THE SENIOR OPEN PRESENTED BY ROLEX

July 21, 2022

Kent Jones

PGA Centenary at Gleneagles

Quick Quotes

Q. Thoughts an opening round 65 here at the Senior Open championship?

KENT JONES: Obviously very happy. Happy to be here. Came over to qualify and snuck through in a playoff. So just love being here and the course is great. So obviously happy to play well as well.

Q. What particularly pleased you about your play today?

KENT JONES: I think I hit it nice. No trouble. Hit pretty much nearly every green I think. So I was hitting it nice early and the back nine I got a feel for the greens and made some more putts. But I think the main thing is just keep it in the fairway and out of trouble.

Q. Is it very much a back nine scoring golf course?

KENT JONES: I think so. I think that's where the birdies are. There's obviously two par 5s and the drivable par 4, so I think other than 12, that's where I think the birdies come.

Q. Just talk us through the emotions you went through coming through the qualifying on Monday.

KENT JONES: It was a roller coaster. I was 3-over through six, I'm thinking, what am I doing. Rallied; shot 4-under on the back to get in the playoff and birdied the first playoff hole, so it was just stressful. So happy to get through. It's a long way to come over so it was nice to get that done.

Q. How important were the birdies on the last two holes to get you to qualify?

KENT JONES: Well, obviously I needed every one of them, too. I birdied the last two, so I needed every one of them.

Q. Your thoughts on this golf course?

KENT JONES: I love it. It's just so -- talking with my caddie, it's just so different than anything we play. So I just think there's some quirkiness and some blinds shots but just embrace it and role with it because it changes. It just seems to change throughout the day. So stay on top of it and I think just we're having fun.

I think I gained some confidence on the back nine Monday and continued my good playing today, so just kind of I think gives me some confidence going forward for sure.