Q. All right, a solid 68 today. Just take me through what day one was like for you here at Grand Rapids?
ALISON LEE: It was good. It was a pretty good day. Honestly I feel like the key to success today was taking advantage of the par-5s. Had one eagle and made a few birdies on the par-5s and that made a huge difference for me out there.
Made a couple really good putts. Didn't make too many mistakes.
But, yeah, I feel like the goal at an event and a course like this is take advantage of par-5s. I can basically reach all of par-5s in two. So, yeah. If that's the case, you definitely lose a stroke against the field if you can't make birdies.
Yeah, I feel good about where my game is at. There is a lot of golf left, but definitely, you know, feeling good. It's nice to be in a good spot.
Q. Walk me through the eagle there.
ALISON LEE: Yeah, hit a great drive. Hit a hybrid up to the green. Had a nice probably 30 feet and just kind of went in on the right edge.
So, yeah, pretty simple. (Laughter.) Simple golf is good golf, so...
Q. For this kind of course, I know it's been a little dry the past few weeks here in Grand Rapids from what I've heard. To have a little bit of rain today, a little bit of rain coming in, what has the course been like and did you game plan for any of those changes specifically today?
ALISON LEE: I would say historically this golf course plays very close to a major golf course because the rough is usually really thick, there is no first cut.
Because it's been pretty dry, if you do miss a fairway, because it is dried up, you still get a pretty good lie, you could still get it up. You get it up to the green you could still make par, even birdie.
And the ball is rolling out, too. The way it's set up is fairly short, so, yeah, when it's set up like this today you definitely need to take advantage of getting on in two on par-5s and trying to make birdies, trying to play safe.
In the past, yeah, if you miss a green, if you miss a fairway, it's usually a tough comeback, but it's not so much this time. So I would say the strategy is definitely try and make as many birdies as you can, as many easy pars as you can basically.
Q. Yeah. I feel like every single year the final score is 20-under and you've got to go low here. To walk away with a 68 when that's what we've seen out of this morning, how satisfied are you with that?
ALISON LEE: Yeah, shot 67.
Q. Oh, 67. Sorry.
ALISON LEE: Don't worry. Like I said, I feel like I'm in a good spot. I can't complain. You know, we still got so much golf left. I can nitpick my round, but like I said, I made a few really good putts.
What I would like to see from myself the next few days is trying to be a little more accurate with my irons and approach shots. Like just trying to give myself more birdie chances and easier pars basically.
And I think that's the key to playing here. The greens are rolling really nice. If you're reading them properly you'll make a few putts here and there and that's happened to me today.
Q. We've seen you have quite a few impressive performance of late, couple Top 10 finishes in there. How comfortable are you feeling in your game coming into this week knowing it's a test before we have some majors ahead of us?
ALISON LEE: Yeah, I feel really good about my game. I've had a few really good rounds here and there throughout the year.
But I feel like I haven't finished to the best of my ability yet. It has been a little frustrating. Good round here and there, but I need all four rounds to come together and I haven't quite been able to figure that out yet.
Yeah, hopefully we've got a huge run of majors coming up. I mean, basically three majors almost in about a month, month and a half.
So I mean, that's how it is out here. You just kind of have to play and be hot, like when the majors are around, especially with it being so close together.
I feel really good about my game and try not to change too much, get too ahead of myself, and just staying patient.
Yeah, when you do get ahead of yourself you do tend to get a little nervous and don't hit the shots you want. You put a lot more pressure on yourself.
So, yeah, I'm just trying really hard to take it one shot at a time and let the birdies come and just try and stay focused on the next shot, the next hole, as opposed to looking at the big picture and worrying about majors and other tournaments coming forward.
Fastscripts by ASAP Sports...
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports