Month: March 2020

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Graeme McDowell Talks 13th Start at Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Professional and champion Graeme McDowell speaks with the media ahead of making his 13th career start at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

PGA Tour: Graeme McDowell talks with the media prior to 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Graeme McDowell to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. You’re making your 13th start here this week. Just some thoughts on being back here at Bay Hill.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, one of my favorite weeks of the year. Home event. Get to stay at home with my family. Some great history here, a couple of second place finishes. Obviously, my relationship with Mastercard. Just a lot of reasons to be here. Course looks great. Prepared for another, hopefully another great tournament. Like I say, just game’s in good shape, excited to be here, looking forward to he hopefully competing.

THE MODERATOR: Four top-25s this year. Where would you say your game’s at.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: I think it’s trending in the right direction. The 4th in Sony was important. The win in Saudi was very important. I’ve kind of had a couple weeks now to reset and get ready and I’m kind of, I’ve got a busy few months coming up, so I’m ready to play golf. I’m focused and I’m motivated. And it’s so much great golf to play here, so it’s a good time of the year to be feeling good and looking forward to playing and competing and I’m excited about what the next six months could hold.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for some questions, please.

Q. Are you thinking about Ryder Cup already?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Am I thinking about Ryder Cup?

Q. Already.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: I think we’re always thinking about Ryder Cup to a certain extent. I think there’s no doubt it would be a massive goal to play on the team this year. I missed the last two. I certainly put myself back on the radar for this year, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of great young players. It’s a lot of fun to see guys like myself and Lee Westwood and even Adam Scott, obviously, he’s not a Ryder Cup player, but guys winning in their 40s. It’s a nice flavor to start off 2020 and, you know, the Ryder Cup will get in the way if I play the way I know I can play and do the things I know I can do. So it’s, we’ll see what happens. A lot of golf to play. Four major championships ahead of us and lots and lots of great golf to play. So, listen, I would love to be in Whistling Straits, it goes without saying.

Q. The key this week, is it off the tee, just keeping it out of the rough, would you say?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, I think so. Looking at the forecast tomorrow, I think we’re going to have to get through a really tricky tough day tomorrow with 20 mile an hour gusts in the morning and 30 miles an hours in the afternoon. The rough is thick. Driving the ball is going to be a massive premium this week. I think in and around the greens it’s not as tough as I’ve seen it. There’s quite a nice bit of grass to chip off around the greens, and the bunkers are very nice. So I think big premium on driving the ball well, giving yourself a chance to attack the greens, and controlling the ball well in the wind tomorrow. I think tomorrow’s going to be a key day. I think tomorrow’s a day where you could play yourself way out of this thing right away. So thankfully played a lot of good wind golf this year, this season. Felt like Hawaii, a couple weeks in the wind, blew in Saudi, pretty happy the way my wind game looks, so very, very important to get off to a good start tomorrow.

Q. Do you use data at all in either course management or in like allocating your practice time? And if so, how have they affected what you do in those areas?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah. Did you say data?

Q. Yeah, like ShotLink?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, like stats. Yeah, I mean, I think we have, I’ve always used some form of statistical analysis into my game. I think instinctively between myself and my caddie we always have a fairly good idea where we’re at, but it’s nice to look at some numbers to back up, because you can get a little, you can get a little blinded out there thinking I’m not putting well, when in actual fact you’re hitting a lot of irons, a lot of great iron shots and you’re giving yourself a lot of 15-, 20-feet looks that you’re not going to make a lot of, and therefore you think you’re putting badly. So that’s just an example of how you can get a little blinded by what you think’s going wrong. But, no, sort of areas that I’ve been looking at, proximity to the hole, just around the greens, for example. I have a tendency to be a very good scrambler, but I don’t chip the ball close enough to the hole very often. And that has a wearing affect on the putter when you have 5 and 6 and 7 feet all day. So trying to be a little tighter around the greens, giving myself easier up-and-down opportunities has been something I’ve been working on, just as an example of using some of the data and some of the numbers to try and find areas in my game where I can just tighten up a little bit.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. What about for a course management?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: For course management? Not really. I mean, again, instinctively I think myself and my caddie are pretty good at taking a course apart and understanding where to miss and where not to miss. I think some of these little overhead maps where you see the little dot kind of maps where areas where guys are getting it up-and-down and areas where guys are not getting it up-and-down, I think those are very useful, especially on a golf course which I don’t maybe know very well. So, say, at a tournament where I haven’t played the course much, I may have a look at the computer on a Thursday morning and just try and see where guys are missing it and areas, what are they doing off tees, playing aggressively, and stuff. Those are very, very interesting, but I feel like it’s something I’ve always naturally done anyway. I feel like I’m pretty good at understanding where I should be missing the ball and trying not to overcomplicate it. It’s a hard enough game. You don’t really need too much stuff in the head at times.

Q. Speaking about hitting the ball toward the hole and whatnot, can you talk about how hard it is to actually hit the ball inside 10 feet on a regular basis. I mean, that’s really difficult.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: That really depends how far away from the hole you are to start with, obviously. Yeah, listen, I mean, proximity is important. They say 7 feet is that kind of threshold number where putting stats really start to skew and start to kind of fall off a cliff. So really from inside of a hundred yards those proximity numbers become highly important because those are your — that’s your conversion, your conversion area, where you’re getting the ball up-and-down on a regular basis. So from longer range, obviously, just managing it well and trying to be as tight as you possibly can. But from inside of a hundred yards it’s, that 10 feet number, that 7 feet number becomes very important.

Q. In this stretch of schedule where you’ve got two World Golf Championship events, THE PLAYERS, this, other strong Florida swing events, what makes this tournament stand out and how hard is it for players? I know you’re a main stay, but how hard is it for players to decide what to play and what not to play?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: For sure, I think you look at this stretch and you could argue that it’s maybe a little too strong. When you look at the stretch maybe between Augusta and PGA and PGA to U.S. Open, not trying to disrespect any of those events in that window, but there’s a lot of golf right now. You’ve got an unbelievably good Florida swing sandwiched between two WGC events. I live in Florida, so I love the Florida swing. I didn’t play the Honda last week for the first time in 10 years. I regretted not playing the Honda. I went to Mexico instead. Saudi got me into Mexico. I went down there. I didn’t play well. I was, like, totally wished I would have skipped that event. Like, skipping WGC events it’s just historically something you didn’t really ever think about, but I think the value of the WGC has been reduced because the strength of everything else around it has got so much stronger. So the long and short of it is, outside of the major championships, there’s so many great tournaments and scheduling becomes very difficult. So like I say, hindsight’s 20/20. I wish I hadn’t gone to Mexico. I wish I would have taken a week to reset and gone to the Honda. I think I would have loved it down there, just the way it played, seeing so many Europeans on the board. It’s so hard to pick and choose. I’m going to skip Tampa. It’s not an event I typically skip, because I want to be ready for the Match Play and I’ll play Valero as well. So there’s a lot of golf. And unfortunately big events are suffering. It looks like Tampa’s got a great field. Honda, maybe not so much last week. Obviously, next week’s a huge week. Really looking at that, trying to take that as a major championship approach going into the PLAYERS. So very, very hard to pick and choose right now because this is such a strong part of the year.

Q. Considering that, is 13 out of 25 choosing to play here, is that a pretty good number when you consider all the other moving parts?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: 13 out of 25 what? Sorry.

Q. 13 out of the top 25 in the World Rankings.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Are here this week at Bay Hill?

Q. Yes.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: I mean, that’s great. I mean, obviously, being a Mastercard guy and being one of the tournament ambassadors in the beginning after Mr. Palmer passed away, the big thing was how do we keep this event as a premier event, how do we carry the legacy forward. Obviously, the golf course can be a little sort of divisive. Some guys love it, some guys don’t love it. It’s a strong field this week, but because of all of the other events around it, it’s maybe not as strong as it could be. But, listen, I love this event. I’m happy for Mastercard and Bay Hill that they have got the kind of event they have this week and hopefully it continues to be a strong event.

Q. Whether you’re aware of this or not, you were No. 255 in the world when you left Bay Hill last year. What happened?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: (Laughing.) Yeah, I mean, Bay Hill was a very pivotal week for me here last year because The Open Championship conversation began here last year. There was some open spots up for grabs here, and I got off to a pretty good start and I blew out on Sunday and I was very disappointed. So, yeah, I do remember the emotions I was going through this time last year, for sure. It was difficult. The game wasn’t really, felt like where it needed to be. I suppose I’d go and win in Dominican Republic in three weeks’ time, two weeks’ time. But I was sort of trending in the right direction, but emotionally I just was, you know, I was, somebody beat me up. I just couldn’t seem to, I couldn’t seem to kind of get out of that, get out that have 25th and 30th funk that was in. I was in run of 25ths and 30ths and 40ths. I was feeling like I was playing well, but then I would look at the check at the end of the week and go, you know, 30ths just don’t cut it. I would go and win in Dominican. I wouldn’t you really have a good summer, but it kind of led me to kind of having a little soul search, getting a new coach, started hitting the reset button a little bit, and I’ve been really happy with the progress I’ve made. It’s not really been over a 12-month period. It’s really been since last August, I suppose, so it’s been a five-, six-month period, which brings me to here, obviously, in a very different place, 200 places in the World Ranking better than I was last year and feeling like I can go out and really, really compete. And if I’m there on a Sunday afternoon, I might actually know what to do this year. So just have a lot more belief, a lot more confidence in what I’m doing, which is, obviously, those intangibles that you can’t really learn on the range. You just have to be out there. You got to test yourself.

Q. And winning Saudi, how much did that change your outlook on the entire year?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: It changed my schedule a lot, for sure. It takes the pressure off trying to get into events like The Open Championship. I should be, barring a monumental collapse between now and July, I mean, I should be in pretty good shape for The Open Championship. It should get me in the PGA. Obviously nice to add events like the Match Play and FedEx St. Jude as well. And let’s be honest, if I have aspirations of making the team at Whistling Straights, I’m not going to be able to do it if I’m not in though those events. So it really maps my schedule out. It gives me an opportunity to pick and choose where I want to play, get myself ready for the events I want to be ready for and peak for. Schedule’s everything. When you’ve got that top-50 schedule, which I’m right on the borderline of having that again, and it just really makes the year so much more planable and really allows you to be able to peak better and rest up where you need to and just know that you’re going to be playing against the best players in the world more often.

Q. And lastly, is your schedule for the next month set in stone or would you make or be willing to make any alteration if you needed it related to Augusta?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, I mean, Augusta’s the only moving piece of the puzzle the next couple months. I have to be top-50 in the world the Monday after Match Play. You probably know that more than I do. It’s not going to be the be-all and end-all for me. I love Augusta. It is my favorite course in the world. It doesn’t love me very much, though. But if I’m not there, it’s not going to, it’s not going to dampen any spirits or anything that’s happened in the next three or four months. It will get in the way if I play the kind of golf I know I can play the next few weeks. And I would love to be there. I want to see my kids in boiler suits. That’s kind of the visual. I haven’t had a chance to do the par-3 with my kids yet because I haven’t played the last few years. So I want to have the kids up at Augusta this year. That would be fun. But like I say, it’s not going to change my life here in the short-term.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Graeme. Thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.

GRAEME MCDOWELL: Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Ireland

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy Talks to Media About 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Preparations

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Current World number 1 Rory McIlroy speaks to the media ahead of his start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational about what it means to be number 1, the Olympic games, and Master’s Preparations.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy talks Arnold Palmer Invitational

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2020. Just some thoughts on being back here as the No. 1 player in the world.

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, sort of feel like this was the start if sort of like a two-year journey to get back to this point. I came here two years ago off the back of a missed cut in Tampa and sort of a little lost with my game, especially a little lost with my putting and spent an afternoon with Brad Faxon at the Bear’s Club and then came up here and, obviously, something stuck with me from that afternoon and was able to win and that was my first win in 500-whatever days. So I feel like this place is a lot of special memories to me. It was definitely the catalyst to sort of do what I’ve done over the past two years and ascend back to the top of the World Rankings.

So good to be back. Course is in phenomenal shape. It’s as good as I’ve seen it. It’s nice to get back on Bermuda greens after the few weeks that I’ve started off on the poa annua. So, yeah, everything’s good and game feels in good shape and looking forward to getting going.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We’ll take some questions.

Q. How much do you use ShotLink data for your course management, how they change what you do or affect anything about going about it?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I use them a lot. All of the, it’s one thing I keep harping on about to the TOUR is actually how ShotLink data on every round that we play, like North Course at Torrey Pines doesn’t have it, the other three courses at Pebble when we play there doesn’t have it. I think a lot of the guys are starting to use ShotLink data to, it’s course management, but it’s also how you practice. So I got a stats report last week after the three weeks that I’ve had at Torrey Pines, at Riviera, and Mexico, and that’s what I base my practice off going into the next few weeks. My bunker play wasn’t up to the same standards it needed to be. I needed to get better from 6 to 12 feet. It’s stuff that you sort of know anyway, but it’s nice when you have that objective data in front of you. So I use it for a lot of different things. It is very important.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

Q. With specific reference to the Olympics, are you relaxed about it, how do you get enough information, something you’re going to keep an eye on —
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, it’s something that we’re trying to stay on top of. I mean, it’s something that if the organizers and the Olympic Committee believe it’s safe enough that athletes can go and compete in the games, then you have to take their word for it and you have to, they’re obviously liaising with the people that are the best at doing this, whether it’s the CDC in this country, whether it’s the World Health Organization, whatever it is. If they’re speaking to those people and those people are the best in their field, then you have to trust that their judgment is the right one.

Q. Based on the conditions out there right now, what kind of tournament do you expect to see this weekend?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, conditions right now, the golf course is playing very nicely. The rough’s pretty thick. If you start missing it in the rough, you can make life a bit difficult for yourself. I think they’re expecting a lot of wind tomorrow afternoon, so the scoring might be tough, a little tougher tomorrow than we have seen in the past. But it looks like the conditions are going to be good over the weekend.

So it’s an exciting golf course. There’s four par-5s. I think people can get it going around here and shoot some low scores. So I don’t see any, I think Francesco shot 64 to win last year. I shot 64 the year before to win. So I would say you would see something similar. There’s going to be a lot of people in with a chance and someone’s going to go pretty low over the weekend.

Q. Just watching everybody out there, like, asking for autographs and pictures and things, I’m curious how much of a challenge it is to you how you sort of divide your time and energy to figure out how to deal with it all, when to say no, when to say yes.
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, Wednesdays are pretty hard to concentrate at times because you’re trying to find that balance between treating it like a practice round as well and trying to get something out of the day instead of just being a host for your amateurs and sort of trying to get them around. So I always try to play a game with Harry, my caddie. He sets me a score to shoot that day and says, right, If you shoot 4-under or better I’ll buy you dinner and if you don’t get to that, you have to buy me dinner. And that’s, we do that every Wednesday and it just, it keeps me concentrating on every shot and over every putt and it’s something that I need to do because as you see out there it’s very easy to get distracted and talk to people and basically hit the ball everywhere. So it just keeps me sort of on the straight and narrow.

Q. How did you do today?
RORY MCILROY: I lost by one shot. The target was 4-under. I shot 3-under even with birdieing the last.

Q. When you talk about the two-year journey kind of started here, do you think you’ve grown more from a game perspective or from a mental perspective over those two years?
RORY MCILROY: Mental more than the game. I mean, I think I’m more, I have done things in the game previous to two years ago that were maybe higher than what I’ve done the past couple of years. But from a mental perspective the consistency and showing up every week even when I don’t have my best stuff I’m able to still get in the mix and have a shot at winning tournaments. So mentally over these last few years I’ve definitely gotten better and, yeah, more stability in my life, there’s a lot of different things that go into it, but, yeah, just a lot more comfortable with where everything is.

Q. When you talk about gearing up for the Masters, when does that start and what does it mean?
RORY MCILROY: Honestly, I don’t know when it starts. For some people it starts the Monday they arrive at Augusta. For some people it started in January. I think it’s different for everyone. For me what I realized is I can’t make things too big in my head. So if I started to gear up for Augusta in January, by the time Augusta got around in April my head would be absolutely fried. So I try to push it out as late as possible. I’ve got four tournaments to play between now and then and my biggest concern and my top priority are those four tournaments.

Q. What I’m talking about gearing up, does that mean working on certain shots you are going to need or does that mean getting your game in peak form?
RORY MCILROY: I don’t think anything trumps execution in this game, so it’s just getting your game in good form. Playing enough competitive rounds, getting the — yeah, just shooting good scores, seeing shots. I’m not particularly — like it’s not as if I’m out on the golf course on the, you know, whatever hole here thinking, okay, this is the 5th hole at Augusta, this is the tee shot I need. I mean, some guys might do that, I’m not sure, but for me if I’m playing good golf that’s the most important thing.

Q. You’ve been forthright in talking about the Premier League and also saying —
RORY MCILROY: Football or golf? (Laughing.)

Q. If nothing else maybe it leads to some changes structural and otherwise on the PGA TOUR. What would you have in mind?
RORY MCILROY: I mean, I don’t want to come across as all sort of elitist, but I think there is a some smaller fields, maybe a few more events with no cuts, maybe not necessarily — if you look at the international properties that the PGA TOUR have started to go towards, like Korea, Japan, 70-player fields, no cuts. That’s the sort of stuff where you’re giving the — and honestly, there’s so many — I mean I get playing opportunities — there’s so many tournaments and there might be an over saturation in golf in a way. You look at the NFL and they play 18 games a year, 20 games a year max and people want it all the time. I know football’s different than golf and all that, but I think being a golf fan these days can get quite exhausting following so many different tournaments, different tours, all that stuff. So maybe making it a little, sort of streamline it a bit might be a good way — a good place to start a conversation.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Australia

PGA Tour: Adam Scott Speaks With The Media Prior To Making 11th Start at The Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 04: Adam Scott of Australia plays a shot during the pro-am round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and speaks with the media about his past history at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, current state of his game and Master’s preparations.

PGA Tour: Adam Scott Addresses media prior to start of 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

OHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Adam Scott to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Making his 11th start. Adam, a couple third place finishes here. Just talk a little bit about Bay Hill and this tournament and what it means to you.

ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, I’ve come here on and off throughout the years, but it’s a course I’ve really learned to love, I guess, the last 10 years or so for me. I feel like I’ve played a lot of good golf here. I’m confident around this golf course. Unfortunately, I’ve never really put four solid days together in one go. So that’s my goal this week. It’s a special place, obviously, with the Arnold Palmer connection. It’s very strong. You can see that with everything going on here, but also through all the players. Here’s a guy who meant so much to the game of golf. To win an invitational-style event connected to Arnold Palmer would be really quite satisfying, I guess, for me in my career. I would rank it fairly highly.

JOHN BUSH: Speaking of good golf, you’re in really good form right now. 14th official TOUR win at the Genesis Invitational. Just talk a little bit about the state of your game.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard

ADAM SCOTT: My game feels really good, actually. I like where it is after today. I feel like it’s still moving in the right direction after Genesis. Mexico was not my best performance. I’m pretty much thinking I’m one of the worst altitude players on the TOUR after that. I really don’t get very comfortable at altitude. But I feel good about where the game is moving on from Mexico back to a bit closer to sea level here and feeling very confident. I like the way the course is set up this week. I believe it’s going to be windy and hopefully my ball striking can get me a little bit of an advantage in these kind of conditions.

JOHN BUSH: Open it up with questions.

Q. You share the course record here with Greg Norman. You got guys like Marc Leishman and Jason Day have won. What is it about Australian golfers that seem to thrive on this golf course?
ADAM SCOTT: I don’t know, really. There isn’t anything particularly similar or that different than home, really. It’s just, I think there’s, with the connection to Arnold Palmer there’s extra motivation for everyone to do well here. I think that was the case in Greg Norman’s day when he was playing here as well. It’s neat to have the course record here. I remember the round well. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible to attack this week. The greens are pretty firm out there and the wind’s going to blow, so breaking par would be more kind of my scoring goals this week.

Q. And just to follow it up, what are your first, what are your thoughts on the first two days? What do you need to sort of do to get yourself in position for the week and is it a matter of surviving the first two rounds and maybe posting something under par?
ADAM SCOTT: Yeah, it might be good to be out Thursday morning potentially, given the weather. And if I can take advantage of that and have a solid score, it can set me up for a good week. But no matter what, even if that is the way it goes, there’s going to be some survival going on. By the looks, it’s going to blow pretty strong and out of a difficult direction for this golf course. A lot of the holes that are flanked by water, the wind is going to be coming off the water, so you’re going to have to start it over the trouble, essentially, and the ball striking will have to shine through a little bit.

Q. You talked about the state of your game is very good and you’re pleased with it, but what does it do for your game going into the Majors when you win early in the season like you did?
ADAM SCOTT: In some ways it takes the pressure off, from the sense you don’t have to talk yourself into being confident. You can actually be confident because of a result. And then you must manage your own expectation after that. So hopefully, given that I have got a bit of experience, I can do that well from this point on. But I’m really enjoying the way my form is going, so I’m excited to play again this week and get myself back in that kind of position I was at in Genesis. That’s really my, the challenge to myself for the next three days out here is put myself in the winning position Sunday again. And I think my game is definitely still there and the confidence is still riding high, so I’ll try and take advantage of that while I’ve got it.

Q. How does this tournament, tournaments like this help you prepare for the Masters?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it’s a very important part of the preparation because it’s so close. So it’s very hard not to think about the Masters. Of course, we have the PLAYERS championship next week. But this golf course, the way it is this week with the rough is up a little bit and the greens are firm, it’s — and the wind is predicted, it’s going to be testing everyone’s patience, very demanding golf course, which is what major championships do. They really penalize bad shots and this course will do that often because of the water. There’s really no escape from water. So it will be good to kind of get a, get your emotions under control and be able to use that to your advantage maybe at the Masters in a few weeks.

Q. At Riviera you seemed quite positive about the Premier League concept and what it could offer. Obviously since then, Rory’s come out and been very outspoken. There’s been a lot of other chat about it. Has your sentiment changed in any way or been endorsed or what do you think now, a few weeks on?
ADAM SCOTT: I’m still very positive about the concept of what it could be, for sure. It doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen, necessarily. Everyone sees it from somewhat of their own agenda. Being an international player, I mean, the thought of a world TOUR sounds really great. Maybe less so for someone based in Florida who doesn’t have to necessarily travel as much. But it’s what I’m used to. So, yeah, I don’t think my sentiment on the concept has changed at all. I still think it’s fantastic.

Q. Talking about the Masters, how has your preparation changed over the years? When do you start thinking about getting ready for Augusta now, versus maybe 10 years ago?
ADAM SCOTT: I think it’s changed a little bit, to be perfectly honest, because TPC is back in before it and I regard that tournament very highly. So really, I’m trying to get myself in great shape for that. And if I can do that, it’s like a small step to getting ready for Augusta. So until last year the focus on Augusta was kind of starting from Riviera. And at the moment I’m trying to put that out of my head and think about TPC as much as anything and get myself ready to have a really good run there. I mean, for me, it’s a tournament I would love to win again. I think it would go a long way in kind of getting me satisfied with what I’ve achieved in my career. If I could win the TPC twice, that would be amazing. Then it’s a quick shift now then to Augusta. We have got a little bit of time. But I think between what I see here this week and TPC next week, you should have a good idea of where your game’s at and what you need to do to be ready to play the Masters.

Q. Were you still at Augusta last year when Tiger finished? And if so, did you watch it on TV? Did you — what was your, what was sort of your reaction to the reaction?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, just as I was finishing my round you got a sense, as he was kind of taking the lead on the back nine, that something special could be happening. There’s always an electricity in the air at Augusta on a Sunday, but then when Tiger or certain people are in the mix there’s something more. After I finished out and I stayed and watched, there was a lot of guys watching in the champion’s locker room and I stayed and watched. You don’t often get that group of people together very often. All of us definitely cheering hard for Tiger to win. And you just had that sense it’s a significant moment in the sport again. But seeing Tiger’s reaction was great because it felt like a significant moment for a guy who is achieved everything and more in golf and you could see in his reaction to the win how special it was. So that was — it was great as a golf fan to watch that.

Q. How do you think Tiger’s decision to go without a coach and kind of go it on his own the last few years helped him get back in the winner’s circle and win another major?
ADAM SCOTT: How do I think it helped him?

Q. Yeah.
ADAM SCOTT: I really don’t know how to answer. Maybe it just uncomplicated things for him, really. I mean, we all do our best to complicate the game a bit too much and maybe when you’re as talented and as accomplished as Tiger, your gut instinct must be pretty good for what you need to do, so maybe he did that. I don’t know. That’s a guess (Laughing.)

Q. This and Riviera are two of the strongest fields of the year thus far that don’t have built-in fields, for example. What is the difference between something like this, something like the Memorial and Riviera, compared with a WGC?
ADAM SCOTT: A few faces in the draw? I don’t know.

Q. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, I think it’s a good thing that these events are strong, these invitational events. They should mean something. And I think that was the idea with the World Golf Championships. But they have certainly changed over the 20 years that they have been around and gone in a, gone in whatever direction they have gone in, not quite necessarily — I guess they get the best players from all around the world together, but there’s been some levels of compromise, I guess, with them on locations and venues and timings and all these kind of things, and even the Match Play has been moved around and gets fields, it doesn’t get fields, but that’s most tournaments. Even though this is a very, very strong event there are a couple guys not playing. Most do. I think a lot of that is out of the respect for Arnold Palmer, of course. The venue at Riviera and Tiger’s involvement also commands a strong field. So I think they sit up in that similar kind of level, given the fact they are pulling strong fields.

