FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP

August 16, 2024

Nick Dunlap

TPC Southwind

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you characterize that round?

NICK DUNLAP: It's really hot. I thought I played good. I hit a pretty loose shot on 2. I thought I was out of bounds, but turned out to be fine. Got a good break and made a birdie. Honestly, from there, I just kind of put it in play. I made some good par putts coming down the stretch. The putter has felt honestly the best it's felt all year the past two days, so it was nice.

Q. What's felt so good about your putting?

NICK DUNLAP: I don't know. The past couple weeks I've struggled to get -- outside of Reno, I've struggled to get my lines to match up, whether it's my shoulders or my ball line or whatever it is. I've struggled to get everything to match, and for whatever reason this week it's matching up nicely.

Q. For you in this heat, you mentioned how hot it is, what's the hardest thing for you to focus on to make sure you stay in shots and everything? What's the hardest thing with the heat that affects you?

NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, recovery. I've got my trainer, Clark Holtzer, he's the head basketball at Alabama, he's here this week to help me out. I mean, drink way more than you think, and honestly for me the hard part is -- I typically drink enough on the golf course, but the hard part is eating enough. For me it's really hard to eat when it's this hot. That's been the one thing I've been focused on.

Q. Three straight birdies to start your round after a 67 yesterday. How important was that for you in getting some momentum for the rest of the round?

NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, I think kind of the meat of the holes is from 5 to 12 or 13. You've got some really good holes in there. This course, it allows you to get off to a good start if you can hit some good tee balls. It allows you to have some wedges and have some good looks.

Yeah, just kind of set the round in rhythm. I felt like I didn't have to press or make anything, and I made a couple putts to make some birdies and keep it going.

Q. Coming into the week outside the top 50, did you feel like you have to play more aggressive to get there?

NICK DUNLAP: No. It's the same game plan I've had all year, honestly. Try to drive it in play, give my putter some looks, and hopefully keep it going.

Q. Being from Huntsville, Alabama, are you used to this humidity and weather?

NICK DUNLAP: A little bit, yeah. I was telling Hunter if there's anybody that's going to be somewhat used to it, it's going to be us. Yeah, it definitely helps being from the south and playing in this kind of heat.

Q. Watching the U.S. Amateur, can you put into perspective it was a year ago this week that you won the U.S. Amateur and where you are a year later?

NICK DUNLAP: Yeah. It's unbelievable, honestly. If you would have told me I would have been standing here, honestly, if you would have told me I'd have two top 10s in a TOUR event, much less two wins, I would have called you crazy. Very honored and fortunate to be standing here. I've probably watched more of that than I have this tournament this week. I'm honestly just looking forward to it changing somebody else's life, as well.