THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2023

Alex Maguire

Quick Quotes

Q. Alex, congratulations. You're through to the quarterfinals here at the Amateur Championship but you did do the long way, going down to the 23rd hole. You might be feeling tired and relieved and happy.

ALEX MAGUIRE: Yeah, I could feel my legs sort of caving in on me on the par-3 there just before the last, so 22nd hole. Yeah, it was an absolutely amazing match. Daniel played so good, and I matched him on a lot of holes. It really could have gone any way. If he got a bounce on the last, maybe it could be a different story, but lovely for myself, it went my way.

Q. As you say, it could have gone any way, but talk us through the last hole. How did you get the win?

ALEX MAGUIRE: So down 5, it's sort of an awkward number for me. That bunker on the right is 300 and the next one is 330, so I decided I'll hit 2-iron in the morning. I hit 2-iron and it was great, and it went like 320 in the afternoon; I had the adrenaline coming, and it being firm.

I had 247, the exact number I had in the morning. I hit 4-iron just over the back, and it was more downwind, so I knew it was the perfect club. I hit 4-iron to like 20 feet, and obviously Daniel didn't get out of the bunker, so I knew all I had to do was two-putt, and that's what I did.

Q. If my math is correct, I believe you played 40 holes of golf today --

ALEX MAGUIRE: It feels like I played 100. I feel very tired at this moment. A lot of holes.

Q. How important is your recovery going to be and your preparations tomorrow morning?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Yeah, recovery is a big thing. It's all about staying off your feet. Luckily the Nando's across from our hotel isn't too far away. It's only probably 30 steps. If you play great, you play as many holes as you want because if it's a great match like it was today, none of us were giving an inch at all. We were around to play as many holes as it needed to be.

Yeah, like you can come out here and you can play 30 holes, you could play 15 and 15 and win comfortably or you can go the long way like I did.

I'm going to put my feet up now and maybe see if the physio is in there and get a rub down and use some compression boots to sort out my legs a little bit.

Q. You've been playing really well, like so nicely coming into this event. Really obviously the Walker Cup is on the mind. How much of the way you're playing this week is momentum versus motivation?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Like I said the other day, I think momentum only carries you so far. I think it only carries you to the first tee. It gives you confidence that you've known you can do it and you've done it before and you've done it recently. Like I said yesterday or whenever I said it, you've got to go out and commit to golf shots. You can't just stand up there going, oh, I'm playing well so this is going to work out well. You've still got to read your putts correctly and you've got to just use what you've been using before because before you had the momentum, that's what you were doing. I don't think I'm going to try to change what I'm doing just because I'm playing well. It's all to do with just staying in the moment and committing to the process that you have for each shot.

Q. You made it quite deep into this championship last year. With that, how much more do you want it this year?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Yeah, I was pretty sore last year after losing. I don't mind playing well and losing because obviously the other player played better, but I felt like I threw it away last year. I had it close. It was a great match with Aldrich. Obviously he went on to win, which is fantastic for him, but I felt like I just gave up too many easy holes for my liking.

Yeah, it left a big wound for a few months. It took a few months to get over it because it was my first time ever being in a championship this big, first time ever playing in it, so it took a while to get over it.

I'll go out here tomorrow and if I lose in the morning, who knows. I'm here and I'm going to give it my best shot and see where that leaves me. Maybe I get to Saturday or maybe I go home early, who knows, but I'm happy to get this far.

Q. What's your natural shot shape?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Fade.

Q. What's your favorite yardage with your wedges?

ALEX MAGUIRE: 106.

Q. What's your favorite club?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Driver.

Q. What driver do you use?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Titleist TSi.

Q. How far do you usually hit that?

ALEX MAGUIRE: 320.

Q. What's your natural miss?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Probably short right or long left.

Q. What's the strength of your game?

ALEX MAGUIRE: Off the tee. I'll say off the tee for the commentators.

Q. What holes out here really suit your eye? What are your favorites?

ALEX MAGUIRE: I sort of like the start because as long as you keep it out of the bunkers, you're fine. I do like the start. I do like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I really enjoy them because I've got a club for each tee shot that I know is going to come out nicely. Actually every hole here is great, but I like the start of it.

Q. You liked it so much you wanted to play this three times today?

ALEX MAGUIRE: I didn't want to, but I had to. I had to.