THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

July 17, 2020

Bo Hoag

Muirfield Village

Quick Quotes

Q. Nice way to finish off your second round there, a little 50-footer to shoot 5-under. Just characterize your round.

BO HOAG: Yeah, just played a great round. I didn't leave many shots out there. Just kind of made up my mind this morning that I was going to shoot a good one. I was due for a good round. You know, hometown, got to play well, and I just felt like I was due for a good round.

Q. Second time you've played this event, first time in eight years, and you're going to make the cut obviously for the first time. Even though there's no fans, what does it mean to you to be able to play the weekend here at the Memorial?

BO HOAG: Yeah, it's awesome. Today was really cool. Even though the fans aren't out there, a couple people had some houses along the way, getting some claps and some O-H's out there, but I know that everybody is following online. So I feel it, even though they're not out there.

But just kind of -- I still feed off that, and yeah, playing the weekend at the Memorial, I grew up here as a kid just idolizing these guys, and to kind of be one of them now is pretty cool.

Q. First three starts since the return of golf. They maybe haven't gone the way you'd like them to with three missed cuts. What did you find today in your round that you didn't have the first three weeks?

BO HOAG: You know, just in control of the ball a little bit more. I know it sounds elementary, but just -- I think just a little more assertive out there today than I was yesterday. Yesterday was a tough day with the wind. I feel like sometimes I was kind of playing into the miss to make sure I wasn't hitting the big no-no spot, so today I was a little more assertive with some of the lines, and today if you hit a good shot here you can reward yourself with a birdie putt.

Q. You played here last week, obviously missing the cut, but what maybe changed from last week to this week? Obviously the conditions are much tougher this week and your game is obviously improved, as well.

BO HOAG: Yeah, I think I've just warmed up a little bit. Three months off there, anytime you take that time off, you get that competitive rust. Just needed a couple tournaments under my belt to kind of get that rust knocked off and be game ready again, and I think I was just due for it to start happening and play a good round.

Q. What's your mentality heading into the weekend? Obviously right now seven back. What are your thoughts on how you want to try to climb the leaderboard?

BO HOAG: Yeah, I mean, my mentality is don't be afraid to hit a good shot, even though the course is playing hard. Scores are pretty high overall for the two days. Yeah, don't be afraid to hit a good shot. Reward yourself if you're hitting it well. This course is the perfect example of if you're playing well and you're in control of your golf ball, you can give yourself some birdie opportunities. But the minute you get on the other side, you know you're really in trouble. Just kind of keep that game plan of not being afraid of hitting good shots.

Q. You never let yesterday affect today, just your attitude about the game, are you able to just put it in the rear-view mirror and let's go on?

BO HOAG: Yeah, it's funny, a lot of times at the end of a week, a four-day tournament, you see some guy who shot 2- or 3-over the first round and all of a sudden he plays three good rounds and he was right there in contention at the end, so you kind of kick yourself and you say, oh, man, if I would have hung in there and played a good round Friday to give myself good weekend. I think Jerry Kelly did that last week. He was right up there after a tough first round. Dustin Johnson at Connecticut, I think he was outside the top 100 after the first round, and he won the tournament. You've just got to hang in there.

Q. So that's what you're feeling tonight going into the weekend, why not me?

BO HOAG: Yeah, it was just nice to get -- I was due for a good round since the return to golf. Just needed that birdie early on to kind of get me in that mentality of let's get this thing going under par. Yeah, I just needed that one good round, which we got today.

Q. What did Dad say at the end?

BO HOAG: I think he said that I learned that putt from him, the 50-footer that I made on 18. I don't think you can keep that short of the hole, so I'm glad the hole got in the way.