Q. First let's get an assessment from your round today. How did you feel?
TOM HOGE: Yeah, I felt great. Nice to make a nice putt right off the bat right there on 1. I felt like I putted really well today was kind of the key. Feel like there's still a little bit of work left to do ball-striking-wise where I really feel comfortable, so I'm going to go get a little practice this afternoon, but I feel great around the greens, so hopefully I keep going.
Q. Lead the field in putting through two days. You've had a solid season statistically putting, but anything in particular feel good this week with that?
TOM HOGE: Not a lot. I putted really well in Houston a few weeks back and then I took the last two weeks off, so you're never quite sure what you're going to get coming off a break like that. But my speed has been really good so far this week. I've felt really comfortable seeing the putts and the speed with them, so that's a big key out here.
Q. You played a ton at the beginning of the season. Having these two weeks off, how did you spend it?
TOM HOGE: Yeah, I was trying to make a push to get in the Masters and was a little bit short there, so that was disappointing. Just tried to use a little bit of a reset there, get away from golf a little bit the first week and then get back to it. There's so much at stake here for the rest of our season, trying to get in all the rest of the majors, trying to get to East Lake, so there's a lot to play for. I'm going to play a lot coming up, so try to use it as a good break to get ready to go.
Q. You had a good round yesterday, a great round today. What are you taking from Friday to make sure you stay on that upward climb into Saturday and Sunday?
TOM HOGE: Well, we had very good conditions. I'm sure we'll have a little more wind for the weekend here as we get going, so just trying to do what the golf course will give us.
But if you can keep putting like that, certainly feel good about things.
Q. This would seem to be a course that would suit you in terms of just precision with irons. You look at your past results, maybe it doesn't quite show that. How do you explain it feeling like a course that should work really well and maybe just quite haven't had those results yet?
TOM HOGE: Yeah, you said it well. I feel like I should come here and have a good chance, and it certainly hasn't translated over the years here so far. I think every time you see it you get a little more comfortable around here with some of the lines. I think as I've looked back I've played a little bit too aggressively on some of the greens here, so I've tried to be a little bit more conservative this year into some of those tough holes, some of the par-3s, 8, some of those, just to give myself a chance from some of the edges of the greens.
Q. You're maybe not striking the ball as well this week as all season, but does this feel for the season about as well as you've hit your irons in a while?
TOM HOGE: Yeah, definitely. I don't want to say I've been in complete control because the golf gods don't like that a lot, but I feel like I've been matching the shot shapes and trajectory real well to what I've been seeing to this point, and I would say this week has been as uncomfortable as I've felt with an iron in my hand so far this year, but it's felt a little bit better each day, and hopefully I can go figure it out this afternoon.
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