What they said: Michael Allen

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Q. Did the course have a little more teeth today?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah. I think the greens got a little firmer and the pins were pretty tough today. You had to kind of really get after it and then be careful. Yeah, there were some very good pins today. Would have been nice to see the course start like this and work its way into it. I'm sure that's what the USGA would have liked. But yeah, the course played tough on a Sunday, and it was a good day out there.

Q. Elaborate how it was different from any other days.

MICHAEL ALLEN: Number one, I think the greens got a little bit quicker. Number two, the pins, a lot of pins were in tough places. They were all the way back on 2. That's a very tough putting pin.

There was a little bit of breeze today, too, which kind of made it nice, and obviously a little cooler, which helped. But that made it a little trickier because the wind could add a club or half club everywhere. It was, you know, a little bit more of what I think Inverness is supposed to be.

Q. Olin has got a two-shot lead playing the 17th. Is he a guy you know well, his career, his game?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, Olin, we played on Tour for a long time, most of our career, about 20 years, got on Tour about the same time. I don't think he's played great this year, but he started out pretty well. He's a tough competitor. He beat Tiger and Vijay up there at Deutsche Bank. When he grabs the lead, he doesn't really let it go very easily. You're going to have to beat him to get it away from him. I've always respected his game a lot in that manner.

Q. A local guy, Mike Kerr, was your caddie this week. Was he able to provide anything that helped you out?

MICHAEL ALLEN: Well, certainly he provided a lot of humor, that's for sure. My coach, Mike Mitchell, kind of grew up out here, and so it's been fun to come out here where all of his friends are, and there's just so many good people out here. I've just had a wonderful time with Mike, his family, his friend Norm and all these people I've met here. It's been a very nice week for me overall.

Transcript courtesy of ASAP Sports.