Q. Really solid first day. What particularly worked well?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I was hitting it really straight. I made a lot of great par putts. Early on I had a really nice save on the 3rd hole, and then I had another save on the 4th hole, kind of eight-footer, nine-footer, which doesn't sound like much, but you make both of those, and there's even par and then I birdied the following hole and was off to the races after that. The push was really working today, and I just hit a lot of quality shots.
Q. When you see someone at 10-under, those par putts I imagine are big for the psyche, not going backwards when people are making birdies?
WYNDHAM CLARK: 100 percent. Before we even teed off, guys were at, I think, 6-under, and by the time we got to 6 or 7, we saw guys were at 9- or 10-under.
Yeah, it's huge anytime to make those round momentum putts and round-saving putts, and I did that today.
Q. Outside of the putter, what was the best shot you hit?
WYNDHAM CLARK: I hit some good ones. Let me think. I would probably say just probably the controlled 8-iron I hit on 14, tough par-3. Wind was kind of going between down off the right and sometimes off the right. We didn't quite have a great gauge of where it was, so we took -- hit an off-speed 8-iron and performed perfectly and made the putt.
Q. How is the body feeling?
WYNDHAM CLARK: It's better. It's just stiff. My back seems to always be good and then it just goes out out of nowhere. I think I should be good going forward, I just have to swing a little slower and treat it nicely.
Q. Was it neck at PLAYERS that caused you to withdraw?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, it was neck PLAYERS, then the following week it went into my shoulder. Didn't do TGL. Didn't know if I was going to play Houston. Didn't play Houston. Then my body felt great last week, and then out of nowhere this happened. I guess that's old age, and I'm not even that old.
Q. You've had a couple cracks at Augusta now. What have you figured out about the place or are still trying to figure out?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I mean, I think I officially learned that every putt you have, I think you have to be defensive on. You have to almost lag it, and if you make it, it's kind of a bonus.
I think nine three-putts I think last week at Augusta. Some of them were lag putts and that's bound to happen, but I putted twice inside 15 feet just because I missed a 12-footer or whatever the putt was and then I had a six-footer coming back and missed that. It's little things like that that really keep you from being in contention. That's one of the biggest things that I learned.
Then you have to just be so precise and patient there. You might see a guy that shoots 6-, 7-under and you're starting your round and you don't birdie 2 or 3 and you think you're far behind, but you never know, you can get runs there and you just have to be patient.
Q. You have to shape it both ways, play it within the corridors here. How does that suit your game?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I like definition to golf courses, so Augusta has that, this place has that where there's kind of a defined shot you have to hit off the tee so it's easier to commit to a shot and say, okay, I have to draw it or I have to fade this. So I've always loved that. I kind of grew up on a course that was tree-lined, so it just makes it easier for me.
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