Travelers Championship
Friday, June 22, 2018
Matt Jones
Quick Quotes
Q. Matt, great playing today with the 66. How good are these first two rounds, considering the conditions got a little more challenging late in the round today?
MATT JONES: Yeah, I played great. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, and these greens are rolling pretty well. I mean, I could have made a few more putts, but focused on the ones I made, so I'm happy with where I am.
Q. As far as coming in on that being back nine, did you think maybe you could have gotten a little more out of that as you progressed through that back nine?
MATT JONES: Yeah, without question. I had 2-iron into the par-5, whatever hole that was, 13, then 14 I had 80 yards into that pin and two on in the next. Missed the putt on 17 and 18. I hit a lot of good putts, just they weren't going in. Hopefully that's a sign for things to come on the weekend.
Q. Got close, you burned a lot of edges. How do you feel about Saturday and Sunday night?
MATT JONES: Yeah, good. I'm not sure what the weather forecast is, might have an early tee time tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it. I've enjoyed the golf course over the years and I've always enjoyed coming here.
Q. You've hit 16 of 18 greens for the second day in a row.
MATT JONES: Yeah, I didn't know that. Yeah, I got off to a good start, birdieing 2 and 3, and then 6, just to get the round going is always nice. Missed a few coming in. Of course, every golfer wants to be better, but I'll take where I am.
Q. It seemed like all your putts just happened to slide by. Were you getting frustrated at all, and how do you keep it together?
A. I mean, if you look at my putting stats, I've done that and I've been doing that for three years now. I'm in the position I'm in right now because of the way I've been putting. But I made a few early on, so I'll have to live with those birdies, but I'm happy with the ones I've made out there.
Q. Any particular other shots that went well that you want to work on over the next starting tomorrow?
MATT JONES: No, just keep doing what I'm doing. My goal is just to hit fairways and hit greens. If I hit greens, it makes golf a lot easier, a lot less stressful. You'd never complain about hitting 18 greens in a round, even if you had 30 footers. I'd be more than happy to just keep plugging away, as I am, and giving myself putts.
Q. Do you feel like the game is coming around now after a slower start? You know, are you where you want to be right now?
MATT JONES: Well, FedExCup-wise, no. But I mean it's been there. It just comes down to putting with me. It has for the last three years. I haven't been putting well. That's really what has been my nemesis, I would say, for the last three years. Then it puts pressure on your ball striking and driving. If you've got nothing to fall back on around the green with the putter, it makes life hard.
Q. You did a lot of your scoring on the front nine, back nine, you had the birdie and bogey. How would you rate your performance on the final nine holes?
MATT JONES: I hit it good. Made a birdie on 10, missed an 8-footer on 11, tough par on 13. Missed a 15-footer on 14, tough one on 15, and missed one on 17 and 18. I mean, it could have easily been 3- or 4-under as well. It's just the difference between making a putt and not making a putt.
Q. How comfortable are you having your caddie -- he had recent notes before here?
MATT JONES: Yeah, Bradley's been on TOUR for a long, long time. He's got a lot of experience, and he's won here before, I think twice, actually. He's won with Russell, and I can't remember who he won with before. So I'm sure he's got some good memories and we'll look forward to the weekend.
Q. Trying to deal with the putting, do you practice a lot, do you not practice at all? What kind of things did you do to fix it?
MATT JONES: Multiple different putters, a lot of practice, lots of different things. It's more so just a speed issue, having a consistent strike on the ball, that's the main problem. Leaving putts short and then hitting them too hard when you try to adjust. So just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully it works.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #1 by #170 at 2018-06-22 21:38:00 GMT
