Q. Clubhouse leader so far, what was working for you out there?
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, it felt like a full, my whole game felt really nice. I didn't strike it well to start the day. My short game really bailed me out at the start there. Obviously holing it on 10, and then having it stay out of the water, really on the first two holes. I mean, we kind of know that what the moisture it's not -- as long as it lands up top and rolls down it's not rolling in the water there. So, unfortunately, it made me hit it over there. But, yeah, once I got settled down after five or six holes started hitting it really well and it was relatively stress-free. I probably only had a few long-ish par putts, but, yeah, I think I missed my first five or six greens, so after that it was nice to hit fairways and greens.
Q. What's your afternoon routine when you are in this position where you're the early leader on a Thursday or Friday? Do you watch the leaderboard or are you just going through your typical practice, meals, etcetera?
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, I think I enjoy watching because I feel like as pro golfers we don't watch a lot of golf. So when we have a morning tee time I'll just try to catch a little bit of coverage in dining or when I go home and recover. But for the most part do my own thing, get on my iPad and play some video games or some chess and go get a nice dinner. But yeah it's totally different. I mean, obviously we're 50/50 with the late/early and the early/late tee times, so it's two completely feels to start the week. This is definitely the more relaxed of the two. Even though I really enjoy playing late/early as well on some occasions. But, yeah, you have a lot of time to recover and just, it's nice. This course is actually pretty tough to walk right now because it's wet and the rough's up. So get a Normatec on or something.
Q. What's this course's best defense? The rough, maybe the wind?
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, I think you're pretty secluded in these trees. The wind's pumping up there, but you can't really feel it. So the ball gets up and all of a sudden the cross wind really takes it. The way the holes are, the way the whole course is designed, there's a ton of cross wind with this west, southwest kind of wind. Pretty much every hole felt like some sort of the cross wind, so it's tricky. The fairways are definitely very generous. In the back of your mind you know that obviously the fescue's brutal, but it's bare in spots. So I think just having that in mind it's easier to commit to some of those lines where you have to start it in the fescue with the crosswinds. Just have to really commit. It's easy to hit some foul balls out here. Then the greens are quite slopey. They're not very quick, especially with the rain, but they're rolling nicely. Yeah, it's just a good combination of hard holes and easy holes. There's a real, I felt like there was like four or five really long par-4s out there where I'm hitting 5-wood or 5-iron or some sort of really long club in, felt like four or five of those. So just getting past those holes and trying to score on the holes where have you wedges.
Q. Your results the last little while, probably ones that you would have liked to improve on. But at this time of the year do you talk to somebody about turning things around, do you give yourself a pep talk or is it one of these situations where you think, Hey, I know good golf is maybe around the corner?
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, I think my results last couple months haven't been too great, but the golf game has been there. I mean, every golfer I guess kind of says that. But you have to think that way. You just got to stay positive, can't get too down on yourself. I'm making a lot of cuts, which is great. Something's obviously going well. These guys are just really, really good out here and even making a cut out here feels like a little bit of an accomplishment especially when you're not a hundred percent on your game. So just taking confidence from that. Even last week, like just the back nine on Sunday kept me really from a top-10 finish probably. So it's close. It's close and I felt like it's been close to clicking so hopefully just continue this play the rest of the week and kind of gear up for the final part of the year here.
Q. You talked about your video games, what's your favorite game and are you good at that as you are at golf?
SAHITH THEEGALA: No. I used to play a lot more video games, a lot of PC stuff right now I'm just playing this it's called a roguelite, it's just, I have an app on my iPad called Balatro, it's like a poker game of sorts. Yeah, it's just something I can be competitive in off the golf course. I still try and play a little bit of chess. I haven't done too much. I've kind of plateaued a bit. I need some help on that end. But, yeah, it's just away to get my competitive outlet off of the golf course without any risk of injury.
Q. Is there anything special to you that you think about with National Opens and what it would be like to win one of these. When you look at the trophy and see some of the names on it.
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, I think, obviously an RBC ambassador, I'm required to play here, but I think I would play here every single year regardless. I just love it. Especially, I really felt it my rookie year coming up here before I was an ambassador, I just loved the event. The Canadian fans are awesome. They're just so excited to have us here. Our first year was at St. George's and the crowds there were unbelievable. I played with Scottie the final round and there was 20 people deep there, especially being close to the city. So just that being my first experience, I feel like I get a ton of support out here, more so than I do on a normal week on the TOUR for sure. Just everything about that makes it feel like an elevated kind of event. I know how much it means to the Canadian players and there's a reason why guys, the best players in the world come over here to play. There's just something a little more about a National Open. So, yeah, it's an honor to be an ambassador, but, yeah, it's definitely a little elevated from a normal event and you can feel that, for sure.
Q. Obviously there's a major international soccer tournament kicking off in Toronto tomorrow. Are you a soccer fan and if so will you be paying attention to the tournament?
SAHITH THEEGALA: Yeah, I watch absolutely zero soccer other than the World Cup. I tune into the World Cup every four years and I get addicted to it. I see why it's the biggest sport in the world. It's just so easy to follow, the allure is great. Everyone can rally behind their home country. And, yeah, I'll be tuning in, for sure. It's so fun, it's so fun to see how badly the players want it. You can see the nerves, you can see the excitement. You just get moments that you never get in a normal match during the World Cup. It's just the biggest events bring out the best in the best players.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports