KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2021

Kirk Triplett

Quick Quotes

Southern Hills Country Club

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Senior Championship. We are joined by Kirk Triplett who just posted a 1-over par, 71. Kirk, a little bit of a choppy start, but you kind of turned the, rounded the corner I guess and played some really solid golf on your back nine.

KIRK TRIPLETT: Well, yeah, I played better. I made a lot of mistakes today, but my ball striking wasn't very good and, of course, ON a course that's challenging like this with the wind, it keeps you scrambling. So a couple bad stretches. But I kept my wits and made some birdies coming in. So I'm extremely happy with 71, but I'm going to need to play a lot better to even manage that kind of golf again during the week.

JOHN DEVER: Could you talk a little bit more detail about the wind, how much of an affect it is for you out there and what the guys were playing right now are experiencing or even later today if the weather holds off.

KIRK TRIPLETT: I think the wind today is very similar to the practice rounds, that 10 to 15 out of the south, southeast. But it blows over the brow of the hill and then it eddies a little bit and you get some holes that you think ought to be a crosswind and they end up being downwind and a couple that are into the wind when you think they might be a crosswind.

So it's -- but I think you know that, like if you've played before here or played in the practice rounds, you know and can plan for that. So I don't think that's terribly difficult, but combine that with the up-and-downs and a couple of the tight pin placements on the shorter holes and if you're not careful, you get in trouble pretty fast.

JOHN DEVER: Do you feel fortunate that you had an early time, get it all in and you can go sit back, see what the weather does and how that affects other people?

KIRK TRIPLETT: Well, the weather might calm things down too and make things a little softer and a little more accessible. Not that it isn't right now. It's a hard golf course, but it's not set up really hard today, it's got some tricky pins but it's got a lot of open pins too. So I wouldn't be surprised if somebody shoots, even in the breezy conditions now, if a score of 4-, 5-under doesn't, like that's not shocking to me. I would think there are a number of players that can shoot that. Now can you shoot that four days in a row? No, I don't think so. But if you have a good day I think you can shoot 4-, 5-under. But if the winds calm down and it gets softer then all of those pins that are maybe a little dicey right now, then maybe they're a little more accessible.

JOHN DEVER: You have had some history here in the past in the PGA's and U.S. Open's. Does it play any different? They revamped the golf course here in the last few years.

KIRK TRIPLETT: I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast. I can't remember -- I mean, my last time here was 2001 and before that it was '95 and then '94. So I really don't have much memory of the golf course. I mean, some of the holes I'll be out there and I'll go, Oh, yeah, I remember that part. So it does have a more open look. I think it had more of a traditional, the great American country club, straight, turn, straight, turn, big round or square tee boxes. I don't remember. But now it's got all this humps and bumps and mounds and I think it looks very, very good, the golf course looks really open down through the bottom of it and I'm sure the agronomy is much better and it's challenging. We're not playing all of the back tees, it's going to be everything those guys want next year.