Q. "MJ," is that a nickname?
MJ MAGUIRE: That's always been my name. My dad is Michael, too, so it's just confusing, two Mikes, two Michaels. There's enough Michaels out there. It was always MJ. It was kind of like -- I was like, all right, they are going to call me Michael, it's fine. Not really bothered by it and then I was like, I could probably ask for a name change.
Q. What a round for you today, 8-under par. Equalled the course record, which is actually set earlier today.
MJ MAGUIRE: I had no idea.
Q. You're probably just in your own lane. Sum up today. How was that?
MJ MAGUIRE: Yeah, it was great. Yesterday I played great, too. I felt really good about the game coming into today. Just needed to see a couple putts fall. Yeah, it was nice. I birdied most of the par 5s. I think I birdied -- no, I didn't birdie 2. But played the par 5s well, and rolled in a couple of long putts. A couple 30-footers, which is nice to see.
Because I've come here and I've always struggled with the greens. It really fits my eye tee-to-green. Kind of shape shots however you want off the tee. I like coming here but then, you know, the greens haven't been too kind to me but today it was nice. Finally got a few putts to roll in.
Q. A bit of a surprise, probably not to you, but you've obviously been working behind the scenes. What was that like for you?
MJ MAGUIRE: I've been on the road for four months, so it probably won't really sink in until I go home and see my family and see my friends and stuff.
Yeah, definitely, I've worked really hard for the last five, six years. It's good to see that hard work finally pay off. There was low moments where I thought maybe I would never win again or really be able to compete out here. And then just kind of stuck with it, put my head down and just dug it out of the dirt.
Q. Did something click for you? Was there something you changed in your game at all?
MJ MAGUIRE: Not really. I kind of just went back to, I kind of used to try and hit a fade, too. I kind of wanted to work it both ways. I was like, it's your normal shot to draw. Hit a draw. I can hit hold-off straight shots but not really comfortable seeing the ball curve left-to-right. I went ahead and decided, you've just got to play your shot and live with it.
Q. That projected you right up the International Series rankings, and as you know, the No. 1 spot gets a spot on LIV. Is that on your mind just now?
MJ MAGUIRE: Obviously Pete is playing well again this week. He's going to be tough to catch. Have a good weekend, you never know. Just got to kind of play one shot at a time, play my own game, and see what happens.
Q. The Promotions event next week, as well. Another opportunity. You're probably not thinking that far ahead. Taking it tournament by tournament, I suppose?
MJ MAGUIRE: Pretty much. It's nice that we're playing this course again next week. This is kind of like a little practise for next week. Kind of took a little bit of pressure off today. It was like, okay, you don't play well today, you've still got a chance tomorrow or next week.
Yeah, it does help to have that Promotion event if you don't win the Order of Merit.
Q. What do you think of the whole International Series setup as well?
MJ MAGUIRE: Setup is great. Courses are awesome. We get to go to great, great cities, nice countries. People are very friendly. It's a good experience here being in the desert, very far from what I'm used to.
Q. Where are you from the in States again?
MJ MAGUIRE: Florida. So tropical, water on both sides. Obviously I've been in Arizona and seen deserts.
Q. We're going to see more of your name on some trophies going forward, as well, do you think?
MJ MAGUIRE: I hope so, definitely.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports