RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 10, 2022

Sam Burns

St. George's Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. 69 today. Get some comments on your play, please.

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I played okay. I would have liked to have hit a few more fairways and been able to attack some more pins. A lot of it was just trying to get the ball on the green from where I was. But I feel like when I did hit it in the correct spots I was able to make some birdies and I think that's going to be a key going into the weekend.

It's a tricky golf course, it's hard to get it close to a lot of these pins and when you do there's a lot of slope. So a lot of times you have to be kind of defensive on putting.

So, yeah, just need to kind of tighten it up a little bit and see what can happen this weekend.

Q. How did the wind and conditions play this morning?

SAM BURNS: I feel like it picked up a little bit more maybe than what the forecast said, which always makes it a little more difficult. You turn around and play the front nine with some of the more difficult holes and where I was hitting it in the rough it makes those holes that much harder.

But overall a solid day, I think I'm in a good spot going into the weekend.

Q. With the way the rough was, is this a good test heading into next week where the U.S. Open is notoriously thick rough?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I would say so. I mean I feel a little sore today after how many times I had to hit it out of the rough. But I think it's a great test. I mean, this week and next week, huge importance off the tee, getting the ball in the fairway and like I said, I need to do a little bit better of a job going forward.

Q. Some players like to take the week before a major off. What's the balance there between staying competitive and playing or opting for rest?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I think for me I prefer to play the week before, especially an event like this. It hasn't happened in a couple years and I know the Canadian fans are really excited for us to be here this week, we're all excited to play. I've been looking forward to coming up here for awhile now.

So it's a really fun week for me, it's fun to be out here in front of these fans and it's also a great prep for next week.

Q. Have you played the Country Club in the past?

SAM BURNS: I have not, no.

Q. The lies you get in the rough, how different are they, sort of guessing as to how it's going to come out?

SAM BURNS: Most of the ones I had today were not guessing, it was grabbing a lofted club and trying to get it up in front of the green or in a place where I can make a par.

Yeah, you can get some where you can advance it pretty good and you get some where, like on 4 today, I mean I had to hit a 9-iron and just that's as far as I could hit it.

Q. Wondering how nice it is to shoot 1-under and then look up at the top of the leaderboard and see that the lead is still 7-under and you haven't really lost any ground at all. In fact you made up a shot.

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I think going into today and after yesterday I knew the golf course is challenging. Like I said, there's a lot of slope on the green, so even when you hit good shots in there you still have tricky putts.

It's just difficult to shoot a really low number. I think if you can just kind of plot your way around this place and shoot 2- or 3-under every day you're going to have a really good chance.

Q. Being in the group with Cam Smith and Scottie Scheffler, a lot of, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" cheers out there, a lot of people screaming for Scheffler. Do you find that you're kind of flying under the radar or do you like fact that you're out there in a feature group?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, we had a great time. Fans out here were awesome, it was really exciting for us to be up here playing in front of them, having a lot of support. And it was nice that Cam played really well today, Scottie had a solid day, so just trying to feed off of that.

Q. Some of those lies in the rough when it's sitting down more do you feel like you kind of have to chop at it a little bit and come steeper into it?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, for sure.

Q. If you have like more of a shallower swing plane would you say those players are struggling more out here today?

SAM BURNS: I think a lot of times you have to kind of change your golf swing anyways on those shots. But obviously if you tried to come in a little more shallow it would be more difficult. So, yeah, like a lot of the ones I had I just tried to take a lofted club and open the face and just hack it out.