Q. Is an opening round of 69. Give us your verdict on that one?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it was pretty solid basically the whole way. Made a nice birdie on No. 2 and hit a lot of good shots. I just didn't make any putts on the front nine until the ninth hole, and then I made another one on 10 and another one on 12.
I felt like I was doing pretty well and started hitting some not-so-good shots kind of coming in but I got pretty heavily penalised. I didn't hit the worst shots but I got penalised pretty heavily. The bogey on 16 and 17 hurt a little bit but it was nice to get the one back on 18.
Q. Quality approach on 18 out of the bunker. How different is your set now going into a short shot compared to a year ago?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it's incredible. Even just the up-and-down on 1, like the shot that I hit from the bridge on 17, I could have easily, if I hit that short, comes rolling back down and it might go in the water. So it's just every time I miss a green, I'm like, okay, I can do this.
I hit the worst shot on 13, short-sided right and didn't have much room to work with. Hit a really nice kind of flop shot out of the rough and almost made it. It just turns the game completely around. If I hit a bad shot, it's not the end of the world, whereas before it would be an automatic bogey.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports