AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 12, 2023

Scottie Scheffler

TPC Craig Ranch

Quick Quotes

Q. Another fast start for you. I thought you got off to a quick start when the tournament began on Thursday, and you birdied the first two holes here in the second round.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's nice getting some birdies out of the way early around this place. Obviously the scores are pretty low so it's nice when you can get off to a good start.

Q. I think 16 is such a difficult hole, but you were able to birdie it today.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, just making a long putt. That's a hole where I'm really just trying to make 4 and make the 4 as easy as possible. So I hit a pretty good second shot in there to about 30 feet and was fortunate to see that one go in.

Q. I was really impressed on Thursday that you kind of plateaued in the middle of the round but then finished so strong. You ran through the finish line again today, eagled the 18th hole on Thursday and you birdied the ninth today for your final hole.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's always nice finishing with a birdie, especially I was a little frustrated after bogeying No. 8. That's typically a birdie opportunity, but I made a little bit of a mess there, and then kind of bounced back on No. 9.

Q. I ask you some questions that I think I know how you're going to answer, some that I have no idea. You can become No. 1 in the world with a win this week; you can retain and move closer to Jon Rahm, you're not going to catch him this week; and you can also win in your hometown. There's a lot out there this weekend. What are you thinking about when you tee it up on Saturday?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I'm just going to go out there and try and have a good round. I'm sure you probably knew the answer to that question. I'm just going to go home and relax this afternoon and get some rest. We've got a couple friends in town, and Teddy is staying at the house. So hanging out, maybe play some ping-pong, watch a movie, but definitely relax this afternoon.

Q. A little bit fewer bogeys on this round today. What was working that you kept it a little cleaner today?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, just solid golf. I didn't really struggle for too many pars out there, and I felt like I putted a little bit better today than yesterday.

Q. You and Ryan Palmer right up at the top of the leaderboard. I asked him just about what he remembers from first meeting you. When do you first remember meeting Ryan and what kind of impact did he have on you early on?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don't remember the first time I met Ryan. I feel like he's been around for a while, and I was young when I met him.

Yeah, we work out together here at home when we're both in town and play a little bit of golf, as well. He's been a good guy for me to be able to bounce stuff off of as I turned pro. He's been out here for quite a long time, so he's someone I always want to learn from. If you can have a career as long as Ryan's out here on TOUR, you've done some things pretty well.

Q. You guys share a mutual coach, Randy. He detailed a little bit of what he's been going through recently. From your perspective how is he doing and kind of what is his prognosis with the back injury?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, Randy is doing good. He had a pretty serious surgery, but I think it's going to be good for him in the long run. It's going to be a little bit of a rehab process, but we're trying to get him to stay patient. It's hard sitting around at home when you're not feeling too great, especially for Randy. He's been a worker his whole life. He'll be back at it soon, but we're just trying to get him to stay patient as possible.

Q. Did that happen just a couple weeks ago? When did that surgery happen?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: He had surgery a few weeks ago.

Q. Is he able to help you still?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah. Randy is all kinds of coaching. He can help me no matter how he's feeling.

Q. If you could just talk about yourself and RP being on top of the leaderboard and what that means for our area and the community having a chance to pull for you guys on the weekend.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it should be a lot of fun. Hopefully the hometown fans will be out there tomorrow, and we'll see what happens with the rest of the leaderboard. I don't know what the weather is going to look like this afternoon, it's still early on Friday, but we'll see what happens as the weekend shakes up. But I don't think we'll be too far behind. We're definitely in a good spot going into the weekend.

Q. You have had fantastic control of your golf ball, especially in terms of ball-striking. Is there a feel or something that clicks for you when you know it's going to be that way like it has been these first two rounds?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, usually I can just kind of feel where the club is in my hands really well and then I'm able to see and create a lot of different shots, and that's kind of how I've always played is just by seeing and trying to create shots, so when I can have a really good awareness where the club head is, then I can start hitting it pretty good.

Q. Jordan has made no secret of his desire to win this tournament. How would you rate your own desire to win this tournament?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I want to win a lot of tournaments. This one being in the hometown, it would definitely be a lot of fun with the crowd behind me this weekend.

But that's not stuff that occupies too many of my thoughts. I don't want to place too many emphasis on one tournament. I just want to go out and do my best and see where that puts me.

Q. I know you had the 4:20 a.m. wake-up call this morning. You said it was a little different. Normally you don't wake up that early in your own bed. Are we going to see more of that? You played pretty well; didn't hurt you at all.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, didn't hurt me. I woke up ready to go. Usually if I was waking up at 4:20 on a regular Monday after a tournament, I definitely wouldn't be in a good mood, but when you're waking up to come play a golf tournament, it's a little bit of a different feeling.