ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 22, 2022

Patrick Cantlay

Xander Schauffele

TPC Louisiana

Quick Quotes

Q. How did you guys decide who was going to tee off on which holes today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I really don't know. We kind of just knew coming into the week. That's what we've done in the past. We're sort of getting used to those tee shots and approach shots and putts. We kind of stuck to that.

Q. Patrick, after yesterday's fantastic round, did you guys have a score in mind today with the different format?

PATRICK CANTLAY: No, we didn't. I think we just wanted to hit a bunch of quality golf shots, and we did that today. We really fought hard and made a bunch of those mid-range putts, especially in the middle of the round, and that kind of kept the momentum going. It's kind of tricky out there with the wind how it is, so I thought we played a nice round today.

Q. Is it more fun, alternate-shot, than the four-ball?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't know, making birdies is fun. You see more birdie attempts in best ball. Alternate-shot is an opportunity to do some cool things if you're making a lot of birdies, but for the most part you're trying to leave your partner in a good spot to make an easy par.

Q. Guys, yesterday y'all played in the afternoon when conditions were difficult. Jason Day and his partner just told us that this morning, they thought it was a little more difficult this morning than yesterday afternoon. What did y'all think about it, and do you think 68 is a pretty good score today?

PATRICK CANTLAY: It was definitely more difficult playing alternate-shot. I think 4-under was a really good round considering the circumstances with the wind and our round yesterday. I think it sets a really good tone going into the weekend.

Q. Xander, y'all started off pretty strong, birdied three of the first four but then only two more the rest of the day. What went into that?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's hard. A lot of sort of variable crosswinds where we're sitting there thinking it's a little bit down, a little bit into, and that makes hitting it close to the pin a little bit difficult. A lot of times in alternate-shot it's okay to hit to 30 feet, and it's okay for your partner to leave you a tap-on the next one. A lot of times pars aren't going to hurt you, and if you can pick up a birdie in this kind of wind playing alternate-shot, you're doing a good thing.

Q. How did the wind change today? Did it pick it up in the latter part of the round, and do you think it'll pick up this afternoon?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I feel like it was pretty constant. A few gusts here and there. I got a gusted iron shot here. Pat got gusted a few times, as well. It's happening to everyone, and I think it just kind of progressed as our round went on.

Q. Are you glad you played this morning rather than this afternoon?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It doesn't really matter. It doesn't change what we're trying to do out here.

Q. What's the difficulty with alternate-shot? Can you talk about that team format and how you guys approached that going into the today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think the only difficulty is kind of transitioning from best ball to alternate-shot. You go from sort of being hyper-aggressive in best ball knowing your partner is on the green already, trying to go at a flagstick that we would normally not go at in regulation or in a stroke-play event, and then alternate-shot is a lot more patience. You have to be very patient, okay with hitting wedge shots to 15 or 20 feet because you didn't have a good lie or something of that nature. You can't really press in alternate-shot even if you feel like you're behind and best ball you're running and gunning.

Q. Is there a lot more communication, too, figuring out each other's strengths with alternate-shot?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: We've played so much together that we're pretty aware of the dos and don'ts and we've seen it all. There's not too much conversation. We kind of got all that out of the way in the past couple years.

Q. Patrick, after yesterday the early part of the round, did y'all kind of maybe continue last night, carry it over a little bit? Did that help with the quick start?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think Xander hitting it to tap-in basically on the first hole and then us having another tap-in on the next hole for birdie got us into a really good mindset for today, and then I hooked a ball on 12 and a tree ate it up. It was right in the middle of the tree. Had to take an unplayable. Xander made like an eight- or ten-footer for bogey and that was actually a pretty big momentum saver. I felt like we just have had good vibes all week and we've been playing really solid golf. Same game plan for the weekend.