WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 22, 2023

Matt Kuchar

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. One of Tiger Woods' all-time match victories in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. 36-35. How much is that longevity and how much is that production?

MATT KUCHAR: Been out here a while, but I think you got to have both. Any time you're in the conversation with Tiger Woods it's a very cool thing, and certainly a feather in the cap.

Q. To beat a young player like Viktor Hovland, one of the top young players in this game, what does that do for you from a confidence standpoint?

MATT KUCHAR: I knew I had my hands full. Fortunately got up to a 3-up lead after three holes. Viktor was nice to me on the greens. He had a couple putts just horseshoe out.

Some of those times you need things like that to go your way and they went my way today. But my game is good. My coach, Chris O'Connell, is in town from Dallas. He's been really a big help, and I'm feeling really good about the state of my game today.

Q. Early to mid-40s can be a transition period for some players. What do you still want to accomplish?

MATT KUCHAR: Certainly I look back to guys like Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk. There are plenty of guys that have done it and done it well in their 40s, and I certainly hope to continue.

Now we've got Tom Brady to look up to and inspire to be like. So it's doable, and I'm doing my best to kind of keep up with these young guys.

Q. 3 & 1 victory. Got off to a super start today; just plateaued a little bit. Made it interesting at the end there.

MATT KUCHAR: Well, I knew I had my hands full with Viktor. Getting a 3-up lead through three holes was a great start, but knew there was still a lot of work to be done. Certainly that proved the case.

He made a good comeback, and thankfully he was kind to me on the greens. He had a couple putts that I thought were going in that horseshoed out. You need some of those breaks to go your way during this thing, and I got those today with Viktor being unlucky on the greens.

Q. I've just been told 35 victories and only one man that has had more victories in match play than you, and that's Tiger Woods. Just speak to us about what it takes to just be the competitor that you are in this environment.

MATT KUCHAR: Certainly there is longevity, but productivity as well go hand and hand. Any time you're in the same sentence with Tiger and it comes to the game of golf, you've done something well.

Yeah, this tournament has been great to me. I've always enjoyed it. Sad this is the last time we are doing it.

I really do look forward to coming and being a part of this match play event, and certainly history has been kind to me over the years.

Q. Seasoning and experience wins the day. You set the tone early, although Viktor came back to tie this match midway through.

MATT KUCHAR: Yeah, I got up 3-up after three holes and certainly knew I was going to need them all. Viktor is a tough competitor and we got right back to even I think after ten holes and knew the match was on.

Fortunately I had a chip-in on 11. He was kind of you know lucky on a few putts. He had some great putts just horseshoe out. I think you need some of those breaks to go your way, and they went against Viktor unfortunately. Sometimes that happens. I was the lucky recipient today.

I'm pleased with the state of my game. My coach, Chris O'Connell has been over from Dallas. Got me doing some stuff I'm really excited about and thinking I feel confident, feel excited, and shoot, match play you never know what may happen.

Q. What is it about this format? You got a win, a runner-up in this tournament. What is it about this format that really gets it going for Matt Kuchar?

MATT KUCHAR: I don't know if it's kind of a steady outlook. I don't change a whole lot. I don't know why. Maybe it's attributed to that tennis upbringing, the sheer 64 draw, old-school, head-to-head matchups.

Probably a lot of that goes into it. I'm pleased with my record over here has been great. I'm kind of sad this is the last year for this match play event. Been a good one for me.