THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 5, 2021

Patrick Cantlay

Muirfield Village

Quick Quotes

Q. Patrick, just some general comments about the day today. Good round, good position, just how did the day went in your opinion?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I thought I played really well. I made a lot of clutch putts on the front and didn't make as many as I would have liked on the back but closed with a good one. My game's in a good spot. I hit a lot of solid shots today and played really well. So I'm pretty pleased with how I played.

Q. Obviously this is a place near and dear to you with your history here. How much of a factor is comfort when you get into a groove of being so high up on the leaderboard?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think, I really like this golf course and see the golf course really well, and so all the good memories I have here, it's just easier to stand up and visualize the shot that I want to hit. It's nice when you have that feeling around a place like I do here.

Q. You watched Jon play obviously today. First of all, your impressions of how he played?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, he played great. I don't think he missed hardly any shot except for the 9th hole, made every putt he looked at.

Q. You played well, but you find yourself a handful of shots back. How do you approach that? Obviously you want to win but you probably don't want to be too aggressive or force things. How do you kind of balance that in your mind?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think just sticking to my game plan. This place is very much, if you drive it in the fairway and have a good number, you can take advantage, but if not, you have to play really smart. And so that's always been my game plan around this place, so I'm going to go out tomorrow, try and get off to a good start, put a bunch of balls in the fairway and hit my wedges close.

Q. Obviously you can only control what you can control and, hey, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, kind of?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Of course. I mean, this is a golf course you can get right now with how soft it is if you really hit every shot precisely. So playing from the fairway is key. My game feels good right now and I'm just going to go out there and get as comfortable and focused as I can and try and put down a number for tomorrow.

Q. What stood out about your round?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think I just played smart. I hit a lot of really nice shots. I didn't do anything too crazy, and 4-under is a good round around this place especially with the rough as high as it is.

Q. What is that rough like?

PATRICK CANTLAY: It's just really long. It's six inches and probably the thickest I've played in a long time.

Q. We're just learning Jon Rahm tested positive for COVID, just your thoughts on the whole process and?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, that's obviously really disappointing. It's kind of the worst situation for something like that to happen and he played awesome today and it's just, it's really, it's a shame. It's unfortunate.

Q. Does it concern you, because you were obviously around him for 18 holes. I know we're outside, but does it concern you at all that you were playing with a guy that has had COVID?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I've already had COVID, so, yeah, I got to imagine I have antibodies, so I don't feel too concerned, but obviously it is somewhat of a concern, but I got to imagine that I had it earlier this year, so I'm feeling pretty okay about it.

Q. Just to confirm have you been vaccinated?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I have not.

Q. Did they talk but about contact tracing and being tested will you be tested after today?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I haven't heard yet. So we will see.

Q. Were you tested on-site this week?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yes.

Q. For COVID?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yes.

Q. When was that?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Sunday maybe. Monday. Monday.

Q. When did you find out about it in scoring?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I just heard in scoring. So I still don't -- I didn't hear a definitive what's going to happen, I just heard that he tested positive.

Q. How much of a jolt is that to you?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm sure it's not as much of a jolt for me as it is for him. Like I said, a little bit earlier, it's the worse situation that something like this could happen in and unfortunately I guess we knew that this was a potential lurking out there even when we came back to golf. It's just extremely unfortunate.