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RBC HERITAGE

June 20, 2020

Chris Stroud

Hilton Head, South Carolina

THE MODERATOR: Chris Stroud joins us following a third round 8-under par 63. Chris, if we could get some comments on an excellent day.

CHRIS STROUD: It was a great day. I hit the ball very nicely on Thursday. I really thought Friday, if I could keep that ball striking up, if I just make a few more putts, then yesterday just sort of a neutral day. I hit the ball pretty nicely. Hit some nice up and downs when I needed to. Just never really hit the ball close enough and just didn't seem like I was hitting the putter right.

So I came out this morning, spent a few extra minutes, my caddie and I, figured something out, and really rolled the ball nicely today. On top of that, I made two great saves. Hit a couple loose shots and made some great saves. Hit a lot of nice iron shots really close, and all of that combination ends up being 8 under.

THE MODERATOR: Currently tied for the lead. I know there's a lot of golf to play the rest of the day.

CHRIS STROUD: Exactly.

THE MODERATOR: Just talk about your expectations for the rest of the afternoon.

CHRIS STROUD: I've played here -- this is my 13th year on the TOUR. I think I've played here 10 or 11 times. Absolutely love this golf course. It's probably the easiest I've ever seen it play, so there's no surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if someone gets to 19 or 20 already today.

My goal was to try to get to 15 today, not even thinking about the actual round, just trying to keep the gas down, because I saw the conditions. The greens are very soft compared to normal, and you can fly the ball all the way up to the hole almost. Really for us, it's just a matter of giving ourselves the best looking putt we can and put some good rolls on it, and we did that today.

Q. I was wondering, I saw Justin Thomas said earlier that outside the golf course he's noticed a lot of people around restaurants and the beach. Have you been outside at all? Have you noticed any of that activity?
CHRIS STROUD: My caddie and I have basically stayed inside a bubble all week. We rented a two-bedroom condo up close to the Sea Pines Resort or golf course, and we've basically cooked every meal. We've had a couple of delivery and pickup, but we've basically just stayed away just to be careful.

Obviously, what happened to Nick Watney is incredible. It just shows you how sensitive and how easy it is to pick it up. So I'm being very careful, and we are too. I'm happy to be out here playing. A lot of people still aren't back to work. So I'm just very fortunate to have a job right now.

Q. What was the mood like out there today? Was there much chatter about it, about Nick?
CHRIS STROUD: We definitely talked about it a few times. Lucas Glover played with me today, and his caddie Coop and my caddie Casey, we all had a few conversations about it. We're all just a little bit surprised really with how well the TOUR has done of preparing us for it and keeping us ready and keeping everybody spaced out. They've done an awesome job, I think, in this tournament also. RBC has done an awesome job.

I'm just really surprised it happened. We've just got to be careful. All the things are in place. We've just got to make sure we abide by them.

Q. Did your routine change at all? You said you've already kind of been inside all this week. So does this change anything in your mind?
CHRIS STROUD: No, not at all. Tomorrow, what am I, 13? I'm going to be trying to get to 20. We've got to get on it. Honestly, you can birdie every hole out here if you hit a good shot. I really think -- I think it's going to be down to the wire tomorrow. It's going to come down to who is going to make those two or three extra putts, who's going to hit those extra two or three shots those last few holes.

I think there's going to be a lot of great golf tomorrow. It's an incredibly strong field. Everybody is playing well, and the conditions are perfect for scoring.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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