SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 13, 2022

Garrett Okamura

Waialae Country Club

Press Conference

Q. Garrett, low local boy of the day, 2-under. You are the leader in the Hawai'i leaderboard. Are you at all surprised by how well you played out there today?

GARRETT OKAMURA: A little bit, a little bit, considering the conditions and how wet the course was or in the past week. Plays a little long for me but I was really pleased with today's round.

Q. At what point in the round, or was there a shot where you're like, oh, I got a good swing today?

GARRETT OKAMURA: It was actually the second hole, I teed off on the back nine, got off to a rough start, three-putted the first hole, No. 10 and I got to 11 and hit a 5-iron stiff, so felt pretty good.

Q. Local boy?

GARRETT OKAMURA: Born and raised on Maui. Maui Lani Golf Club.

Q. What does this tournament mean to you when you think back, is it childhood memories and to know -- I assume you've played in this before?

GARRETT OKAMURA: Yes.

Q. So just playing in it now again.

GARRETT OKAMURA: Oh, man, it's a dream come true. We love coming out here. We try to qualify every year, and you know, being from the islands, everyone wants to play in the Sony Open. So it's kind of the biggest thing in the state and it's a real pleasure to be here.

Q. 2-under, you have a good shot. What were your goals coming into the week?

GARRETT OKAMURA: Goals coming into the week, just get the ball in the fairway. Fairways and greens basically throughout the week and make some putts.

Q. So now that you have a subpar round does your focus change; now the cut is in focus? Is that something that now your goal is moving into tomorrow?

GARRETT OKAMURA: Absolutely, keep the putter rolling, keep the driver hot off the tee, keep it in the fairway and hopefully make some more putts.

Q. What would it mean to you to make the cut?

GARRETT OKAMURA: It would mean the world to me. We've been trying for the last few years and it's a really big deal for us Hawai'i boys to make the cut, especially in the Sony Open, it would be a dream come true.

Q. There are seven local boys in the field with Kevin; he's an adopted guy here. What does it mean to Hawai'i to have that type of representation in Hawai'i's full-field event?

GARRETT OKAMURA: It actually means a lot. We have a lot of good players in Hawai'i, and you know, it's awesome for us to showcase their talent and for us to have more and more Hawai'i guys in the field, absolutely.