ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 20, 2023

Sean O'Hair

Brandon Matthews

TPC Louisiana

Quick Quotes

Q. Opening round, tied for the lead. What did you guys like about your round today?

SEAN O'HAIR: Well, he played really well. I just kind of filled the gaps. The way he hits the driver is unbelievable, and it just puts him in so many good scoring positions. It was fun to watch, really.

He hit some incredible wedges, and I think for me it was just kind of like just stay out of his way and let him do his thing. But it was a fun round. Yeah, I thought we -- I kind of picked up on a few holes, and that's all I could really ask for.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Yeah, Sean played really a stress-free round of golf himself, and that took a lot of pressure off me, could attack little bit more, and a couple of the holes where he was kind of out of it a little bit, I holed out on 12 and a couple things that were a little abnormal. Yeah, I played really nice. He did, as well, and I feel like if we can kind of keep this rolling the rest of the week, it's going to be a really good week.

Q. How did this partnership come about for teammates for the week?

SEAN O'HAIR: He asked me. We've played a little bit of golf at Aronimink back in the day, and we've always kind of chatted about golf and stuff. I felt pretty good about him asking me to play. He's a hell of a player. It's fun to watch. It really is. I haven't seen too many people hit the golf ball like that. It's a lot of fun.

Q. Take me through that 12th hole, holing out. What number did you have and what happened there?

BRANDON MATTHEWS: I had 141, a little into off the right. Pin was on the left, so it was just kind of a perfect storm that I knew if I hit just a very normal wedge and turned it into that pin, I knew it was going to be a perfect distance. Fortunately it turned just enough.

Q. Sean, from a strategy perspective going into alternate shot knowing Brandon is going to put you drives out there for you, how does that change your mindset or how do you approach alternate shot when there might be a discrepancy in where you hit it?

SEAN O'HAIR: Yeah, I think for me, it's more about I'll probably tee off on the odd holes because that's where most of the par-3s are. I think that's probably more my strength, and then there's the par-5s are kind of his strength. He will frame up on the even holes. I think we've kind of discussed that, and I think it'll be a good fit. But alternate shot is tough. It's hard to get momentum. It's hard to kind of stay in a groove. I think we're just going to be patient and hopefully play the way we did today and see where we're at.

Q. Could you just take us through that 18th hole? It was a pretty crazy ending for you guys.

BRANDON MATTHEWS: Well, Sean made birdie thankfully because I hit it left a few times.

No, it was kind of funny, I heard it hit the stand there, and I heard it hit a few different things, so I knew it was there somewhere. My caddie Petey thankfully went up there and found it.

I mean, Sean's wedge game, his distance control is so good. When I saw him kind of hit a good lay-up shot anyway, I knew there was going to be zero issue for him getting in there with a good birdie opportunity. So I kind of sent one down the left there to try to get a little bit of an angle on that pin and ended up not needing anything anyway.