THE SENTRY

January 5, 2024

Brendon Todd

Plantation Course at Kapalua

Quick Quotes

Q. Through two days, what are you most proud of, what's been going well?

BRENDON TODD: I think, coming out of the break, just proud of executing well and putting really well. For me the putter is so important. To hole all the short putts and 2-putt from 70 feet five times like I probably have already feels really good to be just scoring well.

Q. Last season no wins, but tied a career high in top 10s. What was kind of behind the good play?

BRENDON TODD: Just a little bit more consistent ball striking, but uptick in short game, strokes gained around the green, I think I was third for the year and finished around 20th in putting. Just elite scoring.

Q. Chris said you guys work on short game together, bounce ideas off each other. Does he help you at all with that area of the game?

BRENDON TODD: Yeah, I've definitely learned some shots from him and just -- he's easily one of the top-5 chippers on TOUR, and he showed it again today and yesterday, just hitting every chip to three feet. When that's your competition, you're always going to be striving for greatness.

Q. You're out here competing, but was there any benefit just whenever the two of you can play together?

BRENDON TODD: Absolutely. I think we push each other. We both want to beat one another, I think, and we're encouraged when we see the other one doing well. I think we hold ourselves to a pretty high standard when we're playing with each other.

Q. First week with Paul on the bag. Can you talk about that relationship?

BRENDON TODD: I think it provided great continuity. My previous caddie and I finished the year really strong, and him and Paul both learned from Vijay Singh, and so I think just that level of professionalism and preparedness serves me really well out there. So, I'm really lucky to have Paul Tesori on my bag, he's definitely one of the best caddies out here. I think the last two days we just did a great job communicating, which is our goal, if we can both be honest with each other, talk through the shots, be honest about the result, was I committed, did I make a good swing. If I did those things, then that's all we can ask for. We've done a good job so far and look forward to working a long time with him.

Q. He's spent so many years with Webb, who you know so well and grew up with. Did that help the relationship come together, and any similarities in the game that maybe he's been on this course with a guy who plays it in a similar way?

BRENDON TODD: I think it had to help our friendship, how long I've known Paul, has to help him deciding to come work for me. So, I think just my form the last five years, he knows I'm a good player and that I'm going to work hard, those are two things that he wants out of a player. I know I'm going to get that from him. I think we both know we're mature enough to handle ourselves well, which is something that everybody in this job wants. I think around here, look, he said it was his 20th time here, so, I don't know if it matters at all that he caddied for Webb, but I was out there hitting fairways and hitting some good wedge shots and making putts and that always makes his job easier.

Q. Anything specifically that, I mean, you're still with Bradley, correct?

BRENDON TODD: I am.

Q. Anything specific that you worked on before last season that led to just having another good season?

BRENDON TODD: So, last season was more just some continuity for us, it was like our fourth year together. I would say the previous two years I had done maybe a little bit of speed training, and that throws off my rhythm and timing. So, we stay pretty far away from that stuff. But this past December we had a really good lesson where we worked on flighting some shots, hitting some higher iron shots, and the key we found for me just in general with my ball striking is just keeping sort of my forearm speed up, which is a really free feeling out there, just feeling like you can load and just rip your forearms through the ball and it's going to be a good flight. So, I think that's what's really given me the energy this week to play well.

Q. Was last season kind of a return to being comfortable being Brendon Todd and playing the kind of golf that you played before?

BRENDON TODD: Exactly. The thing is, it's not like the previous two years I wasn't being Brendon Todd playing golf, but what happens to me if I go swing like a swing speed implement is it throws off my release pattern, and my release pattern is my golf game. So, if I don't release the club properly and hit it straight, we have seen where that can take me, and right now I'm really seeing it well and playing pretty good.

Q. Best shot today, shot you're most proud of?

BRENDON TODD: Probably the 5-wood into 18, just because I was coming off a bogey and really wanted to finish with a birdie, so to hit a really flush shot where I was looking I think helped a lot.

Q. If conditions stay like this, pretty calm, what's it going to take this weekend, seems like we got a real horse race going here?

BRENDON TODD: Gosh, I was telling my son, he said if I shoot 6-under four times that's 24-under. I said, That's not going to be enough to win. He said, Really? I said, Well, 34-under won two years ago. I think we're looking like something like that. Something in the low 30s. There's just so many great players and the golf course is in perfect shape and without the wind you're able to hit wedges close and reach the par-5s.

Q. I asked Chris this, but he was diplomatic, but I want to ask you, should Georgia be playing for the national title tomorrow night or Monday night, sorry?

BRENDON TODD: Yes. And here's why: No. 1, Michigan cheated, and they should have never even made it into the playoffs.

No. 2, if the Committee is sitting there analyzing teams based on injuries, and if Florida State is an injured team and that's why they get left out and they don't have their best players, who is the best team after a month off when they're fresh? It's Georgia. You let us have a month off to prepare and get healthy, we're the best team in the country.