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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2017

Matt Every

Greensboro, North Carolina

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Matt Every, thank you for joining us here at the Wyndham Championship. After a round of 61. Let's talk about what you did do right. You were one shot lower than your previous low 62.

MATT EVERY: I don't want to be that guy. Everybody can shoot one less, right? I played good. I've been playing good for awhile. Just nice to see it.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: We saw you in Memphis with the low 1st Round and Canada things started clicking for you. Talk a little bit about what you see coming through with your game.

MATT EVERY: I'm driving it way better. The last couple years a lot of people would have quit the game in my position with what has kind of crept into my game.

So mentally I'm in a better spot over the ball. And then I've gained a lot -- I've gained a lot of distance with the driver and I'm hitting it straight.

Things are just easier when do you that, you know? Then my irons are fine and my putting right now is a little iffy. I don't feel great over it. I didn't need to make putts today. I don't think I made hardly anything today. But yeah, I'm thrilled to be where I'm at.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Great. We will get questions here.

Q. Matt, you talk about lot of guys would have quit given -- if they were in the same position. How did you dig your way out of that? It sounds like it was tough over the last couple of years.
MATT EVERY: There's no like -- you know, you can't go to like a sports psychologist and just be I pay this guy, he's going to fix me, you know? Just doesn't work that way.

I just think it's what people have inside of them to get you out.

Lot of it for me is I find certain ways to -- well, all right. There's a mechanical issue in my swing. I fixed it but knowing -- I knew what it was so what would happen is on -- I would -- I knew it was wrong.

So like right in my swing I would just stop, you know, and then instead of keep going and just kind of fake it out there and maybe barely miss the fairway, my body just kind of stopped and it would go either straight right or way left.

But, yeah, I find ways to motivate. I practice my butt off man, I really do. You know, other -- like last week for me I was at home I watched the PGA at home. That sucked for me. I don't go to bed at night saying there's a 144 guys better than me that are playing in this tournament. I can't do that. That's kind of a way I might motivate myself a little bit.

Just little tricks I play on myself.

Q. Sounds like it was a combination of physical thing and mental thing like crept into your mind a little bit and became a mental thing.
When did you get the fix that you knew what to do to hit it out there straight off the tee and then when did it finally start clicking?

MATT EVERY: I haven't hit it a real -- there is bad drives and then there's foul balls. There's a big difference.

You know, like I hit one left on 11 day, probably missed the fairway by 20 yards but it was not a foul ball.

Where was I at? I started working with Scott Hamilton awhile ago, maybe like four, five months ago, and he has this like studio in Atlanta, just outside of Atlanta and I got on a pressure mat and I was moving off the ball a little bit into my right heel a little too much.

This is probably too much information.

But basically I was -- for me what I feel the fix is is I just -- I don't have any like C bend through the ball, like I just kind of keep everything moving forward because what happens if I stop, I'm underneath and stuck and can't play from underneath, whatever.

But, yeah, for me -- I've had opportunities to hit those foul balls mentally. Like been over shots in the last few months and this would be -- because I recycled -- this is my second year, like two years into the struggle so I played a lot of these courses with the foul balls, you know, so I'll get over a shot, I know where I've hit them, you know?

So -- but I've hit good shots on those holes this year. So, it's been good.

Q. When was the lowest point where you said you almost quit? Is that just something you guys say or --
MATT EVERY: Yeah. I didn't almost quit. I think a lot of people would have. I mean I think -- I think a lot -- I think a lot about -- I have a high regard for my talent.

Like I know I'm as talented as anyone out here. Maybe like five guys are a little more talented than me (laughter).

So I couldn't let myself quit. There's a lot of low points though, man. Just life. Everything that I've been through I've brought on myself. So, I don't need any sympathy or anything. It's just the way my path has been so far the last couple years.

I'm going to have a career here next year. I'm planning on it.

Q. You shot 61, you looked pretty grumpy going to the scorer's table?
MATT EVERY: It's hot as hell outside.

Q. Does Bay Hill two years ago feel like a lifetime ago or really not that far away?
MATT EVERY: It does. It does. I will say this: My good stuff right now is so much better than my good stuff two years ago. I can hit big golf shots now and it's fun. It keeps me coming back, you know. So, it does feel a long time ago but that's all right.

Q. What was the best shot you hit today? You start the way you started, had to be a pretty good one.
MATT EVERY: It was a good one. Hit a lot of good drives. I don't know. It was pretty solid day, yeah. My best one was on 12, I hit a 4-iron that was really good to like four feet.

Q. Matt, we're all sitting there going he's tied for the led and all of a sudden, oh, my gosh, he's at 9.
To keep that going how do you carry that into tomorrow as well as opposed to playing out of your mind?

MATT EVERY: Yeah. I don't know. This isn't my first time. It's one round. I know that. I know that if I keep playing well I'll be all right.

Q. How greedy are PGA golfers? Did you walk off the final hole, if I would have got that, could have been much better?
MATT EVERY: Little. Little. But it's very -- I find it very unattractive so I don't want to be that person.

I don't like eating lunch in the lunch room because of that, like guys talking about their rounds and stuff like that, yeah.

Q. So probably the only one who really understands what it's like to be in between the ropes and doing what you do is another player out here.
Who reached out to you in the last couple of years, if anybody, just to say, "Look, keep it up, I know you're doing the right thing, hang in there?"

Was there any moment like that or any fellow player like that?

MATT EVERY: That's a good question. All right. So with what -- you can call them the drive yips. There's probably a handful of guys that have been through them out here. I don't want to go to someone and ask them that has had it and can ask about it because I didn't want to bring it up. I would never -- like that's just not me. Nobody, really.

Everyone else out here has their own deal. They don't give a crap about me.

Q. How does it feel standing over the driver now like today versus how did it feel a year ago, two years ago?
MATT EVERY: Yeah. Great. Today was great. It's been -- it has been great for awhile. Two years ago it was terrible. Like a year or two -- the worse part was I would either flush it or re-tee, you know? Which is very frustrating. Yeah, so it's night and day.

Q. You talked about not having dinner or lunch with other people. It looks like you have some fear.
Do you work on like maybe getting your emotions better?

MATT EVERY: Do I have fears of eating with people?

Q. Yes, not having people talking to you.
MATT EVERY: No. No. I'm not avoiding them. I just -- what am I going to talk to them about? Like if I went in there today, I get my back patted. I don't need that.

So -- I'm easy to get along with. I don't think anyone out here doesn't like me. It's my deal. It's none of my business what they think of me, really.

So, the reason I didn't want to go in and eat is because -- or the reason I don't like eating is because it's usually golf that's talked about when you're done. Oh, man, I hit it in the divot on this hole or I did this.

Q. What do you think that makes you happy to talk about?
MATT EVERY: Oh, man. Well, how long are we going to be here (laughter)? I love music, my kids. I'm pretty easygoing, yeah. Yeah.

Q. Is that part of the challenge out here is not having golf 24/7 and finding other things kind of to occupy your mind?
MATT EVERY: Yeah. There's a ton of down time out here, a lot. Lot of guys fill with it social media now. That's not me. So, it is a challenge.

Q. Matt, you have to be proud of your round today.
MATT EVERY: Yeah, I am.

Q. When you look back on it, that's a pretty good feeling to be in a two stroke lead right now heading into the next day.
MATT EVERY: I'm really proud of it. It's my lowest ever on Tour. It's pretty cool. I don't know what it was before, maybe 63 or 4.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: 62.

MATT EVERY: Lost a lot of brain cells. Yeah, I am very excited about where my game is. Like, you know, if something crazy didn't happen this week I have a break because I'm not going to make the Playoffs.

I'm a little bummed about not having anything to play in because I really feel like I'm playing well. Hopefully I can keep it going and move on.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: All right. Matt, thank you so much for your time today.

MATT EVERY: Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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