INVITED CELEBRITY CLASSIC

April 21, 2023

Rob Labritz

Las Colinas Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Right now top of the leaderboard, tied for first at 5-under. What clicked for you today in this beautiful weather?

ROB LABRITZ: Yeah, I think when I got out, Petro and I were wearing the same shirt, pink shirt, and I think that had something to do with it because everybody has got pink shirts on for some reason.

Actually I woke up this morning not feeling great, and started out pretty solid, just made a few birdies and just kind of kept the momentum going, hit a lot of greens, made some putts. It was just a solid, solid start.

Q. At the risk of asking a stupid question because you shot 5-under, how does a course like this set up for your game? Do you feel more comfortable when you're on courses that suit your game well?

ROB LABRITZ: Yeah, we played here last year, so all the courses that I'm seeing now I'm seeing for the second time, which kind of helps, so I'm a little more familiar. So I kind of know where to go and where not to go, so it's been a big help that way. This course sets up well for me. The par-5s are reachable. The greens are rolling perfect. It's fun to be out here.

Q. Julie has told me so much about you. A lot of the guys that I don't know too well out here, you being one of them, but she's absolutely said the most wonderful things about you. How much do you rely on your good-natured, relaxed personality to help you make your way around golf courses?

ROB LABRITZ: That's it. That's me. I'm living the dream right now. I'm working my tail off to make myself better at golf every day, whether it be in the gym, whether it be what I think, what I eat, what I don't drink. I'm just trying to be the best player that I can be, and I actually have the opportunity to do that now.

I'm not going to leave any stone unturned.

Q. It's a little bit different format this week, obviously a lot of commotion going on, playing with the celebs. Your mindset is still business as usual, but it has to be pretty cool to have those guys out here, as well.

ROB LABRITZ: Oh, my God, I got to play with Clay Buchholz. I'm a Red Sox fan, so it's cool to watch him hit shots down the fairway and talk to him about how fast he pitches and stuff. It was pretty cool playing with two MLB guys today.

I'm not a big sports guy. I don't really follow sports a lot. But there's so many sport guys here. It's pretty awesome to see. All these guys are all jacked up and way bigger biceps than me, but it's a lot of fun to see everybody compete.

Q. What's the mindset going into the rest of the weekend? I know weather potentially could be a factor the next couple days. How does that affect your approach to the weekend?

ROB LABRITZ: Yeah, so tomorrow is going to be about the same, so if we can do the same thing we did today and then we'll cross Sunday when we get to Sunday, but I'm in a good spot, going to go work on my short game. I hit a lot of greens today, so I didn't get a chance to use my short game a lot, so I'll go work on my chipping and putting and have a good meal and get some good rest. I tee off early tomorrow, so I'll get to bed early.

Like I said, I'm living the dream out here. All I want to do is get better at golf. I have the opportunity to just get better at golf all day every day. I've got a great team behind me, my family, my coaches. I'm just here trying to get the ball in the hole, and been working my tail off to get better. If we can continue to do that, we'll be all right.

Q. What have you carried into year two from year one?

ROB LABRITZ: The knowledge of golf courses and the comfortability. I'm much more comfortable. I came out here last year as a 31-year club pro, so eyes were wide. You see all the stars that you grew up watching play golf, and now since I've been out here a year, I've played with most of them, and I understand my game compared to them. My job is to just keep getting better, and if I can keep shooting 5-, 6-under, we'll be doing fine. But I'm learning a lot every week that I play with these guys. It's amazing to see what you can learn.