	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

November 4, 2015

Smylie Kaufman

Jackson, Mississippi

MARK STEVENS: Like to welcome Smylie Kaufman. Thank you for taking the time to come in and talk. You're about to make your first start in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Kind of talk about I'm sure you were on the course yesterday. Your thoughts on the course, and coming into the week after your first win on TOUR at the Shriners Hospital Open two weeks ago?

SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, the last year has been kind of wild. This time last year I missed a Monday qualifier here, so it's kind of exciting to actually be here and made it here on my own right.

Yeah, the course is in great shape, greens are rolling really well. Hopefully it dries out. I know it's rained a lot here, the same rain we got in Birmingham, so I know there is nothing you can do about it, but overall excited about the week.

Q. What have you been up to the last couple weeks since your win and how have things changed?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: A lot of this, lot of media stuff. Just kind of life-changing things that I'm not really used to. But overall it's been a fun experience and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Also your name, Smylie, kind of has ties to the Jackson, Mississippi area. If you want to give us a little background on that?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Yeah, well, I think my great grandfather actually was a member of Jackson Country Club. But nobody's confronted me about my great grandfather, so I guess most of the people that knew him have already passed, so I have no idea. But it's more meridian.

My grandmother's Cousin Smylie Gebhart, he was a paraplegic. My granddad used to take my dad when we would drive from Birmingham to Baton Rouge for LSU football games, and my dad always wanted to name his first son after Smylie Gebhart, which is who I'm named after. Just a great guy. Yeah, definitely some Meridian, Jackson ties for me this week.

Q. Since I talked to you, I found out Smylie Gebhart was a member here?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Oh, he was?

Q. Yeah, he was a member of the country club?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: See, I did not know that. That's kind of crazy when you think about it.

Q. I was just wondering, obviously to have such a huge round on a Sunday and win a tournament like that, what's that do for you just going forward?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: It gets me into some really sweet golf tournaments. But confidence has been huge. You see yourself holing some big putts, and it's only going to keep transferring to better situations for me when late Sunday I might have the lead this time rather than coming from behind. So for me it just builds confidence and just lets myself know that I can do it in clutch situations.

Q. When you think about leaving here last year after missing out on the Monday qualifying, what were your emotions like and what was the uncertainty?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Well, that next week was second stage of Q-school, and I knew I was playing well. I thought I'd have a really good week here if I got in, and I was in an 8 for 1 playoff, and I got it down to two for one. And I lost, I don't remember the kid's name, he was a high school kid. I can't remember the kid's name. Cameron Beckman, that's what his name was.

That was really tough because when he got down to 2-1, I thought that was probably the easiest. There were so many unbelievable players in that playoff that I recognized their names growing up and just to get down to us two I was like, okay, I should beat this kid, and kind of got a bad break.

Really, we've talked to a lot of different people about it, and I think it's probably the best thing that happened for me because I was well-rested going into the second stage. For me that was the most important thing was getting through second stage and getting status on the Web.com Tour.

So there were definitely some pros and cons. I was really upset at the time and really was looking forward to playing last year Jackson because I felt like I was playing really well and could have competed. But it worked out in the end.

Q. Secondly, I know you had some ambitious goals as a rookie, but to win so soon, how much does that free you up?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Oh, it's unbelievable how much it frees me up. Kind of the same thing happened last year on the Web. I kind of won semi-early in the year, but I had a little bit of hardship on the Web.com last year. Started out my first three events, missed the first three cuts, and then kind of got on a roll and finished top 5 in two events and won Indiana.

But, yeah, same thing happened to me this year. I started out in one early so it kind of frees me up. And I kind of dealt with the same pressure last year or the situation is in I want to now like how do you prepare? How do you redefine your goals? So it's a lot of different things I'm actually used to from last year. So I'm going to probably take a different approach than I did last year and hopefully finish the year and complete the goals I wanted to do.

Q. What did you learn from last year?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: Last year overall Web.com was perfect for me. It's a great learning experience. That TOUR really prepared me for all different types of things. As far as when you miss a ton of cuts and how do you get out of that and how do you prepare when you're playing well and when you're not playing well? It's just a lot of things you wouldn't know coming out of college your first year and playing a full schedule, that really helped me.

Yeah, just I think all those experiences have helped me in the early part of this PGA TOUR schedule.

Q. When you won at Victoria National I was really impressed when I spoke with you. That's a tough golf course, and you were one of the few guys that on Sunday you said, no, man, I'm going to stay aggressive, and it worked out for you. Has your strategy changed at all now that you're out on the PGA TOUR or are you still just firing at every pin?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: I think I was maybe just last year at Victoria National you had to be aggressive off tees or you'd be out there all day. If you were not aggressive at all on these tee shots, you'd be having 6 and 5-irons to the pins and I was hitting drivers, sticking different lines.

Most of the time if you give me a wedge or short iron in my hand, I'll be fairly aggressive but to an extent. But if you put a short iron in my hand, I'm going to be fairly aggressive. I try to aim to the middle parts of the greens on just different the shots. For the most part, no, not really.

I'd say I've stayed fairly aggressive. I like to make a lot of birdies and I've proven that last year on the Web.com Tour. I think I was up there in the category of birdies, and early this year it's been the same. I've made a lot of birdies out here. So I think I'm just a person that's always made a lot of birdies, and hopefully that trend continues.

Q. You made a statement that you put a flag in the ground for the 2010 class with all the attention the '11 class got. As a whole, this group of young guys and you look at the young ages winning, what do you think sets your group apart?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: It's always been so competitive. My class and 2011, just growing up in the junior golf circuit and amateur deal, every week you went out in junior golf and amateur stuff, and you knew you were playing against really good players that were future pros.

Most of those guys are a lot better than I was as juniors and amateurs, but I always felt like my talent level matched with theirs, except they had everything figured out. Once I got caught up and everything kind of dialed in together, I kind of started to realize I can compete with these same guys that beat me as juniors.

It's really been fun for me because I saw these guys in such a high level, and I just had so many respect for their games, and now I'm starting to believe that I can beat these guys on a normal basis, and it's exciting. It really is.

Q. Who did you run up against the most?
SMYLIE KAUFMAN: For me, it was Bobby Wyatt. He hasn't quite put his foot in the ground. But Bobby's the guy that's going to be a future PGA TOUR player. It's just a matter of time before he figures it out and gets out here.

But me and him had a lot of fun battles in junior golf. But I wouldn't say I was competing like at the AGGA level with the Jordan Spieths. I was kind of more middle of the pack, top 20, but did my best, I guess.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297