U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 28, 2021

Jay Moore

Sankaty Head Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you just tell me how you got into golf knowing your football background and everything?

JAY MOORE: Yeah, honestly it was my roommate that I had in college, he grew up playing. We had a guy by the name of Phil Bland who was on the team from Colorado, I think he won like a high school state championship in golf. We'd go out and play.

My first 18-hole round was about 120, shot 120. That was the first time I ever played 18 holes. I was a big baseball player growing up, so you don't touch a golf club because it ruins your baseball swing.

Then your competitive spirits kind of kick you. You get a little better, you get a little better, you get a little better, and then I think the very next summer I was breaking 80 and shooting in the mid 70s. From then on, I was hooked. Anytime the off-season would come -- with football you're only able to play about three months out of the year, especially when you live in Nebraska, the winters and stuff.

And then professionally, too, after that, you get about three months. Even though I lived in the Bay Area for a little bit so we had a shorter season, but I love it. It's competitive. I love the mental game you've got to play in your head every day, every shot. Even when you're up five at one point, then you lost three holes like I did this afternoon, and you've got to keep battling and battling and battling and just not give in and keep hitting good shots and get the momentum back on your side.

But the game is an awesome game. I wish I would have been introduced to it earlier, but it is what it is.

Q. Phil Bland was on the football team?

JAY MOORE: Yeah, he was a safety from Colorado. Yeah, he was a really good player. He'd go out and just kill me.

My other college roommate, Steve Bradley, who ended up playing for the Eagles and Cardinals and Broncos for a while, he grew up playing, so he could go out and shoot mid-80s no problem, and when you're shooting 120 like I was, that seemed like that was -- he was shooting 40 shots better than me.

But yeah, it's just -- have decent hand-eye coordination and being an athlete, that translates, and I love to work at it, practice at it, grind at it. I enjoy that part of it.

Q. What are similarities you see between the two sports, if any?

JAY MOORE: Yeah, you've got to get in your own world. I think even with football, you have all that chaos going on out there and you're trying to communicate with your teammates and trying to see what the other 11 guys on the offense are doing. With the crowd noise, you still have to get in your own world because it's very important for you to take care of your role. You're responsible for 10 other guys.

When you're out in golf, you just kind of get in your own world. Hit good shots, have a few swing thoughts and just try to remember good plays and things that you did. Same with football. You've been in toes situations before and you try to learn from those and grasp them.

But it's different. It's definitely more of a controlled rage. In football it kind of is similar, too, but you can kind of let it out, is and sometimes in golf, I try to keep it under wraps as much as possible.

Q. This is your first USGA championship.

JAY MOORE: First one, yeah.

Q. What's the excitement level of being here, and now you're in match play?

JAY MOORE: Yeah, really cool. I've been close. I've been first alternate a few times, whether it was the Am or U.S. Mid-Am. But getting in is great. To travel out here, just coming here, knowing you've never been here is really cool.

I've been playing decent all year, had some back issues earlier in the year and had to withdraw from our state am, but I was playing good coming in here, so I'm just trying to keep it going, and then you just make some putts and see what happens.

Nebraska is really windy, so yeah, this is really windy for back home, too, but it kind of -- I kind of like playing in this stuff because it brings you back to home.

Q. Tell me the keys to winning today's first match.

JAY MOORE: You know what, Bart played really -- we both played well. We both traded birdies on the first two holes, and when the wind picks up, putting is so hard. That's the hardest thing. He missed a few putts because of the wind and I gained those and then I missed two putts to really close the match out, and with the wind just -- you almost hit them too soft.

Luckily I was 5-up at one point, and I just hung on and made a good two-putt on the last hole to get out of there. But he definitely got the momentum back and I closed it 1-up to about a foot to close it out. Just got to keep it going, and it's going to be a grind again this afternoon.