KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2022

Steven Alker

Press Conference

Harbor Shores

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores. We're in Benton Harbor Michigan, and with Steven Alker who just birdied his final hole to take the outright lead for the final round with a 64.

You started strong. You started with an eagle. That doesn't happen every day anywhere. Talk about that kind of a start and just how it propelled you to further solid play.

STEVEN ALKER: Well, I got No. 10 green out of the way so that was a good thing. Two nice shots down there and then just kind of got rolling. Hit some nice wedges close and made a couple of putts early on. Then I think I had a three-putt somewhere. Just kind of slowed down the ship a little bit. Caddie and I just said, there's not much wind, let's keep going at some flags. That just kind of kept me going. I started my back nine, the front nine, well. It was nice to keep the momentum and keep going.

Q. When you were playing the way that you've been playing and the wins are coming, have you felt free out there yet, or do you still feel the pressure out here?

STEVEN ALKER: Playing with Bernhard and Ernie, they are Hall of Famers. Little jitters on the first tee, but no, I'm playing with nice freedom right now. I'm making birdies and being aggressive which today we could be because the greens were a bit softer and the course was softened up. It was kind of up there for the taking. In answer to your question, no, still not comfortable totally playing with these guys.

Q. Why are you not comfortable yet?

STEVEN ALKER: Once I get going, I'm fine. But try not to watch what Bernhard is doing or Ernie is doing, so I've got to get a little focus on what I'm doing.

I don't want to get comfortable out here. I'm just enjoying my golf and enjoying competing against these guys.

Q. What aspect of your game is the strongest right now would you say?

STEVEN ALKER: Pretty much everything. You know, obviously you can always make some more putts here and there but I'm hitting my irons nicely and lots of greens. Lots of chances. Driving it in the fairway. You've got to drive it in the fairway here. Yeah, pretty much everything. It's just pretty solid at the moment.

Q. Last summer, when you had no status, if we told you you would be playing in a couple Hall of Famers and leading a major and just on this incredible role?

STEVEN ALKER: It still hasn't sunk in. The wraparound, the few months we had off over the Christmas period, it was pretty exciting. Just the reaction from back home -- I'm from New Zealand, obviously, and it's been fantastic. The support has been amazing. So taking all that in has been fantastic. It's been great.

But yeah, if you had said eight, nine months ago that I would be here, I'd probably be tell you you were lying.

Q. And how close would you hit it at 10?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, I had like 240 or something in there. I mean, I had a tricky little putt downhill maybe 25 feet maybe. Yeah, it was a tricky putt to start the day. It was straight downhill and kind of went in the middle, so that was nice. But as I said, the course was there for the taking just kind of had to go at it and be positive.

Q. And what was the birdie at 9 that pushed you to the front?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, hit a nice drive and a 3-wood just right of the green, kind of waste area there. Not the greatest chip but I holed, I want to say, a 10-footer, 12-footer. Nice way to finish the day.

Q. Putter is going nicely?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, putts that I would expect to make.

Q. Ever had a round with nine threes?

STEVEN ALKER: Actually, I think I have. I remember back in amateur days, I might have had ten threes in a row. I played the New Zealand Amateur and started with a six and had ten threes. That's always good. Threes look good on the card.

Q. First time you're playing this course, what do you like about this course?

STEVEN ALKER: You've got lots of options. It's a second-shot golf course and there's room off the tee. You just have to be on the right portion of the green and be aggressive. If you miss kind of aggressively, you haven't got a hard shot. You've got a pretty easy little chip. It's a second-shot golf course. You have to be really aggressive with your irons.

JOHN DEVER: Going to do more of the same throughout the weekend.

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, I mean, I'm going to stick to my game plan. Obviously conditions can change. We have some weather coming in tomorrow. Just keep being positive. That's all you can do. Ernie played well today, very nice tee-to-green. You could see if he gets the putter going, he's going to be chasing.

Yeah, just stick to my guns.

Q. You worked hard to get to this point, to build up toward 50, do you feel there's any part of your game that's as good as it's ever been right now?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, I'm driving the ball well. I'm just hitting my irons really nice. And I think I've just matured. I'm just thinking a little bit better. I'm not chasing so many pins. It's kind of like conservative aggressive play. I'm not making as many bogeys as I'm probably used to.

When you're making four or five, six birdies a round, and keeping the bogeys to a minimum, that's always nice.

Q. Can you define "conservative aggressive"?

STEVEN ALKER: To me, it's kind of like 8-iron down, 8-iron, 9-iron, wedges, sand irons, very aggressive, if possible. Then anything 7-iron, 5-iron, 4-iron up, it's a little more conservative.

So just hitting the right part of green to give myself a chance.

Q. So you're not necessarily hunting flags?

STEVEN ALKER: No. No. Exactly. So the bigger a club I've got in my hand, and the situation, what's around. I'm content with 30, 40 feet, it's cool. I can trust my putting and go from there. And that's a good way to play because obviously you're comfortable when you're happy with that shot you just hit, and then you can carry on from there.

Q. Philosophically if you would have had this approach when you were younger --

STEVEN ALKER: And smarter.

Q. Would that have made a difference, do you believe?

STEVEN ALKER: I think so. I mean, I haven't been really -- I've never been a really aggressive player. I just think as well as I'm hitting the ball now, I've got a lot of good confidence in my golf swing. So that makes it so much easier, too, when you are striking your irons nicely, you're hitting your targets, you can just -- you can always be more conservative. I mean, Nick Price always said that. I talked to him about this and he said, "I'm hitting the ball so good that I don't have to fire at flags."

Now I'm putting so well, I don't have to fire at flags. I know exactly where it's going and what's going on.

Q. Before you came out here, did you anticipate that you could do what you're doing now?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, was always kind of quietly confident, I guess. You know, you kind of look at the players that have come up, and I've played with some guys off the Korn Ferry Tour and played a lot of golf with and they were doing well and winning out here. So not so much I went off what they had done.

I'm just happy to be out here playing, have a chance to play this competitive golf at 50, and it's another -- it's a second career for me. It's a second opportunity, and you know, make most of it. I've probably got 18 years of decent golf left, so I'm just having a lot of fun.

Q. No. 2, what was your stance, lie in the bunker? And how big was that putt to continue your momentum?

STEVEN ALKER: Momentum, yeah, because I just made birdie on 1. I think I made the right choice there. We're in between clubs and I just commit to it, so in the bunker, but I think I made the right choice just playing 20 feet left because I could have just hit it a little bit long just caught the downslope and I'm off the green or struggling for a two-putt.

Again, it's another example of kind of conservative aggressive. I'm happy with bogey. I'm happy with 20 feet. Let's carry on. I made putts and it was great.

Q. Paul Claxton had a nice round today, 6-under, played a lot of Nationwide stuff. Did you guys cross paths?

STEVEN ALKER: Yeah, played a few practice rounds together. Obviously were paired together. I enjoy Paul's company. He's a funny guy. He's a head case. Yeah, still playing well. It's good to see.