PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2021

Sam Horsfield

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Pleased to be joined by Sam Horsfield. Sam shot a 3-under 69, put yourself in just terrific position. I bet you would have signed up on that going into the day.

SAM HORSFIELD: Yes, I would have.

THE MODERATOR: Talk about your round and how it came about.

SAM HORSFIELD: Yeah, started on 10. Had the wind straight down on the first few, so it was pretty nice to get in there, feel comfortable, and then we turned and played nine holes straight into the wind and played those 1-under, I think. So that was really good, and then I made some putts, which was nice. Especially in the wind, that was good, and yeah, it was fun.

Q. Curious like what you've been working on with Sean in your swing. I know it's been a post-injury swing. How is that going?

SAM HORSFIELD: Yeah, we basically worked on getting more width and more time so that I don't have to -- I was staying sort of ahead of it and really snaggy so it was causing a lot of mis-hits. I figured that out after I got injured.

Obviously I tore my disc in my back at the end of last year, so that put me out for four months and then obviously started working with Foles. Just started working on staying tall, behind the ball and just giving it a good rip. That's about it.

Q. I've talked to like eight different people now that all say this Sam Horsfield kid is insanely talented. Curious if that's something you've heard a lot during your career and what your reaction is to it.

SAM HORSFIELD: Yeah, I've heard it. But I just try to keep my head down. You know, don't want to get, you know, thinking I'm better than what I am or whatever. Just head down, work every day and just grind. Obviously really, really happy with how everything's going. Been playing really well this year and it was nice to get out there today. Played well. Felt really comfortable. Yeah, put a good score up on the board.

Q. Is it hard to prevent it from going to your head, for instance?

SAM HORSFIELD: No, because I have a nice sister who tells me, tells me otherwise.

So I have got a lot of good people around me. Got a great team. We just make sure we work on the same stuff and just keep it simple and that's about it, really, to be honest with you.

Q. Not too many players in this field are going to cover that last five-hole stretch in 2-under. Just wondering what kind of a bonus that feels like?

SAM HORSFIELD: Yeah, it was nice. I birdied 14, the par 3, I think it is. Hit a great 4-iron in there. It was like 205 into the wind and hit a nice little low draw against the wind to like 20 feet.

I've been struggling with my putting the last few weeks. I just haven't really been making much and I spent quite a bit of time this week on the putting green just getting things squared and away and made like a 15-, 20-footer there. It's nice to see that stuff. You can get sort of in your own way and get -- sorry, my phone's ringing -- sorry. I was distracted.

Q. Who is it?

SAM HORSFIELD: My sister.

Yeah, it was just nice to make some putts. I haven't made any putts recently and it was nice to see a few go in for sure.

Q. Anything in particular you worked on with the putting?

SAM HORSFIELD: Just squaring things up. Over in Europe, I got a little off. The greens were a little bit slower and just sort of more of a hit, if anything. I just put the metronome on and the string and just stood there for an hour and got everything back to neutral.

Q. What did you do during those four months?

SAM HORSFIELD: A lot of Xbox. Literally. I couldn't play golf. I wasn't allowed to play golf, wasn't allowed to touch a club. Just rehab, therapy and, yeah, a lot of Xbox. That's about it, really. Call of Duty.

Q. Have you ever played here before?

SAM HORSFIELD: I actually came up a few weeks ago. Played a few weeks ago and it was actually the complete opposite wind. Like it was just a complete 180 flip. It was a different golf course. But fortunate, it was really productive to come up here. Going over and playing the British Masters last week was helpful. I knew what shots I needed to work on for this week and I felt like it was good.

Q. How big a goal is it for you to come play over here?

SAM HORSFIELD: Yeah, it's a goal. Obviously you want to be over here playing against the best guys in the world week-in, week-out. I'm just taking my time right now, just letting my career take its course and see what happens.

Q. You look about ten years older and tougher than that picture up there. How long have you had that beard?

SAM HORSFIELD: Well, it's actually a funny story on the beard. I was in Austria a few weeks ago and I was going to shave it, but it was snowing and I didn't want my face to get cold so I left it, and now here we are. So there you go.

Q. How would you describe the conditions out there today?

SAM HORSFIELD: They were challenging but you could post a score. You had to be really smart with what you did and where you hit it, but you had opportunities. You know, they moved a few tees up, so that gave you a few more opportunities, and then a couple accessible flags, too. It was obviously really challenging. Don't get me wrong, it was hard. But yeah, I thought it was -- you could get -- you could fire a score.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for coming by. Enjoy your evening and come back to visit tomorrow.