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RBC HERITAGE

April 13, 2016

Kevin Kisner

Hilton Head, South Carolina

MARK WILLIAMS: Kevin, thanks for coming back. Welcome back to the interview room at RBC Heritage. Obviously a year ago you were here under different circumstances. You would be the first South Carolinian to win this event, if that happens this week. Talk about what it's like coming back and your experience last week at the Masters.

KEVIN KISNER: This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year. I love being in South Carolina. I love it being like a home game for me. It's one of my favorite courses of the year. I think it suits my game really well so I'm excited about playing. Obviously the weather looks a little dicey the next two days, so I hope to survive to the weekend and have a chance to win.

Last week was a great experience. I enjoyed playing Augusta National under the Masters conditions and it was eye-opening how difficult the golf course is. You always see birdies on TV when you watch, but when you're playing, I was wondering if I was ever going to make birdie.

It was an awesome experience to have my family and friends and my first Masters was a success. I learned a lot and looking forward to playing in it again.

Q. With the heavy winds last week and more winds this week, what is the most important thing for you when you're playing in high winds?
KEVIN KISNER: I always have a difficult time putting in the high winds, I always find it difficult if it's a crosswind against a break, to tell if the wind is going to affect it or not. And I'm not the heaviest person in the world so I feel like I'm getting blown over the time, on a skill you're trying to be as still as possible. The ball-striking is mostly a guess, when it gets up in the 25 to 30, but for me putting is the most difficult.

Q. Going off of what happened to Jordan last week, of your runner up finishes last year, starting here, which was the toughest to take and how long did it take you to get over it?
KEVIN KISNER: I wouldn't say any of them I left feeling probably the way Jordan felt on Sunday. I felt like I never really gave one away, I just didn't win. I hit good shots coming down the stretch here, and played 17 and 18 2-under the three times I played it, pretty good stretch of holes to do that.

The PLAYERS I really thought I had that thing won, even on 17, the fourth hole, I hit a good shot in there and I really thought I was going to win that one, so that was problem I will the most difficult. But I can't be upset over the way I played, he played better.

Q. You have dealt with some injuries in the past. How often do you think about injury prevention as part of your daily or weekly routine?
KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, I had a back injury in probably 2010, so I got a team together to come up with the best ways to prevent it, the best exercises to strengthen it and what I need to be watching and how much repetition I can do. Obviously it's like hitting a car at 100 miles an hour on the left side of your body every day, all day. So you've got to be able to level that out and strengthen all the things you need to have strong.

Q. When you contend like you did here last year, in losing a playoff does it make you any more anxious, excited, chomping at the bit to come back to a venue like this where you've done so well?
KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, this has been on the top of my list since I left here that Sunday. Like I said, this is one of my favorite courses. I feel strongly I can win here, and win here multiple times. And if I play the way I know I can I should be in contention come Sunday.

Q. You said Harbour Town is one of your favorite courses, can you talk about the uniqueness of Harbour Town, and also they regrassed the whole course, would you mind talking about the changes to the course?
KEVIN KISNER: Yeah, I noticed the ball -- the greens are obviously new, because they're not getting a lot of high bounces into the greens, but they're firm so they roll out a lot. They made a new dynamic, because the greens are so small, you will see a lot of guys playing short, I believe, and playing from beneath the hole.

I like it because it takes the bombers out of play. They can't stand up and hit it 350 and hit people in the head and wedge it on the green like they do at every other tournament. I like it because I can hit my ball down the middle and have an advantage. We don't do that every week out here anymore.

Q. Do you have any history here? I'm guessing you played junior amateur events here?
KEVIN KISNER: I think I played one event here when I was really young, maybe nine or ten years old. I remember my mom saying I made it out of the back bunker on nine, and threw my ball to the crowd like I was on Tour. That's the only history I have, I believe. I never really played many events at Harbour Town when I was a kid. We played obviously on Hilton Head a bunch, but I don't think it was here.

Q. Going back to the firmness of the greens, a couple of people are saying it's almost impossible to back the ball, is that taken out of play this week?
KEVIN KISNER: A hundred percent. Front pins downwind are impossible, too. 7 was 14 on, and I landed it 7 on and it was 40 feet long with a 7-iron. Straight downwind you just can't get the ball to stop. You'll see a lot of guys to play short, the best way is to be chipping up the greens, most of them are back to front slope. And if you have a wedge, wedges are stopping. It's just difficult with the wind to judge, the greens are so small. If the wind blows as much as expected I see it a hard time getting close. Last Sunday it was rainy and wet and we were sticking the ball right where we wanted to. That's why the scores got so low. I don't see super low scores with the high winds with the new greens.

MARK WILLIAMS: Good luck this week.

KEVIN KISNER: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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