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VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 23, 2019

Luke Donald

Palm Harbor, Florida

Q. Fantastic finish on the 18th with that approach and you're right there in contention.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm not too far back. You kind of always have a chance around this place even being four, five, even six back, it's happened before, this is a tough course to kind of lead out and know -- it played tricky today I thought, I thought a lot of the pins were kind of tough to get to, I was very patient, I felt like I actually played pretty well, I misjudged a few iron shots, distance-wise but otherwise pretty happy with my ball striking today.

Q. We talked about the comfort factor here, how well you played in the past, former champion, those sort of things that you can rely on in the final round tomorrow in contention for the first time in a while.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, again I'm just happy to be here and playing and feeling pain-free and really that again remains the goal. There isn't really any expectation on results, but I am playing nicely and still have a chance, so I would love to put on a good round tomorrow and see what happens.

Q. Two birdies, a bogey, kind of average day. What's your mindset going into tomorrow?
LUKE DONALD: Average? You go try and play out there. It's pretty tough out there. I thought it was pretty good. I haven't played much in about a year. So I was happy with that. My ball striking was good, I thought it was tough today, I thought the pins were kind of more tucked than the last two days, I struggled a little bit with, there wasn't much wind out there but it was a little bit variable and I came up short a couple times when I thought I hit good shots. So struggled a little bit with my distance control, but really happy with the way I played and that score.

Q. Given the nature of the course, what's in it tomorrow? 5, 6, what do you think?
LUKE DONALD: We have seen people come from behind, shoot good rounds, I think even the year I won I think Sang-Moon Bae or one of those guys who were in the playoff shot 64 or something and was seven or eight behind and got in the playoff. So it's not, if you get on a hot streak and can get off early and with the greens a little bit softer, a little bit more receptive and make a few putts, six, seven shots still has a chance.

Q. How does it feel to be back in contention after not playing so much golf the past several months?
LUKE DONALD: It's fun. I'm really grateful and happy to be out there and enjoying it, really. Again, that's kind of been my mindset this week is to just try and play four rounds and feel healthy and so far, so good.

Q. Are you surprised that nobody pulled away and as well as you played you're right in the thick of things going into tomorrow?
LUKE DONALD: Not surprised around here, this is a tough course to pull away. Again, I thought it was set up pretty tough, the pins were kind of a little bit more tucked away in certain holes, it's tough to get to, I found it hard to create really good birdie looks today. But still that's kind of why I wanted to be pretty patient and hit a lot of greens and take my pars and see where I ended up. Hopefully tomorrow I can be a little bit more aggressive with the hole locations that would allow me to.

Q. How long have you been coming here?
LUKE DONALD: This is my 11th or 12th time coming here.

Q. Do you remember any crowds like this on a Saturday?
LUKE DONALD: I don't remember this -- obviously last year it was, talking to D.J., usually this, you know, it's attended nicely, but not huge crowds. Obviously Tiger last year brought a lot of people and I'm guessing they came and enjoyed it and thought they would come back. Even with Tiger not playing.

Q. Maybe they missed you.
LUKE DONALD: Maybe it's all for me, I don't know. But I'm happy to sign some autographs for them.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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