THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2022

Kevin Kisner

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. How difficult were those conditions out there today?

KEVIN KISNER: I thought they were fairly easy. I can't believe that only one guy shot under par so far. Guys must really be struggling with their games this week.

No, it's brutal, man. It's pure luck and somewhat loss of integrity of the tournament in my opinion, but it is what it is. We've got 36 more holes to figure out who's playing the best.

Q. Can you expound on why it lost some integrity?

KEVIN KISNER: Well, balls rolling on the greens, only 72 of us playing in that. I don't know. It's just going to be different tomorrow. I understand the difference in the waves, but when I got to 17 and 18 you couldn't hardly stand up much less hit a golf shot.

Q. What club did you hit on 17?

KEVIN KISNER: I hit 8-iron, got it on land.

Q. What are you saying? Because, like you said, the loss of integrity, was there anything else that could have been done?

KEVIN KISNER: No, it is what it is. It's part of Mother Nature. We all deal with it every week. When balls start rolling on greens, though, you've got to be careful. I don't know if that was just when we were there, but Ryan hit a putt to a foot and then had six feet for par. That's not very much fun.

Q. Did you feel the setup of the golf course was fair, though?

KEVIN KISNER: It was as good as they could do. Gusts over 40 miles per hour is not made for golf on these conditions. If we were playing in Scotland, it would have been okay.

Q. Were you okay with playing today?

KEVIN KISNER: I was more concerned with stuff flying around off the trees, but I didn't see much of that. Seemed like it was okay. Just the gusts, man. You just can't control that. It was sustained 20, but next thing you know it's blowing 40.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about -- you hit your share of nervy shots. Where did 17 today rank in your mind?

KEVIN KISNER: Wow, it wasn't that nervy, it was just hit and pray more than nervy. I don't know, I've played that hole in a playoff to win the tournament, and it was probably more nervous today than then because you just had no control once you touched it. You've got a pretty good idea when there's not a whole lot of wind.

Q. Same tees, same conditions, what would someone with a 10 handicap have shot on 17 and 18 today?

KEVIN KISNER: They'd be lucky to finish. 17 you could be there all day. I mean, I didn't think if you hit it in the water the drop zone was much of a piece of cake, either, because you got so much spin and the greens were just so receptive.

I don't know, what's the scoring average? I took over 4 for the day.

Q. 3.309 right now, second toughest after 18.

KEVIN KISNER: What's the highest score?

Q. Winds are allegedly going to die down tomorrow but it's going to get pretty chilly. What's your expectation for tomorrow?

KEVIN KISNER: I hope it blows like this in the morning and they freeze their butts off since they've been sitting at home all day watching us in the carnage.

Q. Is there any part of you that enjoys that challenge?

KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, absolutely. You've got to have luck on your side. You can hit the perfect golf shot at the wrong time and it can go anywhere, just depending on those gusts. If it was sustained, it's a lot easier to predict, but today it's just going from 20 to 35, it's pretty unpredictable and hard to commit to a shot.

Q. Were you playing well coming into this week?

KEVIN KISNER: Well, I didn't play well last week, but Bay Hill was Bay Hill. The back nine today was as good as I've played all year. I shot 1-under on the back nine and didn't miss a shot hardly. Hopefully we can build on that for the weekend, or for Monday.

Q. How do you feel about Monday, hopefully not Tuesday? Some people have said maybe, maybe.

KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, I hope we can get it done on Monday. Tuesday doesn't look very good, either. It's part of what we do every week and part of being a professional.