SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 5, 2023

J.J. Spaun

Plantation Course at Kapalua

Quick Quotes

Q. How did it go today?

J.J. SPAUN: It was nice.

Q. If you played every single round here the rest of your life --

J.J. SPAUN: I would, yeah.

Q. -- would you be okay with that?

J.J. SPAUN: I would be okay. The walk is kind of tough. My toes hurt.

But it was a great first round for me out here on TOUR and in competition. So, yeah, I can't ask for anything more.

Q. What was your last competition?

J.J. SPAUN: I played QBE and I let my partner down very badly. I felt bad. So that kind of made me feel like I got to get to work after that. We finished last. Well, actually, we had a Top-12, which was nice.

Q. Who was your partner?

J.J. SPAUN: Keith Mitchell. I mean, the guy, they call him BMW, the ultimate driving machine, and he's putting me in the middle of the fairway and I'm duffing shots and I'm like, oh, we got to do some work.

So at least the work I put in kind of showed a little bit today.

Q. Are you guys still friends?

J.J. SPAUN: I don't know. He hasn't texted me since then. Not even a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year.

Q. (No Microphone.)

J.J. SPAUN: Yeah, it was just, I was actually working, I was kind of changing some things in my golf swing, like literally the weekend before. So it was, even though it was a really relaxed event and you're not putting too much pressure on yourself, when I play with someone, like I still put pressure on myself. It was just hard to commit to shots. And then you duff a couple, it gets in your head.

So, no, I just continuing to work on the things that I was doing right before QBE and now I'm more comfortable, obviously.

Q. What were some of the better shots you hit today?

J.J. SPAUN: I hit a good shot on, 13 was a nice shot, I believe 13. I hit it to like 4 feet, kind of an in between soft-feel wedge shot that I kind of had to flight a little bit into the wind. I hit a good shot on 2. Hit it to about 10 feet from 217. I drove it nice. I putted nice. So I really can't complain about anything today.

Q. How do you know if you're driving it nice when the fairways are 85 yards wide?

J.J. SPAUN: That is true. Maybe that's like a, I don't know. Yeah, you're right. I mean, I didn't miss a fairway. Maybe, I maybe missed one, but -- I don't think I did. That's pretty good. A hundred percent.

Q. Disappointed if you actually did?

J.J. SPAUN: Yeah. I don't want to jinx myself. I'm not trying to jinx myself here.

Q. Still made good contact?

J.J. SPAUN: Yeah. As long as I'm hitting it in the middle of the face, not like duffing it, that's all that matters out here.

Q. Have your toes ever hurt after a round of golf until today?

J.J. SPAUN: No. And I think this is, yeah, a first for me. Just all those uphills and then downhill, you're really on the balls of your feet all day.

Q. What was the toughest hole to walk for you?

J.J. SPAUN: Toughest was probably second shot on 9 or 10. I kind of hit it up to the right too. I didn't catch that on the tee shot. And then we were like, we got warned too, so I was like, oh, we kind of had to run a little bit. And then, yeah, it's never ending. And then when you get to 17, like, oh, this is nice now, and then almost like walking downhill is almost just as hard. It's like, you're kind of like bracing yourself. So it's hard. Tough life out here (smiling).

Q. How was 12 playing for you?

J.J. SPAUN: 12? It was good. I birdied it. I hit like a nice drive kind of where I wanted to and had like 60 yards and hit it to 10 feet and just made it.

Q. When did you get here and was today the first day you actually walked the course?

J.J. SPAUN: Yes, correct. Yeah. Well, yesterday we were in carts and we had the convertible and it was raining and it was the worst thing ever.

Q. Carts on path only?

J.J. SPAUN: Cart path only too. So it's almost like, oh, yeah, without a cover, you know.

Q. You got here when?

J.J. SPAUN: I got here Saturday afternoon. Yeah. So came with my family and we've just been hanging out, doing a little bit of golf, mixing in a little bit of golf in between.

Q. Between what? What else are you doing?

J.J. SPAUN: I mean, like, I have a two-year-old and like a wife, yeah, so beach and like just being a dad, having fun, Mai Tais, chilling at the beach. I was only allowed five hours a day by my wife.

Q. Five hours?

J.J. SPAUN: But it was good. Maybe I should stick to it. Five hours allotment of like, okay, you get five hours. You got to be back by this time, because sometimes I can get like stuck out here for a long time.

Q. That's kind of high pressure, though?

J.J. SPAUN: Yeah, so it kind of makes me productive. I don't mess around and fraternize or socialize with everyone. Kind of just do my thing. Get it in there.

Q. What was the first tournament you played at where there was no cut?

J.J. SPAUN: First tournament? I think it was Malaysia in like 2018 or 2017. Yeah, in Korea.

Q. How sweet was that?

J.J. SPAUN: That was cool. Yeah. I finished like almost last Malaysia, so that was not cool. But then I finished like 10th in Korea which made the trip worth it, the journey.

And then Japan and now and then CJ. I could get used to this no-cut stuff. It's kind of nice.

Q. Secondly, where did you meet your wife?

J.J. SPAUN: Southern California. Orange County.

Q. How?

J.J. SPAUN: Just through some mutual friends.

Q. What was her golf knowledge on your first date?

J.J. SPAUN: None.

Q. Can you elaborate?

J.J. SPAUN: I was like, Yeah, I'm a pro golfer. Because I thought I was cool. But she's like, I don't even know. What does that mean? Like, does that mean you're like rich or something? I was like, No. And she's like, I don't really care. And I was like, All right. And we went like mini golfing or something and she's like, This is lame.

Q. What was her first tournament?

J.J. SPAUN: Her first tournament? I think it was -- I got a spot at Riviera. Because I'm from L.A. and they gave me a spot in 2015. So that was her first time coming out and watching me.

Q. How did that go?

J.J. SPAUN: I think I finished last. Before the cut.

Q. How did it go for her?

J.J. SPAUN: She was like kind of intimidated by like everything. And I'm like, This is the life you're going to live, get used to it. But she does good now.

Q. On a scale of 1 to 10 what would you give her now?

J.J. SPAUN: She's a 10. She's a 10. A 10. Like as far as like accepting the life-style.

Q. Does she know what TIO means?

J.J. SPAUN: I don't even know what that means. (Laughing.) No, but, yeah, she's really big on me having a balance in my life. So it works.

Q. It worked today. Does she think the rule should be five hours going forward?

J.J. SPAUN: I'm like maybe five hours, if I know like my game is like really good. Which I felt confident where I didn't need to be searching or grinding on too much stuff.

So it's going to be hard. She said, Well, yeah, if you start missing some cuts we can adjust, we can add a couple hours there. This is, these are the conversations I have. I'm not even joking. I mean, this is how, our marriage, we don't, you know, it doesn't get too sideways. Happy wife, happy life.