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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 20, 2015

Ollie Schniederjans

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

Q. I take it you're very pleased with the way this ended?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Yeah, it was a great final day. I just thought about it right now after you said that. Amazing final day as an amateur. Couldn't ask for anything more special, watching myself or feeling like I belonged out here and watching my name go up the leaderboard on Sunday. I mean, that's incredible. Extremely special day, and I'm ready to go. My game is in the best place it's been ever. I felt great the last two or three weeks with it, and it's a long way from where I was in college this year, but I'm proud of how I've come out of it, and I'm hitting the ball really well.

Q. What was this round like? Did you ever dream you could be here?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Yeah, I mean, I got off to a great start on the first two holes, finally got some putts to go, and then I three-putt from 10 feet on 3, and I'm like, I didn't want to let that affect me, so I was really proud I birdied 5 and 6, and I made a great par putt on 7. I just hung in there. I knew I was doing the right things, and I worked on my stroke a lot yesterday and had a good feel for it, so I just trusted that and kept going and fighting through it. I made some great testing three-footers on the back nine.

Q. The amateurs have been tearing it up this competition. What do you make of that?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Good amateurs. Jordan is a great player. He's won the Pub Links, he's played in the Masters, he's played really well in a lot of events. He's got a great, great golf swing, he's a really good player, experienced player, and Paul has been playing great. He played great at the end of the year. I think he finished top 5 at NCAAs, and he played well all leading up to this, and I feel like he really likes this golf course for sure. I think it's just great, guys playing really well, and you've got some good -- some of the best ones here, I think.

Q. What is it about the U.S. college circuit that brings such strong players that literally transition straight into the professional --
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Well, you have to learn how to handle so much, stay organised, and then you go around and you travel and you play some very difficult courses set up very difficult. They put the pins tough. You play in tough conditions. You play tough courses against the other best amateurs in the world, and you also have to handle your school obligations. You've got to learn how to manage really your life, and when you're done with school, it feels like this is easy, I can manage everything else in life, I don't have to do schoolwork. So I think that really prepares these guys, we play good golf courses against the best players.

Q. (Inaudible) or did it feel pretty similar?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Pretty similar. I'm sure that if they had a college tournament out here, it wouldn't be set up a whole lot differently, honestly, and I think it shows how the amateurs are playing, you can finish top 5 in a big amateur event, and that could be right up there with these guys sometimes. It's definitely a testament to college in the States and how much it's developed us.

Q. Your performance this summer with the U.S. Open and here, like you said, given where your game was the last year of college, what's it mean to you to be able to finish off the way you have?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: It's fun again. It's not fun when you have no control over your golf game. Golf is super fun when it comes off like you're planning it to. So I'm just -- it's fun again. I'm not searching every day. I'm working on the same things every day. It's consistent. I come to the range, and I put down an alignment stick and I know what I'm doing. I kind of lost myself, my game a little bit, just in the process I've gained some tools in my game, and I've gotten better, and I feel like I can compete at any level after playing U.S. Open and The Open here. Definitely a lot of confidence.

Q. What do you think has clicked?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Oh, I'm just hitting it a lot better, and then, now I'm able to put more time into my putting and my short game. When you're hitting it -- when you're losing your ball-striking, you lose everything because it takes up all of your time. You lose your putting, you lose your short game. You don't lose it, but it's just not as sharp. Yeah, I had definitely a couple things I worked on with my swing that I've grooved in, and I've changed some things in my swing for sure, made some big changes, but also kind of figured out exactly where I want to go with how I go about my golf swing and how I hit my shots. It's been great.

Q. When are you going to turn pro?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Next week at the Canadian Open.

Q. (Inaudible.)
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Yeah, because of McCormack Medal.

Q. Was there any temptation (inaudible)?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: No, I really wanted these experiences in two majors, and I'm absolutely thrilled that I decided to do that. I think it's developed my game. I think it's developed me, incredible experiences. I've become really comfortable around all these guys. I've made good friends with some of the best players in the world, and it's been really cool to learn from them and play some practice rounds with them and catch up with Jordan who's having a decent year and get to know Phil and play a practice round with him. It's been a very comfort -- I feel comfortable out here, whereas the first time you play -- the first big event I played was Scottish Open last year on the European Tour, and you're like, okay, you're on the range with those guys, and it's a little bit like you don't feel like you're belonging at first. You're like, I've got a long way to go. And then I played Abu Dhabi, I played a PGA Tour event, I played a Web.com event that I played well in and two majors, and I feel like I'm ready to be out here.

Q. Jordan Spieth has said he thinks an amateur will win a major in the next decade. What's your take on that?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: That's pretty bold. Maybe today, though, right? I don't know. It could happen. It could happen today. Anything can happen.

Q. The gap is obviously closing?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: The gap is closing, I think, for sure, proof of how six guys at the U.S. Open made the cut, and then five here. That's crazy. I don't think that's happened before.

Q. Next time we see you you won't have a plain sweater.
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Yeah, I'll probably announce those next week, probably sometime in the next week.

Q. Will you be able to increase the contract after this?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: I don't know, I'll talk to my agents, I guess.

Q. When did you realise you were kind of in the mix?
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS: Definitely when I birdied 9 and I drove the green on 10, so I got to 10-under, and I saw the wind was picking up, and I knew it was going to take something special on the back nine because the wind was picking up. But I felt like if I could get to like 13 or 14, there was a decent -- there was a chance. But that's a big order when that wind picked up on the back nine. I was happy to make some good pars on -- 14 is extremely tough today, and it's a par-5 that normally guys are taking advantage of. I was happy to par 14, 15, 16. 17 got me, but I birdied 18; that was great.
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