PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2022

Webb Simpson

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills Country Club. We are begin joined by Webb Simpson who carded a third round 65 today, 5- under par for the day. 1-under par for the championship.

Couple birdies, couple bogeys on the front side but then something flipped and you put a 30 on your back nine. That must have felt good. Tell us about.

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, it felt great. Those first few holes on the back, 10 through 13 are a nice little opportunity to make some birdies. Still wasn't easy today but made a nice long putt on 12.

13, two good shots to lay up, and they put that ball right on the front of the green, and I felt good about it, obviously not thinking you're going to make it but it's always a bonus to hole one out.

Never expect to birdie 14 with today's kind of conditions and setup. So it was a great stretch, and I think to get a low round in a major championship, you need a run like that. Certainly you see it at Augusta every year with the par 5s. But I didn't expect it on a day like today to get a nice few under in a short -- short amount of time but I'll take it.

Q. Considering the conditions, where would you rank this round just coming right off the course in terms of best rounds you've ever played in major championships or just on the PGA Tour?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, I think it goes up there, it's probably top-- probably two or three, best rounds I've ever had in a major, you know, considering the conditions. You know, I've never really had a major besides, I think the PGA, what year did Jason Dufner win, I can't remember? 2013. I got hot that Friday's round but I believe it was like 80 degrees and nice little breeze outside, not 58 blowing sideways.

Today was a test of the mind as well as physically because we have a mist out there all day, clubface is getting a little wet, it's blowing sideways. We've gone from 92 degrees to what we had today, so the ball is going way shorter. So there's a lot of adjusting on the fly, and I typically don't like to play when it's colder weather, so I surprised myself a bit today. But I'll take it, yeah.

Q. What club did you have in there on 13?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, it was a 60-degree lob wedge. We had it playing 80 yards. You know, a gust came through, I had to back off and then got back on and in the air it felt good and it landed and I knew once it landed it was going to be close. And you know, you see over time, you see a lot of shots go near the hole, and usually they don't go in. That's a good kind of amphitheater right there with the crowd, so that was a fun moment.

Q. You're one shot outside the top 10. Those guys haven't teed off yet. Do you think you'll be inside that top 10 at the end of the day?

WEBB SIMPSON: It's hard to tell. I mean, you know, it's the best players in the world. I don't think it's going to get any windier, at least from my forecast. But I wouldn't be surprised either way. I'm just happy I have an opportunity tomorrow to have another good, solid round and have a good tournament.

Q. Between wind for two days and the wet and cold, it looks like wet and cold works better for you. Is that a fact?

WEBB SIMPSON: Typically, no. I mean, typically I want it to be really hot. But you know, I feel like I've grown in the area of kind of coming out and not getting too ahead of myself and be patient out there, kind of grind it out. I love The Open Championship for that reason because it's kind of in your face all day.

Now, if I had my choice, it would be a lot warmer but I think today what I did well was I just kind of adapted to the conditions, and you know, kind of made a mental note. Tried not to complain about anything. Every player today is going to get a bad gust and probably a good gust, so I just try to roll with it.

Q. Do you think was it a mental failure yesterday, and worked today and should work tomorrow?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yesterday I feel like a lot was going on with the gusts for me. I probably over thought some of my approach shots, over thought the wind a little bit. Today I was a little cleaner, just commit and go find it. Yesterday I think I got too result-oriented on the wind and what the wind might do to the ball. Today I just hit it a little quicker and it was to my advantage.

Q. This has been historically a frontrunners golf course. Any thoughts on why might be hard to chase here?

WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, I think it's hard to case here because the golf course is so hard. It's really hard to go out and get a fast start. I mean, it's a tough start. I feel like if you're even through four holes, that's really good. I'll take that.

So again, I talked about that stretch I went on today, 10 -- you know, you have 9 through 13 that are gettable but you know, there's no real stretch on the front that's birdie, you know, three out of four holes are birdie holes, so maybe that's why.

It's just a hard golf course all day, and they space the birdie holes out pretty well.

JOHN DEVER: Well done. Enjoy your afternoon. Thanks for finding us. We appreciate you.