Q. But you’ve missed some WGC’s over the years based on your own scheduling preferences. Was there a time early days where it was thought that these are ones you just don’t miss?
ADAM SCOTT: Absolutely, yeah. They have gone along, they have, I guess when they — there are many factors that are different than 20 years ago when they started. The PGA TOUR had far less international events 20 years ago, they have a lot more now. It was much harder to get the world’s top players together. Most of the world’s top players play on the PGA TOUR as a PGA TOUR member now. They were significantly more money. Now everything is a lot of money. I don’t think they are doing the same as what they did 15 or 20 years ago, that’s for sure.

Q. When on his game who is the just toughest guy out here to match shot for shot and keep up with?
ADAM SCOTT: To pick one guy?

Q. Yeah. One.
ADAM SCOTT: Well, Tiger then (Laughing) on his game. I mean, his record speaks for itself. I mean, I love Rory’s game and I love Dustin’s game as well. I think on their day those guys would be very, very difficult to beat when, if they’re on their game.

JOHN BUSH: All right. Adam Scott, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

ADAM SCOTT: Thank you.

Orlando, Florida

March 4, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

PGA Tour: Brandon Matthews Speaks on Sponsor’s Exemption Into 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 15: Brandon Matthews watches his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club on February 15, 2019 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Latin America Tour Player Brandon Matthews speaks to the media on what it means to him to receive a special sponsors exemption for his actions at last year’s Latin America event in which a special needs child had accidentally yelled in his backswing.

PGA Tour: Brandon Matthews previews 2020 Arnold after receiving special sponsor’s exemption

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Brandon Matthews to the interview room. Brandon, you’re competing this week on a sponsor exemption. Can you just give us some comments ahead of your first PGA TOUR start.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, it’s going to be a pretty cool week. Really excited. Really fortunate to be able to get this exemption, especially here. Mr. Palmer’s event, obviously, we have some ties back from Pennsylvania, and to be considered for this and then get this is pretty special.

THE MODERATOR: Going back to Argentina, can you just comment on that moment and how were you able to handle that so well?

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, it was obviously a tough situation. I was frustrated at first, didn’t understand the full circumstances behind it. But once I did it was a pretty easy situation for me to handle because of the fact that my mom used to work in group homes and I was around that kind of stuff my entire childhood. My best friend’s little sister has Down syndrome. So I saw it on a daily basis and I just kind of have a special place in my heart for it.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned it’s your first PGA TOUR start this week. Where would you say your game’s at right now?

BRANDON MATTHEWS: I feel like it’s pretty good. I’m really excited to be out here. I feel like I can compete on a daily basis out here. So if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing this. So really excited for this week and see how my game stacks up.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for some questions.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Tee Times and Leaderboard

Q. Just was curious what your reaction was to the reaction about how you handled everything like that. Could you have imagined that it would mushroom to the point where it got the attention that it did?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, it was overwhelming. I didn’t expect anything from it. It was funny, my one buddy Matt Ryan came up to me afterwards and he goes, Oh, this is going to pick up and stuff. And I said, No, it’s not. We’re in Buenos Aires. Nothing is going to come of this. I’m just happy I was able to make this guy happy and put a smile on his face. So I had no idea that it was going to get as big as it did.

Q. The result of that tournament still helped you advance, correct, to the Korn Ferry this year?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No.

Q. No, it did not.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No, it — if I actually won that tournament I would have had a chance to get back on the Korn Ferry TOUR, with a good finish at the finals. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Q. Can you then just talk about where you are and what your goals are for this year, what you’re looking to achieve, obviously beyond this week.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, right now I have full status on the Latinoamerica TOUR. I played well down there on 2017, was on the Korn Ferry the last couple years, and, you know, I’m just trying to get better on a daily basis. Try to get my game to the point where I feel like I can win every week. And if I keep getting better on a daily basis, you know, I feel like I’m going to be pretty darn good.

Q. What’s your schedule coming up after this?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, after this, hopefully Valspar, you know, after this. But if I can top 10 here and kind of parlay that, obviously that’s the goal. But if not, like I said, full status on the Latin, so we’re going to kind of get going on that TOUR.

Q. Is this your first start since late last year?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is. Since the —

Q. Shell?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, since the Shell Latin American Championship there.

Q. Where was that one?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: That was at Doral.

Q. Okay. In America?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, in America.

Q. Fantastic. What have you been doing the last couple months? Have you tried any four spotting? Have you thought about it?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: A little bit. My mindset over the last couple months was just to get my game to a point that I’ve never gotten it to before with consistency. I’m working with my swing coach, Dale Gray, and it’s been really, really good. I’ve been really happy to see some of the results that I’ve seen, the consistency coming, and I really, really think I can compete out here on a weekly basis. So, excited to see how it stacks up.

Q. What are you expecting this week?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: I’m just going to kind of take it one step at a time. I’m going to focus on that first tee shot and then slowly get into the round and just keep everything right in front of me. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t trying to win the golf tournament. Like I said, a top 10 would obviously go a long way, but I’m kind of looking short-term here and just trying to get some good practice sessions in and focus on that first tee shot.

Q. Let me go back long-term for a minute. What are you looking forward to this week?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Again —

Q. Beside this press conference being over. I’m sorry.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Of course, of course. Yeah, you know, this week, like I said, just trying to see how my game stacks up, see how ready it is and see where I need to clean up. It’s going to show me a lot this week and I’m looking forward to it. I love this stage. I can’t wait to compete on it.

Q. Your length is well known amongst the people that have been around you. A, where does that come from? And B, have you been trying to kind of, with Dale, trying to harness that a little bit, maybe not take anything back, but just trying to hone it in a little bit and not just be known for your length, so to speak, if that makes any sense.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, obviously, with how far I hit it it’s a huge advantage to most golf courses that I play. Dale and I have been working really hard to getting consistency and figure out kind of a shot shape, trajectory, everything like that that is going to get the ball in the fairway the most often for me. I think we’re doing a really good job at it. From where it comes from, it’s funny, I find myself telling this story a lot. My dad set me on the red tees when I was like four or five years old on this one course I grew up at, Emanon, it’s like a 5,800-yard golf course. It’s great. And there was a little pond in front of the red tee. It was like, I don’t know, 70 yards to carry. And then I was — I had sat there with a huge bucket of balls just trying to hit it over, just trying to hit it as hard as I can. And as soon as I did, my dad moved me back a tee and then that process kind of repeated itself until I got all the way back. So I feel like that was one of the big reasons why I was blessed with my length, because I kind of grew up just trying to hit it as hard as I can.

Q. Not many people roll in here and say — that have never played on the PGA TOUR and say, I think I can compete out here. So what is it that you’ve done over the last six months, let’s say, that you feel that you can compete out here against these guys?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: I’ve worked my whole life for this. Every time I’ve gotten to, let’s say, a little bit bigger stage, whether it was college, to the Latinoam�rica TOUR, Korn Ferry TOUR, I felt like I was ready. I felt like I was good enough to compete. I have a lot of self-belief in my game. I truly feel like this is where I belong and this is where I need to be.

Q. When you mentioned Valspar a minute ago, are you asking for exemptions or, again, are you looking at any qualifying or —
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, I mean, the Valspar would be just because of a top 10 here, but my agent’s done a fantastic job, Drew Carr, and we’re reaching out to some tournaments. And I’m just so happy to be here, not looking at anything else and, you know, also at the end of the day with — I just didn’t think I was going to get any reaction from what happened, so just to be sitting here today, to be able to compete this week is something that’s really special that I’m very thankful for.

Q. And you played — why have you chosen Latinoam�rica instead of Canada, for example, when you haven’t had Korn Ferry status?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, this year I’m very familiar with the TOUR, familiar with some of the golf courses because I played down there in 2017. So I would say back in 2017 I chose it just because of the way people kind of told me to set my schedule. They said Latin’s a little bit better for my game, so on and so forth. Canada is a little bit different. But had success down there in 2017, so I figured why not do it again.

Q. And you played once in Europe. How did that come about?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, that was kind of a crazy little deal. I heard some things from some friends that they were trying to push for me to get a spot and I had a good spring on Latin that year, was kind of doing really well at that point. I think I was second or third on the Money List or something like that. I was fortunate enough to get that start. I mean, I really had no idea really until about the week before that I was going to get it. It was funny, I was in Omaha, Nebraska and I got the phone call, Hey, do you want it play in Germany next week? And I’m like, What? So I looked at my phone, looked on some flights, flew back home, and flew over to Hamburg and — yeah, that was a long travel day there.

Q. Wonder if you could fill us in a little bit on your ties to Pennsylvania and was wondering have you played Latrobe Country Club and have you actually seen the tractor?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Unfortunately, I have not played Latrobe. I haven’t been over to the Western part of Pennsylvania too too much. I’m from kind of the northeast part there, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area. But like I keep saying, it’s incredible the amount of ties Mr. Palmer had to Pennsylvania, all over. The stories that I hear from a lot of people, it’s amazing. I was just saying this, you know, out of all the years you hear so many Arnold Palmer stories and it’s so amazing that every single one is so positive and that just speaks volumes to his character.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how, I’m going to say how difficult it is to be a professional golfer now and trying to find your way on a particular TOUR, keep a card, try to progress along to the next TOUR?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah. Yeah, it’s incredible how many people are trying to do it now. It’s great. But it’s hard. These guys are good. Out here, Korn Ferry TOUR. I think almost everyone that plays on the Korn Ferry TOUR’s good enough to compete out here. It’s crazy. The talent level that I’ve seen over the last few years has driven me to work harder, and I mean, I go through a whole day. I grind from five o’clock in the morning until dark, so it’s given me the drive to try to be able to succeed out here.

Q. Two questions: You touched on it a little bit earlier, but just, I’m wondering what qualities that Arnold Palmer had do you most admire? And then the second part of the question is, he had a reputation of always being a good guy. Now you’ve got that reputation of being a good guy. I wonder what that means to you too.
BRANDON MATTHEWS: Like I keep saying, to be mentioned in any kind of light with Mr. Palmer is incredible. I’m very, very humbled by it. I mean, he was the epitome of sportsmanship. Like I just mentioned, you hear all these stories about him and all of them are so positive, it’s incredible. He’s done so much for this game, so much for a lot of people’s lives. He truly did it right.

Q. How did you wind up at Temple?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: How did I wind up at Temple? So, A, a guy, Paul Keating, a member at the club that I was playing at the time, Fox Hill Country Club, kind of mentioned me. I was kind of late — I had never really played AJGA’s or anything like that. I kind of, for whatever reason, stayed away from that. So when I kind of started winning a lot of stuff my junior year of high school, a lot of the colleges came up to me and they’re like, Well, we have already signed our guys. You can come in, walk on, whatever. And fortunately, Brian Quinn, the head coach at Temple University called me, because Paul Keating and him were very good friends, and he gave me the opportunity to play at Temple University and it’s just short ride down the turnpike. It was great. I tell people this all the time. The important thing for me at Temple was I learned how to be a kid too. The time off that I needed to take, because there were a foot of snow on the ground, needed to take off from basically December to March call it, it was good. It was nice to actually be a kid and not go full grind mode. And I got to understand how valuable time off was.

Q. Earlier we heard from Francesco Molinari about how special the Arnold Palmer Invitational is for him. I wanted to find out from you, especially as someone who has played golf from a much younger age, does the Arnold Palmer Invitational hold a special place for you in comparison to some of the other tournaments that you’ve been a part of?
BRANDON MATTHEWS: No question. Obviously being my first PGA TOUR start, this is really, really special. But again, like I keep saying, to be a part of Mr. Palmer’s tournament as my first ever PGA TOUR start is something that I actually can’t really put into words, it’s pretty incredible.

Q. (Question about Pine Valley.)
BRANDON MATTHEWS: We actually did get an invitation one time, we were fortunate enough. That place is pretty special. That property is golf Disneyland.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Brandon, thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Thanks, guys.

Orlando, Florida

March 3, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Professionals

PGA Tour: Francesco Molinari Speaks About Defending Title at 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 20: Francesco Molinari of Italy lines up a putt during the first round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec on February 20, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Francesco Molinari speaks with the media prior to beginning his 2020 title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

PGA Tour: Francesco Molinari addresses the media ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational

JOHN BUSH: We would like to get started with Francesco Molinari, our 2019 champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

Francesco, first of all, if we can get you to take us back to your win last year, including a sensational 8-under, 64 in the final round. If we can get a few comments, please.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously most of the memories are from the Sunday. Just an amazing round, probably one of the best rounds I’ve played in my career. I remember, yes, starting the day thinking there was maybe half a chance, but I was quite a long way back and with a few guys in between me and the lead. So you obviously hope for a good day but you can’t really know how it’s going to pan out.

And then, yeah, just played an incredible round, played well, putted really well, and obviously finished it off with that putt on 18 that I think will always be one of the highlights of my career.

JOHN BUSH: You have four top-10 finishes in seven starts here. What is it about Bay Hill that you like so much?

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I can’t really point one single thing. I think if you ask a lot of the guys out there they are going to tell you that it’s more of a bomber’s course, but I seem to like it pretty much from the first time I came. I don’t know, maybe part of it has to do with the fact that I was watching it on TV when I was growing up and obviously, like I said many times, in Italy the exposure to golf was limited and Mr. Palmer and Mr. Nicklaus were two obviously of the few figures that reached all the way out to Italy and they were really mythological figures. So to come here and to play in Arnie’s tournament has always been special to me and it’s always been a week that I’ve enjoyed a lot and I obviously still do.

JOHN BUSH: And before questions, just talk a little bit about the state of your game coming into the week.

2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Tee Times and Leaderboard

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I’m a little bit behind where I was planning to be, obviously, at this time. The start of the season has not been as good as I hoped for, but it’s only the start. There’s been a few physical things and technical things, but I’m working through it. I think I’ve got some good planning for the next few weeks building up to Augusta and some good direction to work towards. And, yeah, just looking forward to being out, play 18 a day and hopefully getting sharper day by day.

JOHN BUSH: All right. Let’s start with questions.

Q. Do you feel close to where you need to be and if you don’t, when there were times where you felt far away, were you honest with yourself?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I try to be honest with myself. I think in golf it’s never too easy because there’s a part of you that always makes you think you’re close even when you’re not. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly close right now. I would be, my expectations going into the next few weeks are really to build up some momentum and get better day by day and not really thinking too far ahead of myself. There’s work that I need to do to be physically better and fitter than I am right now and technically to be sharper. So that’s the plan for the next few weeks. But not always results in golf are directly linked to where you are exactly in a certain moment. So results might come earlier than I think, but the plan is still no matter what the results are going to be, to work hard the next month and get better.

Q. Have you had a chance to talk with Edoardo since last week and what was your reaction when you found out he had been quarantined?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I was laughing, actually. If you know my brother, of all people, for it to happen to him, I don’t know, yeah, I just found it a little bit funny at the beginning. But then, obviously, I spoke to him and he was, I would say, more annoyed than scared because he was feeling well. He had no symptoms. But, yeah, joking aside, obviously being Italian it’s not a great time back home with the health situation and I don’t know, hopefully they can get it sorted somehow quickly.

Q. Going back to last year here, is it possible to assess like just how well you played that final round and how, I mean, how would you grade your game? Was it maybe as good as it’s ever been in that last round? And was it a total, just a total performance in that every part of the game was working?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it was, like I said, one of the best rounds of my career, probably. Like I said, when I finished last year, the putting was particularly good. I hit the ball obviously well enough to shoot 64 but it probably wasn’t my best ever round tee to green. But, yeah, in general an amazing round. Conditions were tricky already on the Saturday, I remember, and then Sunday was the same. So I think this is a course that if it firms up and it gets a bit breezy, it’s a really tough test of golf and you can still, obviously, shoot 64 and 65, but you need to do a lot of things well to do that.

Q. Having won this event and Tiger’s former event and so forth, discussions the last few days about the PGA TOUR versus the European Tour, the difficulty of winning, I’m just curious if you buy into any of that —
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don’t think I should get into that. It’s golf, you know, it’s never easy to win in golf wherever you play. That’s all I’m going to say.

Q. Following up from earlier, so for you personally and just golfers in general, what is this coronavirus, is it going to, do you think potentially impede on people’s travel schedules, the way they kind of plan going forward?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I know as much as you, if not less, to be honest. We just follow, obviously, the directions that we’re given by the TOUR. So far, luckily, it doesn’t seem to have an impact on us directly. But, yeah, like I said, the first person — I wasn’t in Italy last week — but I was obviously reading the news and they cancelled football games, soccer games, which are huge over there and closed school, so it’s definitely having an impact there. Hopefully it won’t get to that stage over here.

Q. Just like Sungjae addressed it in his post-win, I mean he talked about how he hopes this emboldens his home, his people back home, because it’s such an issue. Do you — is it front of mind in some ways for you because of what’s going on in your home country?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, yes and no. Obviously, I got my parents in Turin, which is one of the areas where they closed schools and cancelled soccer games, and they’re not the youngest anymore, so it’s a bit worrying from that point of view, but then I spoke to them, I speak to them pretty much on a daily basis and they’re fine. There’s nothing too worrying at the moment. So it’s, obviously, trying to keeping the virus contained and it’s just, I guess, a matter of time to see if the policies that they have put in place will have a big enough affect. Hopefully they will.

Q. The 16th hole is often pivotal in the outcome of the tournament, especially going down the stretch on Sunday. Can you talk about your memories about that hole from last year? And as the Aon Risk Reward hole for this week, what are the keys for you for success on that hole?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, the memories from Sunday last year are playing the hole very well. I hit pretty much a perfect drive and a really good aggressive second shot over the flag and nearly made the eagle putt.

I think compared to some other holes that we played during the year in the Aon Risk Reward, 16 is in a way more straightforward because it’s just about hitting a good driver. And then I think 99 percent of the field will go for it from the fairway, because you have enough room and you have a good chance of making eagle. So, yeah, the strategy there for me is to be aggressive, obviously, as long as you are on the fairway off the tee.

Q. You spoke earlier of the physical and technical aspect of golf. How about the mental energies? You did speak about that after the Masters. How long does that take you to get back to where you were after a back nine where you had such a great tournament and then some problems on the back nine?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Obviously, I don’t know, I have a different maybe point of view from many people, but I think that the mental side has been one of the strongest points in the last few months. It’s just more being more down to the fact that I haven’t hit the ball as well and like I said, especially these first few weeks this year, I let a few niggles here and there and not been able to train and to get fitter and stronger. So I think mentally I’m ready to go. I’m in a good place and ready to compete. But obviously, I think that’s kind of the last stage. You need to have your best game and to be physically a hundred percent to be able to compete.

Q. Given what you shared earlier about your win last year and the fact that you were able to be in the presence of people like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, those whom you considered mythological before and you had the opportunity to be here in the presence last year, have you lost that sense of wonder? Is it still — it’s still an amazing experience for you to be back here in 2020. Despite the condition of your game right now, is there still a sense of wonder for you being here?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we’re lucky to play in great tournaments week-in and week-out, but there are certain tournaments that to each one of us are special. And like I was saying before, definitely every time I come back here or I play Memorial and I have a chance to see and to speak with Mr. Nicklaus, it’s just people that they have obviously achieved so much in the game of golf but most of all for the game of golf, that it’s just fascinating. And then, obviously, in the past few years I had a chance to have a few chats with Mr. Palmer and, yeah, he was just a fascinating character. And I think I said this last year after winning, especially for someone like me coming from a very small golfing country like Italy is and was when I was growing up, I would have never believed I would have had the chance to speak to Mr. Palmer. So it’s always special coming back here, yeah.

Q. A Masters question, I apologize. But it seems like the 12th hole is where everything kind of turned last year on Sunday. What do you remember about that hole and why was it playing so difficult? It played as the hardest hole last year on Sunday.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think it was just the wind, you know, the weather conditions of the day made it really hard to judge the shot in terms of how far it was playing. And then, obviously, it’s a hole where when the flag is in that position, back right, it’s by far the toughest position on the green. So it’s a combination of that, and then obviously the situation too, you know, you get there, it’s Sunday afternoon, so I think a few of us hit in the water that day and, yeah, it’s just how, it shows how tough it was playing. But that’s the beauty of the Masters and Amen Corner and it’s a special tournament and you could see that last year on Sunday. And like I said, I think that the weather conditions made those last few holes even more tricky and special for someone who was watching on TV.

Q. Two things: Can you remember the calmest you’ve ever played No. 12, calmest conditions, and how much easier, if any, did it make it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Calmest in terms of —

Q. In terms of wind.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: — conditions?

Q. Yeah.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, if there’s no wind, you know, it just depends if you hit a good shot. There’s nothing really that can stop you from hitting that green. But I think, I remember like the Saturday last year, I think I hit it a few inches from the hole with obviously a different pin position. But, yeah, like I said, that Sunday, when the wind is up and I think especially it was coming kind of into, from behind the green and those huge trees behind the green, so you never know how much wind actually it’s going to get. And it’s just complicated.

Q. Let me ask it a different way. How much wind is required for it to mess with your head?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think it depends on the direction, like I said, because it can, if it comes from a certain direction it can funnel in the trees and then that’s when it gets really hard. Because you might look at north, south, west, east on your yardage book and think it should be coming from one way and you see the flag blowing the opposite way and then it’s really hard to make a call and an adjustment.

But, yeah, so I don’t think it needs a lot of wind, it’s more the wind direction specifically on that hole that makes it tricky. If it’s playing downwind usually the wind is the same on the tee and on the green. When it’s coming the other direction, it just funnels in the trees and depends on the exact moment when you’re hitting the shot.

Q. The other thing I wanted to ask you, have you been approached by the folks from the Premier Golf League?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No.

Q. Your general thoughts on it and is there any interest?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, I haven’t been approached, so.

Q. Is that insulting?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, not really, no. I’m happy to do my own thing, again, not get involved. I think there’s going to be bigger names that will have to make that decision. But I don’t know, I kind of agree with what Rory said, to be honest, we, I’m sure we can find ways to make this TOUR and the European Tour even better, but we’re lucky to play some amazing schedules, so I don’t see why really messing up with it too much.

JOHN BUSH: We appreciate your time Francesco, best of luck this week.

FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Thank you.

Orlando, Florida

March 3, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team USA

Rickie Fowler To Play Special Edition Taylormade PIX Ball at Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 03: A flag rests on a golf bag as seen during a practice round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 03, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

It has become a yearly routine for PGA Tour professional Rickie Fowler to pay homage to one of the greatest to ever play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational via a collection of special edition Arnold Palmer themed gear including shoes, hats, and bags. For the 2020 edition of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Fowler will be seen playing a special edition Arnold Palmer “umbrella” ball designed by Taylormade. Unfortunately, for the majority of us that would love to purchase this ball, it will be unavailable for retail purchase. Below are pictures of Fowler’s ball that will be in play this week.

Rickie Fowler will begin his 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday, March 5 at teeing off at 12:44 Eastern Time alongside Australian Marc Leishman and last week’s winner Korean Sungjae Im.

Categories
Apparel Equipment Golfshoes Products

Rickie Fowler To Honor “The King” With Arnold Palmer Themed Puma Gear

Arnold Palmer themed special edition Cobra/Puma gear Rickie Fowler will use at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational to pay tribute. (Photo via: Golfweek.usatoday.com)

Five time PGA Tour winner Rickie Fowler will be continuing his annual tradition of honoring the late Arnold Palmer at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational by sporting special edition Puma x Arnold Palmer apparel and equipment. Find out where to get your hands on the latest gear below.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Fowler to pay tribute to Arnold Palmer again in 2020 via customized Puma/Cobra apparel and equipment

Rickie Fowler will continue to pay homage to Arnold Palmer this year by wearing a select run of special edition Puma Golf apparel including hats, shoes and a staff bag. Many of the products will be available hand-signed by Fowler himself with all proceeds going directly to Palmer’s foundation. At the 2019 edition of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Fowler raised north of $40,000 via the autographed apparel. Below is a more detailed look of the gear Fowler can be seen wearing this week and where to purchase for yourself.

Hats

API CAMO P CAP

This classic Puma “P” hat has been engineered to be a true head turner, featuring the Arnold Palmer signature umbrella on the Puma “P” and an Arnold Palmer themed camouflage pattern on the backside. The hat is available in a array of colors and is available for $35 direct from Puma’s website here.

N1AP ROPE CAP

This Puma x Arnold Palmer mashup features a nylon rope across the bill of the hat, similar to the rope found on the perimeter of courses. The numbers and letters scattered on the hat might not be recognizable to anyone, but die hard Arnie fans will notice that they are the tail number of his signature Cessna Aircraft. The hat is available in three colors and can be purchased for $35 here.

BAY HILL CITY CAP

Pay tribute to the legendary Bay Hill Golf Club in Orlando, Florida host of the annual Arnold Palmer Invitational. The cap is additionally available in a “Latrobe City” format to pay homage to Palmer’s hometown. The hats can be purchased for $35 direct on Puma’s website here.

Bags

LE API TOUR STAND BAG

This Arnold Palmer special edition collaboration between Cobra Golf and Vessel stand bag embodies everything the king represents. The bag features Palmer’s signature colors in a camouflage pattern and a ultra comfortable carrying strap. The bag is available for purchase for $599 direct from Puma’s website here.

Shoes

IGNITE PROADAPT PALMER GOLF SHOES

These limited edition Puma golf shoes pay tribute to Arnold Palmer in a unique way via his extreme passion for aviation. The classic silver, white and blue colors are a humble nod to his famous Cessna aircraft he would fly across the country. The N1AP represents the tail number from his signature Cessna. These one of a kind shoes can be purchased for $249 direct from Puma’s website here.

IGNITE NXT ARNIE CAMO GOLF SHOES

Pay your tribute to the king with these Arnold Palmer inspired Puma Ignite golf shoes, featuring the unique camouflage pattern in red, white, yellow and green meant to honor the late Palmer. The shoes can be purchased on Puma’s website for $150 here.

Categories
Professionals

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im Talks Victory and Leap in FedEx Cup Standings After 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Sungjae Im of South Korea celebrates after making a birdie on the 15th hole during the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

PGA tour professional and second year player Sungjae im recaps his maiden victory at the 2020 Honda Classic, beating out Mackenzie Hughes and Tommy Fleetwood

PGA Tour: Sungjae Im recaps first career victory at the 2020 Honda Classic

DOUG MILNE: We’d like to welcome Sungjae Im, winner of the 2020 Honda Classic. Sungjae, congratulations on your first PGA TOUR win. Goodness, it seems like every week you’re up there inside the top 10, and I know it feels good to get the job done, and with the win, 500 FedExCup points to move to No. 2 in the standings. Just a few comments about the week and getting your first PGA TOUR win.

SUNGJAE IM: After being so close so many weeks and even after having a bunch of top 10s and just using that experience this week was big, and just hope to really work hard and move forward and become a winner again very soon.

Q. Two questions: One, I know you understand a fair amount of English. How is your acclimation to the U.S. going?
SUNGJAE IM: I like being here, just as far as travel and the food, everything. Not just not being able to visit Korea and go back to my home country as much is the only thing that hurts me a little bit sometimes, but everything else I’m very satisfied and happy with where I am.

Q. And you spoke of it outside a little, too, but these are scary times in Korea. There’s scary times in a lot of countries. You mentioned the virus. How much is what’s going on at home, how much was that on your mind this week? How much did you carry that around with you this week?
SUNGJAE IM: There has been reportedly over 2,000 cases of people that have been affected with the coronavirus in Korea, and to be honest I’m a little concerned and worried about how fast this virus is spreading. As of right now, all I can do is pray for the best and just hope moving forward that not many more people get affected, and hopefully this virus can be calmed down and sort itself out very soon.

Q. 15 and 17 are supposed to be scary shots. How were you feeling over them?
SUNGJAE IM: In between 15 and 17, 15 is probably the hardest hole out here in my opinion, and just going into that hole the past few days, I was a little tentative and didn’t really hit my lines. But going into today, I had the right club, the wind was in the right spot, and just felt like I had everything to attack the pin the way I did and just had the right club and was comfortable with the wind. That way I just was aggressive and saw my shot, and glad it worked out the way it did.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. How did the Presidents Cup help you down the stretch today, your experience there?
SUNGJAE IM: Playing for Captain Ernie for the Presidents Cup this year was a huge experience. I had a lot of fun, and just we were all in the mindset of the international squad trying to win. Everybody wanted to win. Just comparing today’s pressure to that pressure, I felt a little less nervous than I did during the Presidents Cup, so experiences like that have really helped me and will help me moving forward.

Q. After Tommy made the putt on 17, you kind of blow on the golf ball in your hand. What was that for?
SUNGJAE IM: It didn’t mean anything. I just signed some balls for some of the volunteers and the ink was still wet, and I was trying to dry it out a little bit.

Q. As a guy who plays almost every week, will you take a week off, and B, how difficult has that been for you to play every week?
SUNGJAE IM: I plan on playing almost every week, maybe take an event off during the Texas swing, but nothing confirmed. But as of right now, just the one in mind, and planning to play them all.

Q. Is that difficult, or what is the difficulty in that for you, playing every week?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m just so happy to be on the PGA TOUR and just to play golf, and it’s almost as — I don’t really look at it as work, it’s more of a chance to just go out and do what I love and play golf. As far as difficulty-wise, it’s not very hard because I’m doing what I want to do. So that’s kind of how I feel right now.

Q. Could you say how you two met, how you know each other?
ALBIN CHOI: We’ve known each other for I’d say the past two-and-a-half, three years now from playing on the Korn Ferry TOUR together and I met Sungjae at the final stage in Arizona and kind of exchanged a few words there, but as the year progressed we became closer and closer, and we’ve — he moved on to the PGA TOUR, and we just kind of kept in touch, and yeah, here we are.

Q. How did you end up on his bag this week?
ALBIN CHOI: I got a phone call after Riviera, he was looking for a guy this week, and I know he’s had some language barriers with other caddies in the past, and I just felt like we communicate better, and being a player myself and having played this golf course a lot of times, he wanted somebody on the bag with a little bit of experience. I accepted, and I’m glad that I did.

Q. Sungjae, you’ve made a lot of starts. You came really close at the Sanderson Farms back in the fall. How did you draw upon that experience coming into this stretch, and also is it kind of a relief to get that first win?
SUNGJAE IM: I was a little disappointed the way the Sanderson Farms ended. Very similar spot to what I was in today. Finished with a one-shot lead and had to wait on the guys coming in, and so drawing upon that experience I felt like it made me hungrier for today to go out and get that win, and just having come so close, it’s just very happy everything worked out the way it did and I’m just happy to get the win.

Q. Another South Korean, Y.E. Yang, won this tournament 10, 12 years ago. Do you know him? How well do you know him?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m very well aware of his victory here, and I know him a decent amount. We’re from the same place back home and have exchanged words with him in the past. I would say we’re on pretty good terms of knowing one another.

Q. Sungjae, you’ve played in three of the majors, and this win gets you of course into Augusta. How much are you looking forward now to going to the Masters, and how well do you think you’ll do, and what do you know about Augusta? What excites you now about playing in the Masters?
SUNGJAE IM: So having played in every major, obviously the Masters was the only one that I’ve been missing. Just really looking forward to going to Augusta, and right now obviously playing four rounds is the goal, and having performed well in major championships before, I just want to add the Masters to my belt, and I’m super excited.

Q. You mentioned being on his bag this weekend. You live in Jupiter, I believe. What experience, if any, do you have with this course, and kind of what brought you down here to Palm Beach County?
ALBIN CHOI: Just being a player myself, and I played final stage on this golf course and got my card through here. So I know how hard it is to kind of navigate your way through this golf course, and just with the pressure of the tournament on the line and just playing here a bunch, and I just felt like the experience kind of helped me today. Just from being — from a player standpoint, I kind of knew what he was feeling at certain times, and I felt like I could kind of draw upon my experiences to help him out today and to keep his head in the right place.

Q. You’re known for kind of a slow, methodical backswing. I’m wondering how you learned the swing and how that style suits you or how you settled on that kind of tempo.
SUNGJAE IM: Up until three or four years ago, my backswing speed was the same as the average player out here, but I wanted to experiment and just kind of find out what really worked for me, and was just doing a drill of slowing down the backswing, and it really helped. I felt like I could hit the ball where I wanted to and just got better contact in general, and now I feel like my backswing is getting slower and slower as time goes, but it’s what works for me, and I’m happy with it.

Q. Two quick things: What’s going through your head when the ball is in the air on its way to 17?
SUNGJAE IM: I wasn’t worried about being short because I took more club for that reason with it being into the wind. I was just a little bit concerned about the back bunker when the ball was in the air, but I was just happy to see the ball hit the ground fast and stop where it did, and I felt like that was a good turning point.

Q. For a guy who basically lives out of hotels, how do you celebrate tonight?
SUNGJAE IM: I’m not sure if I’m going to be heading to Orlando tonight or tomorrow night, but regardless, wherever I am, in a hotel or wherever, I feel like this is going to be one of the happiest nights of my life.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team UK

PGA Tour: Tommy Fleetwood Recaps Final Hole Collapse at 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Tommy Fleetwood of England reacts to his birdie on the 17th green during the final round of the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour and European Tour professional Tommy Fleetwood speaks to the media after finding the water on the 72nd hole at the 2020 Honda Classic and eventually losing the tournament.

PGA Tour: Tommy Fleetwood still searching for first career PGA Tour victory after coming up short at the Honda Classic

TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Then playing the last I still had a chance. It’s fine margins in this game.

Q. When you have a sense that it’s that kind of a day that you just described, what’s the main thing you focus in on to hang around and have that chance on 18.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: It’s important not to misjudge the finish line. You never know what’s going to happen. Didn’t have much going, but I was always there or thereabouts. I was in the lead for most of the day. So you just stay in and then you never know what’s going to happen in the end. Just keep going, just keep playing. I had a lovely look at birdie on 12 that didn’t go in and then made a mess of 13, but stuck in there — and that’s just a case of being patient. That’s all you can do. I didn’t do that much wrong really. It comes down to fine margins, like I said. It’s disappointing, but it was close.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. You said a win is important but it’s not the end of the world, you’ll see your family tomorrow, but how do you process coming so close?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, the shot on 18, it wasn’t a good feeling for the next 10 minutes when I was messing around trying to hit my wedge shot. It’s just disappointing. I feel fine right now. I think it’s important to make sure that you’re positive about it. You have enough people that will critique what you’ve done so. I’m going to do the same. I’m going to go back and look at what I could’ve done better. There are certain shots that I hit. At the end of the day, I felt like I was really good mentally, hung in there until the end and gave myself a chance at the last. But when the margins are small, that’s OK. I just said that I don’t feel like I’m getting worse at golf. I’ve just got to keep pushing. Absolutely I want to be a regular winner, but there’s no point in moaning and groaning about it now. It didn’t happen. There’s a lot of amazing players on the TOUR trying to win, and it’s not given, so I’ve just got to keep going and if I keep getting this close, it’ll happen.

Q. First of all, talk about that shot on 18; what was going through your mind? Did you ever think about a different shot, laying up?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: No, it was a tough one really. I had to hit a 4-iron which was clocking away, it was always going to be left, or I take the 5-wood on, which was like a really big cut, and that’s what you do, isn’t it, you play the shot. That’s all you can do. I hit a bad shot. Could have been a great shot, but actually as bad as it was, it could have landed three yards left and been on the edge of the green and I’d have had a chance. It is what it is. I was really enjoying the moment coming down there with a chance to win. I still had a chance to actually eagle it or birdie it and get in a playoff, and it just didn’t happen. But one bad shot, and that’s it.

Q. What was the conversation with Ian as you guys were getting ready?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, you look at the number, it was an awkward number yesterday. It was a slightly different wind, and I cut a 5-wood that pitched like 238. I had 239 to the pin today, but the wind was off the right. I felt like it was playing shorter, wasn’t hurting today. But there was only one shot really. Honestly, maybe at the time, you think, I had the world left and could have got up-and-down, but playing for that, I could have easily bailed left, not got up-and-down and then said, why did I bail out left. So you pick your shot and you hit it, and that’s it.

I think we picked the right shot 100 percent, I just didn’t pull it off.

Q. How good did you feel after the birdie-birdie start? Looked like everything was trending.
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Well, yeah, I was going well. My swing wasn’t there today, like all day it wasn’t like a comfortable day in terms of shots that I stood over and I felt really good over, these look great. Examples are like 16 is like an ideal shot for me normally, and things weren’t quite there, but I hung in there. I still hit enough good golf shots and I still had enough chances. Just that was it really.

But like I say, I started off great, had chances, and I felt like I did a good job all day even when I made a couple bogeys. I was always hanging around. I never really got overly frustrated, never thought, oh, I’ve made bogey there or I’ve made bogey there, just moved on and kept doing a good job, and even without my game feeling as comfortable as it was I got to the end with a chance.

Q. There’s obviously a language barrier for a lot of guys in this game. Do you know Sungjae at all?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, we always say hello and talk. Well, I say talk, we never had like massively long conversations, but I always say hi. He’s always a guy that I would acknowledge. Not that we’ve had many conversations about technicalities of the game, but he seems like a nice guy.

Q. How long will this take you get over?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: I’m disappointed now. Sungjae — somebody shot a better score than me. I tried my hardest, got close, getting closer, getting better, and — yeah, it’s disappointing and I’ll be thinking about it. Little things will come into your mind like what if or what if that, but it is what it is. We’ve got amazing events coming up, and my game is in good shape where I actually feel like I can hit it better, as well. I don’t feel like this week I’ve been absolutely — I’ve played some absolutely fantastic golf, but I still feel like my game could have felt better at times, and I think that’s something to look at and go away and work on. I feel like I can get sharper and keep playing better. It’s not to say I will, but I’m going to try.

Q. Along those lines, obviously very hard courses, very hard tournaments coming up this year. You have to feel like you’re in form for the bigger tests that are coming up?
TOMMY FLEETWOOD: Yeah, I’ll absolutely look forward to them and keep working. And that’s the thing, with the way golf is now, just because I’ve made bogey on the last here, you don’t have time to go away and sit and sulk about it. Players are coming up next week, they want to win that tournament and if you’re playing well, make the most of it and hopefully I can do that next week.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Categories
Team Canada

PGA Tour: Mackenzie Hughes Talks Falling Just Short at 2020 Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: MacKenzie Hughes of Canada putts on the 16th hole during the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa Champion course on March 01, 2020 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional Mackenzie Hughes recaps his weekend 66-66 after just barely making the cut and falling just short of a victory at the 2020 Honda Classic.

PGA Tour: Mackenzie Hughes talks to the media following completion of the 2020 Honda Classic

Q. Great finish, 66-66 on the weekend after making the cut on the number. What a run you made this weekend. You have to be very proud of yourself.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, it’s been a really tough season so far for me. I knew I was never really that far off, but it’s all results, and the results weren’t good so far this year. I always believed I could do it, but until you do it and get yourself back in there, there was always that bit of doubt.

I mean, this golf course I knew would bring out my best because it’s just such a grind, and you just have to hang in there, just hang in there and hang in there. I mean, I just fought my butt off all weekend. Yeah, it was a lot of fun to be back in the mix, though.

Q. 16 you had that vicious lip-out for par, and you come to the 17th and from 54 feet roll in that putt. That had to be exhilarating.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, 16 was tough. You know, didn’t put it in a good spot off the tee and didn’t draw a great lie, and the putt I thought I had just gutted, and it came right back at me. 17, got away with one. I kind of push-fanned one and it was on the green, and I stole my caddie, and I was like, let’s just try and make Sungjae’s putt a little harder. That’s a huge bonus that that ball would drop in. I haven’t been that excited on the golf course in a long time.

Unfortunately I’m standing there in 18 fairway, I just — it’s a tough shot. Wind is in off the right, and you’re trying to cut one but you can’t over-cut it because then you’re going to be knocked down by the wind. I was grinding my butt off and unfortunately just one short, but I had so much fun this week.

Q. Just a little bit short, but what a great week for you. If we can get some comments.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, super fun week. I’ve had a very tough season so far and don’t feel like I’ve played poorly. I’ve missed a lot of cuts by two, three shots, and I’ve had my chances to play the weekend, but things just were falling short there at the end. I never felt like I was far away from being in a spot like this, and I knew that this golf course would be a great fit for just the grind — make a bunch of pars, throw in the odd birdie, and I’ve always loved coming to this place. It tests every part of your game, and it’s mostly just mental.

So I had just tons of fun competing. I love being in the mix. I love having a chance to win, and yeah, so I mean, it sucks to come up one short, to fight that hard all day. I just kind of thought I was going to do it. But still proud of the way I fought this week and looking forward to the rest of the year.

2020 Honda Classic Full Leaderboard

Q. Did anything change from Friday to Saturday?
MACKENZIE HUGHES: No, not really. You know, my college golf coach, he texted me on Friday night, and he said, you know what, the hard part is over. I missed five cuts, and I always said when the hard part is over you’re on the weekend. It kind of loosened me up a little bit and I said, let’s just go out there and play golf and see what happens. I was just a little bit more at ease on Saturday, and once I posted 4-under, I knew that was going to give me a chance on Sunday, and then again, I knew I probably needed the same kind of round on Sunday, but just the confidence of doing it the day before, I thought, I can do this.

I had a great feel with a lot of the shots I was hitting this week, and yeah, it was just — it was nice to be in there because it’s been a while.

Q. Have you played with Sungjae before?
MACKENZIE HUGHES: I have not. I actually was kind of joking to myself coming up 18, I was like, man versus machine. I’m the man, hitting shots in bunkers and hitting the grandstands on 18 and he’s just like a machine. It was really impressive. He played great golf, a great start, which I think actually kind of helped me a little bit because I was like, I’ve got to go get this guy. He’s 4-under through five, I’ve got to chase him a little bit. So I thought early on, he seemed to have it beat, and I was like, just hang with him and keep it close and anything can happen down the last few holes.

He honestly hit two incredible shots into 15 and 17, and he’s very, very deserving, obviously, of winning.

Q. What was that like having Albin in your group? You guys go way back.
MACKENZIE HUGHES: Yeah, that was really crazy. The chance of him being in our group were — like this is the first time he’s caddied for Sungjae and we’re paired together on Sunday. I thought it was kind of a dream come true because you get to walk with — my caddie is a good friend of mine, and I get to walk with Albin who I’ve known since junior golf days. It was a lot of fun. We had a few good laughs out there, and he might be caddying a little bit more in the future, I think, but we’ll see.

I also wanted to say one more thing. I had a friend of mine who passed away last week in Charlotte, Daniel Meggs, and all week I marked my ball with his initials, and I just want to tell Daniel, who’s up in a better place now, and his family, that I’m really thinking about them. Daniel was an incredible human being, golfer at Wake Forest, and I was playing for him this week. I always play for myself, but I looked down at my ball every now and then and just reminded myself that it’s a blessing to be able to have another round of golf, to continue to play this great game, and I know what he wouldn’t give for another chance to play a round of golf or to be with his family.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to Daniel Meggs and his family and tell them I’m thinking about them.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 1, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports