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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 10, 2018

Chesson Hadley

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. Six birdies and an eagle.
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, thank you. I was able to get off to a great start for the tournament. The wind picked up a little bit this afternoon, but I felt like I got maybe seven or eight holes in of pretty consistent wind conditions, and then I was able to make some putts on the front nine, which was my back side. Very pleased with the way I played today.

Q. Tell me about the eagle on 11.
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, you know, I didn't get off to a great start. I kind of fanned a 3-wood right on 10 and then hit a nuclear bomb flier, and I put myself in a really bad spot and had to get up-and-down from the bunker for bogey. And just hit a really good 4-iron in there on 11 to about 10 feet and had a good read on it and struck it well, so it went right in, and that just kind of righted the ship right away.

I just got comfortable early, which was huge.

Q. I don't know if you've seen your putting numbers, but right now you lead the tournament in strokes gained putting. You had 151 feet in putts. Tell me about the bomb at the 4th, 47 feet.
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, that was just -- I like to call that blackout; you just get out there and you just black out, and hopefully you don't wake up. So that was one of those holes that that's not -- that hole doesn't set up very well for me off the tee, but I was able to put the ball in the fairway. You know, you're just trying to make par there because the wind is into your face, and I just made a bomb from the middle of the green, which was great. I'm not going to do it -- I'm not going to redo it, that's for sure, but I look forward to hopefully making 151 more feet of putts tomorrow.

Q. A 66 ties your low round here at THE PLAYERS Championship. Had a bumpy start on 10 but bounced back with an eagle on 11. Did that kind of set the pace for the rest of your round?
CHESSON HADLEY: Absolutely. A little bit of a rocky start, as you said. Didn't put myself in a great position around the green on No. 10. But I hit a great iron shot in there on 11 to about 10 feet and was able to make the putt for an eagle, and that just kind of settled me in. Birdied the next hole. I was just kind of calm. I didn't feel as awesome this morning. I've been battling maybe a little bit of a cold. I think I went into the round with even lower expectations, which I think allowed me to kind of just whatever happened happened, and whether it was good or bad, it allowed me to just shake it off and move on to the next shot. Very pleased with the way I played today, and certainly feeling a little bit better now.

Q. That 45-footer on 5 to tie you for the lead, are you a leaderboard watcher? Is that something that you saw out there when you were playing?
CHESSON HADLEY: Oh, yeah, I like to know where I'm at, absolutely. It doesn't matter today or tomorrow or Saturday or even probably most of the day Sunday until you get to the back nine, but I'm a scoreboard watcher. Always have been. I like seeing my name on top of that leaderboard. It makes me feel good.

Q. What is blackout and how often do you experience that?
CHESSON HADLEY: I did blackout today. A blackout is when you're out there on the course and you just get in the zone and you just blackout and just let it take over. I entered the blackout mode today probably on 4. I hit a great 3-wood and I just got in the zone. I hit a great wedge and then made that and then made the mile putt on 5 and great shot on 6, so I definitely was blackout there for those three holes.

Q. How often do you find yourself in that state?
CHESSON HADLEY: More so this year. I tell you, it's a great spot to be in. Any time that you get out there and you just kind of let the momentum of your good play take over, it's a good spot to be.

Q. So what is the opposite of blackout?
CHESSON HADLEY: Panic. Pure panic. Discomfort. Uncomfortable. Uncomfortability. Is that a word? No. Being uncomfortable, panic, are definitely up there. Panic would be the one I would use.

Q. How important was it to bounce back with an eagle after opening with a bogey?
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, not my best start, but I just never really -- I was just fine. I wasn't worried about anything. I couldn't really tell you why, but I think some of it is just kind of rolling with the punches. But I put the ball in the fairway on 11 and I hit maybe the best shot of the day for me. I hit a great 4-iron. It was nice and high and was down there about 10 feet and was able to make the putt. So, yeah, any time you can get under par early in a round it's huge.

Q. The thing about this tournament and this course is that it doesn't really favor one particular style and really the field is wide open as opposed to maybe some of the others, maybe another major so, so given that, you got to like your chances maybe going into this event that anybody can win?
CHESSON HADLEY: Absolutely. Anybody can win any golf tournament. Obviously like you said this one maybe doesn't necessarily favor one player or the other, Tim Clark and Fred Funk have won here who are not some of the longer hitters, but Davis Love and Tiger and some of those, they obviously are long hitters. Maybe that's why this tournament is so great is because of the course. Obviously the PGA TOUR, this is our major and I just, I think this place is awesome, it sets up well for me, I like the way it looks and yeah, I don't feel like I answered that question as good as I could have, so we're just going to move on. Sorry.

Q. When you make a bogey like that on 10 to start the day, a good bogey, but does it almost give you a little bit of momentum?
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, you know, I blasted it over the green and then chipped it -- I didn't hit a bad chip, but it was an X, I was X back there and I rolled it down in the front bunker and then I hit that to tap in, which was huge. Not to have to sweat over a 6- or 7-footer for bogey. Knowing that if you miss it you've started with a, the dub monster snuck up and bit you, that's never is a good thing. So, yeah, I felt very pleased to walk away with bogey. I wasn't worried about it, like I said, and I just felt comfortable out there today. I was really proud of myself.

Q. Thinking about where you were, you played this tournament before, but a year ago before, really struggling with your game and that's where now you're here, does that give you a little extra appreciation for being here and playing this tournament?
CHESSON HADLEY: Yeah, I certainly have reflected on the last year and where I have been and it really is amazing what a difference a year will make. So I would like to think I'm definitely older, I would like to think maybe, maybe a touch wiser, that's certainly debatable, but I just hope that the next time golf gets hard -- and it's going to because golf is hard, very difficult -- I just hope I can maybe shorten the cycle a little bit, maybe just keep it to a couple weeks versus letting it drag on. So hopefully I can, I'm certainly going to store this in my memory bank and use it for when golf gets hard again. That was a good answer there by the way. I nailed that.

Q. When you teed off today, did you take a peek at what the morning guys had done?
CHESSON HADLEY: I did. My family and I came up here and had breakfast and I watched some of the coverage on the TV's inside and I got to see kind of what was going on, Jordan and Justin and Rory were coming through 17 the water wasn't even rippling, it had to be almost no wind out there this morning. The greens are soft and they're not going to be like that all week, but I was able to take advantage of that today. But certainly whenever you're in the afternoon wave I think it's helpful to look at some of the scores and that can kind of put you in a mindset you need to be in to approach the round. If it's going to be an absolute grind and punishment, you need to know that going into the round. That can kind of help you manage some expectations.

Q. Excited for tomorrow?
CHESSON HADLEY: Yes.

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