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THE AMERICAN EXPRESS

January 17, 2020

Scottie Scheffler

La Quinta, California

Q. You haven't touched a club in almost a month then come out here. Hardly any rust to knock off after the first two rounds. Really the only lull was that double on the 18th hole. Overall, how satisfied are you for the first two rounds?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I feel pretty good. The first day went pretty well. Just the one miss happened on 18, but other than that, played pretty solid.

Q. We talk about how consistent you are, but when it comes to just crossing that finish line and getting that first win, do you feel like there's something that maybe gets into your mind, maybe holding you back?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, no. I just think you got to keep putting yourself in contention, and I got a good chance this week. Just keep doing that, just keep playing and putting yourself in a good spot.

Q. When you're seeing some of these courses for the first time, what kinds of things are you thinking about when you're going around in these practice rounds as a rookie?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The only thing I really thought about was there's supposed to be a pull to Indio or Indigo, I can't remember the name of the town, But there's supposed to be a pull there and I noticed it a little bit at these two courses and not as much at La Quinta, and that was really the only extra stuff we did this week.

Q. That was a heck of a shot there on the last hole. Did you think it was going in for eagle?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It looked pretty good from the fairway. It was kind of hard to see with the sunlight, but it was a pretty good shot.

Q. It was a great shot. 64 with a double bogey. That's not bad.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's pretty good. Wish the double wasn't in there, but it was still a very good score.

Q. Talk about how your playing. Seriously, for two days you've played some really solid golf.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I feel like I've been playing pretty well, just doing a good job managing my game, giving myself a lot of looks. I got off to a pretty hot start today and kept playing pretty solid, even after that double on 18, just staying in a good place mentally and was able to hit some good shots.

Q. You have four par-5s at every course. You're 9-under so far for two days in the par-5s with two eagles. Is that the strategy? You're long enough to knock these in and play them like they're par-4s.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: The par-5s on La Quinta and Nicklaus are a lot easier than the ones on the Stadium, so you got it take advantage of those holes. They're all reachable. Stadium maybe not as much, or as reachable, but they're still gettable holes, so I'll try and do the same thing tomorrow.

Q. Talk about where you are. You had a nice finish at the RSM. You were going to take a few weeks off. Now you are right back into it. Is the game as good as it was at the end of last season? Did you learn something? Do you think it's better right now?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think it was good having a nice reset. I took a good chunk of time off, longer than I usually do. It was a long year last year. And then started practicing beginning of the new year. And I've had a few longer days out here than I usually do tournament week, just getting a lot of practice in trying to knock the rust off, and I'll probably keep doing the same thing the rest of the week.

Q. How did that shot on 9 look from the fairway as it was heading to the green?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It looked pretty good, it was good in the air, it was kind of hard to see it on the green with the reflection from the sun but the crowd gave us a good reaction so I figured it was in there pretty tight.

Q. Six birdies in your first seven holes, pretty much a dream start, what do you attribute the great start to?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I made a really nice putt on 1, kind of a tough read, and then after that I just gave myself a bunch of good looks, I was hitting it in there tight, six, seven feet and rolling the ball well, so made pretty much all of them there at the beginning.

Q. How were you able to sort of regroup from the double at 18?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Didn't really take much. I really didn't hit that bad of a shot from the fairway and got a terrible break in the bunker and had a silly 3-putt. But other than that it was pretty simple, just get back to playing, I guess.

Q. You had a good end to the Korn Ferry TOUR season, you carried that over into the fall and now you carried the momentum into the first two rounds this week. What has been so good with your game these last few months?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I think I've just been staying in a good place mentally, just taking it one shot at a time, not over thinking things, just going out and playing, not worrying about too much else other than just going out and playing.

Q. How much of a challenge is it now going tomorrow over to the Stadium Course? You still got to fill up the scorecard with birdies.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, yeah, had a good start the first two days at the easier courses and the Stadium's a little different test, so go hit some balls and practice and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. When you make six birdies in the first seven holes and you're aggressive, obviously, you're still in that mindset, does it lead to something like that happening at 18 with a double or is it not related at all?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, no, the shot into 18 was actually a pretty conservative shot, I missed it on the appropriate side of the hole and I just got a terrible break/lie in the bunker and it was -- I maybe got a touch aggressive with the bunker shot, that was maybe the only real mistake there -- but other than that I missed it on the correct side of the hole and just happened to get a bad break.

Q. But when you're in that zone you don't feel like it's your getting ahead of yourself that leads to a mistake like that?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No, no, it's just still one shot at a time. That was just, I guess, was it 18 here? Yeah, 18 is just a good hole and got the better of me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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