THE MODERATOR: Thomas, 4-under 66, your best round of the week. Really catapulted you up on the leaderboard. What was working well today?
THOMAS BJØRN: All three rounds, it's been pretty solid stuff. Today I just kind of caught a couple of really good short iron shots there on 14 and 15, or was it 13 and 14? That set me up for a bit better than the other days.
Yeah, it's just one of those things. I felt I had good momentum today, and every time I was struggling, I had good putts on 11 and then on 17 for bogey. When things are going your way, that's what happens.
I feel like I played some really solid stuff this week, and today was just one of those days where the numbers were maybe a little bit better than they were the other days just because you ended up making one or two decisions that are better than the other days and hitting on the right side of the pins.
This is as tough as it gets. I had a foot and a half putt on 18, and if that misses the hole, that's 20 yards down the fairway. So you're thinking about stuff this week that you normally don't think about, but that's the way it should be for these kinds of events. It was a nice day today.
Q. 3-under on the front. It has been the tale of two nines for people. How important is it to get a hot start tomorrow?
THOMAS BJØRN: Tomorrow is a day where you just can't get ahead of yourself and you've just got to go play golf and try and just -- any time you play any USGA setup, you have to try and make pars. Then the birdies, let the birdies come to you.
Obviously this golf course, you have the two par-5s on the front nine that are both reachable. A couple of really short par-4s as well. Opportunities are there on the front nine, but then again, you just cannot get ahead of yourself on this golf course. You can't try and chase it past good on any hole. Then you just try and build a score for the day and see where you are at the end.
I don't necessarily think that having to be 2- or 3-under par for six holes tomorrow is going to win the golf tournament. It would be nice, but it's not going to win you the golf tournament.
It's what you do on those last four or five holes that are fairly tough and ask some big questions. I'm quite sure the pin position tomorrow is going to have more questions for us. That's where you win the golf tournament. You're not going to win it on the first three or four holes.
Q. Obviously the putter was working today. You obviously have a fairly unique style. Can you walk us through how that developed over the course of time?
THOMAS BJØRN: I just, a few years ago, I felt like I tried so much with the short putter to make it work for me, and it didn't. Reluctantly, I went to the long putter. It's just kind of given me another life, and we play Seniors golf.
I was always an advocate for it. I thought that was one of the reasons the long putter should stay in the game, and that was a conversation that I think a lot of people, not in the professional game, but in the amateur game actually enjoys the game a lot more by being able to use a long putter. I think I'm an advocate for it staying in the game, not necessarily because I use it, but just mostly because I think the game of golf should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.
For me, it was just a moment in time where it was too much. Always in the back of your head as a professional, it's just there. Should I go back to the short one? Should I try it? You know what, middle of last year I kind of made the decision, I'm 54 years old. I'm just going to try and not have that stress in my life and try to enjoy the last few years I have where I can play and be competitive.
Q. I don't believe you've won a major championship. Is that correct? Just in general, what would that mean? Is that on your mind as you're going through?
THOMAS BJØRN: I don't necessarily think of it that way. I think you've just got to -- and I know we try and play things down and do things, but you've just got to do your thing and play golf and win tournaments. Victories come to you, and if it's tomorrow, great. If it's not, then there's another major in a few weeks, and then we'll try again.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports