KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2021

Mike Weir

Quick Quotes

Southern Hills Country Club

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship we are here at Southern Hills and joined by Mike Weir, Canada's own. 2-under par 68. Pretty good position. Really came out of the chute fast. Maybe didn't end just the way you wanted, but you have to feel overall pretty solid about where you are right now.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I do. I feel pretty solid. Yeah definitely being striking distance of the morning wave any ways. I didn't have the greatest week of preparation, my back has been acting up, I didn't get a chance to play on Tuesday and so if you would have asked me anything under par today I would have been pretty happy with. So I think the little helter skelter round of up-and-down was just because of a couple little things I just didn't get, pay attention to. But happy with the round.

Q. 4-under and 15, 16 set you back a little, but just reflective of the way the course is, I guess.

MIKE WEIR: It, yeah. I didn't do really anything wrong on 15. I hit a nice 3-wood and a really nice 8-iron with the wind right to left and the ball stayed straight and plugged right in the face of the bunker and from there you had nothing. 16, I didn't hit a good tee shot, so I was forced to lay up and try to save par that way. So, and then I missed a little one on 17. So it wasn't the greatest finish, but I made a nice par putt on 18 after my first putt went by about four, five feet. So that felt good.

Q. Were you worried at all on Tuesday if you were going to be able to go?

MIKE WEIR: Oh, definitely. I couldn't move. I wasn't moving well at all. I couldn't even chip a ball. Well I could chip a ball, that was about it, after I got some rehab done by the guys. I got to thank Woody and Dougie in the trailer, they did a phenomenal job to get me ready. If those guys weren't here, I wouldn't be standing here. No way. So my hat's off to those guys, they got me ready.

Q. And the thinking around here it's going to be tough to find birdies, you went out and found six of them. What was kind of the key in that?

MIKE WEIR: Putted well today. I really rolled the ball well. That was the big thing. I've been really driving the ball well and today I was just a little bit off with that. So go try to sharpen that up on range this afternoon. But putting was really good, I really rolled the ball well and putts that didn't go in I felt I hit some really good ones too.

Q. Was there some highlights with the birdies?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I made a nice maybe 20-footer on the first hole and I hit it very close on 4, I guess to three feet. Par-5 I was in the greenside bunker and hit it out to about eight feet and I made a nice maybe 15 foot putt on 6. So it was a nice little run there. Made a really nice putt on 13 today. Probably 40 feet up and over the hill. I don't think I made a putt that long all year. So that was nice to see one of those go in. It's been the aspect of my game I've been working really hard on. It was kind of I felt like the part of the game that's been holding me back a little bit, but today it was the strong part of my game, so that's good.

Q. You said it was a back issue, a muscle pull?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I mean just old man stuff. Carrying clubs, having luggage, everything, and after a four-hour drive and I just leaned over the wrong way, setting things down and that was it.

Q. What did those guys do to get you back this quick, I need that?

MIKE WEIR: They're great. They do all kinds of things. We spent hours in there Tuesday and quite a bit yesterday too.

THE MODERATOR: How much of this golf course do you recollect from right around your prime days? We were here in 2001 and 2007 and that's when you were really playing well. What do you recollect here all these years later?

MIKE WEIR: It looks quite a bit different than when we were here last time, the remodel they have done to the golf course. So I remember the course being maybe a little bit tighter. Obviously the time of the year was much hotter. But the ball was chasing. It was fast. And the ball's not really chasing that fast right now. So, but I just remember it just being a demanding golf course, you have to drive it well, you have to do everything well, you have to think your way around. There's a lot of slope on the greens so you have to be on the smart side of the hole. So it's a real challenge, it's a really championship golf course and looking at the tee boxes for the guys next year, they're going to be pushed back there and it's going to be a tough challenge for them.

Q. I know how hard you worked to win again. Once you get on the other side of that what does that do for you confidence-wise?

MIKE WEIR: I mean, yeah, it was, it was a long battle to kind of get back there. Confidence-wise, I was confident before I won, but I think just getting one just feels great. I don't know if it added a lot more confidence, I think it just felt great to see all the work kind of culminate and finally hoist a trophy that felt really good.

Q. The biggest key in the resurgence, was it shortening your swing a little bit?

MIKE WEIR: No, no. I mean just a lot -- a lot of things. A lot of things. Getting over injuries, but, yeah, I mean I revamped my swing with Mark Blackburn quite a bit, but shortening was somewhat some of it, but there's -- we could sit here a long time and talk about it. There's a lot of things that go into it.