Category: Professionals

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How the Skandinavian professional golfers raise up their national pride. A weekend filled out with golf.

Joakim Lagergren

Last weekend hosted events for all professional tours, and this is an overview on the performance of the golfers from Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. There are not many players from these countries. However, some of their names are getting more and more noticed within the golf world.

European Tour: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Starting of with the European Tour, the Swedish golfer Joakim Lagergren, was close to bring home the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship trophy. He signed four rounds of (67-72-67-66) to finish with a total of 16-under par, for a silver medal only two shots behind the winner, Danny Willett. Lagergren showed a very solid game throughout the entire tournament, being two and six the average of bogeys and birdies per round respectively. Kristoffer Broberg finished strong with a fourth round of 7-under par (65) for a T9, coming close to the end one of his best seasons in the European Tour.
To round out the Swedish crew, Alex Noren came in T12 with a total of 11-under par (70-68-70-69). Noren is currently ranked 59th in the OWGR, and he is one of the players from Sweden with the most number of European Tour wins, a total of 10, only one victory behind Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson.
Nicolai HØJGAARD and Jeff Winther, from Denmark also had a good performance that placed them both at T14, finishing with a total score of 10-under par.

Joakim Lagergren of Sweden tees off on the 5th hole during Day Four of The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at The Old Course. (Getty Images)

Challenge Tour: Swiss Challenge

Moving on to the Challenge Tour which consisted of the Swiss Challenge hosted at Golf Saint Apollinaire, Michelbach-Le-Haut, France. Denmark leaves a mark within the Top 10 finishes, bringing the first and second place trophies home. Marcus Helligkilde was proclaimed winner after he signed a total of 25-under par (65-67-62-69). Helligkilde is currently 3rd in the Challenge Tour, and ranked 143rd in the OWGR. All signs point at him playing the Main Tour next season. Only one shot behind at the Swiss Challenge, his fellow national teammate Nicolai Kristensen completed a four-round performance with scores of (65-67-65-67) for a total of 24-under par and a T2. Kristensen improved his Challenge Tour Ranking (CTR) by 28 positions last weekend, although that will not be enough to get the main card just yet.
Niklas Nørgaard MØLLER, also from Denmark, made a Top 5 at Golf Saint Apollinaire, shooting a total of 20-under par, and Lauri Ruuska came in T8 for Finland, only one shot behind of 19-under par.

LPGA Tour: Shoprite LPGA Classic

Looking at the LPGA, we can focus on the Swedish professional golfer Anna Nordqvist. She recently came in at T12 at the Shoprite LPGA Classic with a total of 9-under par and rounds of (69-69-66). Nordqvist currently holds 9 Career victories and 75 Career Top 10. Her solid game shows in the Rolex Ranking, where she is placed 16th. Anna felt at home during the Shoprite LPGA Classic and that is how she wanted to transmit it through social media: “No place like home but some weeks on the road are a little better than others… thank you @borgataac and my @mgmresortsintl family for making me, my clubs and my caddy feel “home” this week during @shopritelpga” published Anna on her Instagram account after the tournament.
Few positions below, her fellow Swedish player Madelene Sagstrom, and the professional golfer from Finland, Matilda Castren finished 6-under par for a T27 position.

Ladies European Tour. LET: Estrella Damm Ladies Open

The Estrella Damm Ladies Open took place last weekend 1st-3rd of October 2021, in Club de Golf Terramar, in Spain. Maja Stark from Sweden, took a 2-shot lead and brought the tophy home after three rounds of nonstop improvement (74-69-65) that drove her to be first with a total of 8-under par.
With a difference of four strokes, Krista Bakker (FIN) came in T4 and Linda Wessberg (SWE) T6 with a total of 3-under par. Sweden showed some golf power as Jessica Karlsson also made a Top 10 on the leaderboard with rounds of (71-70-73).

PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms Championship

Lastly the PGA tour where the Sanderson Farms Championship was played at the Country Club of Jackson, in Jackson, Mississippi. Henrik Norlander sits on the spotlight as he was the only player from the Skandinavian area to make the cut. Norlander left the standards high with a T4, only 2 shots behind the leader Sam Burns, from the U.S.

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Team UK Top Tours

Lee Westwood does his homework to pulish the accuracy of his irons yardage.

Lee Westwood of England plays their second shot on the 2nd hole during Day Two of the 2021 Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.

The FedexCup Playoffs have been very intense, full of emotions and great golf. The englishman Lee Westwood classified for the first event, known as the Northern Trust. This tournament was played at the Liberty National Golf Course, in New Jersey, where he shot a total of 9-under par for a T27. Westwood fell into the Top 70 players that moved forward into the BMW Championship, the second event of the PlayOffs. It was held at the Caves Valley Golf Club, in Owings Mills, MD.

Performance at the BMW Championship
Westwood showed some consistency off the fairway with a 79.2% of accuracy in greens in regulation. However, his final statistics showed a total of 50% of sand saves. This means that, he would have only saved one out of two pars after missing the green, and that translated into few more bogeys on his scorecard than expected.
Although the englishman completed the BMW Championship with an average of 1.6 putts, he signed a final score of 11-under par, for a T34, falling out of the Top 30 that would sneak into the TOUR Championship, the last event of the FedexCup Playoffs.

Lee Westwood keeps up the good work and shares it with his fans.
Westwood wants to make sure that he gets to know his yardage to improve his performance in the upcoming tournaments. He shares his work on and off the course through his social media, and here there is a video of him putting the effort in the driving range. Westwood is taking notes on his irons yardage with the help of the trackman.

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PGA Tour Team Ireland Top Tours

Rory McIlroy: “There’s no room in golf for people to abuse someone on the golf course when all they’re trying to do is follow their dreams.”

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off the sixth hole during a practice round prior to the 2021 TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

East Lake Golf Club
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: This is your 8th start here. You’re a two-time champion. Just what are you looking forward to about coming back here for the ninth time or the eighth time.

RORY MCILROY: I mean, I’m just happy to be here, to be honest. I was 28th going into the week last week at Caves Valley. I knew I needed at least a decent week to make it here and it turned out to be a bit better than that. I played, probably played some of the best golf I’ve played all year, not good enough to keep up with Patrick and Bryson, but certainly good enough to move up a few spots and get here this week.

So, yeah, happy to be here. It’s, I think it’s always a feather in your cap to make the TOUR Championship even though someone in my position is expected to and I obviously expect myself to as well. You look around this week and there’s only 30 players here and you can single out every single player that’s done something really well this year. So to be included in that group is nice and at least I have a chance.

I, it was funny, I saw Sungjae this morning at breakfast, and when I finished on Sunday, it looked like I was projected to start the tournament this week at 4-under and then Sungjae birdied 17, and then I was projected to start the week at 3-under, and then he birdied the last, and then I went down to 2-under. So even before the week started he cost me two shots.

But, no, it’s — and it’s sort of, I think that’s the fun thing about this format. You’re always sort of looking at what the other guys are doing and seeing where you’re going to start. But, yeah, just happy to be here and glad to have a chance.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. You touched on it there. How do you approach starting the week eight behind? Do you just think, that’s just two shots a day, or do you just try and put it out of your mind until you get down to the business end of it?

RORY MCILROY: Not really. I mean, I think East Lake isn’t the easiest golf course in the world and it’s certainly a, it seems to be a course that separates the field somewhat. So the way I look at it, if I go out tomorrow and shoot 6-under, for example, which is the score I shot last year in the first round, get to 8-under par, and some of those top guys shoot even par or even 1- or 2-over, all of a sudden you’re right in it.

So it’s a golf course that you can, I feel like you can make up a lot of ground quickly. You can also lose a lot of ground quickly as well, depending on how it goes. But I certainly don’t feel like I’m out of it. I don’t feel like I’m too far behind. Eight shots around this golf course doesn’t seem like that much, so still pretty optimistic.

But, I mean, I think it just puts the impetus, especially for people that are in my position, the bottom half of the field, you just have to get off to a fast start.

Q. Jon has been kind of outspoken about the format for this week. He points out the fact that you come in having won, four, five times and a major and end up finishing 30th on the points list. And I know you’ve addressed this before, but there is a clarity for the fans, but that’s offset by Jon’s point, which I think a lot of people agree with. Do you have a thought on that one way or the other?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean I, look, the first year that it was played in this format I started five back, and I ended up winning the tournament by three. So, like, everyone gets here. The people that have played well have an advantage. It’s not an insurmountable advantage like it has been in previous years where guys have turned up to the TOUR Championship not having to do anything to win the FedExCup and that’s certainly, you don’t want that to happen either.

So I mean, there’s been a few iterations of it and I think this is definitely the best format so far. There’s clarity for the players. There’s clarity for the fans. It’s, again, it’s the playoffs, and I think everyone that’s in the top-30 deserves to be here and then because of that everyone in the top-30 deserves to feel like they have a chance to win it all.

So I can certainly see where Jon is coming from, especially with the year that he’s had. But, look, I’ve went into two, I went into two playoff runs being No. 1 in 2012 and 2014 and didn’t win either of them. So I’ve been on both sides of the coin here.

Look, it is what it is. I mean, the PGA TOUR wanted to create this playoffs format and by nature it is going to be volatile at the end of the year and I think most players have accepted that.

Q. I know you were hitting fades and hitting draws and trying to figure out which one made more sense. Where have you settled on that and why?

RORY MCILROY: I think it’s shot- and hole-dependent. I’m going to try to hit a fade on holes that dictate that that’s the way you should play the hole and I’m going to try to hit a draw on holes or hole locations where it dictates that you should hit a draw. I think I’m, most players in this field and most players on TOUR should be good enough to be able to work the ball both ways.

Certainly there is advantages of just having one shot shape. It takes the options or the choices out of your head somewhat and it simplifies the game, but I think I should be able to swing the club well enough and know what I’m doing that I’m able to hit both shots. I mean, I think for my swing pattern and when it gets off, I think the feeling of a fade is always a good one because it gets the club out more in front of me on the way down. So that’s always going to be a sort of thought or a drill of mine is, like, just keep trying to get the club out in front of me and rotate and hitting those fades because I know if I can hit the fade pretty consistently, then I know I’m swinging well and the club’s not getting stuck behind me, and I know how to hit a draw. I mean, I’ve done that my whole life.

So it’s just a matter of managing your patterns somewhat and basically just hitting the shot that’s required on the hole or, yeah.

Q. With two European Tour counting events remaining for the Ryder Cup, how do you see the Ryder Cup, European Ryder Cup team shaping up? Pads has got a pretty tough task in terms of phone calls before he makes the announcement of the wild cards at Wentworth on that Sunday night.

RORY MCILROY: It depends how Italy and Wentworth go, I guess, the next couple of weeks. Obviously, Bernd Wiesberger had a great chance to play himself into the team in Switzerland and didn’t quite get it done but certainly has a couple more opportunities coming up in Italy and Wentworth to get over the line.

And then I think if that were to happen, if say someone like a Bernd or a Victor Perez or one of those guys gets, plays their way into the team, then I think it makes it a little more difficult for Padraig because then say, for example, if Shane doesn’t get on automatically, then you’re looking at him for a pick or whoever else.

It’s sort of, it’s still all a bit up in the air. But I think at this moment in time, if the qualifications stopped, I think it’s a pretty simple, I think it’s a pretty simple scenario, but a lot can change over the next couple of weeks.

Q. Are we going to see you at Wentworth or not?

RORY MCILROY: No.

Q. Do you feel that fan behavior has become less respectful and if so what do you attribute it to?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I do, a little bit. I think I sort of know what you’re getting at on the back of last week and some things that were said over the past few weeks, I guess. Yeah, a little bit. I think it’s different. As golfers, there’s a very thin rope that separates us from the fans, and then you hit a shot off line, and you have to go into the fans to hit it. So we get a little closer to them than some other sports.

Yeah, I think some of it crosses the line. I think there’s a certain, I think certain other sports culture has fed into our game and fed into the fan base that’s definitely affected it, and people will make the argument that, well, it happens in every other sport. But I would say that we’re not any other sport and I think golf should hold itself to a higher standard. I mean, the players are certainly held to a higher standard than other sports, so why wouldn’t our fan base be.

Q. Do you feel like you have to develop a thicker skin for the Ryder Cup?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, certainly, especially the ones that are played in the United States. But I think the best thing is to just not — someone once told me awhile back, if you don’t take anything personally, you’ll live a very happy life, and I think I try to do that all the time. You just try to let it slide off, not take things personally and if you can do that and if you can train yourself to think that way, it certainly makes it easier.

Q. Everybody seems to be on Bryson’s case at the moment. Do you feel any sympathy for him or do you think he brought it on himself?

RORY MCILROY: I certainly feel some sympathy for him because I certainly, I don’t think that you should be ostracized or criticized for being different, and I think we have all known from the start that Bryson is different and he is not going to conform to the way people want him to be. He is his own person. He thinks his own thoughts and everyone has a right to do that.

There are certainly things that he has done in the past that have brought some of this stuff on himself. I’m not saying that he’s completely blameless in this. But at the same time, I think he has been getting a pretty rough go of it of late and it’s actually pretty sad to see because he, deep down, I think, is a nice person and all he wants to do is try to be the best golfer he can be. And it just seems like every week something else happens and I would say it’s pretty tough to be Bryson DeChambeau right now.

And I don’t know if anyone else on TOUR has spoken up for him, but I definitely, I definitely he feel for him a little bit. And I agree, I don’t think he’s completely blameless in all this, but at the same time, I think he’s trying to become better and he’s trying to learn from his mistakes and I think everyone should give him a chance to try to do that.

Q. Outside observers can’t help but note Patrick Cantlay’s very calm demeanor on the golf course regardless of what the circumstances are. Is that something that the players take note of as well? And what other parts of his game might you point to to, that’s going to make him tough to catch this week?

RORY MCILROY: I mean, if he putts the way he putted last week for the rest of his career we have no chance. (Laughing).

Yeah, Patrick is, he’s a very, what you see on TV is what you get in person. I mean, he’s a pretty, he’s a very smart guy as well. I think that’s the thing. He’s very, he doesn’t say a whole lot, but you can tell that there’s a lot going on in his head and he’s an educated guy. And, yeah, I mean, the performance that he put in last week, I think everyone that, when he hit that shot into the water on 17 in regulation, we all thought, Well, this is Bryson’s to win. But the resolve that he showed to get up-and-down to make bogey there, to birdie the last to force a playoff, and then everything that happened in the playoff, it was really impressive to see.

I think that was a, he’s won some tournaments before and he’s played well, but I think that was, I don’t know if anyone’s ever seen that side of Patrick Cantlay to that extent like we did last week and it was very impressive.

Q. You alluded to the Hazeltine Ryder Cup a little bit earlier and my read on that week was that you expended a ton of energy winning matches early in the week and kind of carrying your team. Obviously, you had that huge energy explosion on the 8th hole against Patrick on Sunday, and then I thought maybe you kind of lost, like you had reached a breaking point almost at that point. I wanted to ask you if that was true, first of all, and then playing off of that, what would you tell, let’s say like a Ryder Cup rookie or how would you advise them about the specific challenges of playing a Ryder Cup in the U.S. in this modern era where fans can be jerks and it’s just like a crazy amount of energy that it takes from you?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, so you’re completely right. That observation is, you hit the nail on the head. I expended so much energy during that week, not just competing on the golf course, but also just everything else that was going on that, everything sort of reached a crescendo on that 8th green on Sunday, and I think both of us, I think both Patrick and I, we certainly didn’t keep that level of play up for the entire match, and I think we both sort of came down a little bit from that, but he was just able to — he made birdie at the last and ended up winning 1-up.

And but, yeah, it was certainly, I took a lot from that. I learned a lot from that and I hopefully won’t make the same mistake again this year because you can only, you only have so much energy, and you can only use it for an amount of time. And I think what I would tell a rookie going into a Ryder Cup, especially on the road, is, yeah, conserve your energy. You don’t, like we’re there from the Monday, the matches don’t start until the Friday, I mean, I would Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday do just enough to feel like you’re prepared, but don’t do too much. Don’t play 18-hole practice rounds every day. Don’t kill yourself in the gym. Don’t like, I mean, do what you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind and the right space physically to go out there and play.

And the thing, as well, is if you’re called upon to play all five sessions, that’s a long week. It’s tough and it’s physically draining, but also mentally as well, trying to focus on the job at hand and not get distracted by the crowd or anything else.

So it’s a pretty tough task, I think, for a rookie coming into that environment that’s going to be the toughest week of their golfing life and they have to be prepared for that and all I would say is conserve your energy and put it into the three days.

Q. You said if you don’t think anything personal, you’ll never be upset. How do you put that into practice when you’re in the thick of it and the things people are saying to you are intensely personal?

RORY MCILROY: I think you just have to, you have to think about, Okay, if I were to sit down and have a beer with this person, would they think the same thing, would they say the same thing? And of course they wouldn’t. You go, if someone says something to you and you go up and you confront them about it, they’re not going to say the same thing as either, right? It’s a — it’s just a weird dynamic between fan and competitor and they’re doing it to try to help their own team. They’re doing it because they’re from the United States and they’re trying to — and I think if you — I think I’ve tried to train myself to think about it and think on purpose rather than react, and I think the more you react to it, the more it gets at you, but the more you actually think about it and break it down and it just, it becomes less meaningful and you can just sort of let it roll off.

And I’ve tried to do a really good job of that over the last few years of not react and just try to think about it a little bit more and try to just try to put it in a better perspective, I guess.

Q. It sounds as if you’re on board with what Jay told us yesterday about the fan behavior stuff. But just curious your thoughts on just enforcing that, the difficulty of actually calling people out and maybe asking, booting them or ejecting them in such a situation. Is that realistic?

RORY MCILROY: I think as I said at the start, as golfers I feel like we’re held to a higher standard than other sports and other athletes and I think because of that the people that come to watch us play should be held to a higher standard as well. And enforcing that, I think it should be — there’s no room in golf for people to abuse someone on the golf course when all they’re trying to do is do their best and win a golf tournament and follow their dreams. So there’s no place for that in our game and that might sound a little stiff or snobby or whatever, but that’s golf and we have traditions and we have — you look at like a First Tee Program, for example, what are they taught through golf? They’re taught respect, sportsmanship, etiquette, how to treat others the right way, and that’s everything that we try to do through golf. They are the values of our game and that’s, people need to understand that and they need to try to adopt those same etiquettes and those same beliefs and values when they show up at our tournaments.

Interview Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Knowledge PGA Tour Team UK Top Tours

Justin Rose is named the 2021 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award

Justin Rose named recipient of the 2021 Payne Stewart Award

Justin Rose, the englishman golfer who is a 11-time PGA winner, as well as the 2013 U.S. Open winner and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in Rio, was named the 2021 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, which is presented annually by the PGA Tour to the golfer who best exemplifies character, charity and sportsmanship.

Stewart, a three-time major champion, perished in a 1999 plane crash as the reigning U.S. Open champion. A year after that fatal date, the PGA created this award to honor his name and character.
Rose, turned professional in ’98, a year before Payne died, and was able to have a few brief interactions with Payne long before Rose held a trophy in his honor. The 2021 recipient definitely remembers the kind words that Steward had with him at The Open Championship in ’98, when Rose was just hitting balls on the range and Payne stopped by to compliment his swing: “Oh, that’s how it’s done.”

The Payne Stewart Award is specially meaninful because it goes beyond the golfing skills, but instead this prize recognizes the characteristics that define a great role model for the rest of the world, without any descriminations.
Some of the most recognizable players have won this Award in the past as well, such as Ernie Els (2015), Gary Player (2006), Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer both in (2000).
It is a chance for the recipient to bring the world matters back to the spotlight and to create awarness through their actions or foundations. Justin Rose and his wife founded The Kate & Justin Rose Foundation in Florida, which helps members of the community with lack of sources and money to fulfill their plates and to enrich their minds, raising more than $3 million and providing “500,000 hunger-free weekends” and 300,000 books.

“Justin Rose embodies everything the Payne Stewart Award represents,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “Like Payne, he has been one of the premier players of his generation while using his platform to better the lives of those around him.”

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Team UK

Lee Westwood named 2020 Seve Ballesteros Award winner as Players’ Player of the Year

Lee Westwood recieves Seve Ballesteros award. (Photo: Getty)
Lee Westwood recieves Seve Ballesteros award. (Photo: Getty)

Lee Westwood has been named the winner of the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2020 European Tour Players’ Player of the Year following a remarkable season which culminated in the 48-year-old topping the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and being crowned European Tour Number One for the third time in his storied career.

The announcement coincides with the ten year anniversary of the passing of the Spanish legend Ballesteros, who died on May 7, 2011 following a battle with cancer. Westwood’s first of ten Ryder Cup appearances came in 1997 under Ballesteros, who captained Europe to a famous win at Valderrama.

The Englishman had long ago secured his status alongside the late Ballesteros as one of the European Tour’s greatest ever players, but a memorable 2020 campaign has earned him another accolade after his fellow European Tour Members voted him the Players’ Player of the Year.

It was a season bookended by two of his most impressive performances. In his first appearance of the season, Westwood claimed his second Rolex Series title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, overcoming his fellow Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood as well as France’s Victor Perez.

He capped off his season on a high too, his runner-up finish behind Fitzpatrick at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai earning him the title of 2020 Race to Dubai Champion.

In a disrupted campaign due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Westwood’s consistency was something to behold – in 15 appearances he missed just one cut and produced eight top 20 finishes.

On top of that, Westwood continued to give back to the game and to the European Tour through hosting the 2020 Betfred British Masters at Close House, which marked the first of six events in the UK Swing and was won by Italian Renato Paratore.

“It means a lot that it is voted for by my fellow players, the guys I play with week-in week-out,” said Westwood. “Awards like this are always very special because I feel like they as players know what you have to go through.

“I played a lot of good golf under pressure when I needed to in 2020. The win in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year and then to have a chance to play so well in the final event at the DP World in Dubai, I was really pleased with those two tournaments, but I was also consistent and that was important to me. It was a very difficult year with the pandemic for everyone, and we were very fortunate to play golf during this time.

“Seve was an icon of the game, and still is. When I started playing golf, I was looking at the Europeans and Seve’s name was at the top of that list as somebody to aspire to. The first tournaments I ever went to watch were Ryder Cups in 1989 and 1993, and Seve’s name is synonymous with the Ryder Cup.

“I remember looking at these guys like Seve and Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam wanting to be like them. Then in 1997 I am in a Ryder Cup team captained by Seve Ballesteros, so it was a very short gap between looking and watching and learning from my heroes to actually being amongst them trying to win points in a Ryder Cup. That for me was really one of those pinch yourself moments, like is this really happening to me. Seve was a huge part of that and inspirational in the team room, and just a phenomenal and very calming presence.”

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive Officer at the European Tour, said: “I don’t think it is any surprise that Lee Westwood has won the Seve Ballesteros Award after such a tremendous season. At 48 years of age he is an icon, a former World Number One, our most recent Race to Dubai winner and like Seve, Lee is a true champion. He has an unwavering will to succeed, and he has proven that over and over again in his career.

“Lee is one of the few remaining European Tour players to have competed alongside Seve and to have had the honour to call him a friend. They are two players who will be long remembered in the pantheon of European Tour and Ryder Cup greats.”

Javier Ballesteros, Seve’s oldest son, added: “I am personally very happy Lee Westwood is the winner of the Seve Ballesteros Award for his incredible season. Lee is playing some great golf, I think he is physically in great shape and when you enjoy not only golf but life away from the game, things go well for you, and that has shown in how he has played not only last year but over the past few years around the world.”

David Howell, European Tour Tournament Committee Chairman, said: “It’s obviously not the first time Lee has won the Race to Dubai, and last year was of course a strange year, but it seems fitting that whenever something slightly different comes along Lee Westwood is there to remind us that things are normal.

“Whilst Seve was a worldwide player, a Major winner and one of the biggest stars in the game, you always felt that his heart was with the European Tour. I think that came out with his Ryder Cup heroics and you just knew Seve cared deeply about the growth of the European Tour, and similarly with Lee, while he has been at the top of the tree for many years you just know his heart is with us and he has always supported the European Tour where possible. He has been one of the biggest names for over two decades now and it is great to see someone so loyal to our Tour coming up trumps again last year.”

(Text: European Tour)

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Professionals

Reactions to Tiger Woods’ Accident

Rescuers used hydraulic rescue tools to extricate him from the car. (Image: Getty)

Professionals golfers and other high-profile figures react to the events of the last morning near Los Angeles, California, where Tiger Woods was involved in a serious car accident just after 7 am local time.

He sustained serious injuries to both his legs as a result of the crash, CNN reports, and is now awake and recovering after surgery, per an official statement given on Twitter.

Justin Thomas, current world number 3, was among those sending thoughts and good wishes:

Justin Rose sent some heart-warming words of encouragement:

Woods had been hoping to participate in the Master’s this year after beginning his recovery from extensive back surgery.

Beyond the world of golf, other big names tweeting their support include Barack Obama, Serena Williams and Mike Tyson.

The car overturned multiple times as it spun out of control in Rancho Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles.

The cause of the crash is not yet known.

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Team Ireland

US Open 2020 – Rory McIlroy: “I’m feeling pretty good that I’ve got a good chance tomorrow.”

MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 19: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland waits to putt on the first green during the third round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 19, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Q. Rory, 2-under 68; how are you feeling about your round today?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, really good. Geez, I think anything under par on this golf course today is a really good score. I saw Alex go out there and shoot 3-under earlier. You know, I’m not saying it’s out there; he got a good one, I did, and there’s maybe a couple other guys that are under par. Yeah, and the wind is not quite as strong as it was yesterday. You know, it maybe played a touch less difficult I’ll say. Not easier, but it was a little less difficult.

But some of the hole locations are still pretty tricky and got to leave yourself on the right side. But yeah, overall 68 out there is a really good score. I don’t know where that’s going to leave me at the end of the day, but I’m feeling pretty good that I’ve got a good chance going into tomorrow.

Q. When you’re in a little bit of a chasing position as you are right now, what kind of conditions are you kind of hoping for or half hoping for tomorrow?

RORY McILROY: It’s sort of a double-edged sword, right, because you would think that you’d want tougher conditions because it’ll make it more difficult for the guys in front of you, but also makes it more difficult for yourself. I think looking at the forecast, the conditions are going to be pretty similar to today, which is fine. If I go out there tomorrow and shoot another 68, I won’t be too far away.

Q. Kind of along those lines, depending on how the next few hours work out, is there a number in your head based on how difficult this golf course is that you feel like legitimately I could come back from?

RORY McILROY: I mean, around here, anything. Not necessarily anything, but I said over there, if Matt pars his way in and is 5-under par, I still don’t think that’s out of it by any stretch of the imagination. You know, it doesn’t take much around here for — someone gets off to a decent start, maybe 1- or 2-under through 5 and then the leader goes the other way, 1- or 2-over through 5, and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things.

But yeah, we’ll see what happens. No matter where I am at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good shot.

Q. Is yesterday’s round a little harder to swallow after today?

RORY McILROY: No, not really. I mean, I felt like I finished the round well yesterday. I was sort of hemorrhaging after like 12 or 13 holes, and then to just par my way in, right, so 14 through 18, so five in a row, just to get it in the clubhouse, sort of regroup, and then I sort of started the same way today. I parred the first five, first six holes, made a birdie on 7, made another birdie on 9, so played a really nice stretch of holes there from the 14th last night to the 9th today. I played those holes in 2-under par and didn’t make a bogey in that stretch.

You’re going to have stretches in U.S. Opens where you’re going to make bogeys and you’re going to make mistakes, but if you can back it up with stretches of golf like I showed there, that’s what you have to do. It’s not going to be all plain sailing in this tournament.

Q. Given how hard you had to work to get 68, how surprising is it to look up at the board and see somebody with a 30 on the front?

RORY McILROY: Is that what it was, a 30?

Q. Yeah, missed probably about an eight-footer for 29.

RORY McILROY: Wow. I mean, that’s just — you can’t say anything but that’s just awesome golf. Yeah, I mean, everyone knows how talented Matt is and he played great at Harding Park in the last major. You know, he’s explosive like that. He can get on runs like that. So yeah, I’m not saying it’s out there. I certainly didn’t see shooting 30 on any nine today, but we’ll see what happens over the back nine.

Q. If Matt is leading tomorrow, do you think it helps him to not have to try to win a major with a massive crowd around him in the same way that Morikawa didn’t have to face the crowd at Harding Park?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, of course. Of course, yeah. It’s one variable that you just don’t have to deal with, where — is that a loss of an advantage to you who’s accustomed to being in that environment.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think it could be, a little bit. Maybe not a loss of an advantage to me, but just more of a — just makes it a touch easier for the guys at the top. Even today, look, you’ve got Bryson and P-Reed out in the final group, and any other U.S. Open final grouping you’ve got those two guys, things are going to be said and tempers are going to flare. Even if those guys don’t have to deal with that today, it just makes it a little different and maybe a touch easier if you’re in those final few groups.

Q. Do you have a simple explanation for why it hasn’t been the massacre that many expected going into this week?

RORY McILROY: I mean, I guess what’s a massacre? Yeah, okay, 5-over is not going to win like last time and 7-over when Hale Irwin won. I’d say the golf course is playing just as difficult.

You know, you’ve got to think 14 years on the game has changed a lot, guys hit it further, equipment. There’s a lot of different things that — scoring averages have went down a little bit, on average. The game has just moved on a little bit and everyone has collectively, I think, just got a little bit better.

Q. You mentioned just earlier the first three or four holes and how difficult they are and just hoping to kind of get through those unscathed. Can you talk more about what that’s going to mean for you tomorrow and just getting off to a good start?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, fairways and greens. It’s literally just bringing it back to the basics. From that first tee shot, just try and make a good swing and hit the fairway, hit it on the middle of the green, take two putts, especially on that green because it’s probably one of the craziest greens on the course and in golf. And then it’s the same thing on 2, hit the fairway, hit the green. You get yourself out of position those first few holes, it just makes it really difficult.

And when you do get yourself out of position, making bogey is fine. That’s the thing, you look at some of the guys that went off earlier today those first few holes there was some big numbers made, and when you’re in trouble, get it out, play for a 5, and if you’re not going to putt for a 4, that’s a bonus.

Q. The course is playing about a shot easier today. Do you attribute that more to the gentler winds or the hole locations were more gettable?

RORY McILROY: No, the wind more than anything else. The hole locations today I thought were pretty tricky. It was hard to leave a putt dead. Even if you’ve got a putt that’s uphill, once it gets past the hole it starts to go downhill again. It was very hard to leave putts within top-in range. I felt like every time I hit a good putt that didn’t go in, I was marking it and resetting and it was at least three or four feet.

Source: ASAP Sport

Categories
Professionals

US Open 2020 – Alex Noren about his brilliant Moving Day: “Just view it as a normal tournament.”

MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 17: Alex Noren of Sweden plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 17, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Q. Alex Noren, 3-under 67. Alex, heck of a round. Talk a little bit about the conditions and what you were able to execute.

ALEX NOREN: The first five holes, it was so windy, first six, seven holes. My goal was to kind of try to get up to the pins, but otherwise leave it short of the hole, and I was able to make birdies on those and then make two good birdies on 6, 7, and then on the back, my putter was the best it’s ever been.

So I saved myself a lot of times, and then a couple of birdies as well.

Q. You have a pretty new relationship with your caddie, Austin. What was it like working with him on that kind of round?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, it’s good. He doesn’t read my putts. I can’t give him any credit for that, but, no, he’s good. We get along well. He’s giving me the stuff I need. He was good. He wanted me to maybe play a few other shots than I tried to. It would have been good to listen to him there.

Overall, yeah, it worked well today.

Q. How does 67 compare — the 67 today, among the best rounds you’ve played? I suspect that will be the lowest round of the day, maybe by multiple shots.

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, so starting out, it felt like it was going to be the toughest day ever on a golf course, with pretty strong winds on the first like six, seven holes. Then it got a little bit easier, but the pins are still tricked up. I putted my life out.

And you hit some shots out here, you think it’s like a decent shot, and then you just make it into the rough, and all of a sudden, the hole feels impossible. Normally, you hit decent drives or decent shots off the tee or into the greens and you get away with them. Here you don’t get away with anything.

Yesterday I was very like angry man on the golf course, and my goal today was to putt better and be more — be in a little happier place. I just tried to be that way.

Q. How important is patience out here with the way the setup is and knowing how few the birdie opportunities are going to be?

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, that’s maybe the key to the whole thing. Just view it as a normal tournament because, when you look at the putts, you look at the shots, and you stand on the tee boxes, there’s a lot more pressure on yourself. If you don’t hit the fairway, you’re going to struggle, and if you don’t hit the greens, you’re going to struggle.

Normally, there is still opportunities to do well even from the rough or from a bunker, but here it’s just like try to just do your routine and hit the shot, and whatever happens, you’ve got to keep the energy because you’ll need it down the round. Yesterday I was furious over that I didn’t hit the shots that I wanted, and then it kind of affects your game.

Q. How close do you think you’ll be in the lead at the end of the day?

ALEX NOREN: If the weather stays like it is now, you’re going to see better rounds in the afternoon maybe but maybe — we’ll see. It’s hard to predict.

Q. Despite your score, there were some higher scores today. Talk about the course setup, and was it the hardest course setup of the week is the question.

ALEX NOREN: Yeah, probably yesterday and today was maybe similar. Yeah, the hardest course I’ve ever played. Three days — and yesterday was some wind and this morning was some wind, but without the wind, it’s still so demanding. It’s a good test.

Q. One follow-up to the question earlier. How did you and Austin meet, and when did you start working with him?

ALEX NOREN: So we started right before Corona hit us at Arnold Palmer, and we met through Erik van Rooyen’s caddie, that’s Austin’s brother, Alex, and we met through him.

Q. Did you have anything in mind when you teed off today?

ALEX NOREN: These tournaments, all you try to do when you tee off is just to hit a good shot off the 1st and then take it from there. The older I get, the more so is how everybody does it, kind of. You don’t really think about winning until you have the chance to win. I’m just trying to hit good shots and trying to warm up and do everything I can to just be in the best possible shape I can be golf-wise, yeah.

Q. It’s been a tough couple of years since the Ryder Cup. What’s changed now, and what’s led to that difficult period?

ALEX NOREN: I had — I was better, I think, in the fall last year, played a little bit better, but had so much — put a lot of pressure on myself because I used to, in the three years prior, had a lot of good finishes, a few wins here and there.

You accept the bad rounds easier because you’ve got the confidence, you have the results in the back, and when you don’t get in for a while, you start pressing. All of a sudden, you start focusing on is my technique wrong, is this wrong, is that wrong, instead of, if that would have happened, that bad play for a couple weeks when you’re having those good weeks, you don’t think about them.

So I think maybe it’s a mix of not playing and technique is not up to point, but mostly kind of the pressure and stress you put on yourself. I changed kind of the last two, three months, I changed how I practice. I practiced on the golf course a little bit at home, trying to not be on the driving range, trying to work on maybe situations more than a specific look of the swing. So a lot more on the course.

Then is kind of frees up my game. I don’t look at my swing on a video camera, don’t analyze. Just if the shots are good enough, I’m happy. If they’re not, I go out and work on them, you know.

Q. You never look at your swing in the mirror anymore?

ALEX NOREN: Not much. I try to ask my coach if he can — if it’s good enough, and if he says good enough, or if he says you’d better get it a little more this way or that way and we work on it, but I try not to look at it.

Q. Are you still doing the —

ALEX NOREN: I do whatever makes me better, and if it’s that way or any other — I do whatever I can do to get a good feel over the ball.

SOURCE: ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

Rory McIlroy about his new born daughter and the TOUR Championship

OLYMPIA FIELDS, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 30: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on before hitting his shot from the first tee during the final round of the BMW Championship on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club on August 30, 2020 in Olympia Fields, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Q. Congratulations on the birth of your new baby, Poppy.

RORY MCILROY: Thank you.

Q. How would you describe the emotions of being a part of that moment with your wife?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it’s amazing. I don’t think — you see other people having kids and babies, and you’ll say congratulations and you’re happy for them, but you have no real — you don’t really know how it feels.

Now that I do, anyone that I know that has a child, there’s even more — there’s so much admiration for the mother, what they go through, and it’s just amazing that this — you feel like you get to know your baby while she’s still in her mother’s belly, but to go from not having met this person to having unconditional love for them from one minute to the next is just — there’s nothing like it in the world.

And so many people have went through it and so many people have experienced it. It’s probably the best part of being a human being, and I’m glad that I got to experience it.

Q. Where did you guys decide on the name Poppy?

RORY MCILROY: I don’t know. We really liked it. I have a cousin of mine, her daughter is named Poppy. We know a few other Poppies. And we just really love the name. We were sort of trying to go through a lot of the flower names, Rose, Iris, all those things. My mom is a Rosie, so we were sort of like, That mightn’t work. We know Alex Noren has an iris. Shane Lowry has an iris. We wanted to go with something that was pretty unique, maybe more common back where I’m from, but we landed on Poppy and we loved it.

Q. What have the first couple days been like?

RORY MCILROY: I mean, emotionally drained, right. We got her home yesterday and trying to get her settled into the — it’s nice in the hospital. You’ve got so much help and all the nurses are around and they did a phenomenal job. You don’t appreciate that side of things, as well.

And then you’re handed your child and they’re like, See you later, and they don’t come with an instruction manual.

Look, every parent has to sort of go through it, and we’re going through it. Thankfully Erica has her mom and sister with her at the minute, so she’s got plenty of help and I feel a little better leaving and coming here to play this week.

Q. We talked at Memorial and you said you’re focused on what happens when it happens. So now that’s happened and you can focus on golf now. Are you ready to focus on this week?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I am. I think it’s been hard the last couple weeks because you’re sort of in limbo when she’s going to arrive, and then in the back of your mind you’re hoping it’s going to go well. You hope that your daughter is safe. You hope that your wife is safe.

There’s a lot of different things and there’s a lot of things that sort of run through your head, and the fact that all that went well and everyone is good and recovering at home, I feel more comfortable now that I can come out here and play golf and maybe get my mind off it for four or five hours a day, and that’s a nice thing.

And then obviously I can get a couple of good nights’ sleep before I go home.

Q. Was it a little emotional leaving today?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I didn’t want to leave. I had — I was supposed to fly at 8:00 so I was going to leave the house — airport is close to our house and I was just going to jump on the plane and come up, so I was going to leave at 7:30. I ended up not leaving until 8:00. It was just hard to leave, really hard to leave.

But at the end of the day life doesn’t stop. Life moves on. And as I said, I know that Erica is surrounded by her family, and my mom and dad are just around the corner, so she’s got all the help she needs, so I felt a little more comfortable being able to go.

Q. You the chance to win your third FedExCup this week, but it would also be your first win as a father. Have you thought about what it would feel like for everything to happen in one week?

RORY MCILROY: Not having — it’s been hard to think about golf the last few days just because I’ve been so focused on making sure that everything is okay at home. But yeah, I mean, maybe this is what I needed, just for everything to happen and go well.

I haven’t played my best since coming back out since sort of post-COVID. But yeah, maybe things just will fall into place. It’s already been the best week of my life, and this would obviously just be the icing on the cake.

Q. People like Jack and Tiger, they’ve had incredible careers, but it seems like when they became dads it just became even better because they had something more to play for. Do you think Poppy is going to be like that for you?

RORY MCILROY: I think so. I mean, I think if you look at fathers in all different sports, golf, tennis, it’s not a new lease of life, but it’s a different perspective. The trials and tribulations of what goes on out on the golf course don’t really seem to matter that much, so you can sort of let it just slide off you a little bit more and not be as reactive to your mistakes and know that this is — it’s important and it’s your career, but at the end of the day you get to go home to your family, which is the most important thing.

Q. Just being here right now with you and talking to you, you’re so content. Do you just feel content and happy right now?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah. I mean, like if I can’t be content and happy right now, I don’t think I’ll ever be. Yeah, we’ve obviously known for a while. We’ve known all this year that Erica was pregnant. We were going to have our first child. Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s the best part of life.

You know, I sometimes think — everything that’s happened to me on the golf course and off the golf course has already been beyond my wildest dreams, and sometimes I have to sort of pinch myself and sort of ask why me, why am I so lucky?

But I’m just so grateful that everything that has happened to me has happened to me. I don’t take this for granted, playing golf and being who I am, but I also obviously don’t take all of my other — my off-course life for granted, either. Especially that’s been never more apparent than over the last few days.

Q. We’re doing kind of a gratitude player diary type thing. You guys are just thankful to be here essentially. Given everything that’s happened in the world, it’s just a miracle that we’re here, honestly. In your own words, if you can just look to the camera and just talk about the fact that we’ve made it and we’re here given everything —

RORY MCILROY: At the end of the season? Yeah. It’s been a trying year for everyone. I think everyone is going to be happy to see the end of 2020. But the fact that everyone rallied together, March, when the sort of sports world shut down seems like a long time ago now, and we know more about the virus, we know more about how to protect ourselves, and I think the PGA TOUR have done an unbelievable job to get us back out on the course, to get us this far, to the playoff finale at the TOUR Championship, and keep everyone safe at the same time.

That’s been the most important thing. The fact that of all the tests that have been administered on the PGA TOUR, there’s only been a handful of positives, I think that, if nothing else, is the biggest positive to take from all of this.

Really good guidelines were set in place at the start, and I think the players and everyone involved with the TOUR has really stepped up to make sure that those have been implemented, and you’re seeing the results of that by the 30 players here in Atlanta this week.

Source: ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

Bryson DeChambeau: Is he ready for his first major title?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 08: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States walks off as Patrick Reed of the United States watches his shot on the fourth tee during the third round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 08, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Pleased to be joined by Bryson DeChambeau who posted a third round of 66. He is currently 6-under par for the championship.

Bryson, these days known for your length, but it was a lengthy putt that your day ended on. Kind of a good note there. Take about that stroke.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I didn’t hit that great of a drive off the tee box. I thought the wind was more off the right and it just didn’t really help it back into the fairway. Got in the bunker. Had a really nicely. I just kind of chunked it a little bit. Came up a little short and you know walked it off, 96 feet. And I just said to myself, well, I think this line looks pretty good. We’ve been doing a lot of speed testing out there so I knew I had to hit it like 130 feet relative to all of our stuff and you know for me I just felt like I hit it 130 feet and I was able to start it on line and saw it kept going closer and closer to the hole and eventually dropped.

Those moments, you just have to look back and laugh and appreciate what the game is, because that stuff happens at random points in time in life, and this was a pretty good random moment to do it in (chuckling).

Q. Obviously it’s just an incredible leaderboard, logjam, you’re right there. I know this is probably a stupid question because of your love of math but I assume you’re a leaderboard watcher?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.

Q. Here with no crowds, is that something you’ll do more than normal because there’s no other way to tell what other people are doing?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, you’re absolutely going have to. For me I’ve always looked at leaderboards and wanted to know exactly where I stand so I can make the best decisions on the holes that I play, and I try not to let it influence me too much but for the most part certain instances, you don’t need to go after a flag if it’s a really difficult flag and you’re one shot ahead or whatever. You’re going to make adjustments and hit shots based on where you are for sure.

Q. Following up on that, do you think 16 is probably the hole on the back nine where a tactical decision could be influenced by that information?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 100 percent. Even today, I was city thinking still hit 3-wood or driver up to the right and chip it up over there, but I just didn’t want to have a ball get stuck in the tree or behind a tree. I said, you know, been wedging it better, get one in the fairway and get one down there and I was lucky enough to make an 18-footer.

Q. You mentioned having a calibration system. How high does that go?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, went to 130 feet there I guess. It’s more of a feel and perception I have about how hard I’m hitting it. But it goes to 100 feet on my ruler and I practiced that this morning and so I kind much got a gauge off of that and got a sense of how hard I needed to hit it.

