Q. Birdies on 17 and 18 part of an opening day 66. How did it all come together for you here?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, it was a day of really solid ball striking all the way around. The last couple days my back had been really tight and I think today with that being said I just kind of had to control the golf ball, I couldn't try and do too much to it, I couldn't try and overwork shots and stuff like that, I just kind of had to play it pretty neutral and just kind of hit more three quarter shots all the way around and that apparently that worked. Maybe I should do that more often.
Q. Just your ninth start of 2021, tied for 26th at Pebble your best finish. How challenging has this year been for you?
RYAN MOORE: It's been tough for me. I missed the entire fall with a back injury and just hadn't sat out that long in a long time, so just getting back into it, it's been a little bit tougher, a little bit slower, but I have liked where I've been progressing, I've been hitting better shots, shooting better scores, just been a little inconsistent.
So to start out the I way I did today, I hit a lot of good shots out there today. I felt a little better on the putting green than I have, actually hitting a lot of putts on line, maybe not all of them going in, but hitting putts where I wanted to with the speed I wanted to and that just kind of hasn't been the case lately. So, just something to build on, but this golf course is tough and you just got to keep your head down and just keep going.
Q. You got a good record here, a couple of top-5 finishes as you make your 14th start this week. What is it that seemingly your game matches up pretty well with this layout?
RYAN MOORE: I'm not sure, it's hard to figure out sometimes why a course fits you or why you like a golf course. I like that it has angles. It's not, there's not a lot of gimmie tee shots on this golf course. There's always trouble, you have to control the golf ball and curve it the proper direction and I think that kind of suits my game. I'm a little bit more of a control guy, not super long, so playing a golf course where accuracy really, really matters, seems to help me.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports