PINNACLE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AETNA

August 13, 2022

Philip Knowles

Press Conference

Q. Another incredible day. Walk me through this round and some unique shots, or what was going right for you out there?

PHILIP KNOWLES: I mean, you can't put a price on days like that. It was solid beginning to finish. I felt great all day. I felt -- it was an easy day to execute. I don't know why. Part of it is just my mental state was good, my physical state was good, and we picked a good conservative game plan and stuck to it, made some putts, and just felt like once that ball -- the momentum started rolling and we just kept it going. Whenever we needed to make the putt for a par save or whatever, we did. It was pretty good.

Q. What was your favorite shot out there today that you were most proud of?

PHILIP KNOWLES: Probably I made a putt on 9 from like 20 feet. It wasn't anything super special. My putt wasn't more than right edge. It was just down the hill, and I was 3-under at that point, and I was trying to get to 4, and I hadn't made a long one yet, and I made a couple of really nice putts. I felt that one was -- it went right in the middle, and I felt like that was a nice way to jump start our back nine.

Q. Was there anything entering the week that you kind of changed or tweaked or honed in going into the week with either your game plan or equipment or mentality?

PHILIP KNOWLES: I changed putters this week. Been putting with a putter for three, four months now. I don't change putters very often. But I just wasn't really holing any putts the last few weeks, and I said, okay, let me go back to Springfield, Missouri, I finished 12th or 13th there, and I didn't make a putt Saturday or Sunday and I shot 10-under. I changed putters this week, very similar to what I've been gaming anyways, but nothing else. I didn't change anything else in my swing.

I felt really good on Thursday, felt really good today. Yesterday I kind of scraped it around. Really didn't do much impressive, but I just grinded, especially coming in. I made a couple of huge par saves coming in. I honestly felt like that was -- this round today started yesterday coming in. I built a ton of good momentum coming down the stretch yesterday, just pars.

Yeah, nothing crazy. That's just the way golf is.

Q. What's the vibe been like off the course this week? I know you're sharing a house with a couple people.

PHILIP KNOWLES: Yeah, I've been in a house with Jimmy Stanger, Tom Whitney, and my caddie, Jack. It's been great. We're staying two minutes from here, across the street. So the ease of -- and the gym is like four minutes away from here. Everything has been really easy, the travel. I haven't had to spend much time in the car.

Off the course it's been great. Of course I don't have my wife with me this week, but I know she's watching from home.

Q. Can you tell the story of how you met your wife? Was it from high school golf or did you know her from before?

PHILIP KNOWLES: Yeah, we played high school golf together on the men's golf team. She played on the men's golf team. She was just a great athlete. Grew up with a dad who played a lot of golf.

We went to a private Christian school. We didn't have a women's golf team. She was competitive in gym -- I guess only competitive cheer at that point, but too competitive to cheer in high school, so she wanted to do a high school sport, so she played men's golf. It was a lot of fun.

Q. Do you talk through rounds with her at all or not really?

PHILIP KNOWLES: Not really. Even though she played, she didn't ever like play at a super high level. She definitely understands golf and she understands like the competitive nature of sports. She competed at a very high level. So she can relate to feelings and whatnot I'm going through and experiencing. It's a great help.

Q. Can you reflect, I know you said 2019, the final regular season event in Canada you shot 65, I believe, to keep your card.

PHILIP KNOWLES: I don't even remember that. But I played nice that last day. My dad was on the bag. Very fond memory. Hadn't done much all year, and I had to play well at that event, and I did. I think as much as anything, it just -- I've learned -- I'm the fifth of six kids. I think I've learned that things don't always go my way, the way I want them to happen. It's not just living (indiscernible) so it's caused me to be patient, learning to be patient. Part of it is I just like having my back up against the wall. Something about it.

Q. What's the trick of allowing that to fuel you rather than having that go the other way, the back against the wall ethos?

PHILIP KNOWLES: I mean, some of it is just -- it's just like people who are born good with numbers. Like something about it is just innate. I grew -- I played baseball all the way through high school. I was a pitcher, undersized, and didn't throw very hard, but I loved having the ball in my hands, and I loved the feeling of it all being on me. I had to beat guys with accuracy and with skill.

It's kind of similar to my golf game. I don't go out and overpower golf courses, but I have just a lot of confidence in myself and what I can do, and when my back is up against the wall, you just believe in yourself, you can figure it out.

Q. Can you explain in your own words what this week meant in terms of where you were on the points list and what the different scenarios were in play?

PHILIP KNOWLES: Well, I had a flight booked -- I had two flights booked. I booked two flights. One is headed to Boise and one is headed to Jacksonville on Monday. That's the bottom line. This is a crazy week in golf. There's a lot riding on it, and careers are at stake.

But you'll never be successful if that's what you're out here playing for. So just been really, really -- me and my caddie have talked a lot about how we just needed to stay where our feet are and hit the best shot we can at the moment that we're hitting it and then go deal with the result.

Yeah, I think a win gets me a TOUR card. I think whatever -- I don't know exactly what I need to get in the finals, but I know I need to play well. I don't bother myself with those figures and just go shoot the best round I can tomorrow and see where that stacks up.

Q. Is it kind of like cool to be in the position, though, knowing you needed a good week to put yourself in that arena and you've done that and now you're taking the stage tomorrow?

PHILIP KNOWLES: Yeah, it's super validating. I think -- I forget who it was that said it, but someone recently said pressure is a privilege. That's an awesome way to look at it. Everyone dreams to be in this moment. It doesn't matter if it's the first event of the season or the last event of the season. On Sunday, chance to win. That pressure, it's a privilege. So we get to go enjoy it, embrace it, have fun.

It is very validating knowing that I needed better than just a top 25 this week. But at the end of the day I can't control what other guys do. I can't control what the weather does. All I can do is control what I do.