FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2024

Denny McCarthy

TPC Southwind

Quick Quotes

Q. How was the test out there today, and how do you feel like you handled it?

DENNY McCARTHY: Are you talking about the heat?

Q. Let's start with the heat.

DENNY McCARTHY: I worry more about the heat than the test of golf. I sweat a lot. I struggle in the heat. I have a hard time getting things dry.

Last year was -- I felt like I was preparing for battle this week, really. Just in terms of last year, I changed a lot of things in terms of hydration and what I'm eating before I play these types of rounds where it's really hot. I felt like it helped out there today, helped me kind of stay in it. Last year I felt like was just brutal every day, and it was hard to focus on my golf, and it cost me -- I fell from 24th coming into this week to 35th last year at the end of this week. It was my worst week of the year, and it was tough to swallow because it was a big part of why I didn't make it to East Lake last year.

I just felt like I was trying to survive the heat out there today, and I did a good job.

Q. Can you give away trade secrets on what you did?

DENNY McCARTHY: I lose a lot of -- I sweat a lot, and I lose a lot of salt when I sweat, so I'm drinking a lot of sodium, a lot of salt before I even sweat. I got professionally sweat tested in the fall last year just to find out more about my body, more about this sweating problem that I have. It's helped out on some of the hotter weeks this year for sure.

Q. Do you lose energy, as well?

DENNY McCARTHY: Yeah, I wasn't even close to being properly hydrated. I was drinking things thinking that that was enough last year, and it wasn't nearly enough. I needed way more salt, and way more salt earlier in the day, and at nighttime, too. I was doing things thinking it was the right thing, and it wasn't. So just a little change there, and that seemed to help today. It seems like it's going to be hot again tomorrow, so just -- I made sure I was on top of it coming into this week.

Q. How about the golf you played today; how would you describe it?

DENNY McCARTHY: I played pretty good. It's been really frustrating this year. I felt like I haven't really been myself most of this year. I've had a few injuries lingering that have been bothering me, subconsciously probably changing things in my swing to aid those injuries, help them feel a little better.

So I just haven't really been able to play the golf that I've wanted to. Tried to forget about it. The heat actually helps those things loosen up in this kind of weather, as bad as it is for my sweating and whatever. It helps loosen these things up. I had a really hard time in Scotland with the cooler weather, those two weeks, Scottish and British. I had a hard time hitting the ball how I wanted to. It just was really hard. I had a couple things just really biting at me.

It feels nice to kind of hit some shots that I know I'm capable of hitting, and I played a nice round of golf today. I made a couple bad swings but bounced back from them nicely.

Q. With all the heat out here, how many golf gloves did you go through today?

DENNY McCARTHY: I rotated three brand new gloves today. I put baby powder in there and helps dry them out a little bit, so I rotate about three gloves, and I'll go through a lot. I asked the Titleist FootJoy guys to give me a few extra gloves this week. I'll probably go through -- those ones didn't get beat up too bad today. I'll probably go through anywhere from six to ten gloves this week, whipping out probably a new one or two every day to kind of put it in the rotation and then maybe using the ones that are in the best shape from the day before or something.