Q. And you mentioned talking about kind of laying back. Is that hard to do?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes.

Q. Given how far you’re hitting the ball?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes. Very hard. But it’s a major championship so you have to be more tack my Cal. I said this week I felt like the rough isn’t that penalizing; well, it is now. It grew and they haven’t cut it, so that’s a major, right. I’ve been a little more tactical certain areas but I just feel like I have to clean up my iron play. I made some really dumb mistakes with my irons, and if I get that under control and drive it like I did, putt like I did, I think I’ll give myself a chance.

JOHN DEVER: Forgive me for having this, but is that putt, 95, 90 feet, is that as long as you’ve made one on TOUR?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s the longest I’ve ever made in any competition, ever.

JOHN DEVER: That qualifies.

Q. You were just talking about dialing back, and to play smart and how difficult that is sometimes. Are you sometimes, do you have to guard against being seduced by your length? I look at like as an example, Memorial when you went with the 3-wood near the end, because you know how far you can hit it, is there sometimes where you have to maybe be a little conscious of that because it could get you in trouble?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely. It’s just weighing the risk for the reward in certain areas, and maybe you have bunkers and water where I’m hitting it; it’s not necessarily worth it. Like 16 today, I didn’t really feel like it was worth it. If I hit it driver and actually left over the bunkers, it’s in the water and I have no chance to get it up-and-down. If I had a chance to get it up-and-down, that may have been a different story.

But I felt like I could just hit a 4-iron down there and hit it on the green and make a putt. And that’s what I he mean by being a little more tactical out here. To win major championships, on this golf course, at least, you have to be tactical.

Q. More of a big picture note. This is really where you stand right now, probably your best spot in a major going into a Sunday. What’s your emotion with that and how exciting is that for you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I’m proud of myself that I’ve been able to change my body, change everything, and give myself a chance to win tomorrow. That’s something that I think is difficult to do when somebody goes and changes themselves, there’s usually a little struggle with that. So I really am blessed and proud that I’m able to be healthy and have the ability to compete for a major championship come tomorrow.

I’d also say, too, I’m looking forward to the other ones that are coming up because this is going to give me a lot of confidence.

Q. There’s a fair amount of youth on the board, guys chasing their first major. What is the effect of not having a crowd tomorrow on the Sunday after a major? Do you think that helps you comfort level-wise?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think you’re right in that regard. It’s not the crazy roars that sometimes we hear, and albeit I have heard that before. I think I finished close to Top-20 at Augusta, or like Top-25 I think at Augusta my first year out there. So I experienced a little bit of it.

But I think for those other guys, definitely. I think it will definitely be a benefit for them that there’s no crowds, no roars going on.

Q. Back to the majors. Curious how you have grown as a golfer and a person from those experiences to give you the confidence to compete for the championship tomorrow?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: You know, I’d say the other majors, I’ve struggled, whether it be my game, just driving it not well, iron play not well, putting not well or whatever it was. It was just something I wasn’t comfortable with in majors; higher expectations. Sometimes I felt like I was playing good going into it and would get there and something would go off and then I’d get penalized based off of just the conditions at hand and not having everything in tiptop shape and for me, going into this year’s first major, I would say I was a little more confident just because I had won three or four weeks ago, can’t even remember how long it was ago.

And I’ve also been able to hit it a lot farther. Putting’s really good. Had a lot of confidence, and to be honest with you, Chris and I have been working pretty hard on some golf swing stuff and they have really started to pay off for me and I feel really confident with that and excited to keep testing it. This is the first major with this new body, new swing. I hope it’s only going to get better.

Q. You mentioned the randomness, the point in time of the putt on the last. Curious if you can think of another circumstance, maybe in a win, or something where you had a similar kind of quirky moment earlier in the week. And then secondly, the importance of the momentum of that, or is it just, again, just randomness, I guess?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, there’s definitely momentum in this game. I mean, you can see it with any player that’s out here, even with me. There’s up-and-downs, and you try and be as positive and stable as possible, and you know, sometimes there’s just things that happen where you can’t explain it.

Give you one other instance. I didn’t win or anything but it was as Riv, not this past year but the year before. I holed out twice, once on 13 and once on 17 in the same day. I just kept making shots from around the green, and then the next day, I made one on 14 on the par 3.

So there’s some times, there’s weeks where randomness occurs, and it just keeps occurring in a weird way. It’s like flipping — I don’t even know if this is the right example. But the only thing I can think about is flipping a quarter, and having it land on heads 12 times or something, the percentage of that, whatever that is. Just sometimes there’s things in golf that happens really weird, and that’s why I love golf.

As much as I try and bring it down to a science, I love it because of the randomness, because I’m trying to figure it out and sometimes those weird things happen, and good and bad, and you’ve just got to laugh them off.

Q. Growing up in Clovis, what’s your experience with TPC Harding Park, and being a northern California guy, what would it mean to win your first major championship kind of in your backyard?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Can you ask the first question again? I was thinking about the second one, because yes, it would be amazing to win in my backyard. Ask the first one again, please.

Q. Your experience at TPC Harding Park.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, so I played here 2012 or 2011. I think it was 2012 or 2011 for a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open near Olympic Club. What was it, 2012 I think? Yeah, Olympic.

I was close. I missed it by like two or three or something like that. So I played this golf course and I loved it. I thought it was a great golf course. Happened to be that we were playing it this year and I was super excited to come here and play well here again. And to win in my backyard would be something I could only dream of. Monterey and then I’d also say San Fran, this area, played a lot of NCGA junior tour events around here and there’s so many great golf courses. It would just be a tremendous honor to win. I don’t even know what that would mean to me other than more than the world, I would say. It would be really cool because there’s been a lot of people in NCGA that have helped me become the person I am, and it would be cool to go down there if it was to happen and bring the trophy down to Monterey and hang out with the guys that helped me get here.

Q. Mentally, emotionally, tonight and heading into tomorrow, as you go through the preparation, will you allow yourself to think about winning and holding that Wanamaker Trophy?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No. No. I won’t, at all. That’s a great question. For me, it’s about the process, and I’ll be thinking about the shots and executing the right shots and putting myself in the right position to win. If I give myself a couple shots going into the back nine, being that close to the lead or even hopefully up at the top of the leaderboard, that’s the goal that I’m looking for, and it’s these small intermediate goals that every single hole is going to probably be changing, but then going back to executing every shot the best I possibly that. That’s really what I’ll be thinking about tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports