Q. Good round out there for you, put yourself right in contention. What worked well for you?
ADAM HADWIN: I mean, everything. I think everything has to work well to shoot 8-under par.
Yeah, I continued to strike the ball very well, both off the tee and into the greens. I had a lot of good opportunities today. Made a few more putts than I had the previous couple days.
Looking forward to a chance to win a golf tournament tomorrow.
Q. Hadn't played in a while coming into this event. Were you rusty?
ADAM HADWIN: I would like to say I was rusty, but I think based on the scores I don't feel very rusty. Certainly rejuvenated. You take that amount of time off I was ready to come back and see where I was at and get into competition again. That's what I miss the most when we have the time off. It's been nice. Great to play with Adam today. Both played well, and looking forward to a chance to win tomorrow.
Q. You were right in the thick of it at Rocket Mortgage a few months back, gave it a run at Zurich, played well in the final round. You obviously have the one PGA TOUR win, 2017 Valspar. Do you think about that win much?
ADAM HADWIN: I mean, it's always going to be a highlight of my career and one of the best moments that I've had. First win on TOUR is pretty special. Obviously not closing in the last six years has been disappointing. I've kind of gone through some ups and downs during those six years, as well, so I feel like I'm back on that upswing, playing well. Again, Rocket Mortgage, Zurich last year, had my chances.
I certainly don't feel like I've lost golf tournaments by any stretch. I've felt like Rocket Mortgage I did what I could, felt like Rickie went out there and won it.
I'm going to have to make a lot of birdies tomorrow. Who knows where we're going to be at the end of the day. Guys still have a lot of holes to play. That back nine can give up a pretty low score. We'll see. We'll keep the head down, keep trying to hit fairways and greens, and hopefully the putter shines.
Q. Those two tournaments you've contended, those are both ones where you have to make a lot of birdies. It seems like a situation you're comfortable in.
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, definitely comfortable. Traditionally putter has been a very strong part of my game, so if the ball-striking is there, you can get away with a few things on a course like this. You don't have to be perfect.
So I think that helps with the confidence a little bit. I don't have to be perfect. I've just got to give myself chances. That's really what it comes down to, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.
Q. You've played well here in the past. Does that help with a crowded leaderboard tomorrow, to have that history on your side?
ADAM HADWIN: Probably very minorly. If anything, it just gives me some confidence going into tomorrow that I've played the course well. I know how to get it around this place and that I've done some good things. Kind of call on those memories a little bit. But it's tough. It's tough to win out here. Like I said, got to keep the head down and keep moving forward.
Q. What is the game plan tomorrow?
ADAM HADWIN: Make as many birdies as possible. You know, don't move back, make as many birdies as possible, and if the wind is similar to today, I feel like we're going to be in for a shootout.
Q. Does this feel a little bit like the Canadian Open with you and Taylor and Adam and Nick all top 10 at this point?
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, I mean, minus the crowd cheering for us -- there's still a lot of Canadians out here, but yeah, what a fantastic start to the fall for the Canadian contingent, obviously. The three, Adam, Nick and I, are comfortably in and kind of looking I think more so to January, but to see Taylor playing well -- it's been an unbelievable year for Canadian golf in general, so hopefully one of us can put our name on the trophy tomorrow.
Q. I think any time a Canadian does something well, someone looks at that's big for a potential Presidents Cup bid. Is that as big a motivator as it is made out to be?
ADAM HADWIN: I think that once we start getting into maybe the heart of next year, I think that's when it'll really start to probably weigh on our minds a little bit more. I think it's pretty early. A year out -- obviously don't get me wrong, it's great to play well and to show Mike that you can play well, but I think there's going to be some more recency bias into that decision and stuff.
Like I said, I'm playing one event this fall. I've had seven weeks off, and I'm about to have 11. I'm happy to be here competing. Obviously playing well is a bonus. Hopefully take home a trophy tomorrow.
Q. Is it the history, how you've played here, that made this one of your stops?
ADAM HADWIN: Yeah, it was kind of an easy one to choose. I've played well here. I like it here. My whole team was going to be here, as well, so it was a bit of a mini-camp for me so I didn't have to go too many places in the off-season. Just kind of figure out where the game is at, maybe try to put a few pieces together, what do I want to work on in the next little bit to get ready for January.
Q. You came into the week sixth in par-3 scoring on TOUR this year and you went 3-under today to bolster that. What is it about par-3s that you seem to like so much?
ADAM HADWIN: You know, I've taken a very -- it doesn't show sometimes when you make eight birdies on a golf course, but I play fairly conservatively compared to a lot of guys, and I feel that helps me on the par-3s. There's a lot of hit it to the middle of the green, give myself a chance, walk away with a 3, do no harm kind of thing.
So I do think that helps a little bit, especially when we get to places -- certain golf courses like Muirfield or something like that where the par-3s are very difficult, and one little misstep can be a 5. If I can pinpoint anything, that might be it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports