Q. We'd like to welcome Ryan Armour. Ryan, talk about being back here in Ohio and at Muirfield, a place that's near and dear to you.
RYAN ARMOUR: Yeah, I love it. Any time I can get back to Columbus where I went to school, it's going to be a little different this week, we're not hearing the "O-H"s out there and "Go Bucks," but my wife and kids are here, and they enjoy Columbus, and we have a lot of friends in the area. I think today they're over at Scioto playing golf actually. They're going to enjoy their time here, and I'm going to try and work hard and play well here at Muirfield.
THE MODERATOR: Speaking of playing well, you were doing just that, coming off back-to-back top-6 finishes in your last two starts. You went into the pandemic not playing so well, a handful of missed cuts and you came out of it and here you are on the heels of two really strong finishes in the last two weeks. What has come around for you as best you can put your finger on?
RYAN ARMOUR: A couple things. Health, I was kind of battling some neck issues there, especially during the Florida Swing. I had a couple pulled muscles in my neck, and I was trying to play through them, which is never a good thing, but that's just me. I like to play. And another thing, my instructor Jason Carbone and I were going through a little grip change. I was trying to strengthen my left hand, and the time off was actually a blessing for me, so for three weeks I got to lay the clubs down and let my body heal and then was able to pick back up like I was starting over with the grip change. The grip change allowed me -- I'm hitting the ball a lot more solid and giving myself a lot more opportunities at birdies.
Q. What do you think has turned for you this year? Why playing so well of late?
RYAN ARMOUR: Like I was saying, getting healthy was number one. Playing through injuries out here is never easy. And then implementing a grip change that my instructor and I were starting to work on the week of Riviera. You know, having that extended layoff allowed me to work on it without any repercussions on the golf course, and being able to get some money games going down at Dye Preserve allowed me to get a little bit of the heat of the battle to be able to trust that grip change.
Q. Do you prefer to play with or without fans?
RYAN ARMOUR: Oh, with them. I mean, we all enjoy the peacefulness and the the tranquility of just kind of the walk in the park feel, but we miss the fans. We miss their energy, especially here at Jack's place. I mean, this is a pseudo home for me, going to Ohio State. I miss the Buckeye rah-rah every day. I just can't wait until we get back to the way it was.
Q. How important is it to get your game in order? Obviously you've struggled for a while. How crucial was it, and what did you do to get your game on track?
RYAN ARMOUR: Well, as I spoke a couple times earlier, it's about being healthy. The downtime allowed me to get healthy and implement a few changes that my instructor and I were trying to implement during the course of the season. But allowing -- having those 10 to 12 weeks off allowed me to do it without any repercussions on the golf course and kind of come out with the guns fully loaded to try and attack these golf courses.
Q. Do you feel like you're playing as well as you ever have?
RYAN ARMOUR: No, I wouldn't say that. I'm kind of getting back to what makes me good, which is driving the ball in the fairway, giving myself birdie opportunities and hopefully making some putts. I think out here, as you've seen with the restart to golf, we've got to make birdies. The way I was hitting it early in the year, it wasn't giving myself a lot of opportunities to make those birdies. So the more opportunities you have, the less pressure it puts on your putter.
Q. The PGA TOUR is different; you as a pro athlete are different than any other sport. You went from around Thanksgiving until the return without a paycheck, right?
RYAN ARMOUR: Yeah.
Q. How hard is that, and does it put more pressure on you when you get the chance to play after being out for so long to make sure, that you have to cash in because you haven't had a paycheck in so long?
RYAN ARMOUR: Well, I don't know if -- I love the money we play for, and I hope we play for more, but I've never really played for the money. I think that if I started playing for money, I'd probably have to find another job because I play because I love to compete. I'm in my mid-40s, and I just love competition. I mean, if you put 18 pins out on I-71 and told us we're going to go play for $7 or $8 million I'd go play on I-71. To me it's about the competition. I love to try and better myself and get better and beat my opponent.
THE MODERATOR: Ryan, as always, we appreciate your time and wish you the best of luck this week. Thanks for being with us.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports