Q. You go 3-under on the par-3s today. That's pretty special. How would you assess your play out there?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I had to make up for not making any birdies on the par-5s. I definitely got after it on the par-3s. Yeah, it was nice. I hit some nice iron shots in there and then made the putts.
Q. Was there a shot of the day that kind of stands out in your mind of all the great ones you had?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: That's a good question. I felt like more so just the nice up-and-downs that I made. I hit some really nice chip shots today, especially on 10. It was a nice up-and-down there. Making a par on 12, I hit it left, which is pretty dead; making an up-and-down there was pretty nice.
Other than that, it was a lot of solid shots, but it wasn't anything that stuck out as that was the shot of the day, if that makes sense.
Q. What's the biggest challenge that Harbour Town presents to you?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: It definitely makes you uncomfortable off the tee. I think you'll probably see a lot of guys go to kind of a safety shot out here. I played with Chris Gotterup today, and he obviously went to Oklahoma and likes that low ball. He hits a lot of those low balls out here just to kind of keep it down so it doesn't get affected by the wind but also keeps it kind of in the middle of the trees.
But that's only if you're able to put it in the fairway. You've still got to hit it into really small and narrow greens, and in certain positions when you miss it, you can have a very tricky up-and-down. It's just a great golf course. It tests every part of your game.
Q. Can you pinpoint a turning point with your ball-striking?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: It wasn't today, but I'd say a couple weeks ago, like leading up to the Masters. I saw a lot of good stuff. I wouldn't say it was exactly where I want it to yet, but just seeing progress and less and less of those big misses that I've been struggling with.
It's kind of just been a slow and steady progress since then.
Q. How many drivers did you hit today?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: That's a good question. I want to say four, but I'm not 100 percent, to be honest. I can't remember off the top of my head.
Q. You had a top 15 last year; are there things that you're still learning about this course and applying today?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, I mean, especially now since it's a slightly different golf course. I think we're still kind of getting used to some of the subtle changes. Kind of the great thing about this course is that it's all what we like to say, it's all right there in front of you. It's very tricky and it's very visually demanding. I think that's one of the geniuses of Pete Dye is he really makes a hole, even though it doesn't need to be the longest one or it looks relatively straightforward, but you know you've got to hit some great shots.
Yeah, I think it's more about the execution than actually learning the golf course.
Q. You're coming off a pretty intense stretch of golf. There's a lot of golf left this week. How are you planning to pace yourself?
VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, definitely feeling some of the stress after last week and kind of leading up to the Masters. Frankly, the whole year I've been working really hard, and I think now that I'm seeing my game progress and get closer to where I want it to be, I can start to relax a little bit more and focus on kind of the recovery aspect of things.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports