Q. Can we get on comments on your round today?
KARL VILIPS: Yeah, I came out of the gate strong. I hit the ball really nice on the front, made some putts. Kind of stumbled across the finish line a little bit but still felt like I was swinging it good towards the end of the round. You're going to find water eventually out here.
A bit sour to finish the round like that, but in a good spot for the weekend.
Q. How did you feel like the course played today compared to yesterday?
KARL VILIPS: Pretty similar. We had some breeze this morning. Pretty similar to yesterday. Light wind. I thought the greens were somewhat receptive, not too firm, but the greens were rolling really good again.
Q. I just wanted to ask you about your partnership with Sun Day Red. How did that come to fruition in your words?
KARL VILIPS: It came about throughout my connections with Taylor Made. I'm very close with those guys. They've been helping me out for a long time. Then throughout the summer last year on the Korn Ferry I started playing well, and we kind of just decided to make it happen, and very fortunate to have been chosen by the GOAT himself.
Q. When you got the call that they wanted you to represent Sun Day Red, what were your emotions? Were you shocked? Did you have a feeling it might come together because of your Stanford connections?
KARL VILIPS: Yeah, it was definitely unexpected at first, but when I got the call, I was excited and honored to be able to represent Tiger and Sun Day Red. I'm the first one, so that's really cool.
Q. Growing up, it's been 20 years since Tiger won the 2005 Masters, especially with that iconic chip-in. Do you have any recollections of that, and if not, what is your favorite Tiger Woods memory?
KARL VILIPS: My earliest memory of Tiger is meeting him back in Australia. He played there in probably 2008. I think same year at Torrey he made the putt to force the playoff on 18, which I will remember that forever. Definitely is a highlight for me.
Q. Did you get a chance to talk to Tiger about playing this course?
KARL VILIPS: Not really, honestly, no. No insight for me there.
Q. Do you pick your spots when you try and talk to him? How do you handle -- you've got access to one of the brilliant minds out there. How do you handle doing that without intruding on his privacy?
KARL VILIPS: The communication is pretty minimal at the moment. It's been a tough time for him, obviously. Reached out for that, but unless something crazy happens, I'll try to reach out to him, but it's not like a day-to-day communication thing.
Q. Yesterday obviously we saw a 59 here. Just wondering, what's your opinion on the difficulty of shooting a sub-60 round, and as we've seen more of that recently, do you think the number maybe becomes a little less notable as more sub-60 rounds have been shot on the PGA TOUR?
KARL VILIPS: I think it's still extremely notable. A 59 is a 59, especially out here. I watched a little bit of it in the morning kind of waiting for my round. But out here, that's pretty crazy. You've got to hit it amazing off the tee. You've got to flush it into the greens. You've got to make putts all day for 18 holes. I don't think it's ever going to become any less notable. At a place like this especially, that's probably one of the best 59s I've ever seen.
But I'm sure there will be plenty more to come just because everyone is getting so good.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports