WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 9, 2024

Andrew Novak

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Andrew, 27 holes were played today, in one day. Just describe what this experience was like.

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, it's been great. Definitely been feeding off the fans. I'm pretty tired right now. 27 was a lot, especially in the mud. It's pretty sloppy walking around out there.

Q. When you're playing 27 holes in any environment, that's a lot, but especially in front of these fans. How do you stay mentally clicked in and ready the entire time to be ready to put together the performance that you did?

ANDREW NOVAK: You've just got to embrace the fans. You can't really fight it. They're out there. They're going to be there. You play to them, and you let them give you the energy to keep you going.

Q. Coming into this week, you missed your first three cuts of the 2024 season. What is it about either this golf course or something in your form that seems to be clicking?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I played pretty poorly the last two weeks but played a lot better at Torrey. Missed the cut, but I thought my game was in a good spot. I shot under par at the South Course, which you've got to play good golf to do that. I knew I was close and put a lot of work in the off week, and my coach was here earlier this week. My swing finally was in a good place going into this tournament.

Q. What is it specifically that you're trying to work through?

ANDREW NOVAK: Really it's nothing crazy. We were just doing basic stuff we've been working on. A lot of it was just basically dealing with staying over my base, not swaying off the ball and just staying on top of the ball, and it's been good this week.

Q. What are you most pleased with about today's round?

ANDREW NOVAK: Second round no bogeys was good. A lot of birdies is always great, but it was nice to have a clean card.

Q. Any of the birdies stick out?

ANDREW NOVAK: That one on 4. I thought that was about to be a hole-in-one. Obviously you can't see from the tee with where that pin was, but I could tell from the reaction of the people behind the green, it was close.

Q. You got some work in with your coach this week. Your coach's name?

ANDREW NOVAK: Scott Rosenthal.

Q. What, if anything, were you working on that clicked?

ANDREW NOVAK: It's nothing crazy, nothing we've never worked on before, but just basically staying over the ball and then rotating through it, keeping it simple, and it makes it a little bit more repeatable.

Q. Are you feeling more comfortable being out here this season?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, it's my third year. Obviously this is my first time at this one, and it's a little bit chaotic. But I'm more comfortable, I think, playing these tournaments, seeing courses that I've seen before, and just being in the routine of things.

Q. Tell me a little bit about the practice you did last week getting ready for this event.

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, just played a few rounds with some guys at home, had basically some good matches and hit a lot of balls. I thought I drove the ball well, but some of my iron shots hadn't been quite where they needed to be, 20, 25 feet, not really birdie opportunities when there are positions where I could have made birdie. It's tightened up a little bit this week, which has been good.

Q. It's been a couple years since you've won a tournament. What do you think you'll embrace from past experiences this weekend?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, it's been a while. I don't remember a whole lot from the last time I won. It was a long time ago.

I don't know, I'll let the fans kind of carry me on and chant my name and hit shots as good as I can, and if I win, I win.

Q. What makes you thrive in the chaos your first time at this tournament, not letting it distract you?

ANDREW NOVAK: I came in with the right mindset, just embrace it. You can't get mad at people. It's going to happen. I grew up playing other sports, and always grown up thinking I was going to play football or basketball, and then you get the fans yelling at you, that's so fun to me.

We have great fans everywhere, but this is different. I've really been excited to get to play my first one and experience this because it really is fun.

Q. Did you ask anyone for advice about 16 at all?

ANDREW NOVAK: I talked to Patton, actually, Patton Kizzire at home last week, and then of course he Mondays in, so maybe he regrets giving me that information. We talked about it a little bit, but no, not really. Just kind of went in a little bit blind.

Q. What did he say?

ANDREW NOVAK: He said the greens are pretty big; just pick a fat spot, hit it on the green and go from there, try not to get booed.

Q. What's the craziest tournament vibe you've played in before this?

ANDREW NOVAK: Before this? It's actually kind of funny, Nick Taylor on Sunday at Canada last year when he won, I played with him that final round. So it looks like I might be playing with him again tomorrow.

Probably that. That was so cool seeing the Canadian fans just kind of will him to victory. That was really special.

Q. What were the conditions like there this morning, and is it nice to roll those two rounds in together when you're playing well?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, it was pretty cold, but honestly, we missed the worst of the cold because of the frost delay, so we kind of lucked out again there. It was pretty pleasant by the time we teed off, and I played nine holes, and I had the sweater off, had long johns off, everything. It was very pleasant after the first hour and a half or so. Pretty scorable conditions pretty much all day.

Q. Does it feel like sleeping on a lead going into a Saturday?

ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, it's one of those weeks, you play when you play. Whenever I play next, I've just got to be ready to go. I guess that counts as sleeping on the lead.

Q. What will the morning look like for you tomorrow as you wait to see what the weather does?

ANDREW NOVAK: I'm assuming probably not going to be playing before at least 1:00. I'm pretty tired from today. I'm going to try and sleep in a little bit for sure.