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RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 8, 2019

Matt Kuchar

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

THE MODERATOR: Go ahead and get started here with 54-hole co-leader, Matt Kuchar. Matt's No. 1 in the FedExCup and looking for his third win of the season.

Matt, can we just get an opening comment on today's round.

MATT KUCHAR: Well, it was tough day out there. It was hard from the getgo. First st hole is a hole that with the pin location, really hoping for the middle of the green. That was kind of the mentality. It's hard to attack out there. You were looking to play safe. With the wind blowing as much as it was, with the greens firming up, you try to be in control of your golf ball as much as possible.

A lot times that's taking some spin off the ball. Number of shots thought were good, land on the green, and just run off due to trying to flight the ball down a little bit more.

Felt like I -- a lot good golf, but it took a lot good scoring to stay in the position I'm in. I was able to get up and down a good number of times today, and that was kind of the saving grace.

THE MODERATOR: A PLAYERS Championship winner yourself, tied for the lead with you are each of the last two winners, Webb Simpson and Rory McIlroy, so a strong leaderboard here. What kind of round do you think it's going to take tomorrow, and do you relish the opportunity to go toe to toe with some of the top players?

MATT KUCHAR: I saw those guys Thursday, Friday. We had a great pairing. It was Rory, myself, and Webb. We were all on good form. It was a whole lot good golf being played in our group; they continued the form today.

Listen, I kind of expect similar conditions tomorrow. Probably going to be a challenging day, but got some of the best guys in golf up top and it's going to take a good round out of somebody. I know somebody is going to play really well tomorrow and going to take some good scoring.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Is it the kind of course that you were expecting at the beginning of the week? The two first rounds with the low scores were impressing, but today with the wind and the thing was going this way, is it the kind of course you were expecting?
MATT KUCHAR: Not much on making expectations or guesses as to what scoring is going to be. You kind of show up, and as simple as it sounds, try to hit the first fairway. If you hit the first fairway then you -- determining on the pin locations, on the shot, you're trying to score from there.

If you miss the first fairway, completely different mindset. You have to adjust and adapt. Today there was a whole lot of adjusting and adapting. Pars were good scores. Even though there are some shorter holes, there is so much trouble to be had out on this course.

If you do drive it well you get some shorter irons, but the rough is up, the greens are tricky; here today certainly pars were a good score.

Q. Rory McIlroy after his round said that this is one of the best atmospheres that he's played in in a really long time. Can you just assess the atmosphere of this tournament, how it rivals other stops that you have o te PGA TOUR, particularly The Rink on the 13th hole?
MATT KUCHAR: Rink is completely unique. Hard to put it up against other events. The support out here has been fantastic. The crowds have been great. The energy has been great.

I'm guessing having the Raptors doing well is helping that good energy. Certainly a great vibe out here, and it's been fun to be inside the ropes playing in front of great crowds.

Q. It's a four-and-a-half-year drought, and then last eight months; tomorrow you'll be going for your third win. I mean, it's quite the turnaround. Now you have a chance for your third win in eight months.
MATT KUCHAR: Winning is tricky out here. You wish you could just say, I'm going to shoot 6-under every day and win a bunch of tournaments. Just doesn't work that way.

So many great players and the line is so fine. Continue each week, each year the goal is to get better. Felt like my career I've done a good job of trying to improve.

I've had a four-and-a-half-year winless drought, which is not something I hoped for, but the goal is to continue to improve. I think I've done a nice job of making those little improvements. It's funny. The difference out here is so slim. Those little improvements can make a big difference.

Q. You said that you thought you maybe struggled a little bit today and are anticipating similar conditions tomorrow. Still shot 1-under and still have a share of the lead. How confident are you and able to maybe turn around -- or maybe not turn around -- but tweak some things moving into tomorrow and hopefully pull out a win here?
MATT KUCHAR: It's funny, because I felt like? I struck the ball well but I was told I only hit eight greens, which is an awfully low number of greens in regulation.

I think that's the difficulty of this course, learning kind of the firmness of the greens and trying to adapt, and tomorrow I would like to have a lot more than eight birdie opportunities.

I feel like if I continue hitting the ball as cleanly as I did today I'll have many more birdie opportunities tomorrow.

Q. Matt, lots of Team RBC guys top end of the leaderboard. How does that feel to be part of that team?
MATT KUCHAR: It's a fantastic team. They've done such a good job in making the team up, getting not only great players, but really good people. I'm really proud to have the patch on my sleeve, awfully proud to carry the bag. Wherever I go around te the world I hear such high marks for the Royal Bank of Canada. Certainly makes me proud, and I hope to do them proud as well.

But it's awesome what they've done putting together a solid team, to have two of the three guys wearing the patch in the final -- tied for the lead is awfully strong.

Q. Your approach in the game for the last two years, because you said you modify some little things in your swing, but do you change philosophy?
MATT KUCHAR: Wouldn't be anything that I didn't do in the previous four years. Just continuing to try to get better. I would say we kind of worked the same path; fortunately starting to see some results.

THE MODERATOR: Matt, before we let you go, you entered the week with a 254-point lead in the FedExCup standings over Brooks Koepka. How much are you thinking about that, and how important would it be to add to your lead as we near the FedExCup playoffs less than ten weeks away?

MATT KUCHAR: Listen, it's an awesome position to be in. It's a position you want to be in and want to maintain that lead. The bigger you can grow it the better.

Certainly excited to be in the position I'm in and hope to see it grow.

THE MODERATOR: We appreciate the time and best of luck tomorrow.

MATT KUCHAR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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