BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 6, 2021

Andrew Putnam

Tahoe Mountain Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Excellent day. 15 points. Can we get some comments, please?

ANDREW PUTNAM: Kind of was a slow start. Took a lot of good shots. A lot on the front nine, and then obviously went on a tear there on the final nine. So far so good.

Q. Take us through 6, 7, 8, if you can.

ANDREW PUTNAM: 6, 7, 8?

Q. Eagle, birdie, birdie, I believe.

ANDREW PUTNAM: Yeah, I had a perfect number to that back pin on the par-5, told my caddie let's get aggressive, hit a good shot around 20 feet, rolled it in. Hit it to five feet on the next hole, rolled it in. Another eight-footer. Nothing crazy. Ball was starting to go in the hole. Starting to get some out of my game.

Q. You have some memories here at this tournament, winning it back in 2018. Just what would it mean to be able to make a run in this thing and come away with that victory again?

ANDREW PUTNAM: It's obviously a special place. See a lot of familiar faces that I saw when I won. Tournament director and a lot of people that helped out. Brings me good memories. And got my wife and kids and parents here again. Just like last time, we're all staying together. And it's been a great week so far. Got to go scuba diving on Tuesday. And it feels like a vacation here. Whenever I come to Reno, it's a great time to be here.

Q. Helping with clean up the lake, could you talk about that experience, what it meant to you to help them out?

ANDREW PUTNAM: It was enjoyable. That organization, obviously doing great things. I think they said they pulled out four, 5,000 pounds of trash already in, like, 20 days. Usually I go on a dive, I see something cool, or shark or whatever. It was a little harder work than normal. I was out of breath when I was done because you're searching around rocks and pulling all sorts of stuff up. But it was fun to do something that felt like you were giving back and making the world a better place.

Q. What was the most rewarding part of the experience?

ANDREW PUTNAM: Probably just -- I feel just getting the perspective of what's going on under the water and hopefully that allows -- bringing some awareness to that. And just for myself, just being aware of not maybe putting trash where it shouldn't be and realizing what it's doing to the lake and the fish, all that stuff.

Q. Have you ever scuba dived in Lake Tahoe before?

ANDREW PUTNAM: Never have. I don't know if it's something that you typically would do. There wasn't a whole lot in the water other than some crawfish and some minnows. I'm not sure you would do that very often.

Q. What was the most unique or weird thing that you found when you were helping out?

ANDREW PUTNAM: Well, we found a big tire down there, which I guess they find quite a few. But it was unique to me. Found an anchor. Found some, unfortunately, some COVID masks. Nothing too obvious. Did find a golf ball. It's fun, had some fun with it under the water.

Q. 104 in the FedExCup. Talk about how big this week is for you as you try to solidify your position for a deep run in the playoffs.

ANDREW PUTNAM: Obviously FedExCup playoff, want to be in good form. Feel I've been playing well. Haven't got a lot out of my game. It's good to finally get some putts to drop and get some momentum. A big lead here can help my chances to get deep into the FedExCup Playoffs.