PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2022

Bernd Wiesberger

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills Country Club. We are with Bernd Wiesberger who put forth a 3-under par 67 today. He is 1-under par for the championship. Bernd, that's a terrific 67. That's as good as can be had out there just about, wouldn't you say.

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, it was quite tough this morning, very tough. I like those kinds of conditions. I played really good golf yesterday, as well, so I felt comfortable going into the round.

Definitely found a little bit of momentum on the greens today. Hit the ball good enough. Felt like I was in control with my flight in the gusty conditions.

Really happy with the score we put on the scorecard today.

Q. How much do you alter your ball flight on days like this? Is it a great range or are you pretty consistent and you just dial it back a little bit?

BERND WIESBERGER: No, I like to work with my flight. Shape-wise and trajectory, I like -- it's easier for me to commit to the shot. I feel like I can commit to a shot much better when I see a flight, I see a trajectory, ball taking off. That really helps me.

I think it's even enforced in conditions like this. You know you need to stay patient out there. This is a tough golf course on a calm day, let alone on a 30, 40 mile-an-hour winds. But definitely off the tee, into the greens especially, seeing a certain ball flight, and if you're comfortable hitting any shape right now, it really helps me committing to what I try to do.

Q. How did you find the greens this morning? Obviously they said they didn't cut them because of the winds. Did they still play okay or were they tough to get used to?

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, they are a little slower, obviously, but I think it was a good decision to keep it that way. You never know how much gust you get on some of the greens, a bit exposed, and you don't want to get into an area where it gets a bit dodgy from maybe balls rolling off the greens. So I think it was quite fair. The greens were still rolling good enough.

I think it was definitely the right decision made this morning or last night, I guess.

Q. There's also been a lot of discussion about the bunkers, sort of the feel almost of them. How have you found them this week? Is it tricky to commit to a shot?

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, quite a lot of larger pebbles. You see a lot of them on the greens surface as well when the players try to swipe them off their lines. What happens is it gets between the ball and the club face and it comes out dead with no spin.

I found a way to get a little bit more check on it, but it's definitely a little bit of an adjustment. I haven't seen bunkers with that kind of sand, gravelly sand, too often lately.

Q. I wanted to ask you, I'm doing a story on the cut line. Do you remember times, instances where you were living on that cut line in a major where you were wondering either way, and how does it feel when you do make that cut at a major? I know you've been to multiple majors, but what does it feel like to make the cut?

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, probably the best one was my first major at the PGA Championship at Kiawah in 2012 where I was grinding around to make the cut. It was really windy on that Friday I remember, and I asked my -- my first major I was excited anyways so I was right on the cut line, and I asked my scorer where it's going to be.

We were quite late in the day. They told me it was, I think -- let's say I was 5-over and it was 4-over, whatever. I tried to squeeze in another birdie on the last two holes, made two bogeys getting a bit too aggressive, and then it turned out the cut line was 6-over.

So that wasn't quite what I wanted to hear after finishing the round. Could have played a little bit more conservative. That was the first time in a major I played to miss the cut unfortunately with a story behind it like this.

But obviously you feel like in the majors especially if you get over the cut line, get yourself in position, you get a strong Saturday going, like the, whole field is open. Obviously a lot of pressure out there for the guys going out Saturday, Sunday, so when you get over the line, make the cut maybe by a couple shots and you get a good start into Saturday, there's every chance to be had to be up on that leaderboard again.