THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2022

Kramer Hickok

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Bogey-free at the Stadium Course. I have to think you're pretty pleased with that.

KRAMER HICKOK: Yeah, absolutely. Anytime you can go out here and not make too many mistakes, I think it's a good round. I had ultimate control over the golf ball today. Conditions were very favorable for us. It was perfect scoring conditions for what this tournament can yield. Last year was super firm and fast, and this is about as soft and pristine as I think I've seen it.

I'm just happy to be able to kind of take advantage of the circumstances, I guess.

Q. Was it even softer after the rain delay?

KRAMER HICKOK: Yeah, just this morning it was already soft. We got a lot of rain last night it seemed like, and then I think it was probably two hours of just straight rainfall. The wind also died, fairways have done a really good job of drying out. They're sand capped, so they dry out nicely, so it's still playing short where balls aren't really plugging and not getting mud balls. We are playing lift, clean and place, but you are able to hold some really long irons into these greens, which obviously makes it a lot easier.

Q. You're saying perfect conditions, but at the same time what is kind of the mental and even physical challenge and organizational challenge of playing in these kind of -- it's stop and start, it's going to be pouring, it's going to do it again tomorrow it looks like.

KRAMER HICKOK: Yeah, I think I've learned not to ever assume, not to assume that you're not going to play, not to assume that you are and just kind of be ready. It's easy to go in and sit down and kind of look at the radar and kind of check out and all of a sudden they say hey, you've got to be out there on the range and get ready to go, and it's kind of a whirlwind. I've kind of kept my mind on golf and just kind of stayed ready basically and just kind of realized anything could happen.

Q. What about being organized, though, out there? I know --

Just with staying dry and comfortable and not having -- it's a pain in the butt playing in the rain.

KRAMER HICKOK: That's where it's nice to have a good caddie. Caddies have got to have three, four arms basically. They're juggling umbrellas and towels and you name it.

Honestly I just keep focused on playing golf and the caddie kind of takes care of the rest.

Q. Were you surprised with how much attention your comments got a couple weeks ago?

KRAMER HICKOK: Yeah, I was. I was.

Q. Since then have people within reaching out to you? It seems like your name was everywhere in the news for a couple weeks.

KRAMER HICKOK: It was a weird situation. It was probably something I shouldn't have said because it didn't concern me, and so I've tried to stay out of it recently. You know, news spreads like wildfire, especially surrounding that Tour.

Q. Since then it seems like no one has come out yet, so are you expecting --

KRAMER HICKOK: I have no idea. I'm not going to comment on it.

Q. There were five hours plus of delay today, I believe. What did you do to keep yourself occupied?

KRAMER HICKOK: Went and had lunch and then my wife is here so I went and hung out with her in player dining, and I went and got worked on from my physio, and that was about it.