Q. Is it weird that you shot 64 here in 2018 to start the tournament?
GARY WOODLAND: I didn't remember if it was the first round or second round. I remember shooting 64.
Q. It was.
GARY WOODLAND: Today was nice. I played, I hit it better today than I did that day. I made a ton of putts that day, I remember. Today I drove it nice, controlled the irons in there. I made a couple long putt, but I left a lot out there as well. So I was very happy with the way I hit the ball today.
Q. You mentioned you grew up not far from here.
GARY WOODLAND: Three and a half hours. Which is as close, 18 years on TOUR, this is as close as I'll ever get to home. So this is special. When it's on the calendar I look forward to coming back, for sure.
Q. Your clothing with the black and gold, explain, please.
GARY WOODLAND: Let's just say there's a lot more blue in the rest of the week for me with this week. All the fans were very nice to me. Being a Kansas boy, the fans were very nice to me. But I'm a Kansan at heart, and I'll represent the blue the rest of the week, for sure.
Q. Can you talk about the hole-out.
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, it was a good number. I was just trying to get it past the hole. It's a little bit elevated so we couldn't see it go in. So I knew I hit it nice, but when you see the crowd jump up that was definitely a bonus.
Q. What kind of wedge?
GARY WOODLAND: It was a sand wedge. I had 102 yards, we were trying to hit is 105. I probably flew it one or two past where I wanted to, but it was nice to spin back there in the hole.
Q. 17 out of 18 greens in regulation, but the size of these greens this week is that maybe a little bit of a misleading number?
GARY WOODLAND: I don't know if it is. The thing is the greens are big, but they're sectioned off pretty good. There's a lot of slopes in a lot of areas. So for me it seemed like I hit it a lot closer -- I hit it nicely. I controlled the distance. I gave myself a lot of opportunities. I left a lot out there as well. So I'm proud of the way I controlled the ball today for sure.
Q. What would it mean to make it to East Lake for you?
GARY WOODLAND: Been out here 18 years, that's a goal when you start it up every year is to get to East Lake. It shows the consistency you've had throughout the year. But for me, from where I've came from and where I've been, that would be a big accomplishment.
Q. Is it on your mind?
GARY WOODLAND: Yeah, I mean, what's more on my mind is playing this week. East Lake, you know, if I go out and play well I think I can take care of myself and everything should take care of itself. But I'm pumped to be here, I really am. This is as close as I get to home. I have a lot of friends and a lot of KU people out here supporting me. This is a special week for me.
Q. What did you hit on 17?
GARY WOODLAND: 17, I hit a 2-iron. We were trying to get it in the middle of the green and I hammered it. We had it almost 285. I flew it back there with a 2-iron. We were pleasantly surprised where that ball was. We thought it was middle of the green, maybe just off, and it ended up being 12 feet. That was pretty good.
Q. Who did it better wit the 64, you today or Tiger when you played with him in the final round there?
GARY WOODLAND: Well, I'll tell you, it was a lot louder. His 64 that day was impressive. He didn't hit a fairway on the front, shot 3-under. The putt he made on 9 was the loudest roar I've heard on a golf course. I think my family left halfway through that round, they couldn't see anything the crowds were so big. He put on a show. He parred 17, I do remember that he hit it in the hazard and made a par, so he probably could have gone a little lower than that. But it was impressive. I learned a lot from him that day.
Q. What did you see in the videos from '18 that helped you today?
GARY WOODLAND: Swing was a little shorter then. I've been working on some other things and kind of got away from that a little bit. I like a lot of the things I'm doing better now than I was doing there, but I just tried to get a little more solid at the top and, man, it allowed me to control the ball really well.
Q. Since you know golf courses in this part of the country, what impresses you about what they have been able to do in conditioning and setting up this course for this championship?
GARY WOODLAND: The golf course is perfect. Obviously we would not like to have the rain that they had. But the condition of the golf course is, the Zoysia is perfect, the greens are rolling amazing, the rough's consistent throughout. They have done great job. It's nice for me because this is -- I'm back home for the summer in Kansas, this is what I practice on every day. So it's nice to get that feel and feel very comfortable with all the shots that I face.
Q. Any backstory in how Sneds told you you're --
GARY WOODLAND: I talked to Sneds really since he took the captaincy. We've been -- obviously we were both on the Ryder Cup last year as vice captains, so I've been in contact with him throughout the whole process. We talked about it last week in person and, but, I've been, yeah, we've been in contact throughout the whole time.
Q. Any banter with Scottie out there today?
GARY WOODLAND: A lot. I'm going to take a little credit for his win last week, because I was with him for four days in Dallas before we went to Memphis, and I was giving him a hard time that we've won the same amount this year. And he took care of that pretty quickly. He won by 8. So now I'm trying to avoid him a little bit. I told him, If that's all it takes is me talking, I'm available for higher, I'll talk. But last week was that was something else.
Q. You talked about wanting to get to East Lake since you started, but given everything you've been through physically and emotionally, how much pride do you take in that fighting through?
GARY WOODLAND: I'm proud of where I'm at right now. I can promise you East Lake wasn't on my mind to start the year. It's a goal, I think you write it down, but it seemed like far far away. The game's just continued to grind. I've had up-and-down days. I've had some rough days lately. But I just, we've built this together, Randy and I, to get to a point where I feel very comfortable over the golf ball. If I can find a way to get through 18 holes mentally, my game's in a pretty good spot where I can compete out here at a level I haven't been able to compete in a while.
Q. Has this season and how you played just kind of changed your perspective on how the next couple years can go for you?
GARY WOODLAND: I think I got a lot of perspective over the last couple years. I know I'm fighting for a lot more than playing golf. I'm hopefully having a positive impact on a lot of people's lives just showing up and fighting. Knowing that I'm struggling every day and hopefully -- I mean, I had a kid follow me last week from came over from New Zealand who's got an inoperable brain tumor. So there's, hopefully I'm having a bigger impact than just showing up and showing that I can still compete and play out here and live my dreams. That's the big deal is I'm struggling and I'm still living my dreams. I hope people see that and try to do the same thing.
Q. How old was the kid?
GARY WOODLAND: He was 11.
Q. (No Microphone.)
GARY WOODLAND: When I've gone through some treatment and when I'm doing -- when I'm struggling I put my hand on my heart to just to remind myself that I'm alive, and if I can feel my heart beat I know I'm breathing. And I've done that this year just to try to slow my heart down, tell myself I'm safe and I'll be all right.
Q. (No Microphone.)
GARY WOODLAND: The problem is my hand made the grip a little slippery when I brought it back down, but it was better today.
Q. Are you in a better spot now than you were maybe when you talked to Rex back in the spring?
GARY WOODLAND: I got a lot of relief from that. I still battle the same things now that I was battling then, but I feel the love and support, I don't feel like I'm hiding anything. I have more energy and that's the big deal. I was wasting energy hiding that and I'm not wasting the energy anymore. So I'm still battling it, but I'm able to fight it a little better now.
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