SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 7, 2021

Nick Taylor

Plantation Course at Kapalua

Quick Quotes

Q. The winds felt like they wanted to come up and just didn't and you had to take advantage of a really scorable property.

NICK TAYLOR: Totally. I've been here I think for awhile, I got here last Tuesday, so the first four, five days I was here it was blowing 30, 40 miles an hour, so it felt like today was calm. But obviously with some rain this morning it was soft and gettable. It was going further on some holes because the wind was down a little bit. So took advantage of a couple of the par-5s, just played solid.

Q. I know had you to adjust last year when things restarted, you have a new young family at home, they're with you this week, how awesome is it to get 2021 off to that start, to have them out here in paradise and knowing what this week meant from a win last year?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, it's obviously been a crazy 10, 12 months. But to have them out here to start the year, they weren't out at all in the summer and did kind of a little in the fall, but it's nice to start out together and we'll do this stretch as a family and that's what's important, so it's been fun.

Q. Back to the golf course, we were expecting the winds to die down even more than they were today, how does it change how this golf course plays if there isn't the traditional 20 mile an hour, 30 mile an hour winds like were you talking about?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, some holes will play longer, some will play shorter, it -- obviously, it makes it more of a second shot golf course, you got to attack from where you are. With most of the par-5s being gettable, 14's a hole you want to try to take advantage of as well. So it's a second shot golf course and then from there the greens are soft and they're not as speedy I think as they normally are, so you can make some putts and be a little more aggressive I think than normal.

Q. 18th hole, according to Shot Link, 353 yard drive and then only 292 yards to the hole. Apparently you hit one 95 yards into the left rough.

NICK TAYLOR: I got a little extra roll on it.

Q. What happened?

NICK TAYLOR: Severe downhill lie, I just topped it. It is a difficult shot, it's not that difficult, but from where I was, I don't know if I was trying to do too much or just -- obviously I came out of it -- but I thought I probably might have been in the hazard, it actually was like 15 yards short of it so I got a little break there and made a nice par. I think I got a dot. It was a toppy dot maybe.

Q. Good opening round? What have you been doing all week?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, it was really windy the first four, five days we were here, so I mostly played, I didn't really practice a whole lot. But I was in Vancouver for all of December, so I didn't get to do a whole lot, I played a few times, but, so just wanted to play, haven't done that for awhile and it probably helped me to play in strong winds, for today really didn't feel like that difficult. So I got to see the golf course a bunch though, it was nice.

Q. Feel easy today?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, I played really well, I didn't, I feel like I didn't make a bunch of putts it was just I took advantage of the par-5s, I hit some nice shots pretty close and my putter was solid. It wasn't, I wasn't lights out but it was a really good round.

Q. When you were last here in 2015?

NICK TAYLOR: Yes.

Q. Anything difference in the course that you noticed between then and now?

NICK TAYLOR: They added a few tees. They didn't use the one on 9 today, but 3 and 10 are obviously a little longer than what I was used to. But the course is very similar, I felt like I read the greens pretty well out here and there's not really a much better place to be right now, so I'm used to the golf course and it just fits my eye, so I had a good day.

Q. They did some refinements before last year's event here, how do you feel like the golf course conditions are?

NICK TAYLOR: Really good conditions. I could barely tell that they had redone the greens. I could tell from a few holes just with some of the banks, they softened a few greens with the severe slopes, I think 14 or 16 comes to mind, maybe 8, the par-3. So there was a few holes there that were different. But overall visuals off the tee is very similar, so that was nice.

Q. Are you any kind of a goal setter and if you are do you set them in September or January?

NICK TAYLOR: Probably both. I do set goals. I think to start the year you have your goals, but then we do have an extended break, you kind of reassess and set some more. But they're all generally in September or January, they're pretty similar.

Q. Have you hit any of them yet?

NICK TAYLOR: I haven't hit many of them. But we're off to a good start.