Q. When you went out today did you feel like you had to go out and be aggressive and to try and put yourself in the mix to have a chance to win today?
TOM HOGE: Yeah, to be honest, I don't know if I really felt like I had a chance to win at any point. Felt like I was trying to make as many birdies as I could. There were so many great players ahead of me starting the day, Scottie, Xander, those guys been playing so well all year. Still feels like I'll probably be a couple short, but you never know.
Q. What's worked so well for you this week?
TOM HOGE: I hit it really well this week. I felt like I drove it well which is key for me. Probably one of the best weeks this year with my irons. Just gave myself a ton of chances. I shots 1-under the first round and probably played better than I did today even, just didn't make anything. Just kind of hung in there long enough that the putter started heat up a little bit.
Q. I talked to your caddie James earlier this week and we were talking about the schedule coming up and you weren't in the Open Championship yet, and I know there's a couple different calculations, did you have any idea, like a good finish this week maybe might help your chances with that?
TOM HOGE: For sure. I know I felt like my way into The Open Championship was top 20 in the FedExCup and I knew I needed to have great week for that. Still hard to know exactly where that's going to fall. Hopefully it's enough because I would love to be over there and get out of this heat for a few weeks.
Q. Do you know how many PGA TOUR members have come out of North Dakota before you?
TOM HOGE: Not many. I want to say maybe three. But I could be wrong on that.
Q. I used to live in Montana so I know what it's like out there.
TOM HOGE: Not exactly golf weather, is it. (Laughing).
Q. How did you end up here?
TOM HOGE: That's great question. I don't know. I just tried to keep getting better along the way. I went to school down in Texas and stuck down there. So took advantage of that weather when I could. It's just been a slow progression of getting a little bit better each year.
Q. That tied your career low on the PGA TOUR. Did you kind of know that that tied it?
TOM HOGE: I do, now that I think about it. It was probably the last thing I was thinking about, I was just trying to make one more birdie out there the whole day out there and see if it would be good enough.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports