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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

January 30, 2020

Wyndham Clark

Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. You better your previous career low on the PGA TOUR with a 61. How were you able to not only do that, but also capture the first round lead?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Well, I just had a great front nine and then I felt really good off the tee and I was hitting a lot of, I hit a lot of fairways, and then I just gave myself a lot of looks and the putter was hot, and then it got kind of fun. I pulled a 7-iron on hole 7 and it went right by the cup. We were trying to hit it to 20 feet and I hit it to 3 feet. So it's one of those rounds where everything's going right.

Q. Recent results wouldn't have been the indicator to think, okay, you're going to be the first-round leader here at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. What gave you the belief to think, okay, my game's getting ready to pop?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Well, you if were watching my rounds, I actually played really well the last two weeks. I just wasn't making putts, I wasn't capitalizing. I was hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, just was really bad around the greens and putting. So it's nice that I finally kind of put the two together and had a good round.

Q. What a round. If we can get some comments on your day.
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I just came out of the gates really solid. I just was hitting fairways and hitting good shots. And then on my third hole, which is a par-3, No. 12, I made a nice putt and that kind of catapulted me because I hadn't been making putts the last two weeks. And then from then on, we just put the, pressed the pedal down and I hit a lot of good shots and I had some putts fall.

Q. Did you know how close you were to the tournament record?
WYNDHAM CLARK: No, no. I mean, I was just trying to birdie -- I was feeling good, so I was like, Let's just try to birdie every hole. And then I had kind of a little mishap on 6 and that kind of re-woke me up and I said, All right, let's get focused again. And then I finished strong, but I had no idea what the record was.

Q. What was your experience -- I was trying to look it up -- but how many times have you played in this tournament? What was your experience here before?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Just one time. I was a sponsor invite two years ago. I missed the cut, I think by one or two. So, yeah this is my second time.

Q. What would have been your expectations waking up this morning?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Honestly, I just wanted to have, like, I wanted a really solid round where I felt good on the greens. I've been hitting it good the last two weeks, I just haven't made putts. And so I finally started putting well. And if I would have shot 3-, 4-under I would have been really happy, but I was feeling it today so things went better.

Q. What's that feeling like?
WYNDHAM CLARK: It's kind of surreal, actually. You don't even really think about it. At one point I didn't even know where I was at score-wise, and then I looked on the leaderboard and saw I was at 8-under and I saw Billy Horschel was too, and I said, Man, he's going to rain on my parade. So kind of to myself I said, All right, let's go get past him. But, yeah, you just, you really don't, until after the round you don't even realize what you're doing.

Q. What was the highlight of your round?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Honestly, probably on 16. I almost, I felt like I almost made a hole-in-one. It was going right at the flag, landed right by the cup and went to about 6 feet and I made the putt. So it's always fun birdieing 16. Then that kind of catapulted me. I birdied 17 and then I birdied 1, 2 and 3 on my back side. So that was kind of my best shot.

Q. I've seen you practice with Tony Finau and obviously the coach Boyd Summerhays. Curious what part of your game has improved since you started working with Boyd?
WYNDHAM CLARK: With Boyd, you know, I would say my first year on WEB.COM and then my first few starts on the PGA TOUR my putting and short game was the best part of my game. And Boyd throughout this last year and a half has really helped me from tee to green. He's also helped me a lot with mental perspective. And that's also playing with Tony and just being around them, they have a lot of experience and they just helped me kind of just have a better perspective going into things and Boyd's really helped me with a lot and I owe him a lot of my success.

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