You’ve garnered a ton of attention since winning the U.S. Amateur, when the world took notice of your unique golf bag setup. What have you thought of all the extra attention? Everyone has been incred- ibly caring for me and appreciative of what I’ve done. I never would have thought that I would ever have gotten any of this acclaim for being my own way and having all of my clubs the same length. I never thought I would have received this response. But people understand that I’m going to be this unique individual who practices hard, plays hard and tries to do his absolute best. So it’s been a fun journey coming from U.S. Amateur, going to Australia, Argentina, Abu Dhabi, Augusta. I’ve been to a lot of places that have been absolutely incredible. + + +
Let’s go back to your days growing up play- ing junior golf. What do remember about yourself? I was a snot. I was such a jerk back then. You grow, you mature and you get older and wiser. (The Junior Golf Association of Northern Cali- fornia) and the NCGA Junior Tour have done so much for me. They’ve done a lot for my game, and I defi - nitely wouldn’t be here in this place without those organizations. Junior golf, especially those
organizations, they’re huge for kids. They create opportunities, they created this younger generation, like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. You’ve got all these guys out here that are playing because of those junior programs. For the younger culture, people
get acclimated to that, it’s extremely benefi cial to the game of golf. That’s what it’s about, growing the game.
How much Masters memorabilia did you collect when you competed in April? Enough to last a lifetime, that’s for sure. It was my fi rst Masters, you’ve got to do that. You’ve got to buy all of the neces-
sary things you need to have for your fi rst Masters. Some hats and a few other things. I bought a lot of limited edition stuff. There’s a gold medallion that I got that represents the 80th playing of the Masters, there are only 350 of them. It’s just cool stuff that I enjoy to have as a memory of some- thing that will last a lifetime. + + +
What memories stick out from your fi rst Masters? I met Jack Nicklaus at Augusta National during Masters Wednesday on the patio right behind the clubhouse. We were looking onto the whole course, the scenery. The lawn and patio area. So I met him there and we talked for about 15 minutes and I said I was playing in his tournament, The Memorial, I said, ‘Thank you for the invitation’ and all that. He was just talking about the golf ball and how it needs to be scaled back. He thinks it should be limited. It was a lot of fun.
+ + +
What were the practice rounds like at Augusta? They just got me comfort- able playing with some big-timers like Phil Mickelson, that was a huge aspect. Just being comfortable playing around those guys because I knew I was going to be playing with Jordan Spieth, or somebody of that stature in that group. So I wanted to be
“The NCGA and the Junior Tour have done so much for me and my game. I defi nitely wouldn’t be here without them.”
comfortable playing with those types of guys before Thursday so Phil was nice enough to offer to play with me and join him. And I said ‘sure’ and it was just a great experience, we had a lot of fun.
+ + +
What about once the tournament began? Those moments in my life I’ll never forget, and those moments I’ll cher- ish forever. The one on No. 18 on Friday (when a triple-bogey dropped him from a tie for second to eighth) I won’t remember that much. Other than that, I had a fantastic time. I remember every second out there, being out there and hitting putts, being super comfortable and loving it. Hopefully I can do it again next year.
USGA
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