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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 27, 2020

Tom Lewis

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. Great round of golf. The only player in the morning wave with no bogeys. You have to be very proud of that, considering the conditions.
TOM LEWIS: Yeah, you know, bogey-free for me is big. You know, it's always a good mental, like, strength. To be able to go out there on a course like that where the wind is blowing, as cold as it was this morning, as well, to not drop a shot was great. Obviously the eagle helped, loads of steady pars, but I was never really stressed out there. I hit a lot of good drives and a lot of good shots, and it was a nice start.

Q. You had 10 pars in a row there until the birdie at 18. It was kind of Faldo-esque. You were going pretty steady out there.
TOM LEWIS: Yeah, well, maybe it's the course we grew up on. You know, it's tough. I wouldn't have expected this morning to go out and not drop a shot. I holed a good five-foot putt for par on the 1st, and I expected more of that the rest of the day. But I holed some good par putts, but the rest of the time, I gave myself opportunities and I had to pace the greens, and that always helps.

Q. You won the Korn Ferry TOUR Championship at Victoria National, which is a tough track. This is a tough track. Is there something about tough golf courses you like, maybe get you fired up?
TOM LEWIS: I think so. Normally if you look at stats, if there's a hole that's quite short or quite easy, I tend to drop shots on those ones. When things are challenging it's like, are you going to succeed or are you going to fail, and I think you've just got to get up there and make good swings and if it's your week, it's your week, and obviously today was my day, but there's a long way to go, and the guys are strong players. But I'm enjoying this one.

Q. You turned pro in 2011, played all over the world, you've shown a lot of perseverance. What advice would you give young players who are doing what you did? It takes time.
TOM LEWIS: Stay as patient as you can. I'm not a patient person. I beat myself up quite easy. But I shouldn't do that. I would have done better in my career if I was a bit more positive about myself, if I believed as much as everyone else believed in me, I think I would have done a hell of a lot better. But I've got to learn that. I've got to do it for myself. But I just would say that any successful businessman or sportsman has always had adversity in their life, and you've just got to get through it and believe that good things will happen.

Q. 4-under today; how were you able to get around here bogey-free considering the conditions and the wind out there?
TOM LEWIS: Yeah, it was really cold this morning, so to be able to go out bogey-free I wouldn't have expected that when I was warming up. I holed some good par putts and gave myself a lot of opportunities. The holes are so tough out there, you've just got to make good swings, and today I hit good shots when I needed to.

Q. Fifth start on the year on this PGA TOUR season. You have yet to make a cut. What's coming together at the right point of the year for you?
TOM LEWIS: Yeah, I think it's just something I've got to get used to. I've just got to believe in myself. It's difficult playing over in Europe and then playing here. The guys are strong. I'm good when I'm good, and when I'm bad I can be better, but a lot of top golfers over on this side, so hopefully my time can come this week, but if not, hopefully in the near future.

Q. How have you been able to balance spending time playing in Europe and making the most of your opportunities here? You've got a couple of different avenues.
TOM LEWIS: I think for me it's just staying patient. Obviously I'm not able to get as many starts as I would like because obviously so many events at the back end of last year, so if I can just carry on playing well like I did today, hopefully more opportunities will come my way.

Q. Just talk about the aspect of playing on a sponsor exemption, how many you've gotten, just the opportunity it gives you this week to get into the field?
TOM LEWIS: Yeah, I think for me, it's obviously great to be able to be out here. The back end of last year obviously when I won that Korn Ferry final, I thought, this is going to be great, I'm going to have opportunities left, right and center, but obviously it hasn't happened. I can't get anything really. I've got to play good to get in stuff, and hopefully sponsors like me, but I've got a lot of good opportunities coming over the next couple of months, so hopefully if I can play as well as I did today, then maybe I can sneak a win and I won't have to ask sponsors.

