Q. Your low round 62 on the PGA TOUR. What helped you get it done out there today?
CAMERON SMITH: I don't know, everything just came together. It was a great day on the green. I was hitting my irons really good. I had lots of good looks, and I just took advantage of them.
Q. You had really impressive up-and-downs on 13, 16, the hole-out bunker shot on 17. How much confidence do you get from seeing those go in?
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I mean, I feel like after last week, I feel like chipping around here is almost like a breeze. I was so scared almost last week on every chip shot, and I feel like I can be really aggressive around here.
Q. Speaking of last week, you're coming off the tie for 10th at the Masters. What are you doing overall in your game that's allowing you to play this way?
CAMERON SMITH: I don't know, I just feel really comfortable. Mentally I feel very free out there. I feel like I can hit the shot that I need to hit and going ahead and trying to execute it. I just feel like every shot I'm hitting, I'm putting 100 percent into it, and on a day like today, it's really rewarding.
Q. It was windy out there, but tell us about this 9-under 62 you shot.
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I just played really solidly. I hit lots of irons close, and when I missed one, I missed it in the right spots. Not a lot of stress out there, which is nice.
Q. I thought you had a little stress at 17 because you put it in the back bunker there. Take us through that shot.
CAMERON SMITH: 17 actually wasn't so bad. There was actually a little bit more green up there than I anticipated. I thought off the tee that it would be a tough up-and-down, and then when I got there it was kind of into the grain and into the hill, so like I was saying, I felt like all day today I could be really aggressive with those chip shots coming off last week.
Q. And then the second into 18, you stuck it to about four feet.
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, that was just like a -- that was the icing on the cake really. It was really a perfect number, and yeah, just went ahead and hit the shot.
Q. What were the conditions out there like? It seemed like there were some pretty good numbers shot in the afternoon, as well.
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I mean, the course is perfect. You really can't fault it. The ball is running out a long way, so if you're on the fairway, you've got a lot of opportunities into the green, and I think that's maybe why we saw some low scores this afternoon.
Q. Tell us about the last two birdies at 17 and 18.
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I mean, hit a really good shot into 17, just kind of trapped it a little bit too much and rolled across into that back bunker. Walking up there I thought it was going to be quite a tough up-and-down, but the ball was sitting nice. It was uphill, it was into the grain, so I kind of had everything going for me, and yeah, it just went in. I wasn't really anticipating for it to go in.
And then the last hole was just -- I mean, I flushed my 3-wood down there and had a perfect 9-iron, so it was just one of those days, I guess, where there wasn't really lots of in-between shots, so I could be really aggressive into the greens. Everything I had today was kind of like a perfect number, and I think that's why I hit so many good golf shots.
Q. Did you catch anything?
CAMERON SMITH: No. We were actually out there for about 45 minutes and then security came out and escorted us off. I tried my best to stay out there. I'm addicted to fishing. But I just thought it was best to just leave.
Q. You talked about chipping differences from last week to this week, talking about your creativity from last week gets it going here. Is this a decompression type of week for you after coming off the brain frazzle of Augusta? What is the difference?
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, Augusta, especially how I played last week was very stressful, I mean, you're almost worried about every shot out there it seems like. After Sunday I drove back down to Jacksonville. I had a couple days at home. I drove up here Tuesday lunchtime, just played nine holes in the pro-am, and I feel like my game -- I felt like my game was in a really good spot, so I didn't feel like I needed to come here and really grind out a couple of good practice days. I felt like everything was in a good spot, and I think it paid off those couple days at home.
Q. Is this a place you really look forward to coming? Do you feel like this would be a good place for you to win, this golf course?
CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, this place really gets my creativity going into the greens. Especially there's a couple of holes out there where you really have to shape it into the greens around trees, and if you're in a bad spot off the tee, you just have to know where to miss it, especially with how firm the greens are out there.
It was just a really solid day.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports