ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 20, 2023

David Lipsky

Aaron Rai

TPC Louisiana

Quick Quotes

Q. Give us an overview of your day.

DAVID LIPSKY: I'll be honest, it was all Aaron. The guy played great today. I think he had like seven birdies and an eagle. I had a lot of birdie looks, too. Mine didn't fall and his dad, and that's what this team format is all about is supporting each other and taking pressure off each other.

AARON RAI: I think we played nicely together. I think Dave made a couple birdies out there, but had a lot of looks, which kind of takes a bit of pressure off me, made a lot of pars on a couple of those harder holes, which frees me up a little bit. Although on the scorecard I made a few more birdies today, it was definitely a team effort, and Dave's play just helped me play well today, too.

Q. Talk about your relationship, how you guys met.

DAVID LIPSKY: Yeah, of course, we met on the DP World Tour like three, four years ago now, and we sort of started on the PGA TOUR together last year, start of last season. Our caddies are really good friends. I think they room together most weeks.

Aaron and I are pretty close because of that.

Q. Thoughts going into the next couple of days, strategy and kind of your dynamic going into Friday?

AARON RAI: Yeah, we had a pretty good game plan last year of which holes Dave was going to take, which holes I was going to take, and we're just going to try and do the same thing really. Played nicely last year, and I think the holes where we're going to play the alternate shot kind of suit what we see off the tee, suit our eyes. Yeah, we're just going to try and do the same thing again tomorrow.

Q. Do you enjoy the alternate shot format?

DAVID LIPSKY: I really like it. It's fun. It's hard. You don't want to let your partner down, so you're always grinding and trying, and there's never any give-up out there because, like I said, you really don't want to let your guy down, especially after he made seven birdies and an eagle. I feel bad.

Q. Aaron, I'm wondering about this format and being here with someone who's a good friend of yours. I see you working incredibly hard. I'm wondering if this allows you to have a little bit of fun and let the mind be free a little bit?

AARON RAI: It definitely feels a little bit lighter in practice for sure, having Dave out there, and caddies, as well. We all get on pretty well, so it definitely creates a slightly lighter atmosphere on the golf course but also during the week. So it is a nice change of pace. I think that's probably one of the best things about this tournament. I comes at a good time in the year, as well, where it kind of breaks up the week-to-week four-day individual events. I think it's great, and I think it's a format that should stay.