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SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

October 31, 2017

A.J. McInerney

Las Vegas, Nevada

DOUG MILNE: We'll get started. I'd like to welcome A.J. McInerney in the interview room here for a few minutes prior to your first career PGA TOUR start at Shriners Hospital for Children Open. We know you've got some Web.com experience, so just a few comments on the sponsor invite that's led to your first career PGA TOUR start.

A.J. MCINERNEY: Right. To have this opportunity here this week in Las Vegas, my hometown, where I was born and raised is an opportunity that I've been looking forward to since I was 15 or 16 years old. You know, in the midst of everything that's happened over the last month or so, to get the chance to play here this week and kind of play for Las Vegas, and just see all these people out here in the Vegas community come together, it's an opportunity that I'll never forget, for sure.

DOUG MILNE: We know that's been the main subject of conversation for the past month or so. We know the story of you being there so much. How much now that a month has elapsed, are you still getting asked about it a lot? Here I am asking you about it, but is it still a big topic of conversation, and are you still good to spread the message of how the strength and unity of Las Vegas?

A.J. MCINERNEY: Yeah, and I think that's the biggest thing is the strength and unity of Las Vegas. It was a very traumatic and crazy experience to go through. It was pretty surreal that it was actually happening, but you know, it happened, and we were lucky. Most of my friends made it out uninjured. But, yeah, there were a lot of people that died that night, and a lot of people who were shot and killed.

Just the way that Las Vegas came together though is pretty incredible to see the blood banks fill up. I had a friend that waited in line for 12 hours to donate blood. They were at a certain point kind of turning people away unless you had a certain type. Then just everything that went on that night, saving lives, I think, the heroic efforts of pretty much everyone that was there and the first responders that showed up saved a lot of lives that night. It could have been a lot worse than it was.

Q. (Inaudible). What could be done to gain a higher profile and bring in some of the bigger players? What are some of your thoughts on that?
A.J. MCINERNEY: I think the timing of the event is tough. A lot of guys are taking some time off right now, right, so maybe that. But, yeah, I think this year, especially in the midst of what happened on October 1st, with the largest mass shooting in U.S. history happening just a few miles down the road, I think that's brought a lot of attention to the golf tournament, and it's certainly brought a lot of attention to Las Vegas.

I know that Bubba's here, and I heard that he wanted to be here to support the tournament and support Las Vegas, and I think that's really cool.

Q. A.J., obviously this is a huge tourist destination, Las Vegas. But people who aren't familiar with how close the local community is, what has the process been like the last month?
A.J. MCINERNEY: Las Vegas is a very small community, when you think about it. Everybody kind of knows everybody. I don't think there's one person in Las Vegas who wasn't in some way affected by that night. I mean, everyone here knew at least someone there or friends of someone that was there. Just the way that the support that not only we got, me and my girlfriend and our close friends that were there, but every morning across the board when you go through social media or through Facebook, all the pages that were created and stuff the support that Las Vegas got and those people got has been outstanding.

I think that's really helped the coping process of the whole thing. Because it is still something that we think about every day. But we are lucky. The support that we got has helped a lot.

Q. Moving to the on-course stuff, can you kind of clarify this next month for you? And what would a finish here, obviously top 10 gets you moving on, but what would a finish and making the cut mean for your career right now and moving forward?
A.J. MCINERNEY: Yeah, I played a full season on the Web.com Tour last year. I did not finish in the top 25. So, this is my first PGA TOUR event ever, and to play it in my hometown in Las Vegas, first off, it's amazing. I dreamed about it since I was 15 or 16. Having a good finish here this week would be great for my career.

Playing on the PGA TOUR only does good things. I'm still going to be at the second stage of Q-School in Texas that starts on Tuesday. So unless I were to get a win here this week and get that two-year exemption to become a member of the PGA TOUR, I'd need to go to second stage. So even with the top 10, I'd still go to second stage.

Q. (Inaudible)?
A.J. MCINERNEY: It feels good. A big part of me is my back, making sure I'm healthy. Through college I only played a few full semesters because I was dealing with a lot of injuries. So that was a big week for me. Finishing the Web.com Tour season was getting my back healthy again. I was able to do that leading up to the shooting. Since then, it's been great. My body feels really good. Helped me train here this week, and I'm looking forward to the week.

Q. A.J., what did you learn in your first full season that's proven to be invaluable moving forward?
A.J. MCINERNEY: I learned a lot. I turned pro just for Q-school. I had to go to prequalifying for Q-school. So I played all four stages. Played some of the best golf of my life through that. Started off well, made the first nine cuts on the Web.com Tour. Then I just kind of got in a little bit of a funk. I was playing too much, I think. And that's kind of what I learned. Played 13 out of 14 weeks in a row there at the end.

My history of health issues with my back, you know, I did feel okay, but I didn't feel a hundred percent, and that's what I learned. I don't know how many events I can play in a row. I'm still trying to figure that out.

But if I had to say playing more than three in a row, that's a lot for my body, and I just kind of got in that mindset where I had to play and I had to make money to get that top 25. That's kind of your goal all year. At the end of the day, if you don't show up to the event feeling 100%, then you're really doing yourself a disservice by doing that versus taking that week off. Feeling healthy, feeling ready to go for when you do come back.

Q. (Inaudible) was that a June, July stretch?
A.J. MCINERNEY: Yeah, I went on a little stretch there where I missed a few cuts in a row. Just kind of got down a little bit, switched caddies. You know, you start thinking when you're new to this and you want to make it out and you want to be successful right away, and it's easy to get like that. Just sitting back and knowing what you do well and what you have to do well each week to play good is important. And I think I lost sight of that a little bit.

Q. How many times did you attend a tournament, this tournament, as a fan?
A.J. MCINERNEY: Probably every year since I was 14. In the last few years in college, we had some events maybe where I could only come out early in the week and see some of my friends who were playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday. We were traveling with UNLV, but it's been every year.

Q. Last week Jonathan Randolph, a local guy from the area, he actually stayed in a hotel versus staying at home because he was just getting bombarded. I imagine you're probably getting friends and so forth kind of crawling out of the woodwork with ticket requests going through the roof. Is that a way to keep your focus with obviously a lot going on this week?
A.J. MCINERNEY: Absolutely, yeah. You hear from a lot of people. A lot of people wishing you well and happy to see me playing here this week. I have a lot of ticket requests, and I kind of set that up. Once I found out I was playing, I started thinking about that, and my agent will be here -- I think he just landed maybe 30 minutes ago or so. So he'll be out here to help me with that.

When I registered Monday morning, I got all the tickets and took them to my mom, actually, last night, and I handed them to her. And I said, you're in charge. So I took care of my girlfriend and her brother and the few of my really close friends that needed a ticket, then as far as family and all the other tickets went, that's kind of my mom.

Q. Smart man.
A.J. MCINERNEY: I just wanted to be able to focus on golf starting today.

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