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NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CHAMPIONSHIP

September 3, 2017

Peter Uihlein

Columbus, Ohio

PETER UIHLEIN: I was planning on playing these four, going right back, playing Dunhill links, Italian open, week off and then the Final Four. I have no idea.

Q. It had to be in your head, like what if; right?
PETER UIHLEIN: No. Not a clue. I had no idea. As of right now I'm not playing any in the fall, unless obviously HSBC. That'll count for both. I haven't even looked at next year's schedule. I don't have a clue. Like I have no idea, no idea when the last event is. I don't know when the first event is. I don't know anything.

Q. What does this mean when you've been chasing this for a while and you've wanted this for a long time?
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah, I think this is the first year I've felt like I really, really, really wanted it. I played a couple -- I played Puerto Rico since April time, I think, and then Houston and then played Memorial, Memphis. I got a taste of three of the majors. People ask what kind of change, why I'm doing this, and it's like, well, I played in Houston this year, and we were off early Sunday morning because of bad weather. It was a huge draw, we were first off of one. It was the first time after we finished playing, got home, first time in my professional career I was home on Sunday night after playing on a Sunday. Never once have I done that. First time I'd been home, I think the Sox game was on. The Sox were playing Yankees. So I got to watch the game on a Sunday night. Never had that in five years.

Q. I was going to say, you don't get Sox games in -- wherever?
PETER UIHLEIN: I'm never home on a Sunday night after playing a round of golf on Sunday while making a cut. So the first time ever, and you kind of like sit back and be like, man, that's pretty convenient. Boys are doing this all the time. It's pretty convenient. So that kind of hit home a little bit, I was like I really kind of want to at least get my PGA TOUR card where I can have moments like that so I can spend a little more time at home with my girlfriend and my two dogs.

Q. You plan to continue both.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. I will play both. There's so many event now in Europe. The Rolex series they created, phenomenal. So there's so many good events over there, you don't really want to miss because there's countries I love going, events I like playing and there's courses I really enjoy over there. It's going to be tough. I gotta sit down and look at both schedules, because I just -- I don't know. I don't know what next year's schedule in Europe. I haven't looked at the PGA TOUR schedule. So as of right now I don't know where I'm going to be playing, but I know I'm going to try and do both and we'll see what happens.

Q. What do you like about over there? Are you sort of a renaissance guy?
PETER UIHLEIN: You know, it's different. I've been very fortunate with my upbringing and who my father is and the opportunities I've had. And you know, in Bradenton in high school I was in a bubble, I go to college Oklahoma State, you're in a bubble. And all of a sudden my first event as a pro I get thrown on a plane to India. So you go there for the first time, really not leaving the country very rarely, and then all of a sudden you go to India, man, this is totally different. It's a different world, it's different cultures, just a different environment. And you know, you get to see things I never would have seen if I didn't leave America.

Like I said, there's just some places that are just phenomenal. And we play an event this year in China where you can see the Great Wall of China. And I went and checked out the Great Wall. They structured it like that. It's incredible.

Q. Which event?
PETER UIHLEIN: It was Volvo China Open.

Q. And here you can see the horseshoe.
PETER UIHLEIN: Which is an unbelievable stadium. We went in college. It was fantastic. Oh, my God. Some of the celebrations they do, the marching band, it's fantastic. It's impressive.

Q. Can you talk about the long putts, kind of made the difference today?
PETER UIHLEIN: 14 was about 12, 15 feet. 15 was a little bit longer, almost 30. So yeah, those were big. I mean at the time I'm just trying to kind of put pressure on Armour. I had no idea where anybody was at. I briefly looked, I think, on 11, I think there was a board somewhere, or I saw something, I saw I may have been one or two back I think at the time. And I just -- at that point I was just trying to make a bunch of birdies, you know. And I thought a birdie on 14 was huge and come back and make birdie on 15, which the way the wind was set out, it felt like those last four were going to be pretty easy compared to where they had been the last few days. A little more of a help. So I felt like that birdie on 15 was big. Didn't make it obviously on 16. Hit a good shot on 17, just missed the putt. And 18 was a nice two-putt.

Q. It's a weird event. There's kind of two prizes. I mean you have a trophy, but even if you didn't have a trophy, your finish would have gotten you the job that you came to do. And it's kind of like you struck gold two for two?
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah, it is. I think it's great what they've done. They've promoted guys like myself and Scott Hend this year and Matt Southgate. You know, years past I think Richard Sterne would come over. It promotes guys from Europe who are playing anywhere in the world that if you make enough points, hey, you can get a PGA TOUR card. You just gotta play well in four events. And I think it's fantastic. It's not forcing guys to go through the school and kind of do things like that. You can essentially Monday qualify. I think a kid from Puerto Rico did that. He top 10'd and top 10'd at Puerto Rico and Compost. Now he's playing in these four as well. So it just shows you I think it's awesome what they're doing and giving guys opportunities they may not have usually had based on sponsors' invites or Monday golfing or things like that. So I think it's fantastic.

Q. Is it nice that you got four weeks to do it but you did it in the first one out?
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. It wasn't part of my plan but I'm glad I did it. Like I said, I'm going to check the schedule out -- I know I'm going to miss the British Masters which is a pretty big event for Europe. So I'm going to have to look into that and see what happens with the schedule change.

Q. So you don't know if you'll play any more playoff events?
PETER UIHLEIN: I don't know. I was told there was perks, I guess or like if you finish high up.

Q. If you finish No. 1 on the Money List, you're fully exempt on tour.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. I didn't know that. Somebody told me that earlier just as I was walking up to doing the presentation. I had no idea. I just assumed guys get the card and you're out.

Q. Well, the status.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. I don't know. I guess I'll make a couple phone calls and see what else.

Q. Any other long putts today that you made in addition to those two we talked about?
PETER UIHLEIN: No. It was an efficient day. I think I only missed one fairway. And then I think the only green I missed I made bogey on 8, really sloppy bogey. So yeah, it was an efficient day today.

Q. I can't remember if you played here before.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. Long time ago.

Q. What were the emotions like when you saw Ryan Armour made bogey on 18 and made one and you got your TOUR card?
PETER UIHLEIN: It's funny, my rookie year, I remember guys, David Howell, how he lost in the playoff, made a long putt. And then Greg (indiscernible) made a bunch of putts on the Welsh Open and Tommy Fleetwood had an unbelievable round on Sunday to win the French Open this year. And you kind of sit there and you think, man, this is probably going to happen again. Ryan is probably going to make birdie. And obviously I didn't -- I started paying attention on the second shot. And obviously I was going to have a tough up and down, but it's like hey, it's been a long time finally something went my way instead of somebody else doing something and kind of swiping it from me. So yeah, it was definitely a good feeling.

Q. This was where Tway got his TOUR card last year, too. Have you talked to him at all about this course?
PETER UIHLEIN: He text me this morning saying good luck, and I know he's got his own thing going on in Boston. I think he needs to play well tomorrow to keep advancing. But I heard from him. I heard from J. T. I've heard from a few guys wishing me good luck. I know J. T. balled out today, so no surprise there.

Q. What do you do better than you did when I watched you win the amateur in 2010?
PETER UIHLEIN: I'm more consistent, I would say. In college I did win a lot, but I was hot and cold, I felt like. But this year in particular with kind of the way I've kind of tried to change my game, I've become a lot more consistent.

Q. Change in what way?
PETER UIHLEIN: Basically just hitting it hard left to right. Did we speak at Memorial?

Q. Yes.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. I was talking about Alex Moore playing in the Sunday at Wentworth this year where he shot 62 and won. I don't think he even sniffed to try and draw^ the golf ball. And around the golf course you're supposed to hit the draw. So that was something I had been doing since December. So that was in May. But being able to kind of see that and have it validate that, hey, you can play golf just hitting it one direction as long as you eliminate one side of the golf course, which is something I've been just absolutely just hammering for the last, you know, since December. So for me it's just kind of a nice validation that you can do that and win doing those things. Like I didn't even sniff drawing a golf ball this week.

Q. I remember you were a pretty good draw player.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah, I used to hit a hard draw. Now I've been a hard fade.

Q. Actually worked at Chambers pretty well, though.
PETER UIHLEIN: Yeah. It's just nice validation for hard work and coming back from surgery and stuff like that.

Q. Surgery.
PETER UIHLEIN: Wrist surgery, yeah. I had wrist surgery, a complete rupture of my TFCC ligament and my wrist bone was broken. So I had surgery last year in May. So I played two events, I think in like October time of last year, played awful. And then came back in December and I've been playing pain free really since. So it's been good.

Q. Three of the last four winners here have already won on TOUR. What is it about this golf course?
PETER UIHLEIN: It's hard. You know, you see scores -- like when I'm overseas and checking scores, seeing how everybody does, you look at the Webb, and guys shoot 30-under and 32-under every week, it feels like. Guys shoot 21-under par. But this week you don't do this. It's the proper test. You gotta drive the ball well. You gotta hit your irons well. And it's a shame that it rained because that first day was phenomenal for how firm and fast the greens were and how difficult it was. You know, it changed the mindset a little bit, you need to make some birdies. But it's not a walk in the park. Pins are in some tough spots, the greens are tricky, and like I said, I had a very -- first day I think I only missed one fairway as well. So I had two days this week where I was very efficient and I was able to attack, so it was nice.

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