JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 7, 2023

Denny McCarthy

TPC Deere Run

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Denny, thanks for stopping by for just a minute. Bogey at 9, then 10. Take us through the rest.

DENNY McCARTHY: I don't know.

THE MODERATOR: Start with 10.

DENNY McCARTHY: 10 was just a little bit of a mental lapse on the tee shot and second shot. Then just had -- that's a green I never go for in two, so I was just hitting 3-wood off the tee to just put in a position to lay up.

Then I was in a position where I kind of had to go for it. I had a hybrid in my hand. I'm not going to lay up again. It was just a mess really. It was a bad hole.

Played the par-5s pretty poorly yesterday and today. I had a decision to just either get over it or mope about it, and I just said I was going to get over this and try to play as good as I could and totally free it up, and that's exactly what I did. I'm really proud of how I bounced back.

THE MODERATOR: Birdies on seven of your last eight holes. Have you ever had a stretch like that before?

DENNY McCARTHY: I have. I have actually birdied eight of nine. I birdied eight in a row once.

THE MODERATOR: Where was that?

DENNY McCARTHY: A Maryland Open back, I don't know, probably 2008, 2009, 2010, somewhere in there.

When I get hot, I get hot. I like to just get going and keep going. Once I see one or two go in, it kind of fuels the rest of my game, and it feels like I can't miss after that.

It's definitely a great feeling to have. It's a mindset that I -- it's like I wish I didn't have that setback to kind of, like, snap my mind back in it.

It's a mindset that I want to be in all the time, but that last eight holes, I mean, obviously I could have birdied those holes all the time, but just being in that mindset to just free it up, see the shot, picture it, and hit it, I would like to do that well. I would like to do that more.

THE MODERATOR: Ending on a high note like that, is that something that you are able to mentally at least I'm sure you hope carry over into tomorrow's third round?

DENNY McCARTHY: Yeah, for sure. I found something nice in my golf swing. I wasn't playing great through 27 holes. I was kind of just hanging around. I was 6-under par. Just kind of hanging around and not playing that great, waiting for that stretch.

Then 10 happened. It was, like, wow, you are seriously on this cut line right now after hanging around.

Something clicked in my swing. Found a little thought, and then just mentally I got in a really nice mindset, and that's something that I can learn something from getting in that mindset. I can learn, let's just get in that mindset on the first tee tomorrow somehow, some way.

If I'm able to do that, that's when I'm playing my best. That's when I'm having the most fun. So I need to do more of that.