Q. Some kind of round. After three near ones you finally get the win here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. How does it feel?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It's beyond my wildest dreams for Mr. Palmer 's event. Came hear as an amateur, he gave me an invitation and I loved this golf course the minute I arrived and I love the atmosphere and I love the fans, I loved what Mr. Palmer did with this place and what he's done and his legacy he's left here. It's quite amazing.
Q. As reigning U.S. Open champion there's a lot of conditions today that felt like it was U.S. Open style. How did it feel for you?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It definitely did and I kept recalling a lot of shots back at the U.S. Open where you had to just step up and hit a great shot, like I did on 18. I mean I hadn't really hit a great drive there the past couple days and I said all right, this is time, you got to step up and hit a great drive and I was able to do that and a clutch shot at the right moment in time of possession time.
Q. He always said play boldly. That tee shot on 6, just having a little fun with it?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It was a lot of fun and I was definitely playing a little bold. But I got to give -- my hat's off to Lee, he battled all day out there and it was an amazing battle, loved every minute of it, I know we'll be doing it for years to come.
Q. I know how much this must mean to you, you admired Mr. Palmer, he taught you so many things. It was a tough day out there. How did you battle through all that out there?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: You know one of the things that stuck in my mind was Tiger and how he kept fighting. A lot of the conditions were similar to the U.S. Open and that helped me. That helped me feel comfortable out there and I knew there was going to be tough conditions out there.
Q. This is your 8th win on the PGA TOUR, what did today's round and this tournament sort of help explain or what did you find out about yourself?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Even when I don't have all the things I need to feel comfortable with my golf swing and with equipment, all the time, I was still able to perform and execute when the time came. And that was pretty exciting. I took advantage of the holes that I was supposed to take advantage of today and I got a little unlucky on 16 but I held my head high and was able to persevere through and hit great shots coming in.
Q. One of the phrases Mr. Palmer used was play boldly and win. You played very boldly this week. Did something twice that no one has ever done. When you look back on this event what do you think winning here is going to mean to you?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well it solidifies that I'm playing with the best of them and I can win with the best of them. This tournament has been nothing but class every year I've been here and the best players come to play and the golf course conditions play like a U.S. Open. I know that's what Mr. Palmer would like and you have to play boldly to win and I was able to do that and it's an honor to get it done here finally.
Q. What's your immediate reaction to the last five hours here at Bay Hill?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I'm glad I made that last putt. I did not want to go into a playoff. I took a little extra time on that because I knew that ball was aimed a little too far right and sure enough it was. I took a deep breath was able to execute and knock it in. But first and foremost I got to thank personally Chris Como, Tiger Woods even, he helped me out quite a bit today this morning, talking to him from texts, but also Chris Como, we have been talking even before the round, 10 minutes before the round I called him and was talking about my golf swing. So there's numerous people that have helped me get this victory. My caddie worked really hard, Tim Tucker, Brett, obviously my agent, manager, Connor, we all work hard every day. We were out here super late last night, just like I was at the U.S. Open working hard to figure out my golf swing, albeit I didn't figure it out all the way I was able to come through clutch in the end and execute the shots when I needed to and win this golf tournament.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports