THE MODERATOR: Rob Labritz, 2-under 69. Like you said, two back-to-back rounds I'm sure you're pleased with. Talk about your play over the last few days.
ROB LABRITZ: 100 percent pleased. Obviously there is always putts out there that we could have made. Ultimately very happy. All the stuff I've been working on, it just -- you guys have heard this a million times. Stuff I'm working on is great. I've got my family here this week, which is phenomenal.
I'm a blessed man, just sitting in here and talking in here and smiling my way around the golf course. It's really cool.
Q. Very different conditions today. Talk about how the course played early and then the sun came out.
ROB LABRITZ: It played a little longer this morning because of the moisture and the wet and the fog, probably about a club. Then it started to get a little bit nicer.
Once it warmed up, the ball started to really fly. The next two days the ball is going to start traveling a little farther. Course is in perfect condition. Superintendent is doing an awesome job.
Q. About conditions, yesterday you would think it would be wet, soft, sloppy, and scores would be better today. Actually, why is it still a little tougher today?
ROB LABRITZ: The rough is tough. The rough is tough. If you hit your shots in the rough, it's a crapshoot. You could have a good lie; you might not have a good lie. It's just one of those things where you'd rather be in a bunker, you'd rather be in the first cut.
But that rough is nasty out there, especially I think there's four cuts. So you've got the fairway, first cut, second cut, third cut. The farther you move away from the center, the worse it gets. We had some pretty nasty lies out there today.
Q. Could you just go over the two birdies that got you into the lead on 14 and 16.
ROB LABRITZ: Yes. 14 was what, and 16 was what? Seriously, the birdies, were they par-4s.
Q. Par-4, 14.
ROB LABRITZ: I'm such a one-shot-at-a-time guy. Started on the back nine yesterday. I couldn't even tell you which hole is which. 14 is what?
Q. 420 yard par-4, 14.
ROB LABRITZ: Yeah, I had a nice 3 there. I think I made a decent putt there. I know I made a small putt on the other par-4, but it was like three feet straight down that hill. You get it a little offline and you're rolling it down the fairway.
Q. I might be the only one standing here who a year ago watched you win the Mass Open, state open up there. Talk about the travel from here to there. Different year; what's going on in your life then?
ROB LABRITZ: So I've been planning on this for a long time. When I left the Canadian Tour in 2004 I wanted to play full-time. I had my son Matthias, who is 19 now. He was only 3 or 4 at the time. It wasn't right for me. I went through a divorce and it wasn't right for me to just leave and travel.
When I left the Canadian Tour I took a beautiful club job at Glen Arbor, which I'm sill affiliated with. It's an awesome place.
But I swore to myself I was going to play the Champions Tour. When Q-School came around, COVID hit, cancelled it, so I had to wait another year.
It worked out great. I won Q-School, which was cool. I won the Mass Open, Rhode Island Open, Westchester Open, all those leading up to Q-School, so I knew my game was sharp.
Obviously you're taking it up a notch against the best players in the world who are over 50. It's just great to be standing here. I love looking at all your faces.
Q. Rob, I wanted to get your bio before 2004. Did you try to play on the PGA TOUR? Were you doing club jobs or mini tours? What was your path?
ROB LABRITZ: Yes, all of the above. I've been a club pro at Glen Arbor for 22 years. I was at Shinnecock before that. I dabbled in the mid-90s playing full-time. Early 2000s I played full-time on the Canadian Tour.
Again, when I went through that divorce I just stopped. It was just one of those things where I wanted to be there for my children, and it was the best thing that I did because I've got a boy who's going into his second year at LSU and my kids have turned out great.
I always had the dream of playing full-time, and to get out here -- if you guys saw the emotion that I had when I won Q-School, that dumped out. It was a lot of years of just grinding. If you guys know, my wife's behind holding onto my 17-month-old. I'm 14 to 18 hour days, and she would always have a hot meal for me when I got home at night, at nighttime.
It's been a long road and we're here now, and I'm going to work my tail off to stay here.
Come here. I'm going to work my tail off to stay here so I can pay for her college when she gets -- when she turns 18.
Q. I'm sure you tried for the U.S. Open many years but never got there. Is this your first USGA event? I don't know if you played amateur or junior growing up.
ROB LABRITZ: This is my first USGA event since 1988 U.S. Junior Amateur at Yale Golf Club. For my second USGA major to be a senior major is pretty awesome.
I played the first stage -- it's pretty funny. I played the first stage with Jason Widener at Buckhorn Springs, and he's the guy that took me down at the U.S. Junior Amateur. I walked up to the tee, and I said Jason? He goes, yep, 4 and 3, Yale Golf Club, 1988. I was like, oh, here we go, but I got him that week.
Q. You actually won it?
ROB LABRITZ: Yeah, I did. It was a cool week.
Q. Hopefully we'll have you back up here tomorrow.
ROB LABRITZ: I'm going to try to be here tomorrow and the next day, and I'm going to hoist something, and we're going to drink out of it.
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