HONDA CLASSIC

February 25, 2023

Chris Kirk

PGA National Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. How big was that ruling for you on 18?

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, definitely made that a much more doable shot. It was a shot that I could have gotten up-and-down for sure hitting a flop shot from the rough over the bunker, but thankfully where I dropped was much more straightforward. The lie was clean, but that grass right there was kind of sandy and straight into the grain. That was why I chose to hit that kind of low driving shot, just to give myself a little better chance at some good contact. That was one where if I try to hit more of a higher pitch and land it on the green, I could have hit it right in front of myself.

Definitely a good break, but executed a great pitch shot there and drained the putt, which was a nice way to finish.

Q. The way you guys started off, it was like nobody could really get anything going, but then 4 Justin bogeyed, you birdied. Was that a turning point for you?

CHRIS KIRK: I mean, I didn't really notice to be honest. I'm just kind of worried about what I'm doing. Justin is a really nice guy, really great guy to play with, but I'm really not paying a whole lot of attention to what he's doing. I'm worried about what I'm doing. It was a little bit of a monotonous start I guess for both of us, but you want to go out there and try to make a bunch of birdies and get into the lead, but at the same time, you make a bunch of pars on this golf course, that's good. I know the wind has been down this week, but this place is tough. It's really, really difficult. There's a ton of difficult holes, not just the Bear Trap but all throughout this golf course.

I was able to keep that in mind and kept me patient with what I was doing, and a little bit of an up-and-down on the back nine; after two great birdies on 11 and 12, a couple bad bogeys on 13 and 16. But to finish like that definitely will make dinner taste a little bit better and gets me excited to go see what we can do tomorrow.

Q. Did you know you took the lead on 4?

CHRIS KIRK: I guess if I had thought about it, I probably would have been able to figure it out. But who's leading the tournament on the 4th hole on Saturday is not really that important.

Q. Only to us writers.

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, there's so much golf left to play. I'm just trying to do my thing. At that point it doesn't matter.

Q. How big was your birdie on 12 after he eagled it?

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, I mean, I guess that was somewhat making a statement. For him to hit an unbelievable shot, just hooping it from the fairway, that was cool to see. But yeah, to be able to kind of stay composed and stay in my process and make that putt, that was huge, yeah.

Q. Three days in, what do you feel best about in your game?

CHRIS KIRK: Probably my iron play. That was kind of a strength for me at Sony and Amex where I played so well, and has been a strength most of the year this year.

I made a couple really good driver swings kind of towards the end of my round today, especially on 18. I didn't quite catch it in the middle on 18, but was the exact shape, right where I wanted it. I feel like that's going to be an important thing for me tomorrow, to go out and drive it well. But I feel good about where my golf swing is, and if I can do a good job reading these greens -- the greens are so tricky to read. You get a lot of putts out here where the grain is fighting the slope a little bit, and you've got to pick one.

But I for the most part did pretty good at that today, and hopefully I can continue that tomorrow.

Q. You've got a lot of young guns in here looking for their first TOUR victory. You're a four-time winner out here. What's on the line for you tomorrow?

CHRIS KIRK: Yeah, it's probably not that different of a feeling. It's been so long since I've won. I'm going to be plenty nervous, just as nervous as those guys are probably.

I think that way more so than my four wins on TOUR, I'll be able to draw from how well I played at Sony and Amex. I didn't win any of those events, but I really felt like I really played great, got pretty comfortable in that situation in the heat, so I think that if I just continue to go do my job and go execute, then there's no reason why it shouldn't turn out different this time.