Raleigh native Webb Simpson speaks with reporters before the start of the 2024 U.S. Open.
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and at the time when I asked him it looked like I needed to shoot minimum three if not four or five on the back and I made a few birdies but then I bogied 17 and when I bogied 17 I thought for sure there was no chance even of a playoff with birdie on 18 so I asked him and I said uh I said we’re out of it right and he says no um you know par you have a chance for a playoff birdie definitely a playoff maybe even get in with no playoff so I got all excited again made it made it 15 foot on the last hole which was a great feeling because I knew making that putt I was gonna have a chance at least in a playoff so that is uh it’s a long day especially for someone who understands how sweet it is to be in a major especially Uso been here at pineur it was like there was that pressure on me but I think it was good and bad I think the good was it it allowed me to really take the qualifier serious do my prep work beforehand and don’t take it for granted and you know I’m I’m so happy we the scores weren’t that good the second round because it got a little tricky but it was good enough Jonathan and then Bob yeah when you think about Pinehurst uh is there memories that come right to mind is there a round or a hole or anything what’s something that pops in your mind first well I said this the other day I never won the putter boy trophy so I never won the Donal Ross Jr or the north south Jr or the north south am but my father and I we won the Donald Ross father son the one day they they always did it the day after and it was alternate shot we were in a playoff and in the playoff uh my dad drove in the Fairway I hit it to three feet and then he made it for us to win and he looked I was so excited he looked to me like he was mad at me and I’m like what we just won and he’s like don’t ever do that to me again like hit it to 20 feet don’t hit it to 3 feet and so we finally won um but you know we had state championships here uh we played at number six number eight number four and number two so there’s just so much history whether you look at Junior Golf High School golf college golf Amer golf it was all right here Bob on the left hey web um couple of major Champions past major Champions have made it in through qualifying including yourself I’m just wondering having been on the other end of it and then having to do it that way maybe what kind of perspective that gives you and and uh you know if it’s satisfying to do it that way yeah it’s definitely a perspective shifter because when when things are going well especially when you’re young in your career and you’re kind of you’re exempt for a few years you don’t even think about it you you plan your schedule based on the biggest tournaments biggest purses or FedEx Cup uh points given and you really don’t think about it but when you’re not in these tournaments and it’s been a while since you know you just could look at the schedule and pick what you wanted you realize man scheduling is hard I don’t know if I’m going to play Canada because now I have a qualifier I got to get ready for I don’t know if I’m going to play this week because you know I might get in that tournament so that’s definitely a harder piece of it I think having not been in the majors the last few Majors you’re definitely I’m definitely more appreciative to be here and kind of more excited to be here and compete against the best players um but I think all of us golfers would agree all we want is to play against the best players in the world in the same week and I got I have a chance this week um and I guess my last major was last year at the PJ Championship but I received a special exemption to get into that so definitely satisfying to qualify knowing I earn earned the spot I guess also just wanted to ask you in your business role these days I’m I’m sure you saw where Rory said on the other day that he was actually fairly pleased with the way that their talks went on Friday with that transactional committee and I realize you’re not part of that but you’re part of the bigger picture and do you have any update or sense from your perspective of where things stand right now the only update that I really have is basically what you just said that Friday went really well I think there’s positive momentum going right now I think both sides seem to not only be engaged but want to continue to be engaged as much as possible and that feels good it feels good that we’re finally at a place where I think we all want similar things and we all recognize that the game of golf the game of golf is healthier um when we’re moving in this direction there’s so much excitement uh with so many guys playing well Scotty dominating um I almost feel the excitement in the air this week already on a Monday and so I think I think Rory’s right and and he knows more than I do at this point but I’ll know a lot more come Tuesday next week after our board meeting back right to Luke hey web you mentioned Scotty a couple times I’m just curious on your perspective as someone who’s been doing this for a while now what he’s done really even just this summer the way that he’s kind of come out on the really on the hardest courses and played as well as he hadn’t how hard that really is yeah it’s it’s probably what happened the early days of a tiger you kind of get used to it so it becomes less of a big deal you know it’s it’s almost like an afterthought oh Scotty won again this week um yeah it’s he’s doing everything exceptionally well and I think what people don’t talk about enough is like his attitude and the way he thinks you know he he makes less mistakes than everyone else um he does what you would expect a pro to do capitalizes on you know wed shots and Par fivs but he just doesn’t really make mistakes and he’s so hard to beat uh which is you know probably makes Davis Riley’s win at Charles Schwab even that much sweeter to him because he was able to get them you know the rare the rare time we all see it but to play this well for this amount of time I mean been a couple years where he’s for sure the guy to beat every week um it’s fun to watch and I don’t see any reason that he’s going to slow down anytime soon and he just had a baby so I think all all the players are like man maybe he’s sleep deprived but even if he is he’s still winning so good for him on the left Le web what have you seen with the preparation of the green surrounds is it the same as 2014 and what are your thoughts on just how to play those recovery shots when you miss a green yeah they’re pretty similar to 14 from what I remember and I’m I’m using three-wood which I never used throughout the year uh but I I did it in 14 I saw somebody doing it and they made it look really easy so I tried it put it in place that week and I haven’t done it since the 2014 US Open but already I’m realizing it’s pretty easy I got a lesson from chess and Hadley he’s really good at it and um I think that why I love it is it comes off the face a little quicker than a putt and it’s just hard to it’s hard to have consistent contact chipping the ball because every lie around these greens everywhere you go side front doesn’t matter it’s into the Grain and so you chip five balls you’re probably going to chunk one of them and a quick follow follow up having known the golf course from years back when you came back in 14 and the fourth and fifth holes have been flopped from pars on the two holes what were your thoughts on that and how does it affect the way those two holes play now um I think the the correct order is how they have it now you know four is more of a par four green is it received shots a lot better five is a little more diabolical which I think par five green should be a little harder and so I think it makes sense and they had to land to do it on the fifth hole um and so I mean look four is still 525 I think and so it’s still a very hard hole but definitely makes more sense I think with the flow of the golf course to do it that way just a few more back on the right chip and John yeah web you mentioned your dad Sam and and winning with him the tournament down here just us opens are always on Father’s Day weekend seems like and just what do you think your emotions will be this week and and what lessons did you did you learn from your dad well I think about him every day I really do um this this Pinehurst was where he was his happiest you know he he we lived in rileigh he worked really hard but when he would come to Pinehurst on a Friday you know you’d really see him kind of decompress and he loved to play golf um so I do think about him every day you know I think I probably think about them more here than anywhere especially in ccnc where our house is and and he would be thrilled to death that I qualified I think he’d have been a nervous wreck on Monday but he’d have been here walking with me in the practice rounds and um I think what did he teach me he taught me so many things um you know I was actually thinking about that recently I had a friend texted me yesterday who’s on tour and he said he’s watching his son playing a a Junior tournament he saw another kid move his ball in the rough and the kid didn’t know he was watching or anyone saw it so he’s my friends tell T me he says you think I should go tell his dad I’m like yeah definitely tell his dad but that was one thing my dad taught me was always do the right thing golf is a game of Integrity more than any other sport probably and you gota you got to call penalties on yourself if it happens do your best don’t quit you know there was a lot of points on Monday where it would have felt nice to just go to the car but I kept going and I think he’d have been proud just curious Webb did Dow have vacation plans this week or did you tell her not to make any or how’d that work no she she believed in me she didn’t have anything planned in fact she was planning to come here uh so the girls get out of school Wednesday and she’s coming down last question on the left Pete hey web what are you feeling more the comfort of being home or the pressure to perform well while you’re home I think the the comfort of being home um I mean kind of like Bob asked the perspective shift is I felt more pressure in 14 my first time playing a major here and I was whatever I was in the world top 15 but now you know being here I kind of see it as a gift to be here you know I wasn’t I didn’t get in I had to go qualify and so I feel like it’s all upside and my game is so much better than it was a year ago and so as weird as it sounds I feel like I can compete um and so I’m not going to be happy unless I play well overall but I I am thankful to be here so I think it I use all those things the comfort of being here to my advantage great well good Lu this week web thank you thanks
1 Comment
let’s go webb ! 🔥🚀