Q. 18 points, seventh place on the first day. Talk to me about the round.
VINNY DEL NEGRO: It was up-and-down. I got away with a few shots. I didn't convert on a few. Kind of misclubbed it a couple times. 3-putted. The wind picked up on the far front side because we teed off on the back. But overall, considering I haven't played a ton of golf, I was happy, played with great guys, Derek Lowe, Jeff Millar played a ton of golf together. They were fantastic. Derek hit well today.
But it's the first day. You want to stay in the mix. Gotta work on a few things for sure, be a little more aggressive at the pins. And bottom line, you've got to make putts.
Q. What's it like coming back to this place as past champion?
VINNY DEL NEGRO: Special. There's no question. The fans are spectacular. The whole environment. The course is, I think, in as good of shape as I've seen it. It's been in good shape past years, but I've been fortunate to play here for a long time. I would say these conditions are as good as I've seen from start to finish. Just a joy to play with Kevin and Derek, buddies of mine for years, and we played a lot of golf together.
So Derek hit it well today. We could have made some more -- we all left some points out there. That's part of it. That's golf. We just grinded it through, and seems like the wind's picking up a little bit more.
Q. You won in '21, but since then haven't had a top 10. Do you think your game is trending in the right direction?
VINNY DEL NEGRO: I have been very injured. I had tears in my shoulder, tears in my knee. Got a back issue last year. Still the back's bothering me. To be honest, the back felt well really well today. I was very pleased with how the back felt. I've got to get some therapy today and get it loose for tomorrow, see how it feels.
I used to be the young guy. Now I'm one of the older guys, if not the oldest. Playing with these young guys that hit it so far, just trying to put a little pressure on them. I need to play better tomorrow, a little more consistent. But obviously it's the first day of three. So we'll take it and we'll work on some things and hopefully play a little better tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports