HONDA CLASSIC

March 20, 2021

Sam Ryder

PGA National Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Are you tired of the wind?

SAM RYDER: Yeah, very tired. I think we're ready for 18 or 20 hours or whatever we have off, or 16 hours. I can't even think right now. So, yeah, it was a battle for sure. So, ready for some rest.

Q. What was the most difficult part of the challenge out there today?

SAM RYDER: It's just draining. I think the biggest challenge is just trying to stay focused and trying to stay sharp. You just can't let your guard down at all. You've seen that. I'm sure everyone coming in has said the same thing. It gets harder and harder late in the day. It's just a really fine line. So, yeah, you just, I think it's just really just trying to stay sharp, and mentally draining as much as anything else.

Q. That said, how do you feel about the way you played in those conditions and especially with being able to get up-and-down or getting out of that mess on 18?

SAM RYDER: Yeah, I feel, I mean, I got lucky that the water -- you've seen it all week I think with guys, the water is kind of down, so being able to play shots. I told my caddie, with this wind switch it's, 18's just not the same hole. I hit a 6-iron into the green yesterday and today I was maybe going to try and hit a 3-wood 40 yards short of the green. But there's just no good lay up. I think maybe I got a little greedy with my lay up and was fortunate that it got in a little patch where I could get the club on the ball and not ruin my pants in the process of it.

But it was just, yeah, it was just a battle all day. I threw a couple shots away around the greens early, but I feel like I played well. I hit a lot of good shots and it's just, it just doesn't feel much different than shooting 7-under yesterday. But it's a good test and you know the weekend's going to be tough, so we're going to do it again tomorrow.

Q. What's the potential do you see as for a wild finish tomorrow, given the difficulty in the finish, the last three holes, four holes here, and the wind conditions?

SAM RYDER: I just think it's wide open, it typically is. I was talking about it earlier in the week. I said, after I played my first round, I said to my coach, I said, I shot 1-under and played just really solid, didn't make a lot of putts. I was like you take 1-under every day out here and just take your chances almost and see where it stacks up. It's just, you never know what's going to happen. One of those guys at the top, Jonesy played awesome today, but he battled super hard. It's not like he was throwing a lot of shots away around the greens. It's just going to be a grind no matter what. So it's just wide open I'm just going to go out there and stick to the game plan and see what happens.

Q. Speak to the difficulty on 16 and 17. I think there was one combined birdie on those two holes today.

SAM RYDER: Yeah, I mean, 16, I hit driver today. Last couple days I'm hitting an iron. I hit iron and, like an, I hit a 9-iron in the first day and a 7-iron maybe and today I hit driver and then a 5-iron. So it's just, that hole is brutally different with this wind and really hard. You just can't take a break. You know, that's how it should be, I think that's where the tournament should be won and lost is coming down to that final stretch, 15, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and it just makes for a good finish.