Q. Alex, talk about your first round on the PGA TOUR and your experience today.
ALEX SCHAAKE: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I didn't play great. I shot 1-over today. But to be out here and to be with the big boys, it's something that I've always dreamed of. I stuck around all day, and I finished really well. I'm really proud of that for myself, and I played with some really great guys, so that just topped it off, too.
Q. It wasn't the round you were looking for but certainly respectable. If you could just assess that for us, tell us what was working for you the most today.
ALEX SCHAAKE: Yeah, I felt really good. I honestly really wasn't that nervous on the first tee. I was going about my round, made a couple great pars and made an early birdie and just kind of followed it up with a quick double, so that broke the momentum a little bit.
I grind of regrouped there on the back nine after a couple more bogeys and I made a few more coming in. Yeah, I'm really happy with how I finished. Just got to go out there tomorrow and shoot a good score.
Q. What do you think the impact of this experience will be on you?
ALEX SCHAAKE: Yeah, I think it'll be really good. I'm on the Forme Tour right now. It's a couple stages under the PGA TOUR. So just getting any of the experience that I can get from these guys out here, it will really help because I play on courses that you've got to shoot really good scores on, and the guys out here shoot really good scores, and just seeing how they do that and how they handle themselves on the golf course when adversity hits is something that I've been paying attention to a lot, certainly this week.
Q. You said you weren't nervous; why do you think you weren't?
ALEX SCHAAKE: I think I was just prepared. I don't know. Maybe it's because I couldn't see the fans in my peripheral on the first tee. Yeah, I don't know. I've been out here all week with these guys practicing next to them on the driving range and playing practice rounds with them. It feels normal. It probably shouldn't, it being my first PGA TOUR event, but it feels oddly normal.
I'm excited to get out there tomorrow and really fire at some flags and make some birdies.
Q. You mentioned being around these guys. Have you had a chance to interact with any of them and talk to them, and what have you learned from them?
ALEX SCHAAKE: Yeah, just playing with them is kind of how I learn from them. Richard, who I played with today, is kind of a veteran, and he just has six starts about every year, so he's just grinding out here on TOUR, and I've talked a little bit with Zach Johnson. I saw him at the U.S. Open when my brother played there, and he said he wanted to play a practice round, giving advice to my brother, and I just kind of listened in, as well. Everyone out here is so great. I love being out here, and like I said, I'm just excited.
Q. It looks like you've got all the family supporting you, huh?
ALEX SCHAAKE: Yeah, all my family is out here. I had to buy a lot of tickets for them to get out here. Yeah, I'm glad they're all here. I have a lot of friends here, as well. A lot of Hawkeye fans, as well. I heard "go Hawks" a lot today. The support has been amazing. Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a blast.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports