RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 8, 2023

Mackenzie Hughes

Oakdale Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Very strong finish to your day. What were you seeing out there this afternoon?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, I kind of got a feel for what kind of scores were out there. Looking at the leaderboard it didn't seem like anyone was taking it that low. And then the conditions this afternoon kind of turned for the worst. It was cool, little windy, wet. So it definitely showed its teeth there today. I kind of got through that front nine okay. And I kind of figured if I can get through that front around 1-under, even, 1-over, that the back nine was still kind of gettable. So, yeah, had a nice finish out on the back and some good momentum for tomorrow.

Q. Corey's top of the leaderboard. You and Taylor Pendrith are both up there as well. How does it feel to have three Canadians in contention after one round?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, it's great. I mean, I don't think any one of us would think that -- it's very early, right. We just -- it's one day of golf. You can't win it on Thursday, but you can lose it. So definitely nice to be in a good spot after Thursday and, but it's going to take four quite nice rounds and some steady golf. So looking forward to tomorrow morning. Hopefully be maybe a little calmer and a little warmer and, yeah, we'll have a nice day.

Q. You have always seemed to embrace the Rink hole really well ever since its inception. Today was maybe no different. Just walk us through what happened on 14. Obviously a great shot. Great fan reaction. And then Jace as well put on a jersey and walked along. Tell us what happened on 14.

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, so it was kind of funny, it was around that time, like I was thinking about the Rink, but at the same time it was kind of drizzling, raining and it was windy. I was like, man, this is a hard shot and I want to be kind of focused and dialed in. So I kind of thought, first priority is hit a great shot and then we'll kind of go from there. Once I hit it close, I, yeah, I tried to kind of rev the crowd up a little bit. And it's just a, it's a great, it's been a great deal ever since it started. It's been really fun. I know the Canadians really get behind it because it's kind of putting our favorite pastime in the limelight and just so it's been really cool. And I think that with Jace throwing on the O-Dog jersey it really was a little cherry on top.

Q. A little bit on the momentum side of things. Obviously a bit of a tale of two nines. But you are coming into tomorrow after four birdies on the back nine today. That's got to feel good heading into tomorrow.

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, I think that -- I mean, they were obviously, score-wise, a tale of two nines. But this course is really is a tale of two nines. Because I think if I played the front nine even par for the week I would be really happy. And I'm planning to kind of go low on the back. That's really kind of how I see this golf course. 3, 4, 5 and 6 consecutively are bears. So 1-over wasn't really terrible. I felt like I was in an okay position. Yeah, but I think that you'll see a lot of that this week where guys go out and shoot even, 1-over on the front and 4-, 5-under on the back and kind of put their rounds together like that.

Q. How much fun was it playing with the two Adams today and what was the crowd reaction like to the all-Canadian group?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, we had a good reception on a bunch of holes. It was fun -- when you have three Canadians you feel like you can kind of feed off each other a little bit. We all had some good moments out there that we could kind of feed off the crowd. So it was a lot of fun.

Q. Super early, but what would a Canadian even just contending on Sunday maybe being in the final group just mean for the sport in this country?

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, I feel like Canada and golf in Canada is just continuing to increase its momentum and something like that with the Canadians seriously in contention with a chance to win very, very late on Sunday would be massive. So, we got a few guys up there kind of close so hopefully one of us can keep if going all the way to Sunday.

Q. Just a follow-up to the question about the Rink. I was curious, how far in advance do you plan the jerseys or the other sort of like Rink-special wear, because you've done it every year the past three years.

MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, you know, I think in years past I've really thought about it and I've really thought about what I was going to do. This year, this week's been really chaotic and it was kind of the last thing on my mind was what I was going to do on the Rink. Because like we all know there's just been, it's just been a busy week in golf. So the O-Dog jersey actually came from Jeff O'Neill himself, who was in the booth right behind us and he threw it down to my caddie, Jace. And it was pretty, I mean, it was somewhat planned, but kind of thrown together a little bit. I would say that the best thing I can do there is hit a great shot and make a birdie and kind of get the crowd going that way.