THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome the captain of Crushers GC, the current solo clubhouse leader, Bryson DeChambeau. You're currently sitting at 5-under, shot a 2-under today, which was almost the low score of the day. The low score was 3-under. Incredibly difficult conditions. Tell us about your round and how it felt.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, what a test of golf out there. There was so many times out there where I felt like par was the best number it could possibly be out there on that hole, 14 being one of them. I don't know how anybody birdied 14. No. 11, I mean, that's a tough hole to birdie. 3, don't know how anybody birdied that. I almost did, but still. This golf course, every single angle just produced the most testing golf shots out there that I've seen in a long time.
I certainly enjoyed it. It was a great test. G-Bo and I were patient. We focused on the wind. We made sure we put it in the right places most of the time besides 11, but that's okay, we'll figure that one out after, and we did pretty well.
Q. They said that yesterday's round of golf was the second most difficult in LIV Golf history --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: This should be No. 1. If not, it's right up there. It's the same stature. Was it Andalucía, the first round 2024?
Q. Yes.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was right up there. I just think with the water everywhere -- Andalucía you could kind of get away with it in certain places. Here you can't get away with it. You make a double-cross or something, it's in the water and you're making double. I don't know; it's up there.
Q. The team in last place right now, their cumulative score is 46-over par. There's not a single team under par so far. The Crushers are sitting at 12-over tied for third. Obviously all four scores count tomorrow. Do you think it's going to be just anybody's game tomorrow?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it's already anybody's game without the wind. Then you add 20 mile-an-hour winds out here, yeah, it's going to be a toss-up, but I know my guys are gritty. I know they fight for every shot. I'm looking forward to them playing some good golf tomorrow. I'm excited for them.
Q. Two solid rounds out there so far; what has been working for you these two days? We've been here in October and April, two different seasons of the year. What do you think is the most difficult or comparing these two seasons of the year for playing the Blue Monster?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I like either season. The golf course plays very similar in both conditions. Maybe the wind flips a little bit.
But it doesn't really matter to me. This wind is the more difficult wind, I would say, so it's a good test leading up into the Masters, just a good test in general. I like these types of golf courses. They really do truly test and see if you have your full game.
For me this week, I've been working a lot more on my starting lines, and I feel like I've hit my starting lines a lot more with that curvature, that little draw that I have, and that's just been a huge comforting factor for me over the golf ball on really difficult shots. I just go, just go back to the driving range and have that starting line with a little bit of a draw, and that's been working very well for me this week. That's what I've been working on.
Q. Bryson, going into next week's Masters, your game is peaking at the right time. Do you feel good about that, and what are the things you want to improve upon? We're getting down to the time crunch.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I appreciate that perspective. I'm not thinking about peaking or anything. I'm just thinking about how do I get better; what little things can I work on to be better.
You can always get better, and that's kind of the mentality I take into these major championships, these LIV events, how do I just keep getting better, and sometimes I'm not there, I don't have anything and I don't know what's going on for whatever reason, but as I'm getting a little bit older, I'm learning how to stay on track a lot more, be more consistently on track.
So going into next week it's going to be more of the same of how do I get a little bit better; how do I start the ball on the correct line with the right curvature for a certain wind; for certain pin locations how do I place the ball in a certain position; how do I have better speed control in windy conditions; how do I adjust for that on the greens when I feel a gust and work with it. So really comfortable with that for next week is a key goal of mine, and just going to take it as-is and continue to work hard on my game.
Q. Obviously a strong day today and you're in a strong position heading into tomorrow. What is that conversation tonight and in the immediate future not only with your caddie but the team about the course itself and the adjustments and obviously the tough winds?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, for me it's going to be controlling what I can control, putting myself in the best location as much as possible, not getting ahead of the game. A few times I thought to myself, okay, if that happens, if that happens. Nope, right here, right now. Stay in your bubble, stay focused, and keep executing as well as you possibly can. The more I can do that, the better I'll play.
Q. You talked about patience. Was that stretch between birdies an example of testing your patience --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.
Q. How proud were you to come out of that --
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: There was a few holes where I could have lost it and it gone the other way, and I would have been back at even par real quickly. No. 9, didn't make birdie on 10, bogeyed 11, parred 12, almost bogeyed 13, almost bogeyed 14. It could have been right back to even par, and that's this golf course for you. You've just got to stay patient and make a putt when you have to, and if you don't, try to steer that ship back on track as quickly as possible.
But sometimes that doesn't happen, and today was a testament to that of, okay, I'm not doing my best, but let's get the ball in the hole and let's give ourselves another shot on the next hole. Yeah, it was a tremendous amount of patience that G-Bo and I had today and yesterday, and we're probably going to have to have more of it tomorrow.
Q. How much fun was hitting that driver at 16?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, I mean, I took a big sigh. I was like, oh, my gosh, thank goodness it's over the water. If that goes in the water I'm thinking to myself, oh, no, now I'm really screwing the pooch. But getting up-and-down after that -- that's how quickly this golf course can turn on you. You hit a great drive -- shoot, on 7 today I hit a great 3-wood right down the middle and it goes through the fairway, and I have no shot to the flag location.
It just felt like almost every single hole I hit great drives that didn't end up in the exact right position 5, 10 yards off, and 14 another example of that. Primetime drive down there, right into the deep, thick rough, had a marshmallow golf ball come out because the rough was so thick. That's that golf course. It takes a little bit of luck to win, and I've got to have a little bit of luck tomorrow but a lot of patience.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports