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THE 147TH OPEN

July 22, 2018

Sam Locke

Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

MIKE WOODCOCK: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined by the winner of the silver medal for the 147th Open here at Carnoustie, Sam Locke.

Sam, first congratulations. Great achievement this week. Can you sum up how you feel after four rounds in The Open.

SAM LOCKE: Obviously, it's a great feeling to have won the silver medal and make the cut in my first major as well. Obviously, the back nine today wasn't what I wanted, but overall, I'm really pleased to be here. Just for a start, playing in the tournament, let alone making the cut and doing reasonably well.

So, yeah, it was good fun then. I learned lots from it.

MIKE WOODCOCK: There's some great players that have won the silver medal over the years. That must give you a lot of confidence having matched that achievement.

SAM LOCKE: Yeah, it's really nice to know you're in the company of some of the great names in golf. Hopefully, if I can just keep working hard and doing what I'm doing, there's no reason why I can't become a big name. But, yeah, it's a great feeling.

Q. What's been the highlight, the best moment of this week?
SAM LOCKE: I think just playing. You know, the crowd have been brilliant with me. I've had a lot of support, more than I was expecting, which was really nice. I think that maybe came with being the only Scot left, especially the last few days.

It was brilliant walking down 18 today, despite though I had a poor back nine today. You'll never forget an experience like that. So, yeah, probably walking down 18.

Q. Well done. Has this whole experience sunk in?
SAM LOCKE: Not really, no. When I won the qualifier to get in here, I was obviously absolutely delighted. But I want to come here. It's a great chance for me to make a name for myself. Yeah, I've really enjoyed the experience. Hopefully, I'll be back soon.

Q. You've obviously been working with Paul Lawrie. What kind of things have the other players been saying to you? Have they been passing you any advice during the week?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah. One of the things Tom said was how he dealt with when he was nervous. It's a different approach to how I've never heard it before. It was nice to learn that. He said he deals with it more physically, slowing his walks down. Instead of thinking of it mentally. He kind of thought of it in a different way.

So it was great to obviously meet him and pick his brains and learn from him. He's obviously a great of the game, and hopefully I can follow in his footsteps.

Q. Sam, you talked with us earlier in the week about your plans. How do you feel right now what you might do in the next few weeks?
SAM LOCKE: I'm going to have to sit and have a think about it. I'm just -- you know, I've just thoroughly enjoyed being here and learning a lot and soaking it all in. But we'll see. We'll need to have a think and make a proper decision.

Q. Sam, you had a chance to speak to Tom Watson. A, how did that come about? And B, how long did you actually spend with him in the end?
SAM LOCKE: I was asked yesterday after I got off the course, and I was told he was wanting to come and meet me. I couldn't believe it really. It was nice to know. We spent about probably 15, 20 minutes together, with my mom and dad as well, which was nice. It was really nice.

Q. Was he a hero of your dad?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah, he was -- we were all, wow, we're meeting Tom Watson. He's a massive name in the game. So it was great to know that he wanted to meet me. Hopefully, I can just keep working hard and have a similar career to what he's had.

Q. Obviously, members from Stonehaven have been looking after the 17 this week. How have they has that been? I might say your granddad was possibly there one day.
SAM LOCKE: Yeah, he was. Just in general, when I've been playing, I've been trying to just focus on playing. Yeah, the crowds have been brilliant. They've obviously been in support of knowing me, but I was trying to focus as much as I could but try and soak it in as well. So it was good fun.

Q. Will you be taking the silver medal to show them? I know the Scottish amateur title resides in Stonehaven at the moment.
SAM LOCKE: Yeah, I will for sure. I'm just trying to enjoy it just now and have it with my family as well. It's a nice thing for us.

Q. Sam, many congratulations.
SAM LOCKE: Thank you.

Q. I'm just wondering, when you qualified for The Open, did you think that winning the silver medal was possible? Was it a target in your mind?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah, definitely. I earned my spot here, and rightly so. I played nice golf to get here. But, yeah, I just came and wanted to do the best I could, and I felt my best golf would be -- well, you never know where it's going to bring you in this game.

Yeah, I didn't feel as though I had complete control off the tee this week, but I chipped and putted pretty nice, which helped. So it was nice to kind of hang in there and just make the cut and get the silver medal.

Q. Hi, Sam. There's been a lot of talk about your day job working for Paul Lawrie. When you have to clock back in and start making coffee again? Also, as a followup, you say you're going to think about things over the next few weeks. How much advice would you expect to take from Paul on that?
SAM LOCKE: Well, firstly, I'll probably be in on Tuesday working. But, yeah, we'll obviously, with my family and Paul and the foundation, we'll all sit down and have a chat because we need to make the right decision, whatever that may be.

But, yeah, to have him there, he's been and done everything. So he'll obviously have some great advice and put me on the right path.

Q. Sam, well done. Do you think with what's happened this week, it will have a big influence on your decision in what you do next, even speed up a decision?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah. I was wanting to make the Walker Cup next year. That was a goal of mine. And this is obviously a slightly different thought in my mind, too. But as I said, we need to sit and have a proper think about this. Right now we just need to enjoy the situation we're in. It will be a few days before we come to a decision.

Q. Sam, would it be overstating the case to say that you came into this week as a boy and you go out of it as a man? And how do you deal with all this sort of hoopla that surrounds the game at this level?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah. I mean, you never get this in amateur golf. So all the media and all the fans and just the magnitude of the tournament is obviously a thing that's a new experience for me and one that I've thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed, and I've I've learned a lot from it. Hopefully, in the future, it stands me in good stead and the things I've learned will obviously help me.

Q. Do you feel you've matured a little as a result?
SAM LOCKE: Yeah, I've learned on the golf course how to deal with myself in front of lots of people and the cameras. But, you know, I knew -- I felt I would enjoy it. You're expecting a lot of people here, but I felt I would enjoy that more because I saw it as a chance to show people what I could do, not a chance of not wanting to do bad in front of them. But, yeah, definitely. Definitely a little bit.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Sam, we'll look forward to seeing you the presentation ceremony later on. Well done. Congratulations again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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