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THE BARCLAYS

August 27, 2016

Martin Laird

Farmingdale, New York

Q. Coming in, how much were thoughts on potentially be making a Playoff run and East Lake on your mind?
MARTIN LAIRD: To be honest, yeah, I kept getting the question, just outside 125, was I worried and I really wasn't. About a month before Canada, I started playing really well.

My game was getting better I felt like every week, and getting in the Playoffs and keeping my card, I wasn't too worried about it. I just knew if I kept doing what I was doing, it was going to turn around and be good eventually, and obviously played really well in Canada.

I've had a couple other nice events the last couple months. I was quite confident coming into this event. I knew this was a golf course that suits my game. I really enjoy being here and playing this course. The way my game was, I felt like if I just got here, I had a chance to play well.

Q. Spread across a couple years, but you've had some good results in Playoffs before. Is there something about it that you get up for?
MARTIN LAIRD: Yeah, one of my friends texted me that the other day, saying I like the Blue Eagle, which I didn't know what he meant at first. Then I realized he was talking about The Barclays, because I seem to play well in Th Barclays here, and when they used to sponsor a couple other events, I've played well in. It's the first Playoff event, but I've played pretty decently.

As I said, I was looking forward to this event because of this golf course. Bethpage Black is all you want. It's fun but it's fair and I've been looking forward to getting here.

Q. You have some pretty big names on the leaderboard. Do you like the fact that you can maybe slide in under the radar a little bit?
MARTIN LAIRD: Sure. To be honest, I think 8-under is leading. I didn't really pay attention to any leaderboards out there. There's a lot more hard golf holes to focus on, as opposed to leaderboards, on Saturdays. Doesn't really matter who is up there.

I'm going to go out tomorrow and do what I did today. Tee-to-green, that's as good as I played in a long time. I really could have shot a low one on the back nine. Felt like I missed a lot of putts and shot 1-under on the back. If I can do that tomorrow and roll a few putts in, might be a fun day.

Q. Said you drove the ball a lot better today. Did you find something in your driving overnight?
MARTIN LAIRD: No. It's not been bad but it's been just a little off all week. I really felt like I just controlled my tempo better on the golf course. You get in the habit on a course like this that's so long that you feel like you just have to hammer it every hole.

And today I just felt like -- I try to do it all the time, but I get caught up some. Today I really focused on feeling like I hit every shot 80 percent, didn't matter if it was driver, 3-wood, just don't try to over-hit. Because you try to over-hit it around here, you drive it in the rough and you have no chance.

I think that was probably the key for how well I drove it today, just really controlled my tempo. As I said, it's probably the best I've driven it in a long time, so hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.

Q. A couple under par this afternoon, any time under par on this golf course, pretty good. How was it for you?
MARTIN LAIRD: Any time you shoot in the 60s around here, you're really happy. I played really nicely today. Probably played the best I have all week tee-to-green and just didn't make quite as many putts as I'd like to. Obviously really happy with my score and the position I'm in.

Q. How has the golf course changed over three days? Scores low in the morning, but in the afternoon, anything under par is pretty good.
MARTIN LAIRD: The greens firm up for sure and the wind generally picks up as the day goes on. It's been interesting, the wind has been different every day just a little bit. It doesn't feel like we've really played the same course yet two days in a row.

I love this place. This is one of my favorite courses we play all year. You don't really get away with anything around here, and I've been hitting the ball nicely, so I was excited to get here.

Q. You come into the week 89th in the FedExCup points and key is to make sure you play next week and you're in a position to really advance up in the points. What's your goal for tomorrow?
MARTIN LAIRD: My goal is just to go out and do what I did today. If I hit the ball like I did again today and make some putts tomorrow, then you know, obviously could be a good day. I don't even know what's leading to be honest. I just knew I was going nicely out there and focusing on what I can do. Tomorrow as I said, hopefully I can drive the ball like I did today, because that was the big thing. I hit a lot of fairways, which you've got to do around here. If I can do that tomorrow, I'll have a lot of fun.

Q. After firing off a 66 in round one, you started off today with birdie. Did you feel like you were in rhythm right away?
MARTIN LAIRD: It's nice to hit a drive down the fairway in the first hole and hit it to six inches for a tap-in birdie to start the day. I've been hitting the ball nicely all week and had a nice warm up before I went out and taking that to the first hole was nice. I played really well today tee-to-green. There's a few putts I'd like back but overall very happy with 69.

Q. You came into this week 89th in the FedExCup, did you feel a little bit of pressure coming into this week?
MARTIN LAIRD: No. I knew I was pretty much guaranteed to get into next week. I don't think I'd drop 12 spots. But I came in, I love this golf course, it's one of my favorite ones we play all year and I've been looking forward to this event for awhile. Came in here just trying to play well and see what happens. I'm not going to look at projections or anything like that. I'm just going to go out tomorrow and try to have fun and see what happens.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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