U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

June 19, 2022

Travis Vick

The Country Club

Flash Interview

THE MODERATOR: We have Travis Vick, 3-over 73 today but good enough for low amateur here at the U.S. Open. How does that feel?

TRAVIS VICK: It's just been an honor being here. The whole experience was incredible. Then to top it off with low am, it's hard to put into words how awesome that is.

Q. I see you're also coming off an NCAA title, and you had the clinching point in that title. Explain how incredible this period of golf has been for you.

TRAVIS VICK: Yeah, it's kind of been like a golfer's high in a sense. I qualified for the Open, and then the following week we go to the NCAAs and end up winning. Then I get here and finish low am.

It's like Scottie did, where he went through a stretch of golf where he's just playing incredible right now. I think in the same manner you kind of have to take advantage of the good weeks that you have, and you've just got to keep playing that way. So to be low am here is pretty cool.

Q. You played alongside Brooks today, and you actually played better than he did. How much confidence does that give you in your game knowing that you can play with the best in the world?

TRAVIS VICK: Obviously when I saw that tee time, I thought it was pretty cool. Brooks is somebody that I've looked up to golf-wise, and he's such a good golfer in his own right and he's a really nice guy.

I think confidence-wise, I think finishing low am, it definitely helps. It was one of my goals that I had coming in. So to accomplish that feat definitely gives me confidence. I definitely have areas of my game that need improvement. It was nice being able to watch the world's best and see what they do well and kind of compare my game to theirs.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back to work and getting better.

Q. Quick question about Mike Boylan and your trip around the country club with him last weekend, kind of showing you around and giving you some things to think about at the golf course. How did that help? What did you draw on these last four days to get low am?

TRAVIS VICK: He was incredible. He's such a nice guy and ridiculously smart. I think he graduated Harvard or somewhere like that. So he obviously knew the course in and out. He helped with some strategy off the tees. For example, on 3, he wanted to hit 3-wood. He felt like that was the better percentage play. So that's what I did until the wind switched.

Yeah, very nice guy, and for him to help me this week was -- we were super grateful for that.

Q. You mentioned getting to learn from some of the best in the world. What's the biggest thing you learned this week from being out here?

TRAVIS VICK: Particularly with my game, I feel like my ball striking is there. I think it's in a good spot. Obviously, I didn't hit it well today at all. Just from a ball striking perspective, there's not a lot to tweak.

But with that being said, the short game aspect needs a lot of improvement, especially wedges, and it's not just the standard shot. For example, when I made a 9 on 8, it's uphill, tight lies, and learning how to hit kind of a high, soft 60-yard shot. So those are kind of the shots I'm going to go work on after this tournament.

Q. You said on Friday after making the cut that you felt less pressure playing on Friday here than you did in the NCAAs.

TRAVIS VICK: Yeah.

Q. Is that the same answer after playing two more rounds and fighting for low am?

TRAVIS VICK: It is. NCAA is way more pressure. Even though there's thousands of more fans here, when you're playing for your team and you're playing for a university, there's just something about it because it's something that we practice for all year long and you only get one opportunity to do that. We have three seniors on our team. So that added a little bit more pressure to try to get it done for them as well.

But to say that there was no pressure out here would be a lie, especially when you're on the 1st tee with Brooks Koepka right next to you. What a great experience. Super grateful for the USGA and everybody that helped run this event.

Q. What does it do for the rest of your summer, thinking about what's ahead for you as a golfer?

TRAVIS VICK: So I'm probably going to pull out of Northeast Am next week. I'm just kind of exhausted and beat down. So I'm going to take the week off. Then I'm going to go to Switzerland and represent the United States at the Arnold Palmer Cup. Sam Bennett should be there as well. That's kind of what I'm looking forward to.

Then I'll go play the Western Am and the U.S. Am and call it a summer from there.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Travis. Congratulations.