Q. 63, birdie at the last.
MICHAEL THOMPSON: Yeah, I was hitting my driver really good in the warmup sessions the last few days leading up to today, so I had a lot of confidence off the tee. Could have hit a few more fairways but I think that's what kind of propelled me to play consistent all day. I didn't do anything crazy. Wasn't bombing drives or anything. Just keep it in the fairway. Give myself chances on the greens and finally got my speed dialed in by hole about 4 or 5.
And then the only hiccup was a 3-putt from 15 feet. Really not a whole lot to complain about. Just solid, steady golf.
Q. Talk about first tournament of the year in 2022 and a good first right now, how does that set you up and kind of what did you see from the off-season that you worked on that you saw come to fruition today?
MICHAEL THOMPSON: I did a lot of equipment work to try to narrow up my dispersions with my irons and woods, specifically, and I think I'm in a good spot. I think I got a good setup with what I have. There's a couple tweaks that I'm going to make next week with the facilities there that are a little more conducive to good practice.
But really just playing my own game. You know, I'm 36 years old. I'm not going to overhaul my game. I'm not going to gain 30 yards in distance off the tee. I finally got to a point where I accept who I am and focus on the strengths that I have which is short game, short irons and putting, and if I can do that, kept the ball in play off the tee, I'm going to have a good day.
Q. How much has that acceptance freed you up?
MICHAEL THOMPSON: Yeah, I think that's a big key between the great golfers out here and the guys who are struggling to keep their card every year is the guys at the top are fully accepting of their game. They know who they are as a player. They know where their strengths are and they are going to play to those strengths. It's taken me a few years to get there but you know, as long as I get there.
Q. This course out here, obviously not a lot of wind today but the rough is up.
MICHAEL THOMPSON: This is the most you've I've seen in 12 years on Tour. I think it's great for the golf course because the golf course is not overly long. It's not a bomber's paradise, so it forces to you have to think about your tee shots and really hit it in play and get it in the short stuff. I think it's great. It's frustrating when you hit it in the rough but I think it's going to keep the scores down a little bit and I think it's a great change. Playing with no wind out here is always nice because you don't have to worry about gusts or anything like that. I was thankful I got to take advantage of that this morning.
Q. The beard looks like it's getting pretty long. What's the story with that?
MICHAEL THOMPSON: I started growing it as a playoff beard in July, and it grew in pretty healthy and my wife likes it so I'm going to keep it. I've gotten to the point where I've got to start maintaining it a little bit and just comes with the territory but I like the look.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports