WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 12, 2022

Sam Ryder

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously no real big surprises why you're down here. The shot's going to make every highlight on every reel for the next while. Take us back, take us through club selection and then just, I know you said that you haven't really even seen it yet. So just take it through from your mind.

SAM RYDER: I kind of saw it a little bit for the first time, but, yeah, walking through the tunnel it was just, I made a birdie or I made a birdie on 15 and just kind of been a trying day and not great. And Chris Kirk just made eagle, so he teed off first. And I kind of -- he hit a really good shot in the middle of the green, so I kind of got a little bit of feel off of what it was playing. And it was just one of those things I was talking to B, my caddie, and it just ended up being a perfect 54 degree wedge. The club -- everything always plays a little shorter in there, adrenaline or whatever it is, it's just, it always plays shorter. And it just, I just told him, It's just got to be that, doesn't it? And he's like, That's all I ever thought.

And I kind of, we just talked through it a little bit and I was looking kind of just out to the right and wanted to kind of come down around his ball and I, you know, just maybe it was an accidental one-yard pull or something, but it was, I mean didn't look like it was moving too fast on the camera when I saw it, but it just was, you know, in the air it just looked perfect.

And Brian Harman, we were signing our scorecard, he was like, Yeah, it was in the whole way. Just one of those that kind of looked like it wasn't a mistake, it just kind of happened, you know it was going in, like right when it left the club.

So, yeah, still kind of coming down off the adrenaline but, yeah, it was pretty crazy.

Q. And I know these guys want to ask a couple questions, but, one, you're just still kind of learning about the customer with WM with the million dollars randomly selected. How cool is that to know that, in addition to everything else, somebody in Humble, Texas is picking up a cool million bucks?

SAM RYDER: Yeah, it's an amazing little contest that they do and the fact that me kind of going out there and doing my job and trying to do something that I love and kind of get hit a just a perfect shot, and then to have someone else kind of be the recipient benefit from that too, just, it's just like make it's all the more sweeter.

Q. When was the last time you had an ace in competition and if you had to pick any par-3 on TOUR is that the par-3 you would pick to have one?

SAM RYDER: The last ace I had in competition was I think I was playing on the Hooter's Tour in a winter series event, I never had one on any PGA-sanctioned events at all. That was in, man, that must have been like 2014 or so. Like an 8-iron. But doesn't really compare to this one.

I don't know how I could pick a hole over this one. I don't think there's any hole that has the electricity that this one has. I think of maybe I think of 17 at THE PLAYERS, you know, anything -- 17 at the PLAYERS is pretty special atmosphere too, but there's nothing really compares to the energy that's in here, you know, it's like you just got to embrace it and, you know, they either love you or they hate you and you either get the cheers and it's like they're, you know, you get a boo for Brian Harman or Chris Kirk gets a boo when he makes just a really solid 3, everything he's trying to do.

I've been feast or famine on that hole. I made a handful of birdies, made a couple bogeys, and I just try, I think, you know, this week it's, you know, they raise a lot of money and they bring a lot of spectators in and they bring attention to our game and that's really what it's all about, so, yeah, this is has got to be the one the long answer for the question.

Q. The Hooter's Tour event was in Florida, I take it?

SAM RYDER: It was in Florida. It was like a winter series event. It was just like I'm trying to think, it was at, I can't even remember the name of the course. My dad's the kind of guy he remembers all the shots he ever hit and everything like that, I like was looking at my scorecard just trying to figure out which holes I made bogey on or birdie or whatever. But that's a hole I will definitely not forget.

Q. How long did it take for Brian and Chris to hit their birdie putts?

SAM RYDER: I don't know how long, they could probably say. My mom and my dad were both right there. Which made it pretty cool how they could come into the tunnel too. It must have, it felt like a long time. I mean, it must have been at least 10, 15 minutes or so, because Horschel and Bubba, they were playing behind us and they played the par-5 and were kind of waiting on the tee and they weren't done yet.

But it was honestly amazing how quickly they were able to get everything up. There was debris everywhere and, you know, it was such a fun exciting thing and I didn't want any kind of like negativity to kind of over shadow something that was really so much fun and happy and everything. But the crew did such a good job, the grounds crew, the Thunderbirds were out there picking up -- I mean the, how quickly they got it all cleaned up was pretty incredible. So hat's off to them for being able to do that and hopefully it didn't create too much of a log jam with the pace of play, but all in all I think it was pretty positive thing.

Q. I saw you looking down at your ball after you picked it out of the hole. What are you going to do with it?

SAM RYDER: So I was thinking about it because I had a ball that I was going to give to -- I think -- I was going to give a ball to my dad or my mom, I made a double eagle at New Orleans and I lost the ball, you know, it had -- I forget what it was, but any ways, this, that ball I was like, because yesterday I made birdie and I threw my ball right up to the crowd right away and that one I was not going to throw up to the crowd. I think of like some of the football players and stuff they catch their first past or their first touchdown in the NFL and they try and make sure they save there ball.

My caddie was like, all right -- he cleaned it and he was kind of giving it back to me, I'm like, Let's just put that one away. And we kind of put it in a different pocket, but there was a couple other balls in there I was like, Woah, woah, woah. Like, so we had, so we got the right one and we put it in a different pocket.

So I don't know, probably give it to, you know, my parents and, you know, they have some of my little trophies and stuff that I have, so probably mean more to them than it would to me. But give it to them.

Q. How will you celebrate?

SAM RYDER: Well, I'm going to have to try and figure out what happened on the other 17 holes today, because, you know, I did have some good holes, but I'm going to, you know, probably just hang out, get dinner with my parents, we have some friends and family in town. I'm not going to -- I don't know if I'll be making it to the Kygo concert or anything tonight, but I'm just trying, I'm in a position to where, you know, I was really what was going through my mind was I was happy that, you know, it brought me back to even par for the day when I was really felt like I got off to a bad start.

So I'm focused on -- I'm going to enjoy it, I want to make sure I take care of the media center and the maintenance and stuff like that, buy some drinks so that everyone can enjoy that and they can send me the bill for that. And, you know, but I'm probably just going to try and rest up and have a good day tomorrow. Probably not the answer that you're looking for, but I'll probably have a beverage, but try and get ready for tomorrow and, you know, hopefully have a good day and finish the tournament strong.