Q. You just looked up there. What do you think when you see it?
DENNY McCARTHY: Cool. I always like watching myself make putts. It's good mojo, good osmosis, I guess. Yeah, it was a good day. Obviously I like watching myself do good things.
Q. What was really working for you today?
DENNY McCARTHY: A little bit of everything. I've been feeling pretty comfortable. I felt comfortable today with everything.
The golf course was somewhat receptive, and there wasn't much wind. So kind of figured early on, once we got through a few holes, that there was going to be some low scores today.
I played really freely, really committed, liked how my mindset was, and produced a good result.
Q. Did you have a specific plan of attack going out there, and did you stick with it, or was it just kind of --
DENNY McCARTHY: Not really. I guess off the tee a little bit there's a handful of bunkers that are right in my range of can I cover, can I not cover? If you can cover, it's a little bit of an advantage.
I haven't actively tried to pick up speed. I've done things to take care of my body, and I have picked up some speed. I've been fast a few different times on the range this week, so kind of the thought of, oh, I can carry that bunker. So I swung pretty freely and aggressive at the driver today, which gave me some good wedge and short iron opportunities. So more of that.
Q. How do you kind of build on this, especially with the possible cold weather and rain coming in tomorrow?
DENNY McCARTHY: I've played in plenty of cold weather and rain before, being from Maryland. Cold weather is no surprise to me. I've played in plenty of rain before too. It's just kind of the nature of the business.
Yeah, it might soften the golf course up. It might play a little longer, but I still have a pretty good idea of how I want to play the golf course.
Q. It's a pretty great score. When you look at it, are you surprised at all, or do you feel like you had it in you?
DENNY McCARTHY: No, I've been playing really well lately, so it doesn't really surprise me. There's still a lot of golf left. This is a really nice start. I'm excited for how my game has been trending lately.
Q. There are a lot of low scores today. Is there anything, the way the course is playing?
DENNY McCARTHY: Like I said, just the greens being receptive, not much wind, new venue. So I think they might have been cautious on a few pin locations. When we have short irons and wedges with not much wind, we're looking to attack, and it seems like a lot of guys have done that today.
Q. You were saying that being from Maryland, you're familiar with it. Does that give you an advantage over guys who aren't as familiar with it, who don't play on this kind of course as much?
DENNY McCARTHY: Maybe, I don't know. This is really similar to Baltimore Country Club, which is also a Tillinghast. My brother is a member at BCC, and a lot of holes out here remind me of BCC. I've played Baltimore Country Club a number of times, and I really like that place.
So when I come here, I see a lot of similar visuals off the tee and how the greens are. So I have a pretty good feel and idea of how the course plays and how the greens can tilt and how they can break and stuff. So I felt pretty comfortable.
Q. You've come close to a couple of big wins. You've had a couple playoff losses, right? Is that something you -- is it easy for you to go into each event with a clean slate, or do things like that, do you start to think about things like that?
DENNY McCARTHY: I don't really think about that too much. I always try and worry about getting better. That's all I try and -- there's a lot of golf left. I shot a great round today. I don't know if I'm going to be leading or not. Some guys might pass me.
This is a good start. A 72-hole golf tournament is a long way. Yeah, I don't really think about it too much. I always just try and figure out -- try and figure out how to get better basically, little ways to get better. That's all I ever try and do.
My game has really gotten better over the last few years, and I feel like I'm making the necessary steps to continue to improve my game.
Q. There has been talk about this being a bomber's paradise and hitting it as far as you can. What was your plan of attack on certain holes and deciding when to hit driver and when to kind of lay back?
DENNY McCARTHY: Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, there are some bunkers where I think it's worth trying to hit driver if you can cover bunkers. The rough is thick in some areas, but for the most part, you can get some decent lies to play it up near the green.
Especially if -- there's not too many long par-4s, so even if you bomb it over and it's in the rough, you're going to have a short iron or a wedge.
There's been a few bunkers that are kind of can I cover it, can I not? So I've been teeing it up a little higher and swinging a little harder, being pretty aggressive with the driver. I was able to cover some of those bunkers today and give myself some good opportunities.
Q. What did you feel was your shot of the day?
DENNY McCARTHY: I made five birdies in a row, and then I made a 20-footer, 22-footer for par on 16. So I'm going to say that kind of kept the momentum going a little bit. I was looking at making a bogey and made a really nice stroke on a par putt on 16 right here. So I'm going to say that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports