JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

June 30, 2022

J.T. Poston

TPC Deere Run

Quick Quotes

Q. Mentioned to Colin having one of those days. What's it like to have one of those days? Had one last week.

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I mean, it's obviously why you practice and why you work as hard as you do on your game. Any time you can have those rounds where you really get it going low and mistake-free, bogey-free is a bonus.

It's why you work at it and why you practice the way we do.

Q. You mentioned it's one of those days. You've been having several of those days lately. What is it with your game you feel good about?

J.T. POSTON: I worked really hard on the golf swing. I got to give my coach, John McNeeley a lot of credit. He and I have worked on the golf swing a little bit from a technical standpoint in the last year.

I would say for the last few months it's been in a good spot. Just hadn't quite seen the results. Then Hilton Head I had a good week, Wells Fargo, good week, last week playing well.

So I think it's starting to kind of come together and see the results and see the shots and kind of building that confidence back into my ball striking.

Q. Your iron play today, five of nine birdies came within ten feet. Is that where that better play is manifesting itself?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I would say that was kind of the theme last week. I think my strokes gained approach was really good, just ball striking in general. I'm hitting a few more fairways, which allows me to be a little more aggressive with the irons.

Iron play and distance control has been really good. So I've been able to give myself a lot of those kind of 15- 10-footers. Today was the same.

Q. Does that give yourself more of a green light in your head standing over a ball when otherwise it might not?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, a little bit. It's a confidence thing. If you asked me that a year ago there might have some hesitancy just because I hadn't done it in a while.

Soon as you do it a few times a can have a few good rounds, good tournaments, then your confidence starts building and you can get on a nice run.

Q. How do you carry this into tomorrow? Last week, 62 and followed up with a 70. How do you carry this into tomorrow and keep playing at a high level?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I think that is kind of the learning curve I'm going to try and learn from last week. I didn't play that bad on Friday; just felt like I couldn't get anything going.

I would say I was maybe a little too patient or too -- not cautious, but hitting a lot of good shots but not really getting too many of them close.

I think tomorrow, regardless of where I stand starting the day, I am going to try and go out there and shoot another number like that or shoot another solid 5-, 6-under or something like that, and just stay aggressive and not just kind of coast.

Q. When did you feel like you had something going today? The eagle on 2? The bunker shot on 4?

J.T. POSTON: The eagle on 2, I mean, those were really good shots in there, and then to make the putt is great. The bunker shot on 4 is just kind of when you -- you kind of turn around and look -- I looked at Flener like, did that really happen?

I mean, it's kind of one of those -- I think it was the first green that I missed, and to hole it out and make birdie is just kind of -- you're not really thinking you're going to make it, but when you do, you just realize it could be one of those days.

Q. A lot of short putts today, but a nice one on 9, 26-footer. A nice way to end a really good round with momentum maybe moving into tomorrow.

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, it's great. Again, if you had told me I would make four on the tee I probably would've taken it in a heartbeat. It's playing tough today.

That's as good as I can hit a driver and a 4-iron in there to 25 feet. To hit two good, solid shots and then make the putt is obviously a bonus going into the rest of the week, and hopefully can keep it rolling.

Q. You've been here before. They've made some changes around the course. Are they noticeable? Are you noticing a big difference? A little difference?

J.T. POSTON: I would say a little difference. I think for the most part the holes look the same, which I like, because I thought it looked great before.

They've done a good job maybe adding a little distance on some tees by moving bunkers further up the fairway to where they're more in play. I think the changes are good and they changed just enough to not really make it too noticeable.

Q. You mentioned being aggressive on this golf course. You know that you have to get to around 20-under for the week to be in contention. Does that change your approach at all for Friday, Saturday, going into thinking Sunday?

J.T. POSTON: No. I mean, I don't think I'll be thinking too much about a certain number. I think I've obviously got off to a great start. Playing tomorrow afternoon, who knows, I may not be leading when I tee it up.

Just going to try and stick with playing as good as I can. I am obviously playing really good, so I want to just try and focus on that and kind of see where I stack up back nine on Sunday and go from there.

Q. Do you watch the leaderboards when you're out there?

J.T. POSTON: I do, yeah. I mean, I don't try and pay too much attention, but I usually have a pretty good idea of where I stand.

Q. Tied for second. You come out here in your opening round and fire a 9-under 62. What's the secret?

J.T. POSTON: It's just been one of those -- last week and I guess obviously the start of this week is really good ball striking.

Hit my irons really well and hitting a lot of fairways, so I'm able to kind of attack some of the pins. Really just hitting a lot of greens, which is something I haven't done first part of the year.

It's obviously been the secret I guess, so hopefully keep it going.

Q. Well, you turned in a 4-under 32 on the front side there. Birdied No. 1. You get to No. 2, put 259 yards to that difficult pin location into the wind today, and you knock it to 26 feet. What were you thinking?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, luckily it was a good number with the wind.

I knew I could hit a 3-wood as much as I wanted and it wasn't going to be too much. It just came out great. Hit another tight draw down there and landed in a perfect spot and had 20 feet down the hill.

Q. Sometimes obviously to shoot 9-under 62 you have to have some good things happen. You also holed that bunker shot on 4.

J.T. POSTON: Yeah.

Q. Then made two clutch par putts on both 5 and 6. How important were they to keep the momentum going?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, the bunker shot on 4 was kind of when you start to realize it could be one of those days, I guess. Just trying to get it up and down to make it is just a bonus.

But the putts on 5 and 6 were just as important I think to kind of keep the momentum going. You know, I loved to staying bogey-free and not making mistakes, and was able to do that last week on Sunday, and to start off this week that way was nice, too.