THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY WORKDAY

June 3, 2022

Davis Riley

Muirfield Village

Quick Quotes

Q. Bogey on the last isn't the way you want to finish. How would you assess the round as a whole today?

DAVIS RILEY: Today was kind of a mixed bag. I hit a lot of high-quality shots, but I hit a lot of shots at the same time I was like -- I was having to scramble and get out of trouble.

Yeah, considering I turned it one over, to come out of the day 1-under I feel is pretty successful. I just took advantage of the opportunities I had. When I got out of position, did a good job of scrambling and finding par.

Q. Did anything change in your game as you made the turn?

DAVIS RILEY: I kind of had a similar deal yesterday. I turned it even. Felt overall I was a little bit sharper yesterday. But I kind of got off to that slow start yesterday, and I just said try to be as patient as possible, like I did yesterday. And hopefully I get the outcome I want.

To finish 2-under on the back was pretty good considering.

Q. What does that even mean, Davis, being patient? Does that mean not doing anything stupid or aggressive?

DAVIS RILEY: I think patient in just not getting irritated with yourself when you're making par on the easy holes or you're not quite making putts. You've got to realize that if you're controlling everything you can, the chips are going to fall how you want, eventually. So just staying patient. Like you said, not getting too aggressive and forcing things when things aren't going your way. So just trying to stick to the process and try to capitalize when you have the opportunities.

Q. You talked about this a little last week on Sunday about you've had some chances to win the last month or so. One bad swing or something like that. But you've stayed positive. You kind of come into this week with that attitude that you're able to get rid of the one bad swing last week that kind of cost you?

DAVIS RILEY: Yes, it's really easy to hang your head on one bad swing. I had to make 260, 270 other swings to get into that position. So just knowing that I'm doing all the right things and I just try to come in this week -- Monday I tried -- I forgot Sunday. I came into this week with an open mind, knew the things I needed to do to get prepared, especially being a new golf course I've never stepped foot on.

I got busy right away. Just trying to take it day-by-day and keep playing some good golf and hopefully be in that last group or so on Sunday and have a chance.

Q. At what age do you think you were a good golfer?

DAVIS RILEY: I don't know. Maybe when I could beat my dad when I was 11 or 12, 13.

Q. Go back to that day. I'm not trying to put you as the U.S. Open champion at age 12 or anything, but you're obviously a pretty good player. How much has your swing fundamentally changed when you first kind of got good to where you are now?

DAVIS RILEY: Yes, it's definitely evolved. I felt like I've always been a pretty good natural swinger of the club. And there's obviously a lot of people, my swing coach, Jeff Smith, has helped me a lot with that, and just finding my tendencies and how to get back to that, where you're kind of cruising, just knowing your tendencies, knowing how to get back to when you're playing well. It's evolved. It's gotten better.

Q. Who taught you to swing it?

DAVIS RILEY: My dad. I would say my dad. He pretty much gave me a golf club and said, "Hit it." And I think he just kind of kept his mouth shut and watched.

Q. How long have you been working with Jeff?

DAVIS RILEY: I've been working with Jeff about a year and a half now. A little over a year and a half. And he's been great. He's been really good for me.

Q. What do you think the biggest thing he's done to help not just your swing but your game?

DAVIS RILEY: Just understanding like what happens when things get off. And even at this level, everybody is going to get off during the course of a tournament, a year, a season, whatever. It's just finding a way to get back to it.

I feel like now I have a really good understanding of, when I'm not playing well, how to quickly get back on track. I think that's been the biggest thing, and just figuring out my tendencies and how to get myself back to what I need to do to play well.

Q. You've been top 15 the last five tournaments. Obviously it's really tough to win out here. Do you take just comfort in knowing that you're really close, or has it been frustrating to not break through, or just more comfortable?

DAVIS RILEY: Winning is very hard. You have a guy that wins, gets a couple good breaks. Then the guys in second, third, fourth could be not getting that bad break or that one bad swing.

So, no, it definitely gives me a lot of confidence knowing I've had some really nice finishes and know that I'm doing the right things to get there.

The odds are if you keep putting yourself in that position enough times you'll capitalize eventually. I've just learned just gaining that experience every time and just knowing what the tendencies are, under pressure, just trying to take every little bit of learning that I can from those tournaments.

Q. When you came out of Alabama, did you feel you'd be at this stage of your career, you'd be where you are now?

DAVIS RILEY: I knew I could do it. I knew I could go to the Korn Ferry, get to the Korn Ferry and have a TOUR card. I knew I could do it. And finally do it is another thing. It's hard. It's a new arena. It's hard to tell. But I went into it with a lot of confidence, and I think that helped me.

I got status on the Korn Ferry pretty soon. And had two wins out there. So that was pretty nice. And you just see the guys before you progress through those levels, too, in college to Korn Ferry to PGA, and it's just like I'm kind of on the same path, why can't I do the same kind of deal.