LIVE AND WORK AT MAINE OPEN

June 25, 2022

Cole Anderson

Press Conference

Q. Before we even ask about the round, the last 20 minutes have been crazy for you. Where is your head at right now sitting as the solo leader?

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I don't know yet. I mean, I just got off the green, went to scoring, and then autographs is something I haven't had to do that many of before. That was pretty wild. I think I'm out of golf balls now, so we'll restock for tomorrow.

But yeah, I played great today. Just kind of kept doing what I've been doing all week, drove it well, putted pretty well, hit it very well. Just didn't really make any mistakes and just felt good.

I feel like I should be more uncomfortable out here than I am, but maybe it's just because I'm home and I've got a lot of familiar faces around. No, that was as much fun as I've ever had on the golf course. That was a blast.

Q. Describe that feeling coming off the green and seeing those fans on 17 and 18.

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, wild. I think the first one where it really fit me, the roar was a little louder on 15, and then 16 was the first one -- I made that putt, and it was loud. Like I kind of did a little look around, like why did that just get so much louder, and there was a lot of people, which was really cool. Mainers support Mainers, that's what we do, and it was just awesome to see so many people out here cheering me on, and not only cheering me on but cheering the event on as a whole.

Q. You're 21 years old. You were a sponsor's exemption. Did you expect that?

COLE ANDERSON: No, I didn't have any expectations for the week. To be honest, the plan is to still not have any expectations tomorrow. I've said it every day, it's been working for me. The game plan is going to be to hit a nice 4-iron off the first tee tomorrow and go from there. At the end of five hours, we'll see where it adds up.

It's been a crazy week and a ton of fun. I'm just excited to get to do it for one more day.

Q. Does it become harder to have no expectations? That's the plan, but is it harder to stick to that plan as the tournament goes on?

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I think it gets a little harder. I definitely felt some more nerves today and caught myself maybe projecting out a little bit just as far as like I wonder what so-and-so is doing behind me. But I didn't look at a leaderboard all day. So I honestly didn't know that I was solo until 18.

Same game plan tomorrow; just wherever we are, we'll just try and hit the next shot as well as we can.

Q. You seemed so loose the first round, and obviously this round you say you still felt comfortable. You just seemed a little more locked in, dialed in. Is that kind of how --

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I don't think I needed to try and -- I had to make a little bit more of an effort to stay like tunnel vision on it just with everything going on around me, so I definitely had to sort of try and lock into a little bit more of a blinders on, head down, keep moving. So yeah, I'm sure tomorrow will be crazy. I'm going to be nervous. It's going to be fun. My game feels great. I'm just going to go out and just let it go and see what happens.

Q. How does this rank among the rounds you're proudest of, favorite rounds, and considering the score, considering the tournament, considering the crowd and everything?

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I can't really think of anything off the top of my head that would top this. Yeah, that was unreal. I haven't played in front of that many people before and really been able to feed off of that energy of everyone around. It was just surreal, and it kind of reminded me why I love competitive golf so much. It's for stuff like that. That doesn't happen much, so it was really cool.

Q. On 1, it was a par, but you left that first putt short. So knock in that little three, four, five-footer, was that --

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I had a little chat with myself on the green, just okay, get this in and then just settle in. Thankfully I hit a good putt, made a good read. Went in dead center, and we were kind of off and running from there.

Q. What are some other shots today that stood out to you as being kind of highlights for you? What are the shots you're most proud of?

COLE ANDERSON: I hit a really nice -- it's kind of a shot that I don't normally hit a ton of, but I hit a pitching wedge from like 110 yards, and my pitching wedge is normally my 140 club, but for whatever reason I really liked the look of it, and I hit it to about a foot. That one just -- that was where I sort of was like, we're actually making a little bit of a push right now. Up until then I was like, you're just playing solid, who knows what the leaders are doing. Once I got it to 5 or 4 -- 4 through whatever it was, 14, I guess, I was kind of like, oh, this could be a really good round. That one was big.

Then just in general, I had a few really good six, seven-foot putt saves and birdie putts, as well, that I'm seeing lines really well and rolling it really well. Everything feels really good.

Q. That putt on 16 fell, big fist pump there, almost Tiger Woods-esque. Was that your reaction to making the putt or was that you feeling the moment, feeling all those birdies in a row and knowing the streak you were on?

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, I mean, you don't really plan those things out. It just sort of comes out. I got pretty excited there, and especially because it was moving pretty slow at the end. It didn't really want to break all the way back left, and I think it was basically last roll it trickled in. That got me fired up, but yeah, it happens.

Q. You hear a lot of players after good rounds, sometimes they say they block out, they don't remember it. Some guys say they're so locked in. Where as an amateur playing Korn Ferry TOUR, where do you fall on that spectrum back nine today?

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, it felt a little surreal that I kept just hitting quality shot after quality shot, just from -- normally there's one or two swings where you make a bad move at it, but I just felt comfortable over the ball and with my swing. I don't really have any swing thoughts at the moment, it's just stand up, look at the target and rip it. It kind of allows you to get into that sort of zone where you're not thinking about all that can go wrong. It's just sort of like, this is the shot I'm trying to hit, go ahead and do it.

Q. Have you played in front of a crowd that size before or even close to it?

COLE ANDERSON: I don't think that size. There was a pretty big crowd on the first tee at a U.S. Am I played, but I don't think anything -- not from an energy perspective. Like that's for sure. I haven't heard roars like that on a golf course before, outside of PGA TOUR golf. That was pretty cool to be part of. No, I don't think I've ever played in a group that big.

Q. You're not a pro yet.

COLE ANDERSON: No.

Q. Do you feel like one?

COLE ANDERSON: No, no. I mean, Coach texted me and said, Please tell me you're not going to ask to turn pro now. I said, no, just give me a few more days and we'll talk.

No, I don't. I feel like my game can match up obviously at this point. I've proven that I can compete out here. But no, I'm not. I'm still a college kid. I've got to get the degree first and go from there.

Q. You're now the solo leader; yesterday was No. 1 coming out of the PGA TOUR U rankings. You're competing against guys who are PGA TOUR bound who were contending at the U.S. Open, who are a step away from their card, and you're a college kid.

COLE ANDERSON: Yeah, yeah. But at the same time, I played with Pearson like 12 months ago. I know Pearson. If Pearson is -- I don't know how it's going to turn out, but it's like, that'll be a familiar round from a -- I know Pearson. I've played with Pearson. We're all just golfers. I mean, everybody is on their own part of their journey, and I'm pretty content with where I'm at in mine, and just looking forward to having some fun tomorrow.

Q. Has any part of this just felt, whoa, when you consider the pros are playing -- being ahead of them right now, has that been something you've had trouble wrapping your head around?

COLE ANDERSON: The only time I really had to calm myself down was after 16. I got pretty juiced up after that. I got up to the tee, and I was like, ooh, time for a couple deep breaths. I settled myself down a little bit there.

No, I mean, I'm just trying to stay sort of in the moment. Like I said, it's been a crazy week. I couldn't have asked for much more, even if -- whatever happens tomorrow, it's going to happen. It is what it is. It's a lot easier to go out and play well if you've already accepted any outcome that could happen. I'm just going to go play golf tomorrow and we'll see how many shots it takes to get around here.