Q. Do you feel more pressure when you get an exemption in a tournament to play well?
TOM LEWIS: When you've got a sponsor event? No. I feel pressure anyway. I can't feel more pressure than I already put myself under. It's great; it gives you a lot of sort of belief that you belong out here, especially after today. Hopefully that can continue.

Q. What was working out there today?
TOM LEWIS: I think pace putting. I made a good sort of short par putt on the 1st and good lengthy putt on the second to sort of just ease me into it, especially that putt on 3 dropping for eagle. It just gave me confidence I could roll the ball at the hole, and I gave myself a lot of tap-ins and I holed a very good par putt I think it was on 14. I caught a flier out of the rough and it went to the back of the green, and it was uphill but downwind, so it was a difficult one to get close, and I holed a sort of good 12-foot putt there for par. And that kind of gave me the confidence going into the Bear Trap feeling confident I could make some more swings, good ones, and walked away with a load of pars.

Q. You went to the Korn Ferry last fall to play and won over there. Why was this the right time to come here and play?
TOM LEWIS: It just happened to fall where -- I don't do well at altitude. Switzerland was that week. I normally played there when I've played more. I wish I was the type of guy that could roll out once a month and play really well, but I'm going to have to play three or four times before I start getting into the groove, and that happened to be, I think, the fifth week in a row or something, fourth week in a row, and I just felt like, look, I've got an opportunity, let's go, I've heard the course is really nice, and it was obviously meant to be.

Q. A nice new opportunity, but what complications come with it when you're balancing two tours?
TOM LEWIS: Stress, yeah. Travel. But the opportunities are great. If you're a top player in the world, you want to be out here playing as much as you can, and that's obviously something I expected when I was younger. But to just have the opportunity to play out here is great, and hopefully I can succeed over the next few years.

Q. How difficult is it to figure out your schedule?
TOM LEWIS: It's difficult. I don't even know where I'm playing. I was hoping I'd play next week. I didn't get in next week. So another two weeks off, then come back, play Valspar I think it is, and let's just see. Hopefully if I can shoot four scores 4-under par, then my schedule becomes a little easier to plan.

Q. Did you have to do anything this week in terms of a clinic or anything like that as a --
TOM LEWIS: No, they've been great. They've been great. I played a pro-am on Monday. So I just played, and that was fun. The guys quit after 15, so I don't think I was that impressive. (Laughter.)

But no, it was good. It was good to get out there. Everyone over here has been like really good to me, so I enjoy being here.

Q. Everyone has got a different journey out here, of course, and yours is as individual as anyone else's. What have you learned the last few years about --
TOM LEWIS: Things are always going to be up-and-down, no matter how good you're playing at the time, there's always going to be something that's going to hit you in the face, and you've just got to find a way of getting through it. I always believe things are meant to be. I always believe that -- when it's your time, good things happen for you. If you look at my career when I've done well, I've holed putts at the right times or hit the pin when you're playing well, things like that. You know, hopefully that can come my way over the next few months, give me some belief and confidence, then finish strong and hopefully play your guys in the Ryder Cup.

Q. How much does one day help in that quest to find that confidence?
TOM LEWIS: It can just happen. Just one shot, one putt at the right time or good break, and then all of a sudden it can snowball. I need to take a lot of belief from today, and hopefully great things will happen all week this week.

Q. You use the word patience a lot. When you had the huge splash early on in the Open Championship and there were a lot of expectations, how did you stay patient?
TOM LEWIS: I didn't. That's why I struggled for a while, and then I think really things got so low that you couldn't get any lower, so it was like, well, only good things can happen now. So when the bad happened, it was like, okay, I expect it, whereas before I always expected great things to happen, and as soon as something bad happened or average happened, I beat myself up, and I think that's something that I've matured and grown over the years. I'm still going to always battle that. It's just my personality. But the more fun I can have out there, the better. It's just if I can have more fun than everyone else this week, then I'm sure I'll be up there at the end.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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