SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 12, 2023

Taylor Montgomery

Waialae Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Taylor, you got it in.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you. I know, we finished.

Q. Just talk about your round.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: It was really nice coming back from a long break obviously, and putter kind of stays the same. (Laughter.)

Q. I take it that...

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: I putted really good, yeah.

Q. What happened on 18, because ShotLink had you from 45 feet and lagging it from a 30 feet and making that one?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Oh, no, no. I lagged it up there to like probably like a foot maybe.

Q. Oh, yeah?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yeah. (Laughter.)

Q. ShotLink comes through again.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: There we go.

Q. So is putting one of your strengths?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yeah, it's been one of my strengths. Not on bermuda typically, but feels like bermuda is the only grass we've really played on and I putted pretty well on it, so...

Q. Where did you play well in the fall?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Napa was one of them, and then I felt like I played solid every week kind of except for Houston. Houston I had some chipping problems.

Q. From seven weeks off were hoping that you maybe didn't lose much in terms of momentum or form or feeling coming into the new year, new season?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Well, I took my longest break ever from a club ever I feel like. Ten days not touching a club at all. That's been my longest.

I practice quite a bit.

Q. Get the shakes at all during those ten days?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: I was worried. (Laughter.)

Q. What did you do during those ten days?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Went up to Reno and Colorado, so there was snow on the ground.

Q. So you're a skier?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: No.

Q. Snowboarding?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: No.

Q. Just went?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: None of them. Well, I have family in Colorado and Reno, so just seeing family and hanging out.

Q. You were there for ten days?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yep.

Q. Any temptation to at least bring a putter?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: No.

Q. None?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: No, uh-huh. But it's one of those things when you're on the golf course you think about being on vacation and then when you're on vacation I feel like I'm thinking about golf.

So kind of I'm backwards that way.

Q. After starting out the season in Napa and whatever your thoughts were then about keeping your card, have they changed after having what I would say is relative success over the first seven weeks?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Not much. I'm trying to win, but it's so hard. Hard to concentrate for four days over every shot. For me it is. I don't know.

So something to work on.

Q. Do you feel like you've had a bit of a breakthrough though just getting here and the way you played so far? Kind of validated maybe?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yeah, it's definitely -- I mean, there are so many good golfers in the world nowadays that I feel like to just comes down the guys that can do it when it matters.

It's nice to come out here and play well when it really matters and not just at home with some buddies.

Q. Who is your favorite when you were growing up?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: I would say probably Tiger Woods and Fred Couples.

Q. What do you like about -- we know about Tiger -- what did you like about Fred?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Fred came out of the shadow a couple times and he shot 60 when I was younger, so that was pretty cool to see.

And he just seems like a really nice guy. I've only met him once and that was when I was younger.

Q. If you had to say whose swing you could emulate, what would that be?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Probably Tiger's for sure because he's such a good iron player. Just a thing of beauty. He has a good swing.

Q. Assuming you haven't met either of them.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: I met Tiger Woods a couple times and Fred Couples once. Actually talked to Tiger a little bit through Diamante, the resort in Cabo. Had a great time down there and he was down there developing a new golf course.

So he's a really cool dude. Talked about his son a little bit and how big he's gotten. It's pretty crazy.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: It was through Ken Jowdy, so he's down there at Diamante and he's a sponsor.

Q. And he brings you over to introduce you to Tiger?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yeah, they was developing the new golf course, so Tiger has one and there is a new one being built. I got to see how they develop it. Tiger Woods was like, all right, we need trees here, this, that. It was really cool.

Q. At some point Ken takes you over and introduces you. Does he give you an introduction in terms of where you are in golf right now?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yeah. Ken was trying to get me into the Genesis, so that was a big push. (Laughter.)

Q. Fail?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: I don't know yet. It's this year, so it's probably like four, five weeks away.

Q. You might get in on your own. Was there a social media thing where he was giving you some advice?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Yep. That was down mid-December. It was really cool to hear. Basically. Hard work trumps everything, so...

Q. Were you more nervous meeting Tiger or Fred?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Probably Tiger. I mean, I gave him his space. I didn't want to bug him too much. I can only imagine between him and Michael Jordan everybody wants to talk to them. I didn't try to bother him too much.

Q. Were you surprised that Tiger was so hands-on on the design part of the course?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Not really. Him and Ken are pretty good buddies. They've been around each other quite a bit, and I'm excited to see that new golf course down there. It'll be cool. It's cool to see it because it's just complete dirt and they're moving dirt and tractors. Like it's crazy to see how it starts, and just to see where it ends up will be pretty awesome.

Q. Longest interview in the dark?

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: Oh, yeah, and this light is pretty bright. (Laughter.)

Q. Thank you.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY: No, thank you guys. Appreciate it.