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KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 25, 2018

Scott McCarron

Benton Harbor, Michigan

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon again, welcome back to the 79th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Round two leader at present, Mr. Scott McCarron. Scott, you fired an 8-under -- he is at 8-under, he fired a 3-under 68 today, six birdies, three bogeys and the rest pars. Scott, let's talk about your round. Really solid on the front, a little flutter there in the back, but you ended strong, a couple birdies and then a string of pars.

SCOTT MCCARRON: Well the golf course is playing tough out there today. There's just enough wind to keep you guessing a little bit. As you know, as Jack was describing, these greens, he said, have a little spice to them. I think they have a lot of spice to them. We have a lot of undulation and if you don't hit it in the right quadrant on the green you're going to have a very difficult time to 2-putt or make par. So I was able to do that most of the day, couple times I got on the wrong side and where some of these hole locations are today and it just made it a little tough and I made a couple bogeys on a couple of the par-3s.

Other than that I played pretty solid, I drove it really well and that's something, as Jack alluded to, you got to do at this golf course.

And I made a bunch of birdies, six birdies is a lot of birdies out there, I would just like to have a couple of those bogeys back. But we're in a good position going into the weekend.

JOHN DEVER: You sure are. And you've really been in a good position the last few years in this championship. You debuted in the championship two years ago right here, tied for 7th and last year in DC, T-5. So is there something about this championship, this course, that you, that hits your fancy there.

SCOTT MCCARRON: Well this golf course is one I really liked the first time I came to it. It's a golf course that you got to drive the ball well, I've got a little length so it's a little advantage on a couple of the par-5s and the par-4 number 3 where they moved the tee up and yesterday with the tee back I still hit driver right in that front bunker. So I'm able to take advantage on some of those short holes, which is key out here. But I like the golf course, it's a lot of fun to play, you got some great holes, 7 and 8, back there on the dunes, there's some really tough little holes there that you got to watch out for. And then it's got some par-5s that I can reach and make some birdies and be aggressive with. Then you got a great finishing stretch, 16, 17, 18. Those holes today with the wind playing a little bit in off the left on 16 and in off the left on 18 are two tough holes today.

JOHN DEVER: Sound like a good fit. Questions?

Q. In light of what Jack said, what did you have for dinner and breakfast and will you be having it again tomorrow?
SCOTT MCCARRON: I probably will. I went to the Bread Bar last night for dinner. Tim Foley, the head chef up there that owns it, he's a become a friend of ours. We went there four times last time we were here. Food's fantastic. But I'm like Jack, I try to eat something a little bland, maybe a little chicken, pork something like that. I'm certainly not going to go very spicy tonight.

Q. Who you would you assess your year thus far?
SCOTT MCCARRON: Well, the year's gone okay. I got five top-10s, with a second place at Newport, but I haven't played the way that I would like to. I've had a some equipment problems. My driver cracked, had to replace it. 3-wood cracked, had to replace it. The wedges, all the grooves were gone, I had to replace those. And then my putter had a TSA mishap and that broke when I opened it about two months ago -- so actually two and a half months ago. So I've had to adjust to a new putter and it's been difficult. Every club in the bag's brand new and just trying to make those adjustments and get used to them. And I actually went to an, I've been putting with kind of a backup putter that I had from TaylorMade, they only made a couple of them, they made them special for me with the center post shaft and it just didn't quite feel right and I changed last Sunday because I wasn't putting that great all week long at the Tradition, the Regions Tradition, and started putting better on Sunday. So using it again this week and seem to be putting pretty good with it.

Q. You have seven top-10s in 11 major starts including a win at the Constellation Senior PLAYERS. What do you attribute your success in these senior majors to?
SCOTT MCCARRON: Well I think the senior majors, a lot of tournaments we play, the golf courses are a little bit tougher, the conditions are a little bit tougher, the rougher's a little bit thicker, the golf course seems to be a little bit longer and some of these championships. So I like that. I think it's an advantage for me, a guy that hits it far and hits it pretty straight to play some of these longer-type golf courses. So it just -- you get to many of these majors and it has a little bit bigger feel than what we usually have on some of our tournaments on our TOUR. For me it's a lot of fun. I think I get up for the majors, I never won a major on the PGA TOUR, I had some chances. So as Jack said to me at his house a year ago when I went and played at a pro-am for him, he said to me, you know what, one of the things I really regret is I didn't play more on the Champions Tour, I loved the Champions Tour, I loved being out there with all my friends, I loved the competition.

And I really took that to heart, meaning that I'm going to play as much as I can and I'm going to get ready to play and try and win as many of these majors as I can. Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer that he's ever lived and for him to say that he wished he played more on the Champions Tour I think that means a lot.

JOHN DEVER: Does having that extra round as compared to more of the standard events, does that allow the talent to come through and help you perform?

SCOTT MCCARRON: I think it might a little. When we play just three days, you got to get off to a good start, you cannot have a mediocre day, you got to go low just about every day.

Out here with four rounds in the major championship if you have just an okay day, a couple under, you are still going to be okay. So you can still come back from that. So I think that maybe the cream rises to the top a little bit more on some of these majors and that's why, you look at the major championship winners over the years, you got some of the Hall of Fame and some of the best players that ever played the gale game winning these tournaments.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on what it will be like playing in a potentially playing in the final group tomorrow?
SCOTT MCCARRON: I'm used to it. I play in final groups a lot. It's fun for me. I've always kind of been a guy who enjoys playing off the crowd, the more people coming out to watch us is better. So I like being in the final group. Whether I will be or not, I have no idea. I think there will probably be some pretty low scores out there but I'll be somewhere in the final group or second or third to last group. I enjoy that feeling of playing in the final group, that's where I want to be.

JOHN DEVER: Sounds like you have a little bit of a relationship, deeper relationship than maybe most with Jack. Maybe if you could talk about that just because he was out here today and the timing and such.

SCOTT MCCARRON: I think it means a lot for our TOUR to have Jack around and it means a lot for this PGA Championship to have Jack come by. This is his golf course, Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, they took an area that was a reclaimed area and turned it into a beautiful golf course. And they're building homes and they got a brewery out there and a hamburger joint -- I guess I'm not going to that hamburger joint after Jack said no hamburgers -- but to have him out here to come by this tournament it really means a lot. He's a great guy, he's a guy that was my hero growing up. When I was a kid we would all play golf in Napa and everybody would choose a guy. So someone was Jack, someone was Gary, someone got to be Hogan, and I always wanted to be Jack.

JOHN DEVER: All right, Scott, thank you very much, good best of luck this weekend and play well.

SCOTT MCCARRON: Yeah, thanks, John.

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