Q. Happy with the 4-under par round to start?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, very happy. I hit the ball pretty solid today. Hit the ball really nicely. A lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and that's the recipe I wanted to stick to today, and I was able to do that pretty well.
Q. Did you feel like it was trying to figure out how the golf course was going to play, even after a couple days of practice rounds?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it firmed up a little bit, so it was even trickier to control some of the approach shots. There were some big bounces on the greens. Especially a few of the holes you were hitting from downhill lies, they were really taking big skips on the greens, I found, and that was difficult. It had played more receptive in the practice days. I thought there might be a few more birdie opportunities or a few more chances to be aggressive, but there was definitely some tricky pins out there on some slopes and tucked in some corners.
Yeah, it played more challenging than I was expecting, honestly.
Q. Happy with how you dealt with the elevation, the numbers, physically, mentally, in that sense?
COREY CONNERS: For sure, yeah. Felt like my distance control was pretty good, hitting a lot of greens and giving myself a lot of birdie putts. But getting the ball in the fairway, some of the tee shots play considerably downhill or uphill, so picking the right club. I didn't hit a ton of drivers today but felt like I put myself in the best position I could on a lot of holes.
Q. How much are you relying or talking to your caddie to deal with that mental exertion a little bit?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, not talking a lot between shots, just trying to focus on breathing and catching the breath a little bit.
Certainly during the shot we're kind of adjusting things back to what we would consider our stock numbers back at home or at sea level. Yeah, there's a little more that goes into each shot here and definitely lots of discussion.
Q. You started this week, I think, 33rd in the standings. You've made it either on the number or just above it to East Lake the last three years. How much is that coming into your mind as you're going through your mind, or is it just business as usual?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, just business as usual. I've been in a similar position the last few years needing to have a good week here. Yeah, just having fun playing golf and happy to have gotten off to a good start today.
Q. You've got a pretty good record at this championship, three top 10s in five starts. Do you like the idea of this event moving around, bouncing around to different venues? Does that make the challenge better?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I think I do a good job of learning the intricacies of new golf courses and picking a good strategy. When I'm walking around out there in the practice rounds I'm very aware of the surroundings and the spots you want to be, don't want to be. I feel like it maybe gives me a slight advantage.
I know there are a lot of players out here that are pretty good at that, as well, and a lot of the caddies do a lot of work at new courses trying to figure things out. But yeah, I think it's kind of nice. It's just an added challenge that I feel like it's something I'm good at.
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