Q. 4-under 68 today this is your seventh straight day of tournament golf. You're now at 21-under. You were 1-under through the first 15 holes today. How were you able to stay in this round down the stretch and make those three final birdies?
BLADES BROWN: Yeah, I tried to give myself as many opportunities as birdie as possible. I knew that 16 was a par-5 I could semi get to it in two. I tried to stay as far as I could away from the left side of that green. Yeah, hooped two putts coming in, and that was cool.
Q. Can you describe that feeling, 45-footer right there at the end. You made 75 feet of putts on those last three holes. David Ford's clapping on the green. What was that moment like?
BLADES BROWN: It was surreal. That's what you practice for. That's what late nights that you're going out to putt and pretending that you have a putt to win the Masters, that right there is what it's all about.
Q. Speaking of late nights, yesterday you told us you needed a nap after the round. After all of these days coming over from the Bahamas on Wednesday night, how are you feeling physically?
BLADES BROWN: I feel great. I got another opportunity to see what we can make happen tomorrow. Got another 18 holes and, yeah, should be fun.
Q. Mentally though, Rickie Fowler, I know he was one of the players that you looked up to growing up. We asked him about being in your shoes yesterday. He said he would do anything to put himself back in shoes like yourself, 18 years old, being in the mix in a PGA TOUR event. What's it like hearing that from a player? How do you get mentally ready for tomorrow being in contention on a Sunday?
BLADES BROWN: Rickie is an individual I've looked up to. I mean, when I first started getting into golf -- there's a picture somewhere, my dad has it, I used to rock a Rickie Fowler orange outfit all the time. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Q. What did you feel like you did best today?
BLADES BROWN: Today? Just staying level. There's so many emotions that you go through in a round. I was 1-under through 15 holes, and I knew that there were some guys coming up the leaderboard that were going to make a run. I tried to put myself in as many birdie positions as possible and happened to make three coming down the stretch.
Q. Did you feel like today you maybe needed to be a little more patient, knowing that the Stadium Course is, of the three, probably the toughest?
BLADES BROWN: Yeah, well I still haven't played any practice rounds on these golf courses, so I was playing it a little conservative on the front nine. But, no, I'm having so much fun out here. This is what you practice for, this is what you dream of, and right now I'm getting to live my dream.
Q. I saw a video, I know you were preparing for these courses on the plane, but did your caddie lead you around a little bit?
BLADES BROWN: Yeah, my caddie, Brett Swedberg, he's awesome. He keeps me level while he's on the bag. And yeah, right now so far I've been able to hit it just where I want to for most of the part or for most of the time. But yeah, these courses are in awesome condition. Wind started get up towards the end which makes it a little more challenging. I definitely got lucky on 17. I almost went in the water long, but then we made the putt.
Q. How will you handle tomorrow, obviously going to be in contention to win this golf tournament, what's maybe something that you maybe fall back on from the past? You've had a lot of success as a junior and amateur, and as a professional as well, what do you fall back on tomorrow?
BLADES BROWN: I just think I fall back on just the things that I can control. Tomorrow I'm just going to go out and play the best that I can and we're going to see what happens.
Q. That was fun to watch. Great finish. Last year you took the Friday at the Nicklaus into the Stadium on Saturday, didn't go great. This year is a different story. Did you take something from that round last year, learn something specifically about the Stadium Course that you applied to today?
BLADES BROWN: 100 percent. I think if I can take every single competitive professional tournament round and learn something from it, you just keep stacking those day after day it's going to be a really cool story. So that's one thing that I tried to do is I try to learn from every round. And yeah, last year was a little unfortunate, but I learned from it. I think that's what you have to do.
Q. Something specific about the Stadium Course that you applied this time around that you learned last time?
BLADES BROWN: Oh, these golf courses are so difficult. If the wind starts blowing, it can get pretty dicey out there. But no, I'm having fun out there. I'm 18 years old playing on the PGA TOUR. How awesome is that? I finished high school about two weeks ago, so it's nice to have that burden off my back, but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.
Q. Speaking of being 18 years old and not old enough to drink, or at least not technically, were you aware that on 17 that you make that birdie that everybody gets discounted beers?
BLADES BROWN: No way? Well, I'll make sure to go get some bottled water and I'll have my bottled water then.
Q. I asked you yesterday, I'll ask you the same question today. Those final three birdies puts you in a position to maybe be in the final pairing tomorrow, maybe to be there alongside the world No. 1. Do you give me the same answer you did yesterday or maybe something different, now that you've had a little time to think about it and then you posted a nice score today?
BLADES BROWN: I'm just excited to be playing the weekend. I'm so grateful to be out here. My team has just been phenomenal. I'm just a representation of what so many people have invested into me, and I'm just so thankful to be out here.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports