KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 28, 2022

Alex Cejka

Press Conference

Harbor Shores

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back the two 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores we are with Alex cheeka, defending champion, solid solid round with solid play, reminiscent of what you did last year, and you just continue to climb the leaderboard.

ALEX CEJKA: Yeah, I played pretty solid. A little bit disappointed, 7, I almost hit a great shot in, just a little bit short, make double-bogey, three-putted the next. So those two holes kind of got my momentum stopped a little bit. Making two birdies prior. But I grinded on back nine. Today, you know, if you make good shots, there's a lot of opportunities. The weather is great. The wind is in a great direction for the holes. You know, but all those guys up there on leaderboard are playing under par. There's some low scores today with that weather and I've just got to hit a low one tomorrow.

Q. How about the par save on 18?

ALEX CEJKA: That's a good way to finish. You don't want to finish with a bogey. I had a tricky -- just didn't drop the way I wanted. Overall, I'm very satisfied with all three rounds.

Q. As you look back, the round that you played yesterday afternoon, really was a savior for you, don't you think?

ALEX CEJKA: Yes, I think yesterday, especially the back nine as well, kept me in this golf tournament still. I mean, I could have easily gone 2- or 3-over and struggling for the cut, basically. So in the end, I was saying in there, I was really hitting great shots. As I said yesterday, a little bit unlucky draw but that's in our sport. That's normal. Sometimes you get a good draw. Sometimes a bad draw. But I hung in there yesterday. Today much more pleasant to play in warmer conditions.

We'll see what happens tomorrow but I'm playing well. Just that one little double on 7 that kind of stopped me a little bit.

Q. You made a remark before we started, you said, what is this -- where did you think we were playing today?

ALEX CEJKA: Yeah, it's kind of warm. Last couple days. You have two or three layers. I played with a beanie yesterday ask, today it's almost 80 degrees. I thought I'm in Arizona for a minute. Yesterday was like Czech Republic or Germany in wintertime.

JOHN DEVER: Is there any déjà vu feeling for you? Can you be in the winner's circle here?

ALEX CEJKA: It depends how strong the guys behind me finish. If I'm maybe three shots behind by at the end of the day, there is on this golf course, there's a chance. We've seen it in the past. There's a couple 63 or 64s in the final rounds by past champions.

As long as the last group or the last two groups don't run away and finish 13- and 14-under, there's a chance. But still 18 holes to go. A lot of things can happen as we have seen in the past on any tour and any tournament.

Q. How exciting is it going into a big tournament like this knowing you wake up with a chance?

ALEX CEJKA: No matter if it's a big tournament or small tournament. This is what we practice for, to be on Sunday in a position like this. I must say, last year I had a couple chances. This year, maybe, you know, I didn't have as many great chances to win a trophy. This week might be a little bit, you know, tricky again as well for Sunday but we all love it. That's what we practice for. And you know, the more chances you have to be up there, the more probability it is to win a tournament. But there's so many great players in that top, whatever, 15 right now in this tournament. Anybody can shoot, if the weather is great tomorrow, as I said, a 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-under is possible.