Q. Awesome playing today. What was the key to your good play out there?
RUSSELL HENLEY: I putted great, I feel like I did everything pretty well. I had a couple really good breaks that kept the round going. I somehow made birdie on 4 from the left rough, kind of hit like a chaser kind of shot up to about eight or 10 feet.
Also saved par on 14 after I skulled a wedge into a tree limb. So two good things there to kind of keep my round going, but also just putted really well. I feel like I hit it really well, too.
Q. Did you feel like comfortable going into today that a score like that could be out there?
RUSSELL HENLEY: I wasn't thinking about that, no, I just was, this place is kind of tricky to me and I've just tried to be really disciplined and trying to hit it to the fat side of the hole all week and I just, even though the conditions were easy year than first two days I tried to just be disciplined in my approach.
Q. Was it more than putting today?
RUSSELL HENLEY: Hit some good wedges, hit some really good wedges. The first couple days my wedge distance control was a little off because of the wind, but today I hit a couple tight.
Q. 8 yesterday, what went on there and why were you so adamant about taking a penalty there?
RUSSELL HENLEY: Well, when I took the club back I saw the ball move a dimple to the right. I saw it fall to the right. And so I know that for a fact. And right -- when it happened it kind of shocked me a little bit, I still hit the shot, and as the ball was rolling on the green I was thinking, something just happened there. So I knew, I knew that the ball moved. I just felt it was the right thing to do. The rule says you have to be, I don't know if it's 19 out of 20 times or 95 percent, but definitely sure the ball moved. And I am. And so I just felt like it was the right thing to do.
Q. Was there a question of whether you caused it?
RUSSELL HENLEY: No.
Q. On the naked eye thing.
RUSSELL HENLEY: It was pretty windy and the ball was halfway covered from the rough, but I'm confident that it moved. The rule is kind of setup I think to protect us just from being unsure. Because it's kind of an -- it's one of those things where there's no intent there, and I didn't really benefit at all, the ball was in the thick rough. But that's part of the game.
Q. Not looking for a number here, but do you know how many times you called a penalty on yourself? Hardly ever, a few, a lot?
RUSSELL HENLEY: There's been a few. Like probably -- like when I played the wrong ball in Mexico in 2018 or 2019, they ended up giving me -- I didn't know I was playing the wrong ball, so that was, that was no intent, but I had to tell 'em. Ended up being an eight-shot penalty and made my way to the Delta ticket counter. But, yeah, just a handful, just a couple times.
Q. What I'm getting at is on the ones where there may be some uncertainty, but you decide you want the penalty, how fast do you put it behind you and move on, and how much do you ever, do you ever think back?
RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, there's been a couple times where I've been unsure that it moved. And I had a talk with Ken Tackett about it, and multiple officials I've had that conversation with. And I've kind of beat myself up about it and feel guilty kind of like, I wasn't sure. Is that a penalty? It was like, Well, if you're not certain, then it's not a penalty. So I had that battle, Well, I think it might of, but I don't know. I can't stand that part of having to decide.
But, yeah, it was hard, it was hard to put it behind me, just because it was such a hard day, it was such a good par save, and to make a 3 but to count it as a 4 was like, Ugh, but part of it.
Q. Hold on. When you see the ball move and you say, Well something's going on and you're still swinging, how close did you hit it?
RUSSELL HENLEY: I hit it to four feet.
Q. That's a pretty good shot.
RUSSELL HENLEY: It didn't move much, but it moved a little bit. So it was kind of like -- I kind of have like a little bump down with my knees, I don't know why, I don't even think about it, and I think when the club just barely moved the grass down it just moved it. Frustrating.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports