John Deere Classic

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Silvis, Illinois, USA

TPC Deere Run

Brendon Todd

Press Conference


THE MODERATOR: Man to beat heading into the final round. How does it feel?

BRENDON TODD: It feels great. I think that was the excitement on the putt on the last hole. Kept me bogey-free and kept me in the lead. You always want to be the guy being chased.

Q. Are you feeding off of this crowd? It's a little larger crowd than usual, but there were a lot of people cheering for you as you walked up 18 to sign your scorecard.

BRENDON TODD: Yeah, we had a great atmosphere on the last three or four holes there. The roar when I made the putt on 16 was fantastic. Like you said, that crowd there on the run at 18 is always special. Such a great venue here at TPC John Deere.

Q. What would it mean to join Brian Harman as another Bulldogs to win this thing?

BRENDON TODD: I love that. I know he got his first win here. Chris Kirks played awfully well here before. Russell Henley has come close. I think we all play well at similar places, so it's time to get it done.

Q. There's five guys that are at the house this year within three or four shots of the lead right now. They kick you out?

BRENDON TODD: (Laughing) My family came Tuesday to Thursday, so it was fun to spend some time with them. Didn't want to put them through the debauchery of the house, so we got a hotel in Moline. It's been a great week so far, and it's pretty cool how well that house is playing.

Q. With the leaderboard like this, what's the thought?

BRENDON TODD: Yeah, it's just head down and make birdies. It's going to be hard to run away and hide here, but that's the goal.

Anybody who is within three shots of the lead is looking to go as low as they can. So there's certainly going to be no defense for me tomorrow. It's going to be the same stuff.

If I have a wedge in my hand, I'm going for it. Par-5s you have to make birdies, and a little bit longer club, you can hit it on the green and give yourself a chance.

Q. Is it a little tougher this afternoon than it was yesterday?

BRENDON TODD: Definitely. Yesterday I had virtually no wind, and yeah, today it was blowing pretty good. I thought there were pretty good scores considering the wind today, but you get on these greens, they're rolling so good, I think guys are making putts.

Q. Was the wind unfamiliar?

DENNY McCARTHY: Not really. I think I've probably played that wind once a year here for a while. Pretty common.

Q. Any different mentality with the leaderboard as stacked as it is right now for you? You mentioned keeping it going here. How tough is that going to be for you tomorrow? Is that going to have to be something different, a different mindset for you on a Sunday?

BRENDON TODD: Not necessarily. Three and a half years ago when I won back-to-back. I shot maybe 62 in Bermuda and 67 or something on Sunday at Mayakoba.

So I think most of the time out here you are going to have to put up a good round on Sunday to win. Like you said, it's a very bunched leaderboard with a bunch of great players who are looking to go low. The winner can come from anywhere, so I'm going to have to go out there and treat it like I'm just in the bunch trying to shoot the lowest score.

Q. Do you have a number in mind, or is that part of your MO or not?

BRENDON TODD: No, I haven't thought about that. You can't put a number on it. This golf course has given up to 59 before. Virtually anybody can shoot any score out there tomorrow.

Q. The putt at 16 when obviously you make something like that, that's a bonus. What did you kind of see with that there?

BRENDON TODD: Well, I just remember because I always hit it in practice that it keeps hooking a lot once it gets over that ridge. So it's not a putt where you get up over the ridge, and it goes down and straightens out.

You've got to hit it firm to get it up the ridge, and as it breaks left, it better be high so it can keep coming over. You know, really for me the goal was let's not let it get low and start rolling away from the hole. Let's keep it on the high side and see if we can't drip it in, and that's what happened. It was just fantastic.

Q. Did you think it had a chance?

BRENDON TODD: Oh, absolutely. The whole way there it was looking just awesome. It really came down to speed. Somehow I got the speed right.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
134727-1-1878 2023-07-08 22:26:00 GMT

ASAP sports

tech 129