U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2022

Connor McKinney

The Ridgewood Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You came out crazy today, three straight birdies. That kind of set the tone it seemed like.

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah, I guess. One of my goals in match play, which I haven't been amazing at, is getting up early. So to do today, it set the tone real good.

Q. Obviously you were playing Travis; I don't know how well you know him but he was low am at the Open, got to the semifinals last year. Do you even look at his credentials?

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah, I heard about that. The 64 guys, they're all good enough to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, like the match play, so anyone can beat anyone.

Q. Obviously you won the Australian Amateur this year and you played pretty well at the Western. I guess you were 5-under and lost a 21-hole match?

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah.

Q. What did you learn from that match that can maybe help you this week?

CONNOR McKINNEY: I played good golf. It was kind of like just a few things -- if it's not your day, it's not your day. It's kind of hard to say. But played some good golf and just got edged there. It's just staying patient, playing the course and letting it go.

Q. Anything special about today with those early birdies? Was there a long putt? Did you just hit it tight?

CONNOR McKINNEY: The first hole I kind of hacked it out of the rough to probably 25, 30 feet and holed that. Doing that straight off the bat is good, and gave me a lot of confidence. Second hole was probably 15 feet, good iron shot there, and hit a good wedge shot into 3 and holed about a 10-footer. I got it going pretty early.

Q. Five birdies today; is that right?

CONNOR McKINNEY: I have not counted yet.

Q. I know you had the mishap on 4.

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I'd say 5. Sounds about right. I'd say five, maybe six.

Q. Have you guys been here all summer in the States?

CONNOR McKINNEY: So I played the Europe stretch in June, then I was home for a month to get ready for the Western and this, so I've been here about three weeks now.

Q. So you went to England there, to St Andrews?

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah, St Andrews links and British Am, yeah.

Q. How far did you get in the British Am?

CONNOR McKINNEY: I lost -- they had this weird preliminary round, so I qualified but I didn't and then lost.

Q. So a playoff but they just have matches to put guys in the draw?

CONNOR McKINNEY: So much better this way, just sudden death. Yeah, that was it.

Q. Any momentum that you think you can carry from this, obviously beating a big-name player like Travis?

CONNOR McKINNEY: Yeah, was pretty good early on. Just sort of got to take what comes and just play my own game. It's sometimes easier said than done, but that's what I've got to do.

Q. Do you have courses like this back in Australia?

CONNOR McKINNEY: Rough is not normally this deep, but there's a few like it. You look at the Sand Belt in Melbourne, which I've been lucky enough to play a fair bit, and the greens are just rock solid, so it gives you a good bit of prep for this and sort of know what you're coming to.