What they said: Arjun Atwal

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Q. That was a good birdie finishing up. How did the round feel today?

ARJUN ATWAL: You know, I didn't know what to expect. I was a little rusty after five weeks off. 6 under, I'll take it.

Q. Have you played here before?

ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah.

Q. So you know the course?

ARJUN ATWAL: I've never played in conditions like this. I've always played when it's softer. But it's playing perfect. It's firm. It's just the way it's supposed to be played.

Q. You took five weeks off, but your game didn't suffer. You're still on top of the leaderboard.

ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah. You know, I practiced the last three weeks at home. I had actually two weeks off from the game, but I felt pretty good at home with the practice that I put in. So just happened to make a few putts today.

Q. And what was the course like today?

ARJUN ATWAL: You know, the wind got up on like our last ten holes or whatever, and it became pretty tough. I think, you know, if the wind stays up like this every day, this is a really challenging golf course. You know, you've got to hit it on the fairway. That's basically it. If you don't hit it on the fairways, you're struggling to make par.

Q. So the greens already drying out?

ARJUN ATWAL: A little bit. They weren't too bad.

Q. What has got into your game? What happened?

ARJUN ATWAL: Just I guess I'm more relaxed, you know, after I won. I've been playing well all year. I just didn't have the results to show for it. You know, I only had one top ten before I won. That was in Dallas. I finished seventh. After anybody wins, I guess, the confidence always goes up.

Q. It's been five weeks. Did it sink in? How long did it take that you might have qualified in October?

ARJUN ATWAL: A couple of days. Just the first day you think about during all of it, but you start thinking about how much practice you put in and all the work you put it in, you worked for it. So it kind of sinks in right away then.

Q. Golf is a sport where you get hot, you get streaky. How long you think you can carry this momentum?

ARJUN ATWAL: I don't know. We'll see. I'll find out. I have no answers for that.

Q. What's the best part of your game right now? You seem to be hitting it off the tee okay.

ARJUN ATWAL: There's nothing really that stands out. I'm not doing anything bad. There's nothing extraordinary. I'm hitting fairways, greens, making a putt here and there. So that's basically it.

Q. What do you need to do to win here?

ARJUN ATWAL: Hit a lot of fairways. You need to hit a lot of fairways here. Like I said, if the wind picks up, it's really tricky out there. If you miss it in the bermuda rough, even though it's not very long, catch fliers, and keep making bogeys all day.

Q. Do you think it's going to be any different playing in the afternoon tomorrow?

ARJUN ATWAL: I don't know. I mean, it got pretty windy starting on 1 for us. I mean, on our back nine. I figure it's going to be pretty much the same.

Q. Thanks a lot.

Transcripts by ASAP Sports.