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HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIPMay 15, 2014Ryan PalmerIRVING, TEXAS Q. Ryan 6 birdies today for a first round of 67. Your thoughts on that you one? RYAN PALMER: I putted good today, which is nice. I struggled putting Sunday last week and I wanted to get here early and try to get some work into it and try and improve, and I did. Drove it pretty solid, hit some awkward shots, a couple of holes out there that are not my cup of tea, but, I kept it in front of me a lot today and played really steady. Q. The wind seems to be blowing and you're from Amarillo, where it can get blowing what were they like today? RYAN PALMER: It was pretty steady. It's weird here. The wind we're playing right now, we've never played it, even yesterday. Different shots I had to hit today than I have in the past. It swirls enough, too, to kind of keep you thinking out there, for sure, but the score I showed this morning, it was calm for a while but it's not easy out there. The golf course is playing tough and I'm excited to be in it under par. Q. You've obviously had a solid season thus far. What have been the keys to your improved play? RYAN PALMER: I've been hitting the ball real well and kind of getting out of the way. I started something in Hawaii where I'm picking spots in the distance not flags or towers, I'm looking at‑‑ I'm not focusing on one target. I kind of told myself to get out of the way and let your talent take over. I have confidence, I have a ton, I can get to the golf course and if that happens I can hit a ton of great golf shots. Q. Ryan you were able to put together a nice opening round. How did you keep it going forward? RYAN PALMER: Got off to a good start and made a good birdie on 1, and hit it good today, kept the ball unanimous front of me, didn't get too aggressive, and kept it solid, and I did. I struggled last Sunday putting, and I wanted to improve on that, and I was able to. I made six birdies and I had a few mistakes out there but overall I'm pleased with the way I played and got under par. Q. How comfortable are you with this layout and just being back here? RYAN PALMER: Getting more comfortable. This is the event where I don't work too hard, because this is where James takes over. He calls the shots and I just hit 'em. It's the one event we do that at and we started doing that in '11 where I lost in the playoffs to Keegan and it's been working so far. Q. The wind is different today than it usually plays here? How so? RYAN PALMER: Just a different direction. 16, for instance, No. 7, I'm usually hitting 6 or 7‑iron to that green today it was a good 3‑iron. It's supposed to turn this afternoon back to normal and playing yesterday with that big north wind it was‑‑ I've hit irons on these greens I've never hit before. It played different today but it was great to get off to a good start and get under par and be on top right now. Q. You always seem to get off to a good start here, at least you have here in the last few years. Is there any key to getting out of the gate so the well? RYAN PALMER: No, it's been good since '11, since we started this change and letting James take over. It's done a lot to clear my mind on this golf course. This golf course place fits with my sight lines and I've struggled picturing shots out here so it's taken the pressure off me to go ahead and hit it and let him hand me a golf club and say "hit it there!" Q. The wind looked a little bit tricky. Did it blow some, swirl some? RYAN PALMER: It was definitely tricky out there, I felt it was. It was swirling a lot and some reason this golf course it always blows and some of the pins are hard to get to, especially when the wind is up like that. It's a golf course where you put it on the green you will be under par, that's all it takes. 3‑under today feels like a 5, 6 under par! Q. How are the greens today? RYAN PALMER: Course is great. They're rolling good. They're in good shape. The greens are rolling good and with these breezes, things can get a lot tougher throughout the weekend. Q. You mentioned 3‑under par seems like a really good score and I'm looking at the leaderboard. Seems like it's going to be a pretty good score today. RYAN PALMER: I think so, anything under par today is going to be a good score. It's always nice to get through Thursday. The hardest part is getting to Saturday, I always thought. If you can survive Thursday and Friday and give yourself a chance to win, come Saturday that's always nice to have that feeling knowing you have that. Good start. I'm excited and I'm going to work on a few things here. Q. Do you like this course? RYAN PALMER: Love it! (Laughter.) It's growing on me. I've struggled here in the past obviously but since '11 it's grown on me and we have enjoyed playing it and had success. Q. The changes seem to have helped‑‑ or people seem to like once they did the changes a few years ago. RYAN PALMER: I think so. It took a few years for guys to get into it. First year there was negative feedback I think, but overall I think guys are starting to enjoy it more. It's a great city, here, Las Colinas, and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend. Q. Seems like a stronger field this year, you mentioned it. Does the word get around, hey, the course is better than it used to be? RYAN PALMER: It's just different each year. It's hard to play every tournament. I don't play Charlotte, which it hurts because of the schedule, these two and the PLAYERS. Guys are getting more used to this golf course and coming back here and playing. Q. Is it important for you to play here because it's in Texas? RYAN PALMER: I would never skip it, as long as they let me come back. I have so many friends in the Salesmanship Club here in Dallas and next week, being a member at Colonial, this week is special to me because of the many friends I have wearing the red pants walking around here so it's great to be around. Q. How did the event go at College Station last week? RYAN PALMER: It was good, you know, unfortunately Johnny couldn't show up because of the mini camp obviously but Coach from A&M, J.T. Higgins came out and he's a good friend of mine and we were able to visit with the folks who were playing and it was a good turn out. Q. Have you ever been tempted to let James take over at any other tournaments? RYAN PALMER: We did one year. We did it at Cog Hill and it lasted maybe six holes. Then we did it at the PLAYERS one year and it maybe lasted nine holes. It fits this tournament I think because we come into this tournament knowing that. When we tried it somewhere else, we thought, let's try it and see how it works. But we come to this tournament knowing that's how we do it here, and it works. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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