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June 26, 2010
CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT
Q. Beautiful, consistent round. Three birdies on the front, three birdies on the back, 64. Tell us about your day.
RICKY BARNES: You know, it wasn't the best day I've ever shot shooting 64, but I got a lot out of my round. I played really good on the Back 9, had a lot of good looks, never really left myself outside I would say about a 3-footer for par, so all and all, good day. I know the leaders are going to go away a little bit, too, but maybe put myself in position to maybe sneak up in another top 5 or top 3 heading into tomorrow.
Q. Talk about your season, because I think starting at the Masters you get a tied for tenth there, and you have just been really consistent playing solid last week at the Open. What's been the major reason for this great scoring?
RICKY BARNES: Better consistency. I've been real consistent this year. Last year was the exact opposite.
I put a lot of hard work at the beginning of this year getting, I would say, mostly adapted to the new grooves. I knew that was going to be tough. But putting the ball in play, putting the ball in position to make birdies, and I'm taking advantage of them.
Q. 10-under, where do you think that will be looking at the leaderboard by the end of the night?
RICKY BARNES: You know, hopefully in the Top 10. Hopefully the leaders don't run away and get to 18, 19, 20. That probably takes me out of the equation of sneaking up and winning.
But you know, hopefully if Justin and Kevin can only shoot probably 1, 2 or 3-under, I like myself in good position, and probably anywhere on the Top 10 after today I'll be pretty happy.
Q. Great playing today.
Q. All right. 32 out 32 in, you made it look pretty simple.
RICKY BARNES: Yeah. I had two really good saves on seen and 8. I was 3-under, kind of hit a bad drive on 7, didn't hit a good tee shot on 8 and made pars, and then from then on in I don't think I missed one green and had a good look from off the fringe with my putter, so played really solid golf, I'd say, on the last 10 holes.
Q. How happy are you with that 64? Could it have been a little lower or are you just going to take it --
RICKY BARNES: Yeah. You know, I parred 15, had a decent look on 17 and had a good garbage in on 18. So I had my opportunities out there.
I'm pretty happy with a 64. I don't think you can ever really complain about 64. So I'll take that going into tomorrow, and you know, maybe another 64 or 62 tomorrow.
Q. Given that Justin Rose is so far ahead, given that this course yields so many birdies, did you feel the need to sort of put your foot down on the pedal or did you just try to play and let it come to you?
RICKY BARNES: Play and let it come. You know, I was in the middle of the field. I wasn't in any position to press it and kind of go after it a little bit, so I went out and played a solid round, and like I said, put myself in a good position to maybe finish in the Top 10 after today, and then depending on tomorrow and see how far the leaders go further under par, I might have a chance to, you know, shoot a good round tomorrow and finish in that Top 3 or something.
Q. That was my next question, where 10-under puts. So do you have a number in mind now tomorrow?
RICKY BARNES: No. Like I said, all depending on the leaders. If they get to 17, 18, 19, 20-under, that probably takes coming back and winning out of the equation, but you know, like I said, if I go out and play a solid round tomorrow, shoot another 5, 6, 7-under par and if it might just be in the Top 5, that's good enough because I didn't play that well on the first two days.
Q. Thank you. Is the course that forgiving then?
RICKY BARNES: Well, it's still soft enough. You know, coming into the greens, I don't care if you have 7 or 6-iron, you're still going to be able to hold them a little bit. And then once you get your wedges in, you gotta fire at the pin.
Q. You said after the first round you weren't necessarily happy with the way you were hitting the ball. What changed?
RICKY BARNES: My lineup. My caddie and I went straight to the range and kind of squared it away.
I didn't hit it well on Thursday at all, didn't hit many solid shots. So I went out, worked on it a little bit, squared myself up; and I produced the last two rounds pretty well.
Q. Was that Thursday night or Friday morning?
RICKY BARNES: Thursday after the round.
Q. Does a course like this help you get back on track after Pebble?
RICKY BARNES: Yeah. It's completely different. You know, we gotta adapt to every week, so firm and fast to medium and soft I would kind of call this. So it's just another tournament out on the PGA TOUR.
End of FastScripts
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