U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 28, 2021

Hayes Brown

Sankaty Head Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about your day, to beat the top seed and then to win again.

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, it felt like I was -- I think my energy level was a little too high after just sneaking into the match play field, so I feel like I kind of gave some back, and I think honestly I was kind of excited that we had a little bit of darkness because I think I was a little emotionally exhausted from the day of starting at 7:00 a.m. and going through the way through and playing nine more holes.

I woke up, felt finally refreshed, felt like I had a good night's sleep and just kind of let it rip. I knew I was 2-down going with 10 holes to play, and I already felt like I was playing with house money, so it was one of those where grab driver, swing aggressive and hope for the best.

I felt like he was the one that was trying to protect the lead and I had nothing to lose.

Q. When you have an eagle in a playoff and you win these two matches, is this one of the greatest days or two days in your golfing life?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, it's definitely way up there for sure. I have my dad on the bag, so he's actually missing a guys' golf trip to go play National and Fishers and Maidstone, so I've been giving him crap the whole time about I appreciate you slumming it to hang out with me this whole time.

Yeah, there's nothing better. I'll never forget holing out. That's a moment you dream of and I will always remember.

Q. Today you got the lead with pars. You won three holes in a row with par, came back later on the back and won a couple holes with pars. Is that what it takes out here?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, I thought today, this afternoon was probably the windiest I remember. The Sunday of the original stroke play round I thought was extremely windy, and knew people were coming backwards, and I knew you could just hit greens and two-putt. Maybe you're not going to shoot under par, but pars were not going to hurt you.

I thought I missed a couple putts, but otherwise I was very pleased with pars the whole way around.

Q. Was there any keys to the round-of-32 match that won the match for you? Was there a certain hole that, wow, that keeps me going?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, my dad just kept telling me, he goes, just think you're always down, regardless. It helped me think about trying to hit very aggressive swings. I like to think of it, take conservative lines and make aggressive swings on conservative lines. I feel like I got some breaks, getting some pars early that won some holes, and then after that it was aim for fat parts of greens and swing as hard as you could and just try to make pars and let him make a mistake.

Q. I know you're at Carolina Golf Club, and the Mid-Am stroke play part of it was three there years ago. Did you go out and watch it at all?

HAYES BROWN: I didn't. I tried to qualify, didn't make it. But no, it's definitely some internal motivation knowing that some guys that I play with with Boner and Woodard that made it -- obviously Boner made it all the way to the finals. It's guys I play with on a regular basis on the weekends, so it's a lot of motivation to see them and know that, yeah, I can beat them on the weekend, so what's any different than showing up here and doing the same thing with some of the best guys in the field.

Q. We did a little research; the 64 seed has not won two matches in the bracket since 2007. Your doing that today, does that mean anything to you at all?

HAYES BROWN: No, I mean, I think making it in just feels like I'm with house money, so a lot of it is -- I feel like I'm swinging free. I feel like I've already gone further than I should be, so it's a lot easier to swing free, and my dad just keeps telling me, he goes, feel like you're putting like a kid, feel like you're hitting like a kid and just let it go. You can't worry about what the other guy does. We're happy to be here, but we feel confident at the same time.

Q. What would you say would be your greatest golf accomplishment that's either comparable to this or just right below this?

HAYES BROWN: I'm not sure I really have one. The funny one to me is -- that I always think about is I qualified -- so my dad's best friend and I made it into the 2018 U.S. Four-Ball at Jupiter hills, and we played the practice round the day before the finals, and my dad said he packed for two days and he overpacked because we were just terrible. When we showed up the next morning whether you wake up on the right side of the bed or what happens, but I came out and it was probably one of the best days of golf of my life that I've had.

I think that specifically, but in the grand scheme, nothing compares to where I'm at right now.

Q. What are you doing well specifically this week that's gotten you to this point?

HAYES BROWN: Yeah, I would say that -- honestly, I love the wind. I feel like I do a really good job of flighting the golf ball. I can hit drivers low. I've got a 2-iron that I can hit low. I'm all for it. I want it to blow. I want it to blow as hard as it can, and I'll take my chances just because I feel like I'm pretty good about keeping it low, and that's kind of my strength that I want to ride the whole way.