KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2022

Mike Weir

Press Conference

Harbor Shores

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. We're with Mike Weir who posted a second-round 71, even par for today. He is 6-under for the championship. Mike, maybe not the ending you had, but before that you played solid, steady golf, a couple birdies near the turn. You're in pretty good position.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it was a steady day, like you said, the first 10 or 11 holes was pretty steady golf. Even though it was steady golf I didn't feel like I had it like I did yesterday. The back nine played a little bit more difficult with the conditions as they are, and I struggled a little bit through those middle holes. Actually the shot I hit in the water on 15 I hit a very good shot. Just the heavy air, I couldn't believe how short that 5-wood I hit into the green. It was a really nice, well-struck 5-wood, came up short but saved a par.

17, I thought it was playing a lot longer than that. Hit a pretty good shot, just went a little long and missed a shortish putt, and then 18, just made a bad swing.

But managed to make a 5 and not too much damage done. Like the position I'm in, and have a bite to eat and go try to get to the range and sharpen it up again for tomorrow.

Q. And then get warm, right?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah.

Q. What's the battle on a day when you didn't have the game you had yesterday, just battling and fighting to shoot that number to keep yourself in there?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it was kind of one of those days. For whatever reason some days you get those where let's say you're looking at a tree and you square up to it and you don't feel square. You feel like you're fighting your alignments. For me that's what I was struggling with. Yesterday I seemed to step into it really nicely and find my alignment just fine. Today I was a little bit off, so I'll work on that.

Yeah, it was a day of just kind of hanging in there, some totally different golf course, south wind to north wind and cold, the ball, obviously I talked about that shot on 15 how the ball wasn't traveling today as far so you had to adjust for that.

Yeah, it was just tough. The guys who shot some good numbers today, Ames and Scotty McCarron, that's really good scoring this morning because it played tough out there.

Q. Does a change in conditions from day one to day two affect how you warm up for a round, as well?

MIKE WEIR: No, I kind of did my same warmup, spent a lot of time just kind of going through my normal routine. I guess maybe as us older guys, it's tougher to stay as loose throughout the day when it's cold and you have extra layers on and things like that, but outside of that, I think the warmup is kind of the same.

Q. Last year you were our 36-hole leader. You're coming a little bit behind but still in good position. Of course you want to be leading, but does this chaser role suit you going into the final 36?

MIKE WEIR: Well, there's lots of golf left, 36 holes left. My iron play has been pretty darned good, so if I can straighten it out a little bit off the tee, my putting has been feeling better, so yeah, I just like the position I'm in. There's lots of golf left. I'm not really thinking about if I'm in the lead or behind. I like the position I'm in.

Q. It's not often you guys play 72 holes out here. How much do you think that might be an advantage to you in this situation?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, that's a great point. I think that's why I do all the conditioning I do, so I don't feel tired. I didn't feel tired yesterday or today, and that's a big thing. Stamina-wise I feel great that way. Could be an advantage.

Q. When you talk about that back nine with these weather conditions, what exactly are you preparing for when you take those strokes on the back nine as far as whether it's stickiness or coldness --

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, the ball, when it's wet and the ball is sitting down a little bit, you're not going to get as much lift on your shots, so your trajectory is going to be a little bit lower. The ball seems to squirt off the club maybe a little bit more. You get a little moisture on the face. So yeah, there's subtle adjustments you make when it's raining and the ball is wet. The big thing is when it's cold and wet the ball just doesn't travel as far and you've got to pay attention to contact. You want to make really good contact. That's the most important thing I think in conditions like this, to try to hit it out of the middle of the face.

Q. How much less distance was it today, from yesterday to today for you?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, quite a bit. Let's just say an example, 11, the shortest par-3. I hit pitching wedge that landed on the very back of the green, 148 yards. Today was 131 yards and I hit a full 9-iron that went about 130 yards.

You know, pretty big differences out there. Some of the drives, different spots off the tee, the ball is in quite a bit different spots.

I would say on average it's probably going 15 percent less on your iron shots and maybe 20 percent less on your tee shots. So quite a bit.

Q. Did you hit the tee shot on 18 to the left?

MIKE WEIR: I hit it left, yeah. The wind was right to left and a bit of a tactical decision. I didn't feel great, I should have hit a 3-wood there and left myself a longer shot. Wasn't a comfortable with the tee shot, right-to-left wind, with my fade I almost started it out over the water, and live and learn, probably should have hit 3-wood there today.

Q. Did you find it?

MIKE WEIR: No, I didn't find it. It was in the hazard.