SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

October 9, 2020

James Hahn

TPC Summerlin

Quick Quotes

Q. James, what a round of golf for you. Of course we got to talk about the eagle on 15, about 26 and a half feet. Tell me about the hole.

JAMES HAHN: At this point I really don't remember. Let's see, what's 15?

Q. 15 is the at drivable par-4. You put it 26 feet off to the right of the cup.

JAMES HAHN: Yeah. It is the perfect yardage, slightly into the wind, just a normal cut driver. I wanted it to land soft so tee'd it up a little higher.

Hit a really good shot to the middle of the green and then thread it right really fast down the hill and two good shots.

Q. Look at you. Make so many eagles you can't remember them these days. Only missed one fairway in the second round, 13 and 14. Tell me about it.

JAMES HAHN: Yeah, I told you yesterday that I had to hit more fairways in order to give myself more opportunities. Seemed like I did the exact opposite. I hit a lot of fairways but didn't give myself a lot of birdie opportunities. Missed a lot of green on the front nine.

Hopefully I can put it all together the a weekend.

Q. Did the course play much different and what should we look for out of the leaders this afternoon?

JAMES HAHN: Yeah, this morning at 6:45 it was definitely playing a little different. Couldn't see the ball on the range, it was a little colder. Greens were softer though, and so any time you're first off you're getting smooth green. Was able to take advantage.

Made some really good par putts on the front nine which is the back but our front nine, which allowed me to kind of stay in contention.

Q. Early start, early finish. Any plans this afternoon? Have you been to any casinos? Do you have any plans?

JAMES HAHN: Not really a big gambler, but I told me five year old I would go swimming with her, so I've been thinking about that all day.

Missed the last two days practicing and grinding out here, so it feels good to get the afternoon off.

Q. Just overall thoughts on the round.

JAMES HAHN: Stressful. You know, if there were ever a stressful 5-under par, it felt like that today. You know, front nine I'm just grinding, making five-footers for par. The greens were a lot quicker this the morning because maybe they were a little smoother.

But definitely firming up a little bit, and so the front nine, even though I shot 2-under, it felt really stressful. The back nine you're not getting as many birdie opportunities because of the reachable par-4 or the two reachable par-5s. You're only getting one par-5 on the front nine.

So overall really happy with how I closed the round, but a lot to improve on.

Q. You were just saying over there that it's hard to describe a 5-under par round as stressful. Why would say this was a stressful round for you?

JAMES HAHN: Yeah, this morning, you know, you have a lot the anxiety after the shooting 7-under on the first round. The front nine I felt like the greens were really smooth. You don't really know if they've double rolled them or double cut them or whatnot being the first group out.

So a lot of times when you're first to putt on these greens, you know, you're really hesitant on the speed. On the first few holes I gave myself 25-footers for birdie and left myself about four feet for par.

Any time you're doing that early in the round, especially at 6:45 in morning, it gets a little stressful.

Q. 12-under par through two rounds. What's been working so well for you these first two days?

JAMES HAHN: I feel like I'm putting well, making a lot putts, making a lot of four-footers, occasional 20-footer.

Just seeing the line very well. A lot of the misses that I have are because of the green, either I've just miss read them or they've hit something on the green.

Overall I feel like the fairways are wide enough for to spread it a little bit and there is less pressure off the tee, but a lot of opportunities to make birdie.

Q. Are you on a medical this year?

JAMES HAHN: I am.

Q. Is that stressful for you? You've been playing so well recently. Kind of just been going out and kind of saying, When I get my opportunities I'm going to take them and play well?

JAMES HAHN: Yeah, I was talking about it yesterday, and I have 12 events left to make 140 some odd points. It's not really stressful right now because I have a lot of golf to play, but when it starts going down four, three, two starts remaining, that's when it starts to get a little stressful.

Right now I'm here just like everybody else trying to win a golf tournament and put myself in position over the weekend and make more putts than anybody else.

Q. Kind of being out did that kind of fuel your fire for the game of golf a little more?

JAMES HAHN: To be honest, it does the exact opposite. I love my family time. I love hanging out with my five year old. I feel like it was the best year that I've ever had being able to spend every day with her and go swimming and take her to the park.

It kind of makes you wonder what retirement looks like. You know, I'm still young. I have a lot of golf to play and couple hopefully (indiscernible), but I'm definitely looking forward to the time when I can spend a lot more time with my family.

Right now it feels like, you know, not seeing them as much, and so my five year old misses me a lot. It's kind of hard to get away early in the day and not spend time with them.