THE MODERATOR: Steve Allan is with us now, the 2026 Senior PGA Championship. A real nice 6-under 66 for you today in round one. How would you summarize your performance?
STEPHEN ALLAN: It went well today. I putted really well. A couple of shots that were loose didn't get me in any trouble and was pretty solid, just pretty consistent.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. From your preparation for this week and what happened today, what things could you confirm on the greens and on the course?
STEPHEN ALLAN: Yeah, the course is really tricky. You've probably heard a lot of the guys talk about all the runoffs and particularly the greens are tricky. A lot of the tee shots are tricky because it kind of feels like it's in between clubs all the time, so you've got to make a decision. So it's a golf course you really have to keep on top of your game.
My preparation was a little shaky. I wasn't really hitting it particularly good in the lead-up, so I didn't have very high expectations today, but it was just a matter of going out there and just trying to see what happened. It was a nice morning, got off to a good start, and just kept it rolling.
Q. Talk about no birdies, and was there a key point in the round for you today?
STEPHEN ALLAN: No bogeys I presume you mean (laughing). I think very early in the round I had a key point. I hit a terrible tee shot on 12, and it buried in the face of the bunker, so I could just chop it out. Then I hit a really good lob wedge in there to about 4 feet and made it for par, which early on that keeps the momentum going.
The very next hole I hit it left on that really big deep on the par-5 for two and hit a nice pitch up onto the green to about 15 feet and made it. So those two could easily have gone the other way, but instead I was a couple under. That was probably the moment that got the round or kept it on the right track.
From then on I played pretty well. After that I didn't miss too many greens. You know, didn't hit a lot close, but just consistent all day. Rolled a couple in. Made a couple of birdies on the par-5s.
Q. How proud are you of the no bogeys?
STEPHEN ALLAN: Yeah, that's good. Any time you can do that, especially on a place like this, is very good. Sometimes I find when that happens, I'm thinking about it too much with a couple holes to go. I just don't want to give one up, but today I wasn't really thinking about it. Luckily, I didn't do it, didn't give one up.
Q. With all the trickiness that's out there, what was your game plan to try to keep the bogeys off your card?
STEPHEN ALLAN: You can't have a game plan to keep them off, because I think they're going to happen. You know, I think that you have to accept it. You're going to hit some good shots and get some bad bounces. A couple of the pins are really close to slopes where you could miss them and go a long way away. So I think I'm trying to be conservative into the green, but the areas into the greens are actually pretty small, so it's hard to be. You can't just hit to the fat of the green because there's trouble over there as well.
You've try to got to hit, pick some conservative targets when the pins are a little tucked, and then just commit to hitting it there and hope you do.
Q. I know you went through a couple of your par saves that were key early in the round, but what was maybe the most nervous shot to stand over today?
STEPHEN ALLAN: There's a few out there. I think there's a lot of uncomfortable shots. I think the drives on 15 and 16 just with the water right there. Even though there's a lot of room, you still have to somewhat hit it close to the water.
I think the tee shot on 17 is very uncomfortable, because you can take it up the right over the bunkers, but if you pull it, you can hit the water easily. I think all of those tee shots are uncomfortable.
I think even towards the end there even hitting the wedge into the eighth hole with the pin tucked right next to the water was pretty uncomfortable. There's a lot of uncomfortable shots, yeah.
Q. You had a T8 last year, and you seemed to be playing a lot better. Just talk about how your game appears to be rounding into form.
STEPHEN ALLAN: I didn't play this tournament last year actually. Yeah, I've been playing well the last 12 months. I had a few wins out here on the Champions Tour, which gives you that confidence that if you play well, you're going to be right there.
There's a lot of great competition out here, so you can't take it for granted, but I think that if I have a week where I get on top of my game and putt well, I'm going to give myself a chance. Obviously it would be great to do that at a tournament like this.
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