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NCAA MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPMay 28, 2018Broc EverettJack O'KeefeStillwater, Oklahoma THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our national champion, Broc Everett, from Augusta University, joining us here tonight. Broc, talk about the day. Obviously exciting for you. Take us through the day, some roller coasters but you were pretty steady all day. BROC EVERETT: Yeah, I just really stayed consistent out there. I didn't get too high or get too low. I had a really good start. Got an unfortunate break on 4 to make bogey, and I just knew that I needed to keep plugging away. You couldn't get too aggressive on this course. You knew that you had to just keep it in play, keep it between the trees and get it on the green and make par. Par is a great score out here, and that's what we did all day, just get in good spots, and then eventually we were able to finish it off. Q. Talk about the extra hole. I know you had a couple chances to end it. It didn't. Your mindset going to that extra playoff hole? BROC EVERETT: Yeah, it was just kind of the same thing. Coach and I picked the same target we had the first time we played it off the tee, and I just pulled it a little bit, and I knew I had to lay up, and I laid up in the first round in the fairway anyway, so it wasn't too unfamiliar. Had a good feel with where that pin was, and I was able to hit a good wedge shot up there, give myself a good look at it. Yeah, was just kind of staying consistent the whole day. Q. What are your overall thoughts on Karsten Creek and how you've played it this entire week? BROC EVERETT: Yeah, it's a course that's very visually intimidating, and it can really get in people's heads because there is so much brush and there are so many tall grasses there that if you hit a poor tee shot, you're in trouble. But there really is a lot of room out there. There's basically 65 to 70 yards from tree to tree line on every single hole, minus 17 and maybe 10, and you just have to get it in your head that you have to just hit a decent shot. You don't even have to hit great drives, you just have to hit decent drives in the middle of the fairway, keep it between the trees. It's obviously a very demanding golf course. Even the greens out there are very difficult with the difficult tee shots, but I was able to keep it in play the whole time, so I never really had to worry about the trees, which made life very easy on a very difficult golf course. Q. Coach, talk about what you saw out there today from Broc, and what led to the championship? JACK O'KEEFE: Well, I think it was right from the beginning, we had an in-between yardage and not a great shot shape, and Broc chose to lay up, and he's the ultimate decision maker out there. I just provide some advice and then let him make the right choice. He made a great choice there, and that was typical of the whole week. I think it was a good thing that he hit a poor drive in the playoff and the other guy hit a good drive. When he laid up, I think the other guy maybe thought he had an advantage, and I knew that we would have a good look, and Broc is the best putter that I've ever been around. So knowing that you give him two chances, I think we'll go with those odds. But to his credit, his wedge game was awesome this week. His putting was excellent. He made, I think, six bogeys all week, maybe seven, so that's a big key on a big golf course like that, and obviously no doubles. But we talked through all the shots really well, made good decisions all the time, and took what the golf course gave us. I think the big key, too, was you had to know where the wind was, and we talked about that with each shot all the way through the whole week? Q. Broc, just summarize what this means for you. Obviously a huge win for you as you continue to build your career. BROC EVERETT: Absolutely. I mean, I'm playing Canadian Tour this summer, and going into that, there's a ton of positive vibes, really. My whole career going forward -- I knew I was playing good up to this point. I had a month of really good golf these last few weeks. Not too many rounds over par, honestly, and I just knew, just keep trucking along, just keep staying consistent and don't get too aggressive on a course like this. It's an incredible feeling really. I can't even describe it honestly right now. Q. Do you have any idea how far your game has progressed from when you entered college until now? BROC EVERETT: I'm sure Coach could also answer this, but when I first got to school, because Coach came in at the semester my freshman year, and I was redshirting that year, and I know that the women's coach at the time, because we didn't have a head coach, she was like, yeah, he might not be a guy you keep around for another year. And fortunately, I was able to have a decent spring, put am some decent scores where Coach is like, okay, you can stay around and keep working hard because he saw that I worked hard every day and that I didn't settle for just staying the same way. I was always trying to progress and keep getting better. Coach gave me the opportunity to stick around and just kept growing every single year, really. Q. Did one guy inspire you with his strong wedge game, Zach Johnson? BROC EVERETT: Maybe just a little bit, yeah. Obviously if you're from Iowa, you're a Zach Johnson fan, and Zach is obviously a huge role model. You know if you can go from Iowa and win majors like he has, anybody can do it. He's been a huge role model for sure. Q. You played four sports in high school? BROC EVERETT: The four sports, I played golf in the fall, basketball in the winter, track and field in the spring, and then baseball during the summer. Q. Were you good at any other ones? BROC EVERETT: I was debating between baseball and golf going into college. I was really -- I was a good pitcher, left-handed pitcher. Could throw mid-80s. So it was kind of a toss-up between which sport I wanted to play heading into my junior year of high school, and I finally just decided that golf is such a great sport and great people in the game, and it really motivated me to just keep getting better at golf. Pick a sport and stick to it and see how good I could become. Q. Coach, talk really quickly about what it means at Augusta to have an individual win the championship? JACK O'KEEFE: Obviously Karsten Creek is a special place, and we had a lot of good momentum from regional championship at Raleigh, and then coming here, everybody is like, last time it was played here, you guys won. We have such a young team, but our guys have come so far this year, and to be here was a definite goal. We wanted to make the cut, and we thought we had a chance even yesterday. But this is a special place, and Broc having to play here was a big advantage, but you still have to hit the shots and make the putts. We have the Masters champion this year from Augusta State, now we have additionally the individual champion. It's pretty special times, and Augusta is a pretty special place, and golf is very important there as it is here, and we're trying to get better each day, and things and situations like this allow us to branch out and keep our program moving forward. Q. Broc, talk about the significance of this place for you. BROC EVERETT: Yeah, I mean, in Augusta, golf is the sport. Like we don't have football team at Augusta University. We are the team at Augusta that everybody roots for, and everybody is behind. We're the only Division I sport at our school, so we really have a lot of support from a lot of different people, and to have two national championships as a team is incredible, and to add an individual champion to that, as well, it just shows that you can become a great player at Augusta. It has all the tools there. It has everything that you need. I remember my freshman year I was talking with another player on the team, and we said everything at Augusta University, that's all you need to become a professional golfer, to be a successful golfer. You have everything you need there. Yeah, it's very significant. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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