Q. Bogey-free 64 in the rain; how would you assess your third round?
CARSON YOUNG: Very good, honestly. It was a lot of fun out there, even with the rain, just because I was making putts and making some chip shots, which was fun.
Just played really solid golf. Nothing too flashy out there. But it was just really good golf.
Q. Would you be able to walk us through your shots on 15 for the eagle?
CARSON YOUNG: Yeah, so that green has been reachable pretty much all week, from a 5-iron to 7-wood, and today I hit a good drive down the middle and had like 280 something to the pin. I crushed a 3-wood up there, kind of short-sided left in the rough, not where I was trying to hit it. I was kind of complaining to my caddie, I was like, I hit it in the one spot you couldn't hit it in.
I got up there and it was a pretty good lie, and just kind of opened the face, full swing flop shot and hope for the best and it came out perfect and it landed in the exact spot I was hoping it would. I didn't see it go in but everybody started cheering, so that was a cool moment.
Q. Back-to-back bogey-free rounds, but each day has been different conditions. What were conditions like today with wind in between the rain?
CARSON YOUNG: Yeah, it was pretty opposite wind today, out of the northeast pretty much all day, east-northeast, so it made the golf course and most of the holes play completely different. It was a little bit of a challenge to figure out what we're doing off the tee on some of the par-5s or -- like No. 5, the par-5, normally I'd have laid up with a 3-wood and hit a hybrid on the green, and today we just sent driver over the bunkers because it was downwind and was able to hit iron on the green from there.
Yeah, it played, I would say, a little bit more difficult today, especially with the rain and the elements, a little bit more windy, but somehow I managed to get the ball in the hole a little bit quicker.
Q. South Carolina and Clemson product; what's the support been like of friends, family and fans out here?
CARSON YOUNG: Yeah, it's been awesome. I got my whole family down here, my little girl and my mom and brother and my wife's parents and her brother. It's been cool to have family out here and a bunch of support with friends. I hear a bunch of "go Tigers" out there and guys that I haven't seen in years but they've come out to support and say hey, and it's cool to be here in my home state playing golf. It kind of just feels like old times.
Q. Your route to the PGA TOUR was probably a little more laborious than many. Just take us through some of those years where you were trying to get on the Korn Ferry, and did you ever start to think about other options in life other than playing golf?
CARSON YOUNG: Yeah, I think I've talked about that before. I did mini-tours for five years, and that's grueling for sure. Tough on me, tough on the family, just spending money and being on the road all the time, trying to just have a chance to get on the Korn Ferry. I did that for five years, and it was going to be my last -- I told my wife and family, this is going to be my last Q-school attempt, what was it, 2020, I guess -- no, 2021. But I managed to make it through second stage and that was a big turning point in my golfing career because it got me status on Korn Ferry, and I ended up getting full status through Q-school.
Yeah, ended up winning early on the Korn Ferry and kind of changed my perspective on golf because I felt free again and I was enjoying it again because it was a tough stretch. But I never really stopped believing. Just financially and mentally I was saying I was going to be done that year until I finally made it.
I feel like my game has just been getting better and better for the most part. I've learned a lot out here, being my third year now. I feel more comfortable. I don't feel as nervous. I feel like I know where to go, and I feel like I belong.
Obviously this year hasn't been the best year yet for me, and hopefully this week will turn it around and kind of get the ball rolling.
Q. You've got the win on the Korn Ferry and you've contended a couple times, at least, on the PGA TOUR. Do you feel you're mentally ready to take the next step and get a W?
CARSON YOUNG: Of course. That's why I'm here. I'm here to win. That's all I ever want to do when I play golf is to win. I've done it numerous times in my career. Not as many at the pro level, but I have done it, and I was in good position to win in Cabo in the fall and shot 7-under in the final round, just got beat. I feel like that was good prep for me and good nerves to be under. Same for Puerto Rico a couple years ago and John Deere last year, as well; had a good stretch there where I had a chance to win or at least have a high finish.
I've learned a lot in those moments, and I can't wait to get out there tomorrow and compete because that's what I love to do.
Q. Supposed to get a lot of rain possibly overnight and maybe even rain some tomorrow. Do you consider yourself a good mudder, in golf terms?
CARSON YOUNG: I don't know if I am. I feel like some weeks I am, some weeks I'm not. It seemed like today I was a good mudder you would say. I haven't really looked at the weather, but it sounds like some rain in the forecast, and I'm just going to accept it for what it is and go out there and do the best I can.
Q. Carson, you've played plenty of golf courses around South Carolina. How does the Dunes Club stack up, and do you think it would be a good enough course, a strong enough test to be a full-field event?
CARSON YOUNG: Absolutely. I think this is honestly one of the better golf courses we play out here on TOUR. It's probably in my top 10 for sure. I've talked to a lot of guys who have said the same thing. They're surprised that this golf course is hosting an opposite field event just for how pure it is and how much fun it is to play. I think it's an awesome golf course, and pleasantly surprised coming here last year to see how awesome this place is because I had never played here before.
Q. A moment ago you were alluding to times where you thought, okay, this is it, I'm going to go find another job or something like that. Is there one moment that you said, this is it, and was there a moment where you said, no, it's not, I'm going to stick it out?
CARSON YOUNG: It was really just my fifth try at Q-school. It was just running out of money, running out of -- I felt like I wasn't really getting anywhere, especially since I had been married for a few years. Felt like I needed to provide for my family. That was going to be my best go just because I was kind of burned out on golf, honestly.
I don't really remember the specifics of how I felt anymore, which is probably a good thing.
Yeah, but once I made it through, that was a sign, and that was just God telling me that he has more plans for me with this golf, and he has a purpose for me out here, so yeah, I just took it and ran with it, and I'm just so thankful to be out here living my dream playing on the PGA TOUR.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports