After winning 2023 Honda Classic, Chris Kirk loved that Paul Azinger called him ‘an emotionless robot’

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

Chris Kirk took a winding road between PGA Tour wins No. 5 and 6. It sounds like he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Asked to describe this moment, he said he said he couldn’t. Rather, he took the time on live television to make sure he acknowledged those closest to him.

“I just have so much to be thankful for. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful for my sobriety. I’m so grateful for my family. I’m so grateful for everyone that’s supported me throughout the past three or four years especially. Thank you so much,” he said at the conclusion of NBC’s telecast on the 18th green after holding off Eric Cole in a playoff to win the 2023 Honda Classic.

“My wife Tahnee, I have not been the easiest person to be married to always, and my boys, Sawyer, Foster, Wilder, love you guys so much. Can’t wait to see you.”

Here’s everything else Kirk said after his win at PGA National.

Q: You’ve spoken about your form this season, two top 3 finishes already at the Sony and the American Express. How much did you draw on those performances this week?

CHRIS KIRK: I definitely did. I mean, I was obviously very, very nervous today having not won in so long. Coming down the stretch, I felt good. Obviously that putt on 16 was huge and was in a great position on 18, just made a bad swing at the wrong time. I was trying to stay aggressive and hit it in the middle of the green, but in hindsight probably would have been better to hit it over there left somewhere. But thank God it worked out.

Q: The last two days has been dramatic for you. Talk to me about tapping in that putt and what it means to you and all you’ve been through.

CK: Well, I mean, what an unbelievable feeling. I obviously knew that wedge shot was good when I hit it. I felt great about it. But I’ve obviously got to get a little luck for it to end up six inches like that. I just fought really, really hard today. I didn’t play my absolute best, but I never gave up. I heard Paul Azinger say I watched a highlight of me yesterday, and he said I looked like an emotionless robot, and I loved that. I absolutely loved it. I said today, I’m going to be an emotionless robot and I’m going to go stick to my guns and play aggressive and try to do the best I can. I was obviously a little closer than I would have liked, but like I said, thank God it worked out.

Q: The robot worked on the 72nd hole, you were a couple feet away from clearing the penalty area there, but you composed yourself. You had a very good shot on the 4th.

CK: I did, yeah, and a pretty good putt, too. The putt just broke a little bit more than I’ve remembered. I’ve had that one before and hit a nice putt. Yeah, I was very determined no matter how high or low anything got at any moment today that I was just going to not react and just go about my business.

Q: The emotion came out when the putt went in. It’s been since 2015. You know you believed in yourself, but at some point is it going to happen. Today it happened for you again. Has it sunk in yet that you’re a winner again on the PGA Tour?

CK: Definitely not. I mean, I think more than the time, just how much my life has changed in that time, getting close to four years of sobriety, and that is the reason why I’m able to play. It’s the reason why I have such a great relationship with my family. Everything that I have is because of that. I have to remember that first and foremost, and it’ll sink in eventually, but it certainly hasn’t right now.

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Conversations with Champions: Max Homa says ‘everybody else calls me the social media guy. I still think I’m a pretty darn good golfer’

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

Max Homa stole the show on Friday at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open, when he agreed to wear a mic and conduct a live talk-back during CBS’s coverage of the third round.

Homa was all business Saturday, shooting a final-round 66 to rally from six shots down to earn his sixth PGA Tour victory. The California kid also won for the fourth time (on three different courses) in his home state.

Homa moved up three spots to No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 7 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking. He also moved up four sports in the U.S. Ryder Cup team standings to No. 5, making him one of the six current automatic qualifiers.

The biggest thrill for Homa, though, might be that his infant son Cameron was greenside in the arms of his wife Lacey as he grinded out a come-from-behind win on the difficult South Course.

Here’s everything Homa said on Saturday at Torrey Pines.

Question: What was that progression for you to get more comfortable here at Torrey?

Max Homa: Joe [Homa’s caddie] did say exactly that. I think that Sunday I had shot 5 under in the final round and kind of finally figured out how to play the South Course. I’ve always played the North all right. But yeah, I think really what changed, part my golf game. I drive the ball really well now, that’s a big advantage out here. You don’t need to be in the short grass all the time, but you do need to be in it if you want to make birdies. The good news about this place is you’re going to make so many pars and bogeys, you can get away with some loose ones, but in general I started getting more comfortable on certain tees. My iron game has always kind of been my staple, I guess, of what I’m most proud of in my game and it lends itself to that at this golf course. But yeah, getting comfy on South knowing that I don’t need to ball out on North to have a chance here. As Joe said, once we get to the weekend or I guess Friday, the third round here, you know, it really does become a who’s who at the top it seems like. You need to play very, very good golf two days in a row on a very hard golf course. So I thought that just what Joe said, that final round, that T-9 I think gave me some confidence, all right, I can play this golf course. I think I came in here, got a little psyched out just because of how difficult it could be and I started to realize that you don’t need to hit every fairway. If I play my game, it actually does kind of suit me pretty well.

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Q: What has changed mentally in the last two or three years about your belief in  yourself going from the social media guy to now one of the top players in the world?

MH: Everybody else calls me the social media guy. I still think I’m a pretty darn good golfer. Obviously results helped me kind of build that foundation. I do like to say dumb things and make dumb jokes and observe weird stuff and Tweet about it like, you know, a kid, I guess. But when I work, when I practice, when I play tournaments, I — this is what I love. I love what today was, it was incredible. So I don’t think anything’s changed too much. The confidence is becoming more steady. I’ve been working with a sports psychologist, Julie [Elion], who has,  I mean the last two months have opened my eyes to a lot of things. Having a plan each day mentally. I didn’t go into a single round this week thinking about a technical goal or a statistical goal, it was I’m going to learn something today, I’m going to put in place what I’ve been working on, and today that’s what I did. I did a great job of it. I told her last night, she asked if I wanted to talk, I said I’m all good because I thought our game plan yesterday was fantastic. I didn’t play the greatest round of golf in the world, but I did everything that I wanted to do and put myself in a position to win a golf tournament.

2023 Farmers Insurance Open
Max Homa reacts after clinching victory at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (Photo: Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: L.A. guy, winning in San Diego, that hasn’t happened a lot lately. Were you hearing anything from Padres fans while you were out there in the gallery?

MH: Only for the six days I’ve been here. (Laughs.) Yeah, I mean, it’s all in good fun. They talk a very big game, which is just wild to me. They have all the pressure in the world on them this year. They’ve spent all the money that we had been spending, so if they don’t win, then they can hear the same stuff they chirp back at us as Dodger fans. Yeah, it’s nice, it’s nice to win up and down the state of California and carry that L.A. logo both on my head and in my heart, me and Joe. It’s nice. I don’t talk back to anybody in the crowd about the Dodger-Padres thing but Joe does, so I enjoy listening to him talk his trash back to them.

Q: More serious golf question, the fact that you had experience now in coming back on the final day from deficits, what is there about your attitude, your thought process, what have you, that enables you to do that, that enables you to just let that roll off of you?

MH: I think I do a good job when I’m behind of “one shot at a time” and knowing that it’s a marathon. Unfortunately I’ve been in the position, succeeded a couple times both through on the, well, when it was the Web.com, now the Korn Ferry Tour. I think I was 7 behind and I won one in Chicago. I just remembered that experience of just go play golf, see what happens, I’m going to need help, but it’s hard to win golf tournaments I think what kind of always helps me. Sam [Ryder] is a phenomenal golfer, I’m sure he’ll win a bunch out here, but he hadn’t won yet. And it’s hard to win, I know that. I’ve done it fortunately and I think when the old guys say experience is key, that’s what they’re talking about. I was lucky, Jon [Rahm] is probably just exhausted, he’s made so many birdies and won so many golf tournaments. There’s just so much going on that you can’t really get ahead of yourself and I struggle with that at times, but when it’s something like today or when you are behind chasing, it almost eases you into just one at a time and make everybody beat you and just play a good round of golf and see what happens. You can’t force yourself to a 66 out here, you can’t force yourself to 64. I’m sure Tony shooting 64 yesterday, Jon shot 66, I’m sure they would say the same thing. It was a round earlier, but they just played good golf and the ball went in the hole. Trust your game. Yesterday was a bigger day towards the end goal than today really was because I had it, I had my game, I played awesome, swung it great, just did not make anything. Held it together and shot 1 under and gave myself a chance today to go play the same round of golf and let the ball go in the hole. I think just that patience has been something I’ve leaned on when I’m behind and knowing just how darn hard it is to win out here. There’s just a lot of great players and the golf courses are very hard. These final rounds are marathons, they seem to take forever.

Q: Does anything feel different about winning now that you have a child?

MH: A little bit. I mean, I’ve joked about it all afternoon, but I really, I want to win when he remembers it. However, when you have a kid as a professional athlete, you hear so many times the noise, oh, it’s, you’re not going to have the same time, this, that or whatever. But I’ve been so fortunate that my wife just seems to handle everything so easily. She had a horrendous birth, it did not go well. It was the scariest. … hard to say because it was an amazing day, get a new son, Cam. It was the worst day ever at the same time. I thought. …whatever. So she’s just made everything so easy. And I still go practice, but I think I just manage my time a bit better.

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I guess to your question, it’s a little different because I feel like I’ve almost worked harder for this because I want to spend as much time as I possibly can helping her and being with Cam and doing all the cool things, catching some smiles here and there and getting screamed at. But I also want to be the best golfer on the planet and she knows that and she just does an amazing job letting me do both, especially when she’s here on the road and when I’m home. So yeah, I work hard at two things now, so it feels a little bit more difficult but it’s a million times more rewarding. To see them behind the 18th green knowing I was probably about to win a golf tournament was cool. Like I say, he has no idea what I did, but I will tell him this story ad nauseam and he will probably think I’m the worst for it, but this will be my corny dad story that I will tell every Thanksgiving or something.

Q: With you being in the moment, have you changed a diaper since walking off the course and now or is that a predicted thing for later?

MH: It will happen. The sun will come up tomorrow and my son will need a diaper change many times before that. So I will be changing diapers, I will enjoy every second of it as I always do. It’s going to feel even better than normal. If he screams at me, I will just be smiling ear to ear. These tournaments are hard, man, but it puts you in the best mood ever when you come out on top. He can poop away and I’ll just be here for him.

Q: Compared to other six wins, lost your card twice and earned your card back on the Korn Ferry Tour. Are there anyways you feel like that has been unique to your advantage or perspective to kind of compete at this level?

MH: Yeah, I think I have a great perspective towards my love for this game. I’ve seen kind of all of it. I remind myself most days too when I’m getting nervous coming down the stretch or things are getting wobbly, like today 12, or 13, 14, 15. I just kind of always remind myself you’ve seen the darkness of this game, enjoy this, enjoy the beauty of it. People chanting my name, things I could never have imagined. So I do think so. I think that it’s calming. And I’ve always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder, just grew up a huge Kobe fan. He just seemed to play basketball like that and I’ve always loved trying to play golf like that and work at it like that. So when I get in these moments, I feel like all of it combined eases me a bit. I remember when I won my first golf tournament on the PGA Tour, the Wells Fargo in ’19, I was going to play golf with Rory McIlroy on Saturday and I just told myself he’s never seen what I’ve seen, he does not know the same kind of pressure I know, I guess. I could be making this up, but either way it helped me beat him. But yeah, it’s the little things like that. I think everybody out here’s got their own chip, everyone out here’s got their own story, everyone out here has their own struggles. They look a little bit different. We all handle it how we handle it. But yeah, I can only tell you what’s going on in my head and that’s how I’ve kind of tried to use it.

2023 Farmers Insurance Open
Max Homa hits his tee shot on the 16th hole during the final round of the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (Photo: Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: Those four straight birdies in Portland, do those still live on? Are they still something that comes up in your head?

MH: It’s funny, I think about it less and less, but I should probably think about it more and more. Yeah, that’s kind of what I mean about pressure. Like sitting there on the 15th hole and I didn’t know I needed to but I figured I needed to birdie the last four just to have a chance to go into the playoff. I believe I would be out here anyways, I believe I’d have six wins anyways, I believe that I would have figured it out, but I’m glad — I’m glad I made those four birdies, I’ll say that.

Q: This week it was a silly thing for Groundhog Day, but it was a fun clip where we asked you if there was a day you’d like to re-live over and over. … and you also made the point to mention you want to have more of those memories, want to create more days you would like to live over and over. What’s your reaction with that mentality that you have?

MH: Oh, man, that’s a great question. I guess I feel very thankful that I’m not really sure which day. I’ve had a lot of great days both on the golf course and off. I’m glad to say I do not know how to answer that question today.

Q: What do you think it is that kind of allowed you at that point have that response in terms of not wanting to really dwell on a date too much in the past?

MH: Yeah, I guess everyone, you know, you’re just hopeful. I hope that I haven’t seen my best day yet, my favorite day yet. I’m sure there will be many other great, great days. Today feels like the best day ever. I’m hoping that tomorrow feels better. I’ll say that maybe I’ll be looking forward to the first time my son thinks he’s going to beat me and I drop a putt on 18 to beat him and show him what’s up. That will probably be a day I’m looking forward to. But I guess it’s just hope. I think all of us kind of have that, you just hope for the best and stay the course.

Q: Have you always had that, just that natural hope?

MH: I think all of us kind of do. There’s some grumpy people, but if you’re playing golf, you better be an eternal optimist.

Q: I know you’re a big Kobe fan, so when you make that putt on 16 for the birdie, is there a little Kobe in you that says let’s go get it. Has anything changed mentally for you or do you stay even keeled at that moment?

MH: I actually thought about it, him a little bit throughout the day. This is the golf tournament where we found out he had passed away tragically, so this place has a weird, I have a weird feeling towards it. I love it and it has like a weird sadness to it. I mean, I think about Kobe Bryant a lot, I think a lot of athletes do. But yeah, little moments. It’s not the putt on 16 really, it was the putt on 13, the second one, and the second one on 15. That just tenacity that everyone around you might be oohing and ahhing and you know what’s about to happen and you kind of just stand up there and say I’m going to show you what guts are right now and I’m going to show you that I trust what I’ve been doing. What I learned from Kobe Bryant’s teachings and watching him, you know, work at his craft back in the day is he puts in all these hours behind the scenes so that when he’s on camera doing his thing, he can just let it happen. So I try to take that with me and I try to embrace the craziness and the pressure and all of that because that’s what I saw him do and I was enamored by that.

Q: All the success you’ve had in California, how much have you circled the U.S. Open in L.A. this year?

MH: A lot less than other people have for me. I’ve circled the Masters as the next major. But yeah, it will be great. I have great memories there, won the Pac-12s there. But I think I’m going to let a lot of people decide that that’s going to be a big opportunity for me. I’d like to just keep playing great golf and I would hope that all of them could be a good opportunity for me. But it will be fun just like today was to play in front of my friends and family. I’ll hear more Dodgers fans up there than Padres, so that will be a nice change from this week. But yeah, it’s so hard to look ahead. Right now if you told me to go start the U.S. Open tomorrow in L.A., I’d feel really, really good, but you never know what swing stuff you’re going to be going through. I’d like to say I’m going to feel just like I do right now, but I’m just going to keep working at it and when I get there I’ll be able to kind of look around and appreciate that I have great history there.

Q: Is there a hole that you made birdie when your son was there?

MH: The first one was, was it yesterday? Yesterday I birdied 18 and Joe said, “About time you birdied one for Cam.” I think I birdied 6 a couple days ago, but it didn’t feel like it counted to Joe, so we’ll let 18 yesterday be the one that counts.

Q: Just before we let you go, you wore the earpiece yesterday for one hole during the CBS broadcast. Sounds like it was successful, everybody seemed to have a good time, you included. Do you think or have you had any feedback from other players? Do you think now that you’ve gone on to win the tournament that there will be, that it will encourage others to perhaps experiment with that, try it?

MH: Hopefully. We’ve been working on this with [Andy] Pazder and CBS and everybody for like two months. I’m very excited about the idea. I’m sure if we could Tweet things how other people want to do it, how other players want to do it. If they don’t want to do it I’ll keep doing it, it didn’t bother me. I thought it was great for the fans to look into, push that envelope for the fans. Not just myself, but the Tour seems to be, CBS, NBC, all these broadcasting streams seem to be wanting to add something to the viewing experience. But it was great. It was cool to win after doing it. You always hear people say, oh, Tiger would never do this, Rahm would never do this, all they care about is winning. I get that, but you can do both. That was definitely nice to win doing that yesterday. It was 20 minutes, it was not invasive. I even thought if you don’t want to do the interview with the people in the booth, they could just be in your ear or in your caddie’s ear so they could hear us really clearly. So there’s definitely little things we could do here or there. I’m hoping other players would want to do it. I haven’t heard yet. We were coming off the third round into the fourth, we don’t really talk about too much of that stuff yet. But hopefully other players want to do it. I’m sure there’s some interest in this whether I won or didn’t. Hopefully we can kind of keep pushing that or tweak it, just anything to help golf kind of gain some attraction to all the viewers hopefully a little bit younger than our typical audience, I think that’s what the goal is.

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Conversations with Champions: Jon Rahm says ‘I feel like I can get a lot better’ after winning for fourth time in six starts

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

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Jon Rahm has earned four of his nine PGA Tour wins in California.

He’s also now 2-for-2 in 2023, having won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii two weeks ago and the American Express in La Quinta, California. He’s won four of his last six starts and is 54 under in his last eight rounds.

After winning in the Southern California desert near Palm Springs for the second time, Rahm was beaming about the way things are going so far.

“Heck of a start. Heck of a start,” he said. “Sentry and this one are very, very different golf courses and very different golf, right. You still have to go low in both of them. So luckily the mentality is the same.”

Rahm has gone 27 under in each of two wins and had just three bogeys over four days at the AmEx.

After his win, he talked about how health, his swing and about how rookie Davis Thompson kept the pressure on.

JON RAHM: Body’s been feeling great. My swing’s been feeling really, really good. And it shows, right. Even when I’m saying I may not be as comfortable as I would like, I’m shooting 64s because everything is just firing when it needs to. I’m, in a weird way, glad that today went the way it went. I’ve enjoyed some runaway victories, I’ve enjoyed some comebacks, but today was certainly a struggle. Out of the five birdies I made, what is it, one, two, three of them were tap-ins and the other two were basically 6-footers. So that tells you the story. Didn’t really make much today, even though everything looked really good and a lot of them looked like any of them could have gone in. But kept battling. Davis played amazing golf today, even through some of the bad swings he had early on. He battled, he came back, made am amazing 6 on the 5th hole. Gave me a run. This is just golf, right. If I don’t make the putt on 14, if his ball goes in on 17, you never know what can happen. But luckily the scales tipped in my favor today and I got the win.

Q: You talked about putting a lot of great rolls on putts that didn’t go in. Looked like that was kind of the story today. Then you made two big putts on 14 and 16. Was that the story today, same as yesterday, good putting, just not going in?

JR: I can tell you there’s a few, I mean, on 5, 7, 8, 10, 15, 17 and 18, all of those putts were good. All of them looked like they were dead center with two feet to go and just at the end they just missed. Luckily, the one on 16 curled in. I made the one on 14 that I needed to not give up the lead. But that’s golf. Yesterday on the front nine I basically felt like I couldn’t miss for the first 14 holes. I mean, the hole looked as big as it could ever look. I can definitely say the first 54 holes some putts that weren’t as good as some of the rolls I put in today that definitely went in. That’s just golf. It is what it is. I wouldn’t know what to say. Usually it evens out somehow. My ball striking got better and my putting maybe not as good as I would have liked. But if I were to play at that level every single round, well, yeah, I would be winning by six or seven. That’s just not easy to do.

Q: You were playing well, you were hitting the ball well, you were putting the ball well and yet you’re tied.

JR: I’ve shot combined 54 under in the last two tournaments and won by a combined three shots. I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s not like I’m putting bad, right. It’s just they’re really good rolls that sometimes didn’t go in.

After that swing I put in on 5, those two swings, the tee shot and the 5-iron, I’m like, ‘Man, if I keep making swings like this, today could be a really low day.’ I kept making the swings, I just didn’t capitalize on those. But it was a fantastic round of golf, that’s all I can say. I knew some people were going to come out and shoot 62, 64, 65s and get close, but luckily we started with a cushion of shots and was able to end up ahead.

Q: After having a chance to play in the same group as Davis today, what were your impressions of the way he handles himself and the poise — it seemed, just looking at it, like he was awful cool for a rookie.

JR: He is. Yeah. But make no mistake, what you see and what he feels could be completely different things. We’re all nervous out there. You feel it. It’s just how you deal with it. First time in this situation, teeing off with the lead on Sunday in a PGA Tour event. I think he did a great job. He played good golf. It was just, I would say, two bad swings at the wrong time. And that was 5 and 16. One could say it was two holes where he was maybe trying to hit it a little bit hard, trying to get some extra distance. One cost him at least one shot and the one on 16 cost him half a shot. And that was the difference at the end.

Q: It just comes back to the idea that in this game the margin is incredibly slim.

JR: It is. I mean, we’re not — listen, we’re not only shooting these scores because the courses are easy. It’s just the average, the level of the average player keeps gets higher and higher. I would like to know in years past if you shoot 27 under how many of ’em you win by one. Not many. Most of the time you’re winning by a comfortable margin. So it goes to show how good everybody is getting. It’s a really good time for spectators and fans of the game. Because what’s more fun than to seeing people just make birdies after birdies and having an exciting game.

Q: Rory has spoken at times of how it can be almost easier mentally to chase No. 1 than staying at No. 1 and kind of the war in the mind of complacency trying to creep in at times. What’s your reaction to that and kind of how it feels as you’re chasing it as opposed to when you’ve been at No. 1?

JR: There’s definitely a difference. When you’re chasing, to an extent it’s almost easier. Because you have one option and that is to make birdies. When you’re leading, yes, you want to make birdies, but you don’t want to make stupid mistakes that are going to cost you a bogey. So it’s obviously a little bit more difficult. But I enjoy both of them. If I had to choose, obviously I would always like to have the lead because you always, you’re always out there and if you keep making birdies, he’s never going to catch you. So I would always rather be there. But those comeback wins are fun, man. When you go on a heater and get those birdies and then all of a sudden, bam, you’re leading the tournament and you win the tournament. It’s quite unique. But, yeah, if I had to choose I would rather lead. You learn a lot about yourself in 18 holes. Because it’s four to five hours of a lot of stress. You definitely learn about yourself a lot about yourself.

2023 The American Express
Jon Rahm putts on the fifth green during the final round of the 2023 American Express at Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: In terms of your kind of season and the last few months, winning four of your last five worldwide starts, how would you contextualize your comfort level on the course this stretch and where it relates kind of in your career?

JR: I think today was about as comfortable as I’ve been in a long time on the golf course tee to green. I felt really in command of my swing. The only two mistakes were the tee shot on 1 and the tee shot on 13. The one on 13 was barely a miss. So I felt in command of my game. Made a lot of good swings out there. Always gave myself a lot of chances. Which sometimes you make and sometimes you don’t. Felt about as comfortable as can be. Every time I felt like this in the past I’ve ended up going on to win, just because it takes a lot of pressure off a lot of parts of my game knowing that basically I’m going to hit the shot that I’m envisioning. And that’s a really unique zone to put yourself in. That doesn’t happen as often as I wish. I wish I could be like that every single time that I know I’m going to stripe it into the middle of the fairway and hit the shot at the pin. But it doesn’t always happen. So I’m glad I enjoyed a day like that today.

Q: In terms of celebrating success, managing success and keeping striving forward, are there any other athletes or people in life that come to mind that you respect.

JR: So many. So many. That’s a very long list. One that in college got very dear to my heart, if we go outside of golf, was Kobe Bryant. I spent a lot of time listening to a lot of his interviews and videos, because I see a lot of similarities between us in the way we approach our craft. Because craft is the key word for Kobe. And having that obsessiveness that we both have over the game. It’s somebody to learn from, for sure. Work ethic beats talent every day of the week, period. And I like to think that I have a really hard work ethic and I put a lot of time in. Like I said all year last year, like at the end of the year, you’re seeing now, let’s say, the fruits of all the hard work that I’ve put in. Like I said, I felt like I was swinging really well last year, the results were just not happening. And they’re coming in a bunch right now. Other athletes. I’ve gotten pretty close with Michael Phelps. I’ve been able to ask him quite a few things and pick his brain. But he simplifies it a little bit. I guess when you’re the greatest in history in anything it seems easy, right. Personally, there’s been a few I’ve been able to meet. There’s two football players for the Cardinals, we’re in a group chat, that are complete golf nerds. One of this them is going to have a lot of time to play golf now, which is J.J. Watt, and Zach Ertz, who is now injured. I hope they were able to watch a round. Meeting them and see how they approach a game, even though I haven’t asked them a ton of questions, I observe and they are definitely an incredible inspiration how they do what they do. J.J. especially. To be a leader of a team, a captain and a force to be reckoned with on the field like he has been for so long. To still be as dedicated as he has been on, not only how much he had to eat, what he had to eat. Because, I mean, eating 10 dry chicken breasts a day has to get old very quickly. But he does for recovery and making sure his body’s healthy. Same with Zach. Both of ’em. It’s been really, really inspiring. I’ve learned a lot from both of ’em.

Q: You’ve talked a lot about how comfortable you feel in the American southwest. Arizona, California, obviously two wins here, two big wins at Torrey. Could you just talk about, was that just a matter of having gone to college in the American southwest or is it something else that turns you on out here?

JR: Having played college for Arizona State, we played a very large amount of our tournaments Arizona, California. Southern California especially. For some reason I’m just comfortable. Palm Springs, I mean, might as well be Scottsdale. It’s pretty much the same thing. So golf is very similar. But I wouldn’t know why. I think it’s because I grew up on poa annua greens. Southern California I feel really comfortable on. It’s something that feels really familiar. I think it’s probably because the success I had in college was followed and kind of led into the PGA Tour and I won in my first few events in California, right. Honestly, if we start counting from 2012 until now my percentage, I don’t know what it is exactly, we know about Torrey Pines. … it was probably because I’m just so comfortable. The lifestyle suits me. My wife and I love this part of the country. She’s happy, I’m happy, our kids are happy. It’s a lot easier to play golf.

Q: You talk about how the margins are pretty thin out here. You seem to be making the margins a little larger. Four wins in your last six tournaments. Despite what some computers might say, you seem to be the best player in the world right now. Do you feel like you can just maintain this or how much better can you get?

JR: In my mind I feel like I can get a lot better. I feel like that’s the mentality I should have. Again, I work very hard to do what I do. I could find mistakes in every single round I’ve played. Very few times I would say I’ve played a flawless round. Even though there’s a massive amount of positives, like the one massive positive is how good my wedge game was this week. The amount of tap-ins that I’ve had these four days is unlike anything I’ve ever had. If I had to put a MVP to something it’s that 56 and that 52 degree wedges were key. So if I can keep that going and the ball striking at the level that I know I can, I know I can get better. Again, it’s my job to try to do the best I can and so far I’m doing a pretty good job.

Q: [With] your ninth PGA Tour win you tie Seve [Ballesteros] for nine PGA Tour wins from the country of Spain. I know how much you look up to Seve. Just sort of your reaction to that.

JR: Are you counting his five majors as PGA Tour wins?

Q: Yes.

JR: Yeah, well, slight asterisk next to that one, right. (Laughing.) I mean, Seve didn’t play full-time PGA Tour, so the fact that he had nine wins is pretty spectacular. I’ve been fortunate to tie a lot of things he’s done and if I ever get to surpass some of those things it would be incredible. I’ve spoken many times, the reason why I play golf, not like motivation, meaning my dad started playing golf because of the ’97 Ryder Cup and Seve’s captaincy. That’s basically why I’m here. I asked my dad recently, If your friends hadn’t been down there to see that, what would we be doing? Who knows. I have no idea. That’s why I take representing golf in Spain so seriously and why Seve’s legacy is so important to me. When he started playing golf I think there were 30,000 people with a golf license in Spain. At the time he died it was over 350,000. So when I started playing I think it was three hundred something thousand. So I would love to be able to escalate that. I know it will be hard to do to the level that he did, but if I can increase that number and make golf more popular in Spain I’ll be a happy man.

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Conversations with Champions: Si Woo Kim’s ‘aggressive’ birdie chip-in highlights fourth PGA Tour title at 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

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Si Woo Kim now has four wins on the PGA Tour, the most recent came Sunday after he birdied the last two holes to snatch victory away from Hayden Buckley.

Kim started the day three shots off the lead and posted his second 64 of the weekend to charge up the leaderboard. Playing a group ahead, he watched as Buckley failed to get up-and-down on the last hole to post a birdie that would’ve forced a playoff.

The 27-year-old Korean, who calls Dallas home these days, claimed to be a “little shaky” over the last four holes but also “was trying to get confidence and keep calm.”

No doubt the shot of the week was the chip-in for birdie on the par-3 17th hole, which came just moments after Buckley birdied the 16th.

“Right before that, I heard a noise and I knew he made it, so it was kind of tough lie into the greens, so I had to hit aggressive,” Kim said. “So I just hit it aggressive and goes in. Yeah, it was exciting.”

From Sunday’s post-round news conference, here’s everything Si Woo Kim said after winning the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Q: Getting this victory so early in the year, what does this do for the attitude as you move forward?

SWK: It’s like first time winning like first event, so I think this is, can’t be better than this. So this is really exciting, and hopefully a lot of the seasons left. Hopefully trying to get more confidence and then like hopefully get more wins.

Q: You start the day 12-under par, three shots back. Shoot 64. How good did you play today?

SWK: It was feel great and then like first three holes like was on fire. … So knew it’s going to be like chance to winning, so I just trying to kept calm, and calm was like little like less back nine, but I was keep trying to calm. Was lucky chip on 17. I think that helps; 18 got more confidence. Was really comfortable on the last hole.

2023 Sony Open in Hawaii
Si Woo Kim poses with the trophy during the final round of the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: Tell us about 17. I thought you drew a pretty good lie off the back of the green there.

SWK: No, it was like not as rough much, but like into the green have to be like carry on the green so it was little tricky. But I knew it, he made a birdie. I heard the noise so I have to hit it aggressive. So I have nothing to lose, so I just hit it aggressive.

Q: The bunker shot at 18 out the fairway bunker, that was a really good shot, too.

SWK: I’ve been there like yesterday, like pretty much ten yards farther, so I knew how to hit it and I knew how like bunker feel was there. So I think that makes me more like comfortable, and then, yeah, I just hit the great shot.

Q: How special was this? Your wife is here? She was here to give a big hug and kiss. K.H. came out. Ben An. How special is this one?

SWK: I like all the Korean players, so we win a lot of like last couple years, so we helping more trying to get more motivation. So I think that really helps for all the Korean players see each other. And then, yeah, my wife here, feel like we’re honeymoon because we came here another early last week. Yeah, it was everything comfortable.

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Jon Rahm wins 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions after Collin Morikawa’s historic collapse

Rahm shot 63 while Morikawa tied the mark for largest blown 54-hole lead in PGA Tour history on Sunday.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Like a raging bull, Jon Rahm charged from behind to steal the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Rahm made nine birdies and an eagle on Sunday to shoot 10-under 63 at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course and rally from as many as nine strokes behind during the final round to edge 54-hole leader Collin Morikawa by two strokes.

A year ago, Rahm shot 33-under but was pipped by a stroke by Cameron Smith, his second runner-up finish at the TOC, and this time his birdie count was almost as plentiful as the pineapples that used to grow on the hillside layout. He signed for a 72-hole aggregate of 27-under 265.

“To come back this year and shoot a very low score again, I mean, I’m what, 60-under par in these last two tournaments?” he said. “It would have been tough to shoot that low twice and not win it. So I’m glad I had the chance and I’m glad I did it.”

The 28-year-old Spaniard took advantage of Morikawa’s series of back-nine blunders to earn his eighth PGA Tour win. Morikawa, a two-time major winner who was bidding for his first win since the 2021 British Open, tied the largest 54-hole collapse in PGA Tour history after he entered the final round with a six-shot advantage. It was a shocking turn of events as Morikawa played the first 67 holes bogey-free and tacked on three front-nine birdies on Sunday to extend his lead to as many as nine. But he bladed a bunker shot over the green at 14 that led to his first bogey of the tournament, chunked a pitch at 15 and added a third straight bogey at 16.

“The game felt so easy for so long and now no matter what he does it seems like it doesn’t work out,” said PGA Tour Radio’s Mark Wilson.

Morikawa joined a dubious list of nine players who have squandered a 54-hole six-shot lead in Tour history: the first to do so was Bobby Cruickshank at the 1928 Florida Open, while the most-recent was Scottie Scheffler at last year’s Tour Championship.

“Sadness,” Morikawa said of how felt after shooting a final-round 72. “I don’t know. It sucks. You work so hard and you give yourself these opportunities and just bad timing on bad shots and kind of added up really quickly.”

Rahm held a share of the first-round lead with Morikawa after carding a 64 but shot himself in the foot on Friday, shooting 71 and was mad enough with his putting performance that he kicked a trash can on his way to scoring. He was being left in the dust on Saturday, making just one birdie on the front nine when his caddie Adam Hayes stepped in and gave him a pep talk.

“He had hit a real poor shot for him on nine,” Hayes said. “I could tell he wasn’t that focused. I said to him whatever you do on the next 27 holes be uber committed and really clear on picking your start lines, picking your finish lines and be really committed to a number and that’s what he did. He hardly missed a shot after that.”

Rahm reeled off five birdies to shoot 67, but trailed by seven and figured, “we’re going to need a small miracle.”

Then he made a bogey at the first hole on Sunday. “I was going to need somewhat of a larger miracle,” he said.

The epic comeback began with a birdie at the second as Rahm’s putter heated up — he ranked first in Strokes Gained: putting for the week — and made five birdies in all on the front. Still, he trailed by six at the turn before what looked to be a walk in the park for Morikawa turned into a Stephen King horror movie. Rahm’s rally was aided by a 5-under stretch thanks to three consecutive birdies starting at No. 12 and an eagle at 15.

“You need a combination of both. Me having a really good day, which I did, and Collin not having his best,” Rahm said.

Counting his success on the DP World Tour, Rahm has registered three wins in his last four official starts, and the victory in Maui could be the launching pad to a big year.

“I feel like since August I’ve been the best player in the world,” Rahm said. “Earlier in the year clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it’s been me.”

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Conversations with Champions: 2022 QBE Shootout winners Sahith Theegala, Tom Hoge

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Sahith Theegala and Tom Hoge.

Theegala and Hoge won the 2022 QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, after rallying late after being down two shots entering the final round.

Theegala, who hit his best drive of the day on 18, drilled a birdie putt to give him and Hoge a one-shot lead. Ryan Palmer and Charley Hoffman, who led after the first and second rounds, each had looks for birdie but both missed their putts.

Here’s everything the Theegala and Hoge duo said after winning the 2022 QBE Shootout.

Q: You guys kind of made it hard on yourselves coming down the stretch there by not birdieing 17. Was there any sort of conversation going to 18 to pump each other up?

Sahith Theegala: No, I think we’ve been playing so well all week and vibing off each other, I mean, it’s to be expected to have one or two bad holes and it just happened to be 17. But we’ve been playing well all week. Like we said at the start of the round, we just need two chances and we gave ourselves two really good changes on 18. Yeah, it was kind of unspoken I think that like let’s go and get this last hole.

Q: Tom, I think when you holed that long birdie put at the par 3 12th, I think you guys were either tied for the lead or got to the lead for the first time. Did you have a conversation then about let’s go, let’s go, or were you just sort of getting into the mix of it right then and you turned it on?

Tom Hoge: Really the only conversation we had today was in the scramble and we were like 5 under through 12, which was probably our worst start of all three formats. It was a bit of an issue at that point, but we were playing well. Like you said, nothing really needed to be said, just kind of get on to the next hole and keep trying to make birdies. I mean, you just felt like you had to birdie every hole out there for the way that the rest of the field’s been playing, so it was very simple what we had to do.

Q: Sahith, talk about that little problem you had on the first?

ST: Yeah.

Q: What happened?

ST: It’s funny, I was just telling my mom at breakfast, knocked on wood how healthy I’ve been for the last four, five years, and testament to my trainer, Josh. I literally have played every tournament seemingly 100 percent. First swing of the day on hole 1, I got under it and I knew I had to save it, and I saved it and I just pulled the left side of my, it’s like my oblique, I think. It’s not even my back really. I was trying to massage my back to free this up, but as I kept swinging and I think a little bit of adrenaline too, it got a lot better on the back nine. It feels much better now. I think it’s just something I need to take three or four days off and it’ll be good. But I’m going to take more than that off. Yeah, no worries at all.

Q: Speaking of adrenaline, that putt you holed on the last to make that birdie first and force them to make theirs, which they didn’t, how good a feeling was that for you?

ST: Oh, that felt great. It just felt great to contribute a little bit. Tom was really holding me up pretty much all around, he made so many really big putts. Again, I think it’s just a testament to having two good looks. I was just a little bit away, but I knew Tom’s been putting well and it kind of freed me up a little bit to be like all right, let’s give this thing a great run. To have that go in, it felt so good, can’t even explain how good it felt.

Q: How good did it feel for you when you saw it go in?

TH: Felt great watching, yeah. It was an interesting day because I don’t think either one of us played our best for 18 holes, but we kind of timed it right. I got off to some good starts to both nines and then Sahith kind of brought me home. You know, kind of the ham and egg worked really well for us and holed the timely putts when we needed to, for sure.

Q: You guys are a true rookie team this year. I think the only other time a rookie team has won was 2011, Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele, apart from the first event way back in ’99. How meaningful is that for you guys to pull this off in your first go-round here?

ST: It means a lot, it’s awesome. I think we got along really well out there. We’re both pretty chill and pretty level headed and don’t go to extreme either way and I think we just fed off each other’s energy. We were talking about it, I think our games are just really good for like partnering in this format. Tom was striping his irons yesterday and that was huge in alternate shot, he left me a lot of kick-ins for birdie, and I was able to get it down there a little bit further than I normally with my tee shots. It was just a good, it just worked out great. And definitely a little bit ham and egg today, which is great.

Q: I know it’s not an official win, but it’s your first, and you already won this year, Tom. Nice way to finish off the year, I’m guessing.

TH: It was fun to be in contention. I don’t care what you’re playing for, it’s always fun coming down the stretch there. I had a great week here this week. The weather’s perfect, I wanted to come back so I was like, we’ve got to get a win so hopefully we can come back in the future.

2022 QBE Shootout
Sahith Theegala celebrates with Tom Hoge after winning the 2022 QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Photo: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Q: What was the thought process when you watched Ryan on 17 hit the chip back to himself and then chip it in?

TH: I guess you’re always expecting that. Charley still had a good look there as well that he could have made birdie. You just expect that you’ve got to make birdies coming down the stretch. I think that we were 32 or 33 under and just felt like you had to birdie 17 and 18 coming in to take care of business ourselves. Sahith made his putt, I still was expecting to go to a playoff there with the two looks that those guys both had. So certainly felt very fortunate to get the win right there.

Q: 2022 for both of you guys has been a very much a breakout season. When you look back on it, each of you, what are your sort of takeaways for the year?

ST: Yeah, I just, I got my PGA Tour card last year and my only goal or expectation was to keep my PGA Tour card. I’ve said it a lot, my dreams never really got past getting a PGA Tour card, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t exceed my own expectations. I haven’t really thought about it too much, I’ve just tried to let my momentum keep rolling and try and get better and enjoy the whole thing. It’s been an unbelievable year and to cap it off this week with Tom is just a cherry on top. It’s been a really good year and I’m very grateful for it.

TH: I think for me, my eighth year on Tour wrapped up, I just look back, you get in more situations like today where you’re near the lead coming down the stretch and you get a little more comfortable helps out in the future. So I was able to put myself there a few times this year and was able to come up with a win finally. So that felt great and made it easier today drawing on that a little bit. You look at Sahith’s career, to be in these situations at his age, certainly expect he’ll be doing a lot of these winner’s interviews coming up in the future.

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Conversations with Champions: 2022 Hero World Challenge winner Viktor Hovland

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Viktor Hovland, winner of the 2022 Hero World Challenge.

Viktor Hovland has done something only Tiger Woods accomplished: win the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in consecutive years.

The victory at Albany was his seventh worldwide victory and first since January.

He credits his improved putting for his success, especially with Scottie Scheffler hot his heels.

VH: I thought I had a very nice start, hitting the ball well and giving myself chances. Scottie [Scheffler] just had a phenomenal start and kind of pushed me to keep going. I mean, I think I was 3 under through five holes and I was only leading by one. I was thinking before the day started, if I get off to a nice start, I can really build a good lead. So hats off to him, he played some great golf. Then kind of middle portion of the round I just kept making pars and kind of put it to him to try to come back. Yeah, it was a little up and down overall, but glad to finish it out.

Q: How long was the shot after the drop on 18? How many yards did you have?

VH: I had 109 meters, so about 120.

Q: What was going through your head at that point?

VH: Not many positive thoughts. It’s like when you’re standing there with a two-shot lead, it’s like that’s the last thing you can do. Basically just do anything else but hit it in the water on the second shot. So as soon as that happened, I was pretty frustrated. But I knew that he didn’t have a gimme par, so if I can wedge up there close, I can still make a putt and win the tournament. And if not, he still has to make a par to force me to a playoff. But it was a lot more stressful than it should have been.

2022 Hero World Challenge
Viktor Hovland plays his shot from the first tee during the final round 2022 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Q: Last year, you denied Collin Morikawa from becoming world No. 1 and this year you did the same thing to Scottie Scheffler. You’re getting pretty good at this.

VH: I like this place, but I would like to do it a bit more often.

Q: I wanted to ask you about your putting, especially because at the start of the week, you came here, you spoke about putting and how hard you’ve been working on it. That’s one area of the game that you were not happy with. Then this week you just putted the lights out of this golf course, 23 putts [Saturday], 24 [Sunday]. The kind of putts that you made, can you just tell us about that and what you really made happen this week with that putter of yours?

VH: It was frustrating the first two days because I did not putt very well. I missed a lot of short putts, but it was very hard to putt in the 30-mile an hour wind. The greens are really fast and they’re pretty grainy, so you have to hit those putts very softly and there’s so much that can happen with the wind. The last two days it’s been still windy but fairly calm and I was just able to rely on my feet a lot more. As soon as you see a couple putts go in, it’s just easy to get confidence from that. The difference from just like feeling you’re going to make every putt and the first couple days, it was more like, oh, I could still miss this putt, you know, even if it’s two and a half feet just because of the wind. It just makes you feel so uncomfortable. Trying to just switch the mindset a little bit.

2022 Hero World Challenge
Viktor Hovland lines up a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2022 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

The putt on the last was pretty sweet. The putt on 17 was big as well. I don’t know, I didn’t make too many long putts. It was just like I made a decent amount of putts from 15 to 20 feet. When I hit a lot of good approach shots in there and you’re hoping to make them, I just started making them a lot more over the last two days.

Q: What changed in these five days? And … you seem to love Hero. You won the Hero Challenge in Abu Dhabi and now two in a row here.

VH: I think it’s just one of those things that’s easy in practice to, I set very high goals for myself and when I don’t hit it the way that I want to hit it in practice, I get very frustrated. I feel like I’m just way more out of it than maybe I truly am, because when I haven’t been hitting all that great and the tournament starts, all the technique and frustration just kind of goes out the window and you kind of just have to play the game. I just kind of just stayed within myself, I didn’t try to hit any shots that I knew I didn’t have. So one example that I was struggling with was that I was spinning the ball a lot and if I hit a full shot, my face would turn to shut and I would just kind of hit pull draws, which is not good if you’re trying to hit pull cuts all day. So what I ended up just basically doing was I just kind of chipped everything. I felt like I was going to have a Tommy Fleetwood kind of finish, if you will, because I know where that’s going to go. Frankly, it helped in the left-to-right winds because I can just kind of hit that pull draw up against the wind and it will come back. And on the right-to-left winds, well, I either have to aim it pretty far right or I just have to lean the shaft really hard to make sure that that face doesn’t turn over. That’s just like how I figured out how to play golf this week.

VH: I remember joking with Dr. Munjal that that was my first professional win at the Abu Dhabi Hero Challenge. I played in the pro-am with him in Dubai earlier this year and obviously won this event two times. I told him I’ve done well when he’s been around.

Q: How would you characterize your 2022 and does this change the way you’re going to think about this year?

VH: Definitely feels a little bit better ending up with a win. I think it was a step in the right direction even though I feel like I should have won more tournaments this year. There’s a couple that stings or a couple just tournaments that I just didn’t play well enough. There were too many weeks where I just kind of had to grind and get through the round instead of showing up and attacking and feel like I was going to shoot 7, 8 under. It was just too many times where it was, ‘OK, if I play well, maybe I can shoot a couple under’. That’s been a little frustrating. I feel like I still have some work to do there, but this is obviously a huge step in the right direction.

Q: It’s been a great start to the European Ryder Cup qualifying process. Shane winning, yourself winning, Jon Rahm winning in Dubai. How important is that going into the new season next year and how delighted do you think Luke Donald would be?

VH: It’s a year until the Ryder Cup, but if the whole team keeps playing well and getting a lot of momentum going into the week, I think that’s great. The American players last year certainly had an amazing year and they kind of knew going into the tournament that they were the favorites. So I think we have a chance to kind of push it the other direction. The more Europeans that win, I think we can maybe change that narrative a little bit to next year. Yeah, but it’s just, it’s cool to see fellow Europeans do well.

Q: You just said a little bit ago it was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be, but you handled stress well. When you get in these situations, it doesn’t seem like you’re necessarily looking stressful. How do you handle it and what’s the mindset?

VH: I’ve obviously been in this situation a little bit more than when I first came out on Tour, so I think the more you put yourself in that situation, you’re going to handle it better. I think just kind of throughout my childhood, not to, I’ve had a very good upbringing, but it’s, you know, whether it’s getting, taking the bus to school with a golf bag and my books and gym clothes and it’s packed on the bus, I’ve got to stand there for an hour to school and then back home and then to practice, I think those little things just makes you a little bit tougher. Growing up in Norway, it’s not necessarily great for golf and I think you have to just make do with what you have. I think those things just build character a little bit and makes you handle stress a little better than, you know, if you just had everything on a silver platter.

2022 Hero World Challenge
Viktor Hovland poses with the trophy and tournament host Tiger Woods after winning the 2022 Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Q: Viktor, what do you feel you learned most about yourself in the past 12 months that pleases you?

VH: I don’t know, I don’t really think like that. I just kind of, I go throughout the day and just think have I had a good day, have I done everything I needed to do today to get to where I want to be tomorrow or next year or five years down the line. I think as long as I do the things that I need to do, I think that makes me go to bed content and I think the results are going to come from that. If they don’t, well, then I have to reevaluate and reassess. Just because I haven’t gotten better or maybe I’ve worked on some bad things, I kind of look at it as a learning experience. I just try to get a little bit better every day, as cliche as that sounds.

Q: The new Hero Cup next month … do you see that being an important part for Europe’s preparation for Rome.

VH: I think so. Not quite the same thing obviously, but growing up in junior golf in Europe, we would always have the European boys team championships and all these match play tournaments where you have to play with a teammate. Then when I came to college I didn’t really do that all that much. Especially in pro golf, you don’t really play all that team and match play tournaments. So I think that’s just a unique opportunity to just have all the guys play match play and team up. I think it’s great.

Q: I know you said you weren’t all that happy with your putting, the first two days had a lot to do with wind, but when you look at statistically how much you improved really over the last year, you talked about it earlier in the week, how rewarding is that to get the payout, I guess?

VH: How rewarding. … to kind of summarize, when I first came out, I feel like I was, my ball-striking, the quality of the ball-striking wasn’t as good, but I hit it super, super straight and it felt like I could shoot 2 to 3 under every single day without really making putts. That was nice in one way, but as soon as I was a little bit off, I would shoot over par. Whereas this year it’s kind of been a little bit of the opposite where my ball-striking’s been off and I’ve been putting really well just to shoot a couple under par. That’s almost more frustrating, but at the same time it kind of takes some pressure off your back where, ‘OK, I don’t have to stripe it to shoot under par, I can actually rely on my putting to hang in there’. Over 72 holes you’re not going to hit great shots all the time, I hit plenty of terrible shots today, but it’s making those key putts and kind of keeping yourself in it. That’s been the reason why I’ve been able to be in contention without really hitting it all that well this year.

Q: Which was more fun, coming from six back or doing this?

VH: I think coming from behind is more fun because you’re more attack mode, you’re more relaxed. To be honest, this was kind of a stressful week just being in contention from the get-go and even getting — having a five-shot lead at the turn with nine holes to play. It’s five shots, it’s hard to mess that up, but you see how close it can get on the final hole. So you just always have to hit the next shot, you can’t relax. As soon as you do, boom, that’s a bogey. Suddenly Scottie makes a birdie and he’s right back there. It takes a lot out of you and I’m pretty tired.

Q: The sixth hole was very interesting in terms of where you put it off the tee, him chipping in and that putt you made was pretty big. I wonder if you can just kind of go through that.

