THE MODERATOR: Abe Ancer, thank you so much for joining us for a few minutes here at the Northern Trust, as we kick off the FedExCup playoffs. Entering the week at No. 6 in the standings thanks in part to your break through win in Memphis at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational a few weeks ago. Maybe take us through that Sunday and the ten days since and some celebration and maybe this week trying to get back to work.
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yes, it's definitely time to work. It was a Sunday that was -- that I dreamt of since I was a little kid. Obviously, it was an incredible experience to get the W on a big event like WGC like that in Memphis, a golf course that I love, and I told my caddie when we get there, I was like, man, I really, really like this golf course.
So it all worked out. It was a crazy, crazy Sunday. Crazy back nine more on Sunday. Yeah, the ten days after that was -- they were great. Got to see my family, got to celebrate. There was a lot of celebration during the week, you have no idea. But can't do that before, so all my buddies came up and celebrated.
I became a Godfather as well. My good friend Aaron's son. So I went to Milan for that. I had some stuff for Flecha Azul and Blackwell. I had a day and a half to move my stuff from one house to another house. It was a crazy week. There was not any golf played or practiced, so today and tomorrow are going to be key for me to take the rust off.
But I hit some balls today. I feel great. I feel refreshed. Ready to get to work and to get the playoffs going.
THE MODERATOR: You mentioned TPC Southwind, a golf course you love so much. This week at Liberty National, just your thoughts on the golf course in general, how it suits your eye.
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, it's a beautiful golf course, a beautiful layout. Got a good mix of holes. It's in great shape. It's in phenomenal shape. You've got some gettable holes, but then you've got a lot of holes you have to be extremely precise. I love that kind of golf. Some beautiful views of the city, the Statue of Liberty. The only time that I played here, I had a good finish two years ago.
So it's a golf course that I feel comfortable. Hopefully, we get the same result this week for sure.
Q. So was this a move to a larger house?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Not necessarily. It was more a logistics-wise, closer to the airport and closer to where I practice and all that stuff. So it's mainly just logistics.
Q. What's the biggest difference between you now to the two years ago when you played here last time as a player?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Obviously, a little more experience, and physically one of my goals with my trainer was to feel better and fresher at the end of the season. Maybe I wouldn't feel it much more this week because I had a week off, but like TOUR Championship, the two previous years that I played it, I felt like a little bit tired, and I feel like I'm a little bit gassed. That's exactly where you should be feeling the opposite. You should be feeling great and ready to go.
So we worked a lot on that, feeling fresher towards these last two months of play, and I feel like that plays a big part on a good result coming down the stretch. That back nine on Sunday this week or the TOUR Championship, obviously, could change everything. So you've got to be fresh.
Q. Did the high finish here a couple years ago, did it do anything as far as confidence or prove anything to yourself? Or was it more that you were hoping to get that win? Was it, I guess, a positive -- it's always a positive, but was it a positive or a close call, I guess, that you focused more on leaving here two years ago?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, obviously that second place at the time felt almost like a win just because it meant so much for my career at the time. It was the first time that it qualified me for the TOUR Championship. It solidified me for the Presidents Cup. I mean, it was a big deal at the time. So it felt like, yeah, I was a little bit -- I was bummed that I didn't win the tournament, but all those perks that came with that second place were pretty nice at the time.
So, yeah, it did give me a lot of confidence moving forward, and I felt like I played better and more consistent after that.
Q. Then you're kind of old school in the sense you've been one of the straightest hitters on TOUR the last few years, and you're a guy who actually gained strokes off the tee with your accuracy, not necessarily distance. Has accuracy always been a calling card of your game, or is that something that's really improved over the last couple years?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I felt like growing up I didn't hit it that crooked. So I felt like one of my strengths is definitely hitting the fairway, and also with my irons just knowing, just my distance control, I feel like I've gotten better the last two or three years of really knowing how far my clubs go and being really good with distance control. I think that's been a key part of my game getting a little bit better.
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