INVITED CELEBRITY CLASSIC

April 22, 2023

Mark Hensby

Las Colinas Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Another solid day, 6-under. Started with an eagle. What was working for you out there?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, you know, I got a good break on 10. It was kind of wet and the ball skidded and went in. That kind of got things started. Played pretty solid overall today, so yeah, played good.

Q. On 18 was it controversial, a question in the fairway? What happened?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I was going to go for it and then my caddie said there's more wind and you can't feel it because of the grandstands. He made a good call, and laid up, and then almost holed it, so it was a good decision at the end of it.

Q. With the rain in the forecast for tomorrow, was it good to get off to the start that you did today?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, for sure. I mean, this golf course is tricky, and especially in cold, windy conditions, like it's supposed to be tomorrow. Yeah, it's going to be a fun day.

Q. What's it going to take to win tomorrow?

MARK HENSBY: Ooh, good question. I think it just depends on the weather.

Let's face it, we played lift, clean and place today, and I got it in the fairway on one hole I was in such a divot, I doubt I would have been able to -- it would have been hard to get it on the green and it was over water, so when you play lift, clean and place I got a good break there and then another hole a similar situation.

This golf course you can hit a lot of good shots like I did on 9. I thought I hit a pretty good shot and just a bit long, and then you make a bogey.

A lot of patience I think is going to be the key tomorrow, especially with the weather. We'll see what happens.

Q. Did you think you would play as well this week as you have been?

MARK HENSBY: No, because I'm still jet lagged. I slept way too much last night. I'm only used to about two hours, three hours max. Slept about 10 hours last night, so I woke up like, what happened.

So no, not really. I didn't think that I would probably have a chance going into tomorrow, but here we are.

Q. Currently top of the leaderboard, guys chasing you in the first wave, now we're into the afternoon wave. What is the mindset going into tomorrow?

MARK HENSBY: As I said, the weather is going to dictate everything, I think. I'm sure there's some good scores going to be out there this afternoon. It's probably going to get a little bit breezy. We were fortunate; we played the front nine with no wind, which was a big, big advantage, but now the wind is back to what we're used to playing here, from last year anyway, but there will still be some good scores today.

As I said, the weather tomorrow is going to dictate everything.

Q. How motivated are you to win out here?

MARK HENSBY: Well, I think anytime you tee it up, you want to win. You hear it time and time again, you're going to kill it out there or you know you're going to win soon. From other players, I'm saying.

As much as that's nice to hear, you've still got to get it done. I've always been a motivated person. I should say more disciplined person, to be the best I can be. Then it's just really dealing with -- you put in the practice and you hope that at the end of the day it ends up with a W somewhere along the line.

But this game is so hard. From day-to-day, you just don't know what's going to go on, so just give it the best shot tomorrow and hopefully have a chance on the back nine.

Q. How much does it mean to have a chance going into a final round like that?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, awesome. That's what we play for, practice for. That's what I get up at 4:00 a.m. sometimes and hit balls in my house for. That's what we're here for. Some days you feel really good mentally and your nerves are better, and then other days they get the best of you. I think that's just human nature. Sometimes I'm really comfortable. Other times I get a little bit too edgy.

As I said, to have a chance tomorrow would be a lot of fun.