VH: I hit a terrible tee shot left, right behind the bush. I basically just had to lay up with a pitching wedge. I’m way back there, hit an 8-iron from the rough to kind of a nasty short left pin with the wind off the left. So I hit a great shot to just kind of 12, 15 feet right of the hole, did kind of what I was supposed to do, but then Scottie chips in and that changes things. But I remember just kind of getting a flashback to playing with Rory [McIlroy] in the last group at the Open where he made a bunker shot on No. 10 and I still had a putt for birdie from probably 15 feet and I was able to make that putt on top of his eagle to, I think I still had the lead at that time. It just kind of, instead of in the moment thinking ‘Man, that was a sick shot, he just made eagle and he’s creeping up from behind’, but at the same time it’s like, ‘OK, this is a putt, I can make this putt, every shot matters, just kind of refocus’. It’s nice when you can kind of make those putts on top.

Q: I saw you practicing AimPoint in putting … how do you make a game plan and everything within your team?

VH: When I first started working with my coach, Jeff Smith, he came to Karsten Creek where I practice and we just went out and played a few holes. He just watched me putt a couple out on the course and I would misread 15-footers by probably two feet, and I would hit good putts. My reading ability was just really, really bad. It was at a golf course I play at every single day I’m home, so I should know the greens. And he had some experience with AimPoint, so he basically said ‘OK, you need to really learn this’. So the rest of the nine holes he just basically read the greens for me, told me where to aim and I just started making everything. So that really kind of clicked in my head that ‘OK, I really need to master this’. Obviously, it’s not a perfect system, I’m not going to make every single putt, but it gives me a framework to where I can trust that read and most of the time it’s going to be fairly close. So what I do every single, what you saw on the practice green, I just kind of get some tees up, hit short putts, get the level out just to make sure that my feet of calibrated, yeah, and then ready to go.

2022 PGA Championship
Fans of Viktor Hovland of Norway show their support on the ninth hole during the second round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo: Matt York/Associated Press)

Q: So many of us associate Norway with winter sports, I’m sure you’re not offended by that. I just wonder, the more you do in this game and the more you win and the higher you go, has it got a reaction towards you back in Norway changed? Have you noticed it’s become a bigger deal?

VH: That’s a good question. You know, I don’t look at social media all that often and I spend most of my time in the United States, so it’s hard for me to really see what’s going on back home, but I get a bunch of text messages and people seem to be paying close attention. That’s kind of one thing about Norwegians is that we’re very patriotic. We only have five, six million people, but it seems like when Magnus Carlsen is winning, everyone tunes in and starts playing chess, or if it’s Thor Hushovd in Tour de France, everyone just started biking that summer, or, you know, what Erling Haaland’s doing is incredible and obviously with Casper Ruud in tennis. People love their sports and I think they root for their fellow countrymen when they do something well.

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Conversations with Champions: 2022 RSM Classic winner Adam Svensson credits a return to Korn Ferry Tour for finding discipline to win on PGA Tour

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Adam Svensson, winner of the 2022 RSM Classic.

A slow start Thursday, a late eagle Friday and the lifting of a trophy Sunday.

It was a high-wire act of sorts for Adam Svensson at the 2022 RSM Classic.

The first-time PGA Tour winner shot a 1-over 73 in the first round and it turned out to be the highest opening-round score by a winner in more than two years.

An eagle on the 15th hole Friday assured him of making the weekend and that’s when started heating up in the chilly temperatures at Sea Island’s Plantation Course in St Simons Island, Georgia.

A round of 62 vaulted him up the leaderboard Saturday and a Sunday 64 brought the 28-year-old his first Tour title.

This is everything Svensson said after claiming his maiden victory.

AS: The first round I was playing great, I just got nothing out of it. And going into Friday I was like keep doing what I’m doing. To be honest, I don’t even know. I was playing so good, I knew if I just kept doing what I’m doing and I will work my way up. But to come out on top, it’s unbelievable.

Q: Our second Canadian winner of the season, you move up to No. 6 in the FedEx Cup standings. Just talk a little bit about how this changes your goals going forward.

AS: Yeah, it definitely changes my schedule a lot. Obviously, I’ll be into more events now. I’ll have more time at home to work on my game and prepare for obviously bigger events now, so I’m excited.

2022 RSM Classic
Adam Svensson holds the trophy after winning the 2022 RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press)

Q: Can you talk about the birdies on 16 and 17 that helped pull you over the line?

AS: I looked on the leaderboard on 15, the par 5 there, and hit a poor wedge shot and made par. But I knew there’s a couple good birdie chances on 16 and 17 with a front flag. And the shot on 16, it kind of spun back but it was kind of an easy putt uphill left to right and I just knew I hit it hard enough and it went in. And the one on 17, I didn’t think it was going to go in and somehow it just dove in, I don’t know.

Q: Was there any frustration at all thinking that, because you started on the Plantation course, it’s the easier of the two courses, what was your mindset?

AS: I was very frustrated. I just knew like I just keep doing what I’m doing. I flushed it on Thursday and I just got nothing out of my round, and going into Friday I just was grinding. I don’t even know, I just was putting great, hitting it great and I just kept hitting the fairway, hitting it on the green and just kept doing what I’m doing. I don’t really know. I just knew if I just keep playing great, good things will happen. Last week I found something in my golf swing and just kind of took it into this week.

Q: What do you think the difference was between Thursday and the rest of the week?

AS: Putting, for sure. I kind of tweaked, I changed my stroke a little bit on Friday and then it was feeling really good. I just kind of stuck with it, yeah.

Q: Adam, on Friday do you watch the leaderboard enough to know how far behind you were behind what you thought the cut might be?

AS: I figured on Thursday I needed to shoot about 4-under par, I told my caddie that. We just had a game plan to shoot that and make the cut and just keep moving up.

Q: The money’s good and the two-year exemption is good, but how soon after the last putt did you start thinking Kapalua, Masters, Players, things like that?

AS: I didn’t even think about it until it was brought up to me 15 minutes ago. I’m more proud of what I’ve accomplished from the direction I was to the direction I’ve gone now, it’s more fulfilling than money to me. I’m more just proud of myself for things I’ve been doing.

Q: When did you start thinking, I could actually win this tournament?

AS: When I teed off. I don’t know, I knew I was playing great, I just had to stay out of my own way. At the start of the day, I told myself just don’t make a bogey and I’m putting well and I just had to keep myself under control.

Q: How long have you been working with John Graham?

AS: About a year now, just over a year.

Q: And was the something you changed in your putting Friday something he suggested or something you just came up with?

AS: We really work on flow in my stroke and sometimes on the long ones, especially this week, it’s fast so just having a little bit more flow has helped me with speed control, because I do get a little jabby sometimes. Just having a lot of, a little bit more flow in the backstroke.

Q: What did you change in yourself between the first time you were on the PGA Tour and this second go-round you’ve had?

AS: I relied mostly on talent when I was younger. I didn’t put enough work in, I wasn’t that disciplined. Like I said, two years ago I decided to give it 100 percent and I’ve been super disciplined on, you know, I don’t drink anymore, I go to the golf course every day, I’m up at 6, I give it 100 percent now. That’s the reason.

2022 RSM Classic
Adam Svensson reacts to his putt on the first hole during the final round of the 2022 RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press)

Q: You mentioned in the Golf Channel interview that a couple years ago you were thinking about quitting golf. What was that point?

AS: Every Tour player wants to quit golf once in a while. You say that, but you obviously don’t. It’s just a feeling because you’re so down and you’re not playing well. I just made a choice to give it 100 percent and there was no, after I lost my Tour card, that’s when I decided to do that.

Q: What were the like conversations like? Like was there anyone you relied on in particular to like set a course or was it kind of self-planning of the change?

AS: It’s all self. You can say you can work hard, but in the end you’ve got
to actually do the work. I’m just proud of myself for doing that.

Q: You hadn’t made a cut yet at this tournament before this week. Was that a product of the course not setting up well for you or playing poorly this week? What do you attribute that to?

AS: This golf course, you know, Seaside, it’s tough, the greens are fast. So I think before, you know, just my putting wasn’t quite there, a couple loose shots here and there. I’m getting better and better and better and that’s, you know, probably the reason.

Q: You mentioned the birdie on 17. Were you aware of the scoreboard at that point, kind of where just, all right, so you hit that. What are you feeling, up two strokes after making that birdie and off to the tee box on 18?

AS: I was pumped, I was super excited. I knew if I could just hit the fairway on 18, I could just get it up there and make par or bogey.

Q: Any sort of nerves knowing, like you said, you just basically have to not mess it up to be able to pull out the first win for you?

AS: Yeah, I was just like swing 50 percent because that 50 percent is probably 80 percent. That was kind of my mindset coming in the last couple holes, just swing 50 percent, yeah.

Q: We’ve seen a few rounds of 62, 63s out of you over the last few years, obviously you went low the last three rounds here. What is it do you think about your game or mentality that allows you to go low fairly often?

AS: I think it’s ball-striking consistency, hitting fairways, hitting greens, giving yourself opportunities, not short siding yourself. I’m definitely getting better at playing away from flags now. Before, I was firing at all the flags. When the putter’s hot, you can shoot low numbers doing that.

Q: How do you think going back to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020-21 benefitted you most as you kind of look back kind of at that part of the journey in your arc?

AS: Realizing I wasn’t as good as I actually was and realizing how hard everyone works on this tour and what it takes to get here. It was a blessing, to be honest. It kind of changed my path and everything.

Q: What’s one area where you worked harder in this second stint of your career since that kind of readjustment?

AS: I would say putting, especially probably the last six months I’ve put in a lot of work with putting. But I try and like even it out chipping, putting, hitting. Just the everyday, you know, putting that work in, you just slowly, slowly get better.

2022 RSM Classic
Adam Svensson shakes hands with Patrick Rodgers after winning the 2022 RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press)

Q: What was the toughest part of putting at first in your career before these improvements?

AS: For me, it was the short putts with confidence, kind of steering it here and there. When you have confidence when you’re putting, you feel like you can make everything and those two-, three-footers, you just bang them in.

Q: The fact you’ve led the field statistically in strokes gained putting this week, what does that mean to you?

AS: I didn’t even know that. Cool. It means the work I’m doing’s paying off with John, and it’s nice.

Q: When did you decide to quit drinking?

AS: Two years ago. I’ve probably had maybe five drinks, but I quit drinking, I mean like going out with the boys and having drinks and stuff.

Q: Is that for tonight, too?

AS: Well, I’m supposed to drive home tonight, so yeah. Maybe I’ll have one.

Q: The fact no one could ever take away you’re a PGA Tour winner, like that’s something you’ll have on your resume and your mind and memory forever. What does that knowledge mean to you that you’ve accomplished that goal?

AS: It’s been dreams of mine since I was 10 years old, eight years old. It’s just incredible. I don’t think the money does, I don’t think money really does anything. It’s the feeling of coming down the stretch and winning and all that stuff, you just can’t beat it.

Q: Can you paint the picture, tell me a little bit where you were when you had this kind of come-to-Jesus moment that I’m going to really commit and make golf my job and not just rely on the talent?

AS: I can’t remember. It was just one day I woke up and I was like, that’s it,
that’s it. Just kind of went from there.

Q: Was it after a certain tournament where you had a bad result or after a hangover?

AS: Probably a hangover, probably a hangover. I don’t know, I can’t
remember.

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Conversations with Champions: Tony Finau had ‘a little bit of don’t screw it up’ mindset en route to winning 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Tony Finau, winner of the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open.

After a long stretch on the PGA Tour without a victory, Tony Finau now has three wins in his last seven starts and four in his last 30.

His most recent win was a dominant one at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open, where Finau blistered Memorial Park Golf Course with scores of 65-62-68-69 to win by four shots. His lead was as big as eight at one point.

But even after matching the tournament’s 54-hole record and holding a four-shot lead Saturday night, he admitted things didn’t feel tip-top come Sunday morning.

“I think I said it on air [on Golf Channel] right after I finished, when I teed off this morning I felt a little off, honestly,” he said. “It’s not easy sleeping on the lead. I just, I didn’t know if I had it in me, but you just take it a shot at a time.

“I was able to make some big putts on 8 and 9 just to kind of open up this tournament. Really pleased with the performance overall and especially my putting.”

Here’s everything Finau said after winning the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open.

Q: The 3M Open win was special where you had all your family in attendance, but what did it mean to you to have wife and son come out and join for this?

TF: “I think they see the hours put in and they’re very supportive. They always have been. My son’s like my biggest fan. He’s also my biggest critic. Anytime if I make a double bogey or something, he’ll be the first one to point that out, doesn’t matter if it’s a 65; what happened on this hole, you just made a 7. He’s my biggest fan, my biggest critic, it’s amazing to have him here. And of course my wife. You know, she’s been so supportive of my career since we’ve been married. They’re very special to have in my life, but especially just to be supporting me and to have them here with me this week.”

Q: Speaking of your family, did she come in just for the final round today?

TF: “Yeah, they flew in, I think they got here like when I made the turn or something like that. They got here like just in time to watch the back nine. Apparently she must have had a good feeling about today. I’ll tell you what, she felt a lot better than I did if that was the case.”

Q: You obviously didn’t make a whole lot happen on the back nine, but you obviously did not need to make a whole lot happen. Were you just trying to say don’t do anything stupid going in?

TF: “It’s a place I’ve never been before. I’ve never had an eight-shot lead on the final round on Tour. It’s an interesting mindset. A little bit of ‘don’t screw it up’, or maybe ‘if we hit some good shots we can extend this lead’. … I will say on 14 and 15 I got a little impatient. We were waiting on the group in front of us and I just felt like we had been out there forever. It literally felt like this tournament wasn’t going to end, like were we ever going to get to 17 or 18. I tried to muster up as much patience as I could. Think that short putt I missed on 15, I just didn’t take the time I needed to hit the putt and I missed a short one. But overall this was a special week. You know, I won this golf tournament from start to finish. I don’t know if I’ve done that in my career, maybe at Rocket Mortgage, but to have played that well for four straight days, that’s what it’s all about and all the hard work is starting to pay off, which is fun.”

Q: You were thinking thoughts out there today that you might not have been thinking five years ago, right?

TF: “No question. You know, when I say I don’t know if I thought I had it in me, I just, sometimes you just don’t know what the day’s going to bring. Those emotions you just have to fight throughout the day and I was able to fight them and just execute when I needed to. I definitely have the confidence to win and I showed that out there today.”

2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open
Tony Finau acknowledges the crowd after making a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the second round of the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open. (Photo: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: How is this one different than the two during the summer?

TF: “Every one is special in its own way. I took quite a bit of time off over this fall. I wanted to be with my family and I knew after the Presidents Cup that I was going to shut it down until last week in Mexico. I committed to that, but when I did pick the clubs back up after a little break, I was eager to compete and that’s a nice feeling to have having played so many tournaments. This is my ninth season now. To actually have that real excitement to compete, I felt that over the last couple weeks. After missing the cut last week, I was disappointed but I was very eager to just get back out and play again, have that opportunity. I feel like I live a very blessed life. I can play whatever golf tournament on the PGA Tour I want. Obviously has a lot to do with my play, but I just feel very blessed. I approached it this week kind of with that mindset and things just went my way and it was a week to remember.”

Q: Going back to what you said about maybe just things were a little off today, how did you kind of combat that when you got to the golf course, got into your warmup and then out on the golf course as well?

TF: “You just try and talk yourself into positive thoughts as well as, as good as you can. I had a little bit of a short warmup. I had to go to the restroom in the middle of my warmup, so I didn’t get to hit as many balls as I think I would have liked. But I knew I was playing well and I thought just in my mind I had it at the end of the day, if I just keep hitting good shots, I’m going to be really hard to catch. I really calmed myself down there right through the middle of the front nine, hit some fairways and made some putts for birdie and then I was just kind of on my way.”

Q: You led the field in both driving accuracy and greens hit. Where did this rank for weeks as far as feeling in control of your ball?

TF: “Yeah, probably the best driving week I’ve had in my career, at least that’s how I felt. Yesterday for the first time in my career I hit all 13 fairways, 100 percent of fairways in regulation. I’ve never done that in my career, so definitely drove the ball. And it’s a lethal combo when I feel like this is the best putting week I’ve had as well. So you combine those two and you can get kind of a runaway win like I had. It’s very encouraging for me as I move forward throughout the season.”

2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open
Tony Finau hits a tee shot on the tenth hole during the final round of the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open. (Photo: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports)

Q: I saw you were 40th in driving distance last year. Is that a continuous theme of dialing it back a little to have more control?

TF: “I never looked at anything as dialing back, it’s just more of accuracy. I’ve become a very precise, precision player. I always have enough in the tank when I feel like I need it. On a golf course like this there were a couple times that I can open up a little bit, like notably on 16 today there was a hazard on the right about 295, I just give it a little extra to make sure if I push that ball, the one mistake I can’t make is hit it in that water, so little things like that. But it’s a luxury to have speed. At the end of the day, it’s always been a luxury for me. So being as precise as I am now off the tee, it’s a fun game hitting from the fairway a lot. I didn’t hit a lot of fairways growing up. I hit it very, very far, but that occasional hook, duck hook or slice was right around the corner and it’s nice to have the type of control that I had over the driver this week for sure.”

Q: Three wins in your last seven starts. … is this the most that all parts of your game have been clicking in your career?

TF: “This is definitely the most all parts of my game have been clicking, but I would say I’ve played a lot of good golf for a while. I didn’t have a lot of  wins to show for it, but I’ve pieced together a game and that’s what you have to do out here. You know, with my experience, again as I alluded to, trying to be more of a precision player, because I don’t lack speed, so learning how to drive it in the fairway, working on my wedge game, working on my putter, those are all things that I worked extremely hard on. And I feel like I’ve been a very solid player for a long time, but it’s exciting for me that I’m getting better and that’s all I can ask of myself is try and get better in the areas that I really need to. And then remember why you are where you are. I think I don’t go too far away from the DNA of my game and how I see the game and I think I’m kind of bearing the fruits of how I see the game now and I’m able to hit the shots that I can see, which is pretty cool.”

Q: In a similar vein, mentally, is this the best you’ve felt knowing that you have the ability to finish off these tournaments?

TF: “I’ve always felt like I’ve been very mentally strong. Sometimes I feel like once my game matches up to my mental attitude, I feel like I can be a great player. I feel like I’ve been a good player, showed some — showed some brilliance in spurts, but being consistent, to be consistently great takes a full game both mental and physical and I feel like honestly my physical game is starting to match up to my mental. I’ve always been tough, I’ve always been strong mentally. Having a game that matches that is I think a great combination and I’m starting to see that with myself.”

Q: Tony, you were holding that trophy up quite a few times getting a lot of pictures taken and you can tell the crowd really appreciated you, you’re a real good champion, but could you feel the support of the crowd and the gallery all day?

TF: “It was very overwhelming in my favor. I heard a lot of chants, Tony chants. It’s pretty humbling really. I’m a little bit obnoxious [sic] to it sometimes when you’re out there playing because I can’t open up and acknowledge everybody because I’m trying to stay as in the moment as I can. But it is pretty humbling to hear I have so many fans, especially here in H-town and it was special to have those fans out there cheering for me.”

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Conversations with Champions: ‘I don’t know how Tiger did this 80-some times,’ Russell Henley said after winning 2022 World Wide Technology Championship

Conversations with Champions is presented by Sentry.

“Conversations with Champions presented by Sentry” is a weekly series from Golfweek. This week: Russell Henley, winner of the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

Russell Henley snapped a five-year winless drought at El Camaleon Golf Course in Riviera Maya, Mexico, on Sunday.

His four-stroke win at Mayakoba put an end to a string of near-misses for the 33-year-old.

Henley at one point led by six shots, the largest on the PGA Tour since Jon Rahm at the 2020 Memorial. Players holding a six-shot lead entering the final round in last 15 seasons have now won 23 of 25 times.

Here is everything Henley said Sunday after his win:

“A lot of these events that I haven’t come through on, like I was telling [caddie] Todd [Gjesvold] earlier, just means so much more. I tried to learn from those situations where I didn’t get it done and didn’t come through down the stretch, just tried to keep working on my game and keep practicing hard and keep believing that I can do it. Took a little longer than I wanted, but I’ve been playing some good golf for a few years and it’s nice to get a W.

2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
Russell Henley celebrates with his caddie Todd Gjesvold celebrate after winning the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Club de Golf El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen. (Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Q: It’s different when it’s a six-shot lead. I can imagine the last 24 hours were interesting in terms of just blinders, strategy and just going out there and taking care of business?

RH: Yeah, it’s tough. I don’t sleep well on a lead. I need a lot more practice. I have no idea how Tiger did this 80-some times. It’s tough for me just to kind of calm down. You definitely don’t feel the same as when you’re practicing at home, but that’s the fun of it, that’s why we play. We want to see what we’re made of out here and get tested under pressure.

Q: What were those calming moments for you today? What was the key to you in that round? The bogey at 5, but you hop right back at 6. What were some of the moments that kind of stand in your mind as to what helped you get it across the finish line?

RH: I kind of had it in my mind today I needed to get under par, for sure. I figured that somebody would shoot a low one and so, you know, making a bogey on 6, I kind of got a mud ball and just misplayed it with my hybrid and ended up missing a short putt. Just kind of a disappointing way to start the day because I hit every shot really nice and gave myself a lot of birdie putts before that. Andy just said, just shake it off and let’s just keep doing what we’re doing. And hit a great drive on the next hole and kind of felt like I can do this, I can keep playing well, that’s just one hole. So it was nice to come back from that.

Q: Easy to say these weeks are a springboard of something. You thought you were going to have this moment many times over the last couple weeks, but what can this week do for you moving forward?

RH: Yeah, I mean, I hope just keep giving me confidence. It’s just so hard to get in contention out here, first part, and then to close it out, it’s a really hard deal. I feel like it gets harder every year. I’m just going to try to just pull from the fact that when I didn’t feel super comfortable and I had a lead that I executed and I got it done.

Q: Twenty-five birdies and just two bogeys, incredible. With that, just a few thoughts on clutching your fourth career PGA Tour title.

RH: It’s surreal to hear you say that. You know, you always have doubts, am I going to win again. I’ve had a lot of tournaments where I haven’t gotten it done, so this one’s really special. To be leading by six, which is my largest 54-hole lead, I’m sure, and to just play solid today and get it done gives me a lot of confidence. I’m really excited, really thankful. Yeah, I don’t know what to say, it’s just surreal.

Q: This was your fifth start here at Mayakoba and haven’t had an entirely successful past four starts. Was there something different? Was it just you and how you were playing? Did the course feel different? What was the difference that you could maybe put a finger on?

RH: I’ve always felt like I could play well here. I think I’ve been in a little bit of an interesting spot with my game other years. One of the years I was playing pretty well after two days and ended up getting basically disqualified, so the track record may look a little better if you add that week in. I think golf’s just really hard. This week I felt like I was confident off the tee and I felt like I had — my putting stroke was working well. So just kind of rode the wave and here we are.

2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
Russell Henley plays a shot on the sixth hole during the third round of the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Club de Golf El Camaleon in Mexico. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

Q: Nice weekend to be a Georgia Bulldog, I guess. Did you watch the game last night? What did you get up to last night as you were preparing for today knowing obviously you had such a big cushion?

RH: I was playing while the game was going on, so I didn’t get to see it. I heard on No. 13 or so that we were winning 21-3, so I was very happy to hear that. It was actually a little bit surprising that we bet them so handily. I guess they got a little closer at the end. The Dawgs are playing great. I’m still kind of living off of last year’s National Championship, though. It’s a fun time of the year to be a Georgia fan.

Q: In terms of your 54-hole leads, obviously you haven’t been able to convert one in a while, but you did this week obviously. Did you feel like this was a bit of a monkey off your back scenario?

RH: I do. I’ve just choked, you know. The nerves have gotten to me and I’ve made bad mistakes, bad mental mistakes and just haven’t gotten it done on Sunday. So put myself in position a decent amount, just haven’t gotten it done. So to come out and kind of do everything pretty well today tee to green and keep it pretty clean and just play steady was what was nice. I think, I don’t think I would have done it unless I had kind of failed so many times.

Q: When that final putt dropped on 18 and you won, what was the emotion like for you?

RH: Yeah, I mean, kind of walking up 18 I kind of felt like I wanted to cry a little bit. It was almost like just a little bit of emotion, just so much happiness looking back at the times where I kind of choked. I remember at Greensboro a couple years ago, just should have easily won the tournament, was just playing great and didn’t get it done. It was such a tough feeling because I put in a lot of work like we all do and just, you know, choked. So it was just a lot of emotion thinking about how those moments have kind of, I’m still here, I’m still fighting and I just can’t believe that I got it done. I don’t know, I don’t know if that helps.

Q: I want to know if you feel best like revenge on this course? Do you feel like this is revenge for you to come here again?

RH: Absolutely. I love being here, I love the golf course, I love the resort, the food is awesome, the people are so nice and this is always one that I get excited about coming to. I can’t say that about every event. Now every Tour event is great, but this one’s very special. Amazing location, very beautiful, so really fun.

Q: Did you consider that you get your revenge because of what happened in 2019?

RH: I never really thought about it, to be honest. I just felt like that was just some, just some weird stuff happening. But I definitely don’t regret turning myself in. I mean, I think that’s, you know, what we’re all supposed to do. But it was kind of, in my opinion, a little bit of a stupid situation considering I didn’t know that I had played a different ball. So it’s not like I was intentionally doing anything wrong, but you should always turn yourself in if you do do something against the rules. I did and I’m happy for that, and now I’m very happy.

2022 World Wide Technology Championship
Russell Henley lines up a putt on the green of the third hole during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Club de Golf El Camaleon at on Nov. 5, 2022. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

Q: Could you tell us a little bit about what happened in that tournament in 2019? How was it that you hit a different ball?

RH: Yeah. So Titleist makes a lot of different balls, prototype balls. How they mark them, they’ll put a little dot or a little dash next to where it says Pro V1x on the ball. So when I was signing my scorecard, I just looked down at the ball and for some reason, the Pro V1x was facing me and it had a little dot beside the Pro V1x. I thought, do all my balls have that dot? I haven’t even, I don’t remember them having a dot. So then I started comparing them to the other eight balls I had and it was the only one with a dot. Turns out it’s a prototype ball that they make. I just play the 17 Pro V1x. So I told the rules official I changed balls about four times that day. They said since you don’t know when you played it, we’re going to give you a four-hole penalty, so it’s two shots a hole, eight shots, trip back home to Columbus, yep.

Q: You hit a great second shot on No. 6 after a not-so-good second shot on No. 5. Can you take us through that moment in the round, 5 and 6?

RH: You know, No. 5, I hit a good drive, I was happy with the drive. Had some mud on the right side of the ball and I tried to aim out to the right to give myself some room, because typically when the mud’s on the right side of the ball, it goes left. I didn’t aim far enough to the right, maybe I didn’t put a great swing on it, it’s tough to know, but the ball just went left the whole way. And I don’t really hit a shot like that too often, or I haven’t been lately, so it was frustrating. I feel like I maybe should have played a little more conservative than I did. I thought I made the right decision at the time. But then after that, my caddie, Andy, just said, “Shake it off, let’s just keep doing what we’re doing,” because the first four holes and then the tee shot on 5 I hit a fairway, a green and I gave myself a birdie putt and was playing well. So he said, “Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing,” and I said OK, going to keep fighting, keep trying to hit fairways and greens and it was nice to come back with a birdie on 6.

Q: After your fourth win on the PGA Tour, what would be the next goal? Do you have the majors in sight? Obviously, you contended in the 2021 U.S. Open and the other majors, but making a Ryder Cup team? What would be the goal for next year?

RH: I think I’ve always dreamed of winning a major and always dreamed of making a Ryder Cup team or Presidents Cup team. Those are high on the list. I would love to do those things. I mean, it’s so hard to make one of those teams and to win a major. It’s just so hard to win out here, everybody is so good and it’s so competitive. I definitely would like to do that. I’d like to just keep putting myself in position to win any Tour event because it’s just so difficult and it’s so much fun to put yourself and kind of see what you’re made of, see what your game’s made of and see if the hard work you’ve put in has paid off and that’s kind of why we play.

Q: Were you looking for perfection knowing that you didn’t bogey in the three rounds? Were you looking for perfection this Sunday?

RH: Absolutely. I mean, I thought I could do it, I thought I could do it. I was close to doing it, to having no bogeys, but in reality, you know, it’s pretty hard to do over the course of 72 holes, especially with how much water and hazards there are out here. So I was definitely — I definitely thought about it, but didn’t quite work out.

Q: Do you think this win can be like a new part in your career knowing that you started with three wins at a very young age in 2013, you were I think 23, 24, and now with this win you can have like another part in your career?

RH: I don’t know, I’m getting old. Everybody’s so young on the Tour now, everybody’s in their early 20s and coming out ready to win majors. I’m not really sure what the future holds. I feel like I have some great golf ahead of me, but I’m just going to try to keep doing what I’m doing and take care of my body and, Lord willing, I can just keep playing some good golf.

Q: Russell, are you kind of bummed that there’s only two events left in this part of the season or are you kind of ready for a break and can kind of lean into the holiday season?

RH: Yeah, I haven’t played a ton this year. I had some family stuff going on this summer and I’ve only played twice this season, so I’ve been kind of excited to play. Just, yeah, I mean, every tournament we play out here is a fun event, every one is run so well like this one. I’m always excited to play, it’s just you can play too much. Yeah, I mean, I think if I had it my way, every event would be at an awesome location like this and super exciting. Yeah, I’m excited to keep playing, I love playing on the PGA Tour.

Q: Your thoughts on the trophy creation?

2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
The trophy for the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Club de Golf El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

RH: Yeah, it’s awesome. My wife, Teil, is an artist and she’s going to appreciate it a lot more than I can.

It’s beautiful. I definitely don’t have any trophies like this one, that’s for sure.

I’m excited to put it in the house.

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