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June 4, 2011
DUBLIN, OHIO
Q. How many times do you need to be in contention out here before they start talking about you as one of the best players?
MARK WILSON: I like going under the radar, it's just fine.
Q. Strick looks like he's in the middle of putting up a pretty good number. How much do you feel like you're still in it?
MARK WILSON: I'm just happy I had a good round. I rolled in a bunch of putts and I'm just happy about that. There's still a lot of golf left, and wherever I'm at tomorrow, I'm thrilled to be at 7-under for the tournament right now. Starting the day I would have taken it before I teed it up.
Q. Certainly this round today -- I would assume the course is playing even more difficult than it did before?
MARK WILSON: A little more wind today than the first two days. It's firming up just enough where it makes the tee shots go farther, so you have to hit them straighter. The greens are still holding pretty good for the most part. The downwind shots are tough.
That's what's so great about Muirfield Village is you can see a wide variety of scores. If you get it going and make some putts you can shoot a 66, 65, but if you're a little off, you can shoot 75 real quick.
Q. Do you think 12 gets it done here this weekend?
MARK WILSON: No idea. I'm just going to play the best I can, see what happens.
Q. On 18 there, I didn't exactly see it, but did it hit the fairway and then bounce into the water?
MARK WILSON: Yeah, I was trying to hit a cut off the big tree there and hold it into the wind, and I didn't quite cut it enough. I thought I might get away with it, but played a lot shorter today because it's a helping wind and it went in the water, I'm sure, pretty easily. We saw the two guys in front of us both hitting out of that first cut, so I think there's going to be a few more balls in the water. You don't like those bunkers on the right, the water is bad, too. It's a tough tee shot.
Q. Overall is that kind of a rough way to finish considering how well you were doing?
MARK WILSON: No, it's just part of the round. I had a great day, I'm not going to let that get me down, as well.
Q. With the conditions the way they've been here and the way they're continuing to get, does it bring a whole different type of player or give a whole different type of player a chance than when it's wet here?
MARK WILSON: Yeah, I think I made the cut the year we were playing lift, clean and place the whole week and barely finished 60th or something, because the course did play really long. 17 is a great example today, normally I'm hitting, when it's soft, it's driver, 4-iron or something like that; whereas today it's a 3-wood and a 9-iron because it was downwind and it's firming up. My ball rolled probably 60 yards in the fairway. So it certainly helps a shorter hitter out, yeah.
Q. Did you have the wind at your back on the eagle on 15?
MARK WILSON: No, it was into the wind. I hit a driver and pulled a 3-wood. I didn't think I could get it there even if I hit my best one, and I hit my best one, it was right at it, and it carried pin high. I was thrilled to see that.
Q. Two wins already this year. Once you get into contention again do you start thinking about Player of the Year and Money List and things like that?
MARK WILSON: No, I think about the feeling you have when you've accomplished a win and all that goes into it and that satisfaction you get and how I want that again. That's really all I think about, not all those extra things. They take care of themselves.
Q. What would a pairing with you and Strick tomorrow be like?
MARK WILSON: Yeah, that would be really cool. It's been a while since we've played together. I feel like we're in the winner's category so we've gotten paired together Thursdays and Fridays, but I haven't gotten paired with him in contention.
Obviously I've looked up to him since I was a teenager watching him as a new pro, so that would be pretty cool, a couple cheeseheads together.
Q. Would you wear them?
MARK WILSON: No, that's all gone. That's passed. That's passed. The Packers are off.
Q. What did you hit into 16 today?
MARK WILSON: 6-iron.
Q. The green is awfully firm?
MARK WILSON: It is, yeah. The only thing I don't like about it is I think there's too many little small humps in the green. I like a little more general slope I guess is what I'm thinking. I think the green was a little slower than the others, so that gives us a little better chance. Yeah, it's firm. It's weird to just jump on that hole and realize your ball is going to take off so much. It's one of those where practice round it would have been a 7-iron because I didn't really care about the water, but today a 6-iron was the club to land pin high and maybe trickle over. It's a little different in competition.
Q. (Inaudible.)
MARK WILSON: I think it is, yeah, especially just because you have such a smaller room to land it because it's so firm. Yeah, it plays long. We've had that back tee every hit, hit 4-iron the first two days and hit 6-iron today even though it was downwind.
Q. Is this getting a little bit of a U.S. Open feel to it?
MARK WILSON: The fairways are so wide, though, I guess I can't -- I always think of the fairways in the U.S. Open, they're much narrower than this, so I haven't visited the rough very often yet, which is a good thing. Just because the fairways are a little wider.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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