.

Q. You got off to a good start and you just kept it going.
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, the first four holes were gettable. Looking at the pin sheet, looking where the pins were at, you could get to it, and I was able to hit some good shots and get close putts, about five, six feet. When you birdie the first four holes, you get the blood going. If I get through 5, 6 and 7, which I knew I needed to because the pins were tucked on those three holes, then 8 and 9 and get to some good tee shots. Starting the back with 29, that had the juices flowing for sure.

Then the back nine is so different. The way the winds are blowing, the way the back nine sets up with these winds, I tensed up a little bit, but I made a good up-and-down a few times, which was huge, but to play the Bear Trap the way I did, up-and-down on 15 and of course the putt from off the green on 16, and to stand up and hit that 7-iron on 17 in that situation speaks volumes for my confidence.

Q. Did you use a putter on 16?
RYAN PALMER: I did, yeah. It was just in the first cut of rough, but the way it sat downhill, all you've got to do it hit it on the green.

Q. How hopeful are you that 7-under might hold up? It's still blowing.
RYAN PALMER: Yeah, you've got a young guy in his first lead on TOUR, obviously Rickie and Brooks are right there, and it's going to be -- I've got an outside chance for sure, there's no doubt, because there's no telling what could happen on that back nine. A 10-mile-an-hour wind is not easy out here, and of course where those pins are. It's going to take some good golf from those guys to hang in there and jump ahead of me. It's going to be fun watching.

Q. You made the playoff at 8-under in 2014 I think it was. Did you think that was a number you might need to get to?
RYAN PALMER: I didn't have a number in mind. I thought if I could shoot 4- or 5-under and make a solid finish, but then as I got going, I thought, if I can post 8 or 9 somehow, and then when I got to 18 thinking 8-under is going to be a good number to sit on. Like I said, Will is at 9-under, I think. Is that his name, Will? Wyndham. Sorry, don't print that. But I know he's at 9-under still, and of course Rickie and Brooks are up there. We'll see what happens. They've got a lot of golf to be played in some tough conditions.

Q. That putt on 18 --
RYAN PALMER: Saved the last putt to hit my worst putt for some reason today. No nerves or anything, just one of those moments where you just kind of slip up the one time. I hit two great shots into 18 and had a chance. Hopefully 7 is enough.

Q. Was it a good range session this morning? Did you feel like you were going to have a good day?
RYAN PALMER: No, not really the best ball-striking, but I knew my back was loose, and I've been struggling all week with it. I knew it was the best I've felt all week. And I finally started feeling some shots on the range when I got to the driver. It was just a matter of taking it to the golf course, and I was able to get off to a hot start and take it from there.

Q. How different of a course is this today from the first three rounds?
RYAN PALMER: Well, I was talking to Bones on the golf course, we've never seen those winds the first three days. The golf course still held up. The scores are still not that low. So it's just -- you get around that Bear Trap, it's blowing straight right to left. You try to take it over the water and draw it back and it doesn't or if you get the ball moving with the wind too much -- I think 17 is what it is. They've got some good golf to be played to chase a number that's posted. I think it's harder to chase a number that's already posted than hang on. Hopefully it'll fall my way this time.

Q. You've had a lot of success in Florida. What is it about playing here?
RYAN PALMER: I don't know. The heat, I guess. I don't know. It's the sunshine state, I guess. But I can't pinpoint one thing why I've played well in Florida. No state income tax, that's why.

Q. The USGA came out last night and again today and talked about how they're going to keep talking to players and hoping that there's more understanding of some of the rules changes. As a player, is that a good thing? It's just become -- the rules changes keep becoming a story.
RYAN PALMER: The rules have changed, and I'm not a big fan of them. I disagree with some of them, particular ones. We could be here all day and go through them. But at the end of the day, it's the rules of golf, and we've got to play by them. I've been reading Twitter and reading comments and I'm not liking what people are saying about us as a whole, as TOUR players when it comes to the rules of golf. At the end of the day, we've got to play by them. I know it looks odd, it looks weird, but they're not great, that's for sure. I think some of them are BS for sure, the whole lining up, and Justin bending his club in the act of a golf swing and you can't replace it, that's so wrong. If I was to break my driver on a downswing this week, I can't replace it. Now I'm stuck with a 3-wood. So I think that's one of the rules that's not very fair in the game of golf.

But rules are rules, and we've got to play by them, but hopefully we'll get some more communication and guys can understand a little bit more.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297