What they said: Steve Elkington

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Q. Steve, showing some game here with a 65. The last six starts on the PGA TOUR have been a missed cut or a withdraw, so where did this come from?

STEVE ELKINGTON: I just haven抰 been playing very well, but it sure is nice to get back to Congressional and play. I抳e played well here before, and my game has been up and down this year.

Nothing I can really ?I抳e been working on it, put it that way. But as I say, it抯 nice to get back here. This course in particular I just love the way it sets up. It抯 kind of my style of golf.

I hit the ball great today, putted well, so more of that would be good tomorrow.

Q. Talk about the new grooves issue and about it being implemented January 1, 2010, by Commissioner Tim Finchem a few days ago. How do you think it抣l affect play for the fans who are watching next year?

ELKINGTON: I抦 not sure. I don抰 think these guys ?it won抰 take them long. I抳e only ever played V-grooves, so I don抰 have any trouble stopping the ball, so I don抰 think it抣l take these guys very long. Just the shots around the green with the 60-degrees that we set up a lot of shots to spin it, that抯 going to have to be ?you have to change your thinking on that a little bit. You抮e going to have to lay up a bit further back or whatever.

It used to be in the old days, you used to play wide, never short-side yourself. But when the square grooves came in, short-siding it was out of the question because you could do something with it from the short side. Well, now I think you have to play a little bit more percentage golf.

Q. Talk about your round.

ELKINGTON: It抯 nice to get back to this course at Congressional. It抯 a great place. The course is fantastic, the best we抳e ever seen it. It was a great day for me. I basically hit all the greens, kept it out of the rough, kept it away from all the trouble.

I just like coming up to this area and I like playing this golf course. It seems to get better and better every time I come back.

Q. I have a question about the British Open, Turnberry in ?4. Most of the guys in the field have never played it. How would you describe Turnberry?

ELKINGTON: It抯 difficult, obviously, but it depends on the weather. Turnberry is on the side of a hill. I remember watching Greg Norman win there in ?6, and you抳e got to be able to drive it like a genius down some of these alleyways. It抣l be a good test.

Q. Did you feel today抯 round had been coming?

ELKINGTON: You know, I抳e been hitting the ball great in places. I抳e had good rounds this year, but I抳e followed them up by bad ones. It抯 just been a really up and down year for me, which is odd, because I抳e never really experienced that kind of golf before. Usually I play pretty consistently. But this year has been different. But I抳e been able to fight through it pretty good, and today was a good step in the right direction.

Q. Is this as well as you抳e played all year?

ELKINGTON: No, I played some good rounds early, but probably ball-striking it was the best round this year, yeah.

Transcript courtesy of ASAP Sports.