AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM

February 5, 2023

Denny McCarthy

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll welcome Denny McCarthy into the interview room at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Denny, as it stands right now two back of Justin Rose. Can you walk us through your day, finishing up at Monterey Peninsula and then coming over here and playing 15 and a half holes at Pebble Beach.

DENNY MCCARTHY: Yeah, overall very good day. The nine holes I played at Monterey Peninsula this morning was probably the best I've hit it actually all week, and I shot 1-over par. And yesterday too. It's funny how I didn't hit it very well and scraped it around and managed my game and shot a couple pairs of 3-unders the first couple rounds and then played really well at Monterey Peninsula and shot even par.

But, you know, I was a little frustrated after Monterey. Just wanted to clear my mind. I had a couple-minute phone call with Doctor Rotella after I left Monterey Peninsula just to kind of, talking to him always gets me in a good frame of mind and had a nice chat with him and was just pumped up ready to go today, and obviously that showed with my start.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. You always hear about Pebble you got to score early and you go, I think, 7-under on the front. How much urgency did you feel to take advantage of those holes and how did you make that work?

DENNY MCCARTHY: Yeah. I mean, I knew it was, with the softness and 1 and 2 downwind, 3 in off the right, which is actually a good wind for that hole, 4 back downwind, 5 downwind, 6 off the right, 7 down off the right, I mean, it was pretty gettable early.

I just happened to get it. I happened to hit some quality shots and rolled in some nice putts. I was just kind of proud of the way -- I felt nervous, but I also felt really calm at the same time. I took on some tee shots. 9 is kind of risky downwind. I just kind of forced it left, knowing that that left rough was thin and took the tee shot on on 10 and just felt really comfortable after that start. Once I got into a nice groove just felt really comfortable with everything where everything was at.

Q. You said you played 9 at Monterey Peninsula today?

DENNY MCCARTHY: I played the front nine. Yeah, I played the back yesterday and played the whole front nine today, this morning.

Q. You obviously putted very nicely today. Was there any thought of keeping it going at 16 with that putt at 16?

DENNY MCCARTHY: No, it just got really dark. It got dark quickly. I was able to see it fine on 15. I hit the tee shot on 16 and the horn blew right after that.

I had a good gauge for my swing and how I was feeling, so I wanted to hit the second shot, but once we got up to the green, it was too dark. It would be good to kind of see what the putt actually does with fresh greens in the morning.

Q. Obviously this is kind of a weird situation because you're going to go home tonight and you're going to know you only have about two and a half holes to play. You're going to see what everybody else has done. You're going to be able to think about it, which normally you don't get a chance to think about it when you're out on the golf course. So how do you take on this situation versus when you're normally playing in a tournament and you're out there?

DENNY MCCARTHY: Yeah, I think it's -- I know what I need to do. I think I'm a couple back, from what someone told me. So you got to figure they're probably going to stay there, maybe make a couple birdies coming in, assume.

So I have a good look on 16. Found something nice in my swing today with my irons. So I don't know what the -- I haven't really looked at the wind tomorrow, but I know what I need to do. It's not like, if I'm in the same mindset that I was today, I'm looking forward to getting back out and just continuing my round.

Q. One other thing. Did you think you had a chance this morning or this afternoon when you teed it up?

DENNY MCCARTHY: What do you mean a chance? A chance to win the tournament?

Q. Yeah. You were pretty far back at the time.

DENNY MCCARTHY: Yeah. But like I said, I found something nice at Monterey Peninsula. I scrambled and putted really well the first couple rounds and then something clicked in my swing at Monterey Peninsula the last day and a half. I wasn't -- I was really just thinking about executing each shot, and I executed a lot of shots and kind of putted really freely, not worrying about the comebacker.

Yeah, I mean, good things happened and just look forward to continuing that tomorrow.