SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 11, 2024

Gary Woodland

Waialae Country Club

Quick Quotes

GARY WOODLAND: Probably the happiest I've ever been shooting over par, tell you that. At the end of the day the goal this week was to see how I was mentally, and I was really, really good.

It was pretty tough out there. Been here nine times. This was one of the hardest rounds I've ever had here. And got off to a rough start. I was excited and was doing a lot of breathing trying to slow everything down because I was moving fast.

I settled in, especially the last nine holes, and played really, really well.

A lot to build on and. Like I said, I'm excited. The energy stayed up. Focus stayed up. A lot to be proud of.

Q. What was that first tee shot like?

GARY WOODLAND: A little more emotional than I thought I was going to be. Took an extra second being deep breath, hearing Topeka, Kansas, hearing my name called, there was a time when I didn't know if that was going to be called again, so it got me a little more than I thought it was going to.

After a couple holes I was able to settle down. Didn't drive it very well and didn't make any putts, but outside of that iron play was beautiful.

Q. Hard to get back into a rhythm of scoring?

GARY WOODLAND: It was, yeah, it was. I mean, I've done a lot of work the last six weeks but it's different out here.

I was rusty. Hit some poor chip shots. Hit good putts. Speed was a little off. Haven't taken many five-month breaks, and that was definitely a little more difficult than I expected.

Q. Did you have any expectations today unrelated to score?

GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, I tried to eliminate expectations. It's hard to do, especially when you play in a result-oriented world. I tried to eliminate expectations and focus on what I can control, focus on slowing everything down, having the energy stay up, which it did.

It was a little more tough, especially from the start, than I thought it was going to be.

Q. Because you were too hyped.

GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, I was so excited. Like I said, got a little more emotional than I thought. I was able to calm down.

Q. Emotions not at all tied to UCF?

GARY WOODLAND: No, that was more frustration.