BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 28, 2020

Patrick Cantlay

Olympia Fields Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Just summation of the round there, Patrick?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it was a tough day out there. The golf course is really, really good, but it's very, very difficult. The chip-ins obviously helped a bunch, and you don't do that every day, so I need to hit it a little better on the weekend.

But for a scrambling day, it was excellent.

Q. Can it get harder?

PATRICK CANTLAY: The golf course? If we don't get any rain and the greens firm up even a little bit, I think they can maybe firm up just a touch more, but it's about as stiff of a test as you would want. I mean, it's very, very difficult, and you have to play from the fairway, and you have to play from below the hole, frankly. The greens have so much slope on them that you really need to be putting uphill, and so if you're in the rough, it gets exponentially harder to do that.

I think it can maybe get a little harder but not if it rains.

Q. How important is patience out there?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Very important. You know, you've got to realize that you're going to make mistakes. You're going to make some bogeys just because of how hard the golf course is, and always having a forward mindset as opposed to thinking about what's happened or what the mistakes you've made is really important.

Q. Do you prefer a setup like this compared to last week?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I do, yeah. I really like when the golf course gets firm and fast and you have to think your way around. I thought Memorial got a little too crazy, and that golf course isn't really set up for it, but this golf course is set up for it perfectly, and yeah, I think it's a fantastic setup.

Q. How many shots harder than last week would you say?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't know, I was playing much worse last week, so -- it's a lot harder.

Q. You're tied for the lead right now. Do you feel like you played well enough to be tied for the lead?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I've played great. I putted the ball really well and drove it better. Drove it pretty good actually, and I thought my way around the golf course really well, and then today I got a couple good breaks, and sometimes that's what it takes to get up at the top of the leaderboard.

Q. Usually you get to this part of the season and guys are nearing the finish line, maybe sensing a shutdown. Is there value in having a test this demanding given the challenge you're going to face a Winged Foot a couple weeks from now?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think it's great, and I think it's a good confidence booster going into Winged Foot and Augusta. Augusta is still a little ways off, but in a weird way it feels like the most important golf is still ahead, so it's nice to see my game coming around at the right time.

Q. What did you do on 11, 16 and 18?

PATRICK CANTLAY: 11, I pulled my drive a little bit but I had the right angle and then hit a great pitch from 50 or so yards but it got lucky and went in.

Then 16, I made a bad swing and paid the price, made double.

Q. That's just missing a shorty at the end?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I missed like a four- or five-footer for bogey, which mistakes are going to happen around here.

And then 18, I pushed my drive out there a little bit which can happen on that hole because the tree is kind of right in your way off the tee and then hit a great recovery shot on to the green and made a 50-footer.

Q. With what?

PATRICK CANTLAY: It was a 6-iron.

Q. You keep talking about thinking your way around. What was your best thinking moment out there?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, just -- I don't know if there was best, but just trying to always leave myself below the hole, so even having the good angle on 11 allowed me a better angle than even being in the fairway on the right side of the fairway to that hole location, and when I did get in trouble, I tended to leave myself uphill or green to work with, and I was able to get them up-and-down.

Q. What made you angry today?

PATRICK CANTLAY: You know, I didn't play the par-3s great. I kind of hit the wrong club on 8. I needed to leave it more front edge and I wasn't really trying to leave it front edge, and that hole location kind of fooled me. I could have prepped a little better for that.

Q. What did you do on 8, you went long?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I just hit it long, right, didn't hit a great swing, and the chip from there I thought would be doable but it was really, really tough.

Q. And then on 6, which was not a great spot to miss it didn't seem like, did you do that on purpose or was that okay?

PATRICK CANTLAY: No, 6 the par-3, it was just a bad swing again. I was thinking correctly, I just executed poorly.