Interviews and transcripts following the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
• Maverick McNealy
• Alex Smalley
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Chris Gotterup
• Aldrich Potgieter
• Stephan Jaeger
• Min Woo Lee
• Justin Thomas
• Scottie Scheffler
• David Puig
• Rory McIlroy
Maverick McNealy (T1)
Alex Smalley (T1)
THE MODERATOR: Alex, a 69 for you today. What can you tell us about your second round?
ALEX SMALLEY: A lot of really good moments, some not so great moments, and then a lot of just trying to keep moving forward in between. It was difficult, it was chilly this morning, the wind was up.
Some of the hole locations are very difficult. They’re right on the top of a crown. So you might have a putt that goes uphill, but once it gets to the hole, it starts going downhill. So I had a couple 15- or 20-footers up the hill today that I was really just trying to lag up near around the hole and trying not to let it get away from me. It was difficult. I definitely would have taken a 1-under today before I teed off.
THE MODERATOR: That’s great. Questions?
Q. Your caddie mentioned that you guys got put on the clock on 1. Can you talk about the emotions after that hit? And then also just looking up and maybe seeing your name at the top of the leaderboard, like what was the mixture of emotions when all that was happening?
ALEX SMALLEY: Yeah, we had, I mean the last, 17 and 18 are two very difficult holes. And Chandler got a bad break on 18 that hit the tree and kind of went sideways. So I knew we were a little behind. We had already been warned, I think, before that. So I was aware we were probably going to get timed. It’s not my first time being timed, so I wasn’t too caught up in the moment with it. But it is what it is.
What was the second part?
Q. Just about maybe do you look at the leaderboards out there, and seeing your name kind of floating at the top, what goes through your mind when you see that?
ALEX SMALLEY: I try not to, but it’s hard to sometimes because the leaderboards are right in your face and in a number of spots. So I was aware of where I was on the leaderboard. I try not to think about it a whole lot just because at that point in time the golf tournament wasn’t even halfway over yet.
So realizing that I was near the top and there’s a lot of golf left, you just have to try and keep pushing forward and just try to hit as many greens as you can and try and get as many birdie putts as you can, because it’s playing pretty difficult.
Q. Looking at you from the outside not knowing much about you, it can be easy to say he seems quiet or he seems unassuming, but talking to your caddie and I spoke with Jamie Green, they say that’s not the case at all. There’s a lot of intensity there. So I wanted to put it to you, how do you see yourself in terms of your attitude on the course in terms of your personality among other golfers?
ALEX SMALLEY: I’m certainly not one that’s super loud or boisterous or, you know, I try to stay laid back. I don’t like being in the spotlight a whole lot, so I’m still trying to get used to playing in front of large groups of people like there are at tournaments like this one. Starting to get better.
But my first couple years on TOUR, I kind of struggled with that. It’s a different feeling when you have hundreds or thousands of eyeballs on you at once. It can be a little overwhelming. So I just try to go about my business as best as I can and realize that there’s probably people that don’t know who I am, and that’s fine, and I just try to keep going from there.
Q. You might have just answered this, but what do you think explains how consistent and successful you’ve been this year? Are you 29? Is that right?
ALEX SMALLEY: Yeah.
Q. So, yeah, I mean what is it that’s kind of kicked into gear and clicked for you?
ALEX SMALLEY: I think tempo and rhythm are big parts of my golf swing. If I can keep my tempo and rhythm in check, I’m typically pretty good off the tee and into the green. So I’ve really just tried to dive into that and focus on that this year. I think it’s served me pretty well.
My caddie Michael and I, we just started at the beginning part of this year, but he’s very easy to get along with. So we try to keep the mood and atmosphere light in between shots. Obviously you want to focus when you get up to your ball, but in between shots when we’re walking around, it’s you can kind of let your mind go a little bit, because it’s very, very difficult to focus for five or five and a half hours consecutively.
So try to focus pretty intently for 20 or 30 seconds at a time and then get out of it.
Q. How big coming off bogey, bogey, bogey, how big was the second shot you hit on 4, and did you kind of know how it would react out of the rough?
ALEX SMALLEY: Well, any shot was big. I think the tee shot was bigger. I thought my ball was going to be in the fairway on 4, so I was a little surprised when I got up there to not see a ball in the fairway. The lie was good, I got lucky on that one. There wasn’t a whole lot of grass around my ball, so I didn’t really have to worry about how it was going to come out of the rough. The lie was really good.
When I hit it, I landed it a little further into the green than what we were trying to. I guess it was close to going in the hole because some of the crowd and the grandstand behind the green went a little crazy. But I was just hoping it stayed on the green. I wasn’t sure if it had gone just over the green into the rough. That would have been a very difficult chip because you were kind of chipping back uphill, and then two or three feet before the hole, it kind of went back downhill away from the pin.
So I find that I was pretty fortunate for my ball to stay on the green and then hit a really good putt. It wasn’t an easy eight or nine-footer at all just because you had an uphill part and then a downhill part. So I was pretty pleased to see that one go in.
Q. What has your recent success done for your confidence?
ALEX SMALLEY: It’s been a lot. You know, you can have the self confidence in yourself before you play a tournament and know that, yes, I’m good enough, I’m good enough to compete out here. But when you have results to back it up, I think that gives you that little extra mojo or that little extra confidence as well.
So I know I’m a good player that can compete out here on the PGA TOUR, but having some finishes that have been able to back up that success the last maybe two or three weeks has allowed me to kind of realize like, oh, okay, well I don’t even, you know, I can’t just compete out here, I can compete for a title.
Q. How did being put on the clock affect you today?
ALEX SMALLEY: I don’t know if it really affected me a whole lot. Like I told her, this isn’t my first time being on the clock. 17 and 18 are tough holes, we had a couple bad breaks on 18, so I probably knew that we were going to be timed because we had been warned earlier in the round.
It’s always a little disconcerting when you feel like you kind of have to rush a little bit. So I tried not to feel like I was rushed. But I just misjudged the putt from over the green on 1, didn’t catch my bunker shot on 2, and then hit a really poor wedge shot on 3.
So I really don’t attribute those things to being on the clock. Just kind of comes with playing out here. There’s going to be times where you’re timed, and it’s just going to happen.
Q. Do you have a sense of how good it is to be 4-under after two days in these conditions and this golf course, and was there any time during your round where you felt like you were getting away from the mix?
ALEX SMALLEY: Getting away from —
Q. From contention?
ALEX SMALLEY: From contention, okay. Yeah I’m very pleased with 4-under. It played really difficult the first couple of days with the wind. There’s a couple fairways out here where I’m just not really sure how you’re supposed to hit the fairway, No. 10 and No. 15 are two of those examples. I mean, the wind was going the same direction as the contour of the fairway, so you almost had to slice it up into the wind on 10 and 15 to be able to keep it in the fairway. And the fairways are running out, so I’m just, you know, I’m kind of perplexed on how you’re supposed to hit either of those fairways.
But, yeah, I mean I’m very happy with 4-under. We’ll see what the afternoon holds. I don’t know what the lead’s going to be, but we’ll see. I don’t know if there was ever a point where I felt it kind of slipping way.
I had a rough stretch on 1, 2 and 3. I don’t know if I was just happy with getting away from some of the tougher holes on the back nine, like getting through 17, getting through 18. I don’t know if I kind of let my foot off the gas pedal a little bit. I don’t ever think I was feeling like it was slipping way, but I just had to get back to what I was doing before, just try to hit as many greens as I can and see if a putt would fall.
Hideki Matsuyama (T3)
THE MODERATOR: Hideki, 3-under for you today, what did you do well in your second round?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: I played well today. I made some putts. I felt comfortable.
THE MODERATOR: Great, we’ll take some questions.
Q. What’s the hardest part about this golf course, and how did you handle it?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yeah, the greens are big and lots of undulations. But if you’re not hitting it in the right side of the fairway with your tee shot, it makes the second shot really difficult. So it’s an all-around difficult golf course.
Q. Did you do that today?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yeah, when I didn’t hit it in the fairway, I caught some good lies in the rough and got away with it.
Q. When you watch golf on TV, what type of golf do you like to watch, or what do you like about it?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yeah, when I’m at home watching golf on TV, I like to see lots of birdies. But with that said, I also like to see good shots and poor shots penalized. So I like to see good shots rewarded with birdies, bad shots end up double bogeys.
Q. How much do you feel the wind was an advantage for you today compared with the rest of the field?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Yeah, it was really tough. It was really windy yesterday, and this morning was windy. Plus it was freezing cold, and it made it very difficult.
Q. What was the best of your birdies today? Make it really dramatic too.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: Probably at 7. My birdie putt hung on the lip and — for a while, and then the wind blew it in. So that was probably my best one.
Q. What club did you hit for your second?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: 8-iron.
Q. You need all parts of your game to be working at a major, but if you had one part that had to be really sharp, really good this week, what would that be?
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA: At majors it’s missing it well.
In majors, I mean you’re going to have misses, but you have to miss it in the right place.
Chris Gotterup (T3)
Aldrich Potgieter (T3)
Stephan Jaeger (T3)
THE MODERATOR: Stephan, 70 today. How would you summarize your second round?
STEPHAN JAEGER: Yeah, bogey-free. Unfortunately, also birdie free. So I think I just said that I think in a major you’ll take 18 pars and go to sleep happy tonight. I had some chances on the back, but also made some really nice par saves early on. A few on the back, too. So overall I’m very happy. Yeah, the way I’m hitting it, I really like that, for sure.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. At this level, this type of golf, have you ever played 18 pars?
STEPHAN JAEGER: Somebody just asked me that. I actually don’t know if I’ve ever made 18 pars. I just mentioned I think if you do it at John Deere I think you’re not going to be too happy because the cut’s 5-, 6-, 7-under. But at a major it’s, you know, it’s an even par 70. But I actually he don’t know if I’ve made 18 pars in a round before. I feel like I have, but I don’t know that answer.
Q. Does it say more for you that you played without a bogey, that’s pretty impressive, not to focus on no birdies?
STEPHAN JAEGER: Yeah, I think the way I hit it today it could have easily been 3-, 4-under. If I made some putts like I did yesterday. I felt like I actually hit it better today than I did yesterday, which I think that’s a positive I’m going to take out of it. The golf course is not going to get easier on the weekend it’s going to get firmer, it’s going to be a little hotter. So being able to hit it out of the fairway and give yourself those looks, that’s what I kind of kept telling myself, you know, just give yourself that 15 to 30 foot range where you can make a few. If you’re in the right spot you actually can hit a wedge close on the front nine for sure.
Q. The guys this morning said that it was kind of carnage out there. How different did the course play do you think in the afternoon, did you watch any of the morning?
STEPHAN JAEGER: I didn’t watch any. I walked outside the house, it was pretty chilly this morning. I know the wind was up like we played probably our front nine or probably front 13 or 14 holes or the first 13 to 14 holes. It kind of laid down a little bit for us coming in. But at that point the golf course is already pretty firm, and especially on the pin position like 8, like you’re going to get 30 feet minimum. So I definitely think we might have gotten the better wave of the two. I don’t know what the scores look like, but just as a feel, it feels a little better. Once again, I’ve been on the other side of that draw plenty of times, so I’m not going to be mad about it.
Q. Do you remember the last time you made 18 pars in a row?
STEPHAN JAEGER: Yeah, I just said I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever made it. I don’t know, that’s probably something we can look up or somebody can look up. I’m happy to do it at a major for sure.
Q. How would you describe your season to date?
STEPHAN JAEGER: I think there’s some, a few good ones. I think as a professional athlete any time you always want a little more. I’ve been kind of working my way towards this form a little bit. I’ve been putting well this year. I’ve just kind of been trying to find my iron game a little bit. It’s been struggling a little bit this year. My driving is what it is. Some golf courses setup great for me, some don’t. I’m never going to be somebody that’s going to hit 65 percent of the fairways. I’m okay with that. Some golf courses like this week sets up great for me, and some weeks like Arnold Palmer does not set up great for me because I’m going to make a lot of probably 6s just with the water hazards. But I’m happy to be here, I like this place, I like Philly, I played well at Cricket Club last year, so maybe it’s the goods vibes of Philly and the cheesesteaks.
Q. It’s been a little raw, a little cold the last few days, I don’t know, I don’t think anyone’s been comfortable. It’s going to be warmer, but how does that change the golf? What do you think it will do for the golf course if it is warm?
STEPHAN JAEGER: You know, I think with the warmth, I don’t know how much protection they have to do for the golf course. If they need to water the greens at all. I doubt it. I think they have the place right where they want it. They have plenty of people around to know it’s going to be hotter this weekend and we can kind of push that limit with the golf course what it can take. I felt like some of the fairways were harder to hit today, especially with the bounce. For instance, 3, you have to carry a bunker on 3, but then that next bunker, set of bunkers is in play. So it definitely makes the fairways smaller. Some of the slopes that they have away from the doglegs is hard. So that will be interesting to see what that, what happens on the weekend, for sure.
Q. It looks like you just copied the numbers from the scorecard.
STEPHAN JAEGER: (Laughing). Yeah.
Q. Yesterday, I’m not sure if you caught wind of this, but Martin Kaymer said he doesn’t really count you as a German anymore, you’ve been living in the U.S. too long. How do you feel about that?
STEPHAN JAEGER: Well, I can show him my passport. I only have one, that’s the German one. He’s not wrong, right, I mean, I’ve been here in the States for longer than I was in Germany. I’ve been here 20 years, I left Germany when I was 17. I still consider myself, I have some German ticks to me, but I also have a lot of Tennessean in me. So, you know, to the positives I’ll take. And the Germans, we do try to be a little too perfect sometimes, which can get me in some trouble every once in awhile, for sure.
Min Woo Lee (T3)
Justin Thomas (T9)
Scottie Scheffler (T9)
David Puig (T9)
THE MODERATOR: David, great day for you today. How would you summarize your second round?
DAVID PUIG: Yeah, definitely score was very good. I thought I definitely drove it a lot better yesterday, but my putting was really the key today and the patience. I made two great par putts on 7 and 8 to kind of keep going. I made a great par on 12 as well. I played the last four holes, which are really tough, really good. So really proud of the fight and the round.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. This is your best position after any round in a major. How excited are you to go into the weekend with a chance to really make some noise?
DAVID PUIG: No, yeah, very excited. I get up every day for weeks and days like today. I’m really excited about the weekend. I think obviously I could do some things better, hopefully the weekend.
But I think I’ve been getting a little better year after year, and I definitely got to this major championship as best prepared as I ever was, and compared to the other ones that I played.
So really excited to have some sort of late tee time on a Saturday at a major championship, and I’ll give my best and hopefully it’s good.
Q. I think right now you’re leading in strokes gained off the tee through 36 holes, last time I checked. But obviously, as you mentioned, it was your putting today. How satisfying is it to be able to lean on not just your driver but also the putter in a major?
DAVID PUIG: No, yeah, it’s amazing. Yesterday’s driving was incredible, right. So today I probably visit the rough a couple more times, so that’s why I said maybe I drove it a little worse. But it’s still pretty good.
Yesterday I didn’t really make much on the greens, but today I had a great day. So it’s good to have some sort of combination between driver and putter. It’s really great.
Q. And you played with a guy that was leading for a large part of the round today. How fun was it — I know he’s a little bit younger than you too, if I recall. How fun was it to kind of be out there, two guys really battling it out in a major, young guys?
DAVID PUIG: No, yeah, it was awesome. He’s a really talented player. He hits it really far. I think I hit it pretty far, but he’s definitely longer than me. And, yeah, I mean he — obviously the last couple holes, with a couple bogeys, but he played unbelievable golf today and yesterday.
He’s pretty much accomplished a lot of things already, but he’s got a really, really bright future in front of him. So amazing player.
Rory McIlroy (T30)
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Related: Round 3 Yardages
