THE 151ST OPEN

July 21, 2023

Matthew Jordan

Mixed Zone

Q. Well played. What's your overriding emotion after what was quite a tricky last couple holes for you?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, I just think I'm trying to calm down myself. It was a rollercoaster. 17, you know, it happens. It's hard. The hardest part that I found about it this week was actually playing it in the stands and being able to pick a wind.

Because right only the tee you don't feel anything, so because of that, it's tricky. We got it wrong. We probably hit the wrong shot, whatever, but that's golf.

Yeah, to them obviously what happened on 18 and bouncing back off, and then the reception. I think I had quite a few emotions in a short space of time.

Look, it is what it is, but it is still brilliant no matter what.

Q. Overriding emotion now that you can think about what you did over the last couple days and look forward to the weekend?

MATTHEW JORDAN: I think to be fairly proud. I haven't done too much wrong. I've kind of played golf round here fairly similar to what I know. It's been tough. If you take out obviously the leader and you look at kind of 5-, 4-under, winning, I was right there.

So, yeah, I can't not be proud of myself and the way I performed. Just want to keep that going.

Q. Family are out there. I was talking to your godfather at one point, and your mates are there. How is that when you're trying to concentrate on doing what is essentially your job?

MATTHEW JORDAN: It's great. It's not -- if I start reacting to them and start like acting up a bit then of course that's when I could probably lose concentration, lose focus on what I'm trying to do.

Even when you've made a mistake you just want to keep going and keep lifting you up so you keep concentrating on the next hole.

Yeah, the level of support that I've got is just unbelievable.

Q. Before the start yesterday did you think (indiscernible) realistic?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yes, of course. Again, I thought as long as the occasion didn't affect me, I thought that that should be fine. Didn't really think about that too much.

I've kind of done what I hoped I would kind of do within a couple shots obviously, so that will be my aim for tomorrow and the next day. And if I do that, then we'll see where I finish.

I don't have any aims to finish anywhere really.

Q. What does this mean for your career?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Who knows? I think one thing certainly so far if I carry on is how I've played under pressure and how I've played with so much support. I think that's helped me a lot.

Even though I have been nervous, I still managed to hit the golf shots and play quite well. I think that's one thing so far that I'm taking from. But in terms of what it does afterwards, they're long seasons, and they're long years. Who knows.

Q. You looked very, very calm from the start to the 36th hole that you've played so far. Were you clearly not as calm as you looked at times?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, maybe not. I haven't felt out of control, don't get me wrong, but at times, on certain shots, for example, when you walk up on 17 and you get so much support, of course you're going to want to do well. There's just a bit of an added pressure going on there. Then the first tee.

As I said, I haven't been out of control. It has been there, but I know what to do under pressure in myself, and that's helped.

Q. You must have played the 18th here, that hole many, many times but I can't believe you've ever played a second shot from there before.

MATTHEW JORDAN: I have, but I don't think --

Q. How old were you?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, true. I have, but I don't think I've played it from the position where I was for my second for a long time.

Q. You thought for a moment that ball wasn't coming back, didn't you?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Well, to be honest I was surprised when the ref on the tee told me they weren't 100 percent certain where I was.

I got confused there and hit a provisional, but I thought it would be fine, and maybe it had gone underneath the stands or whatever, but once obviously someone told me where it was it was a bit confusing, so I had to take a minute to get my maths right.

And then thankfully it was a front right pin so I could just hit it there and hit it down the green.

Yeah, it was strange, but it would have been great to hole it to be honest. That would have been an amazing 4.

Q. This may be kind of an obvious question, but why do you think the crowds are so behind you?

MATTHEW JORDAN: I don't know. I don't know. Obviously my mates are here, and I think if they sense you doing well, you kind of lift each other a bit. Like they'll cheer a bit louder if I hole a putt, and then for the next hole, and I'll hear that and start to spur me on more. I think that comes hand in hand a bit.

I don't know, I think maybe I've had a bit of support early on that more and more people have noticed that and then want to support themselves. I don't know. I don't know if I'm liked or not. It's just I'm obviously very happy for everyone to keep coming.

Q. Could it be great local pride?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. I hope what I'm doing with young lads and young girls, that they realise like how good golf can be and how rewarding it can be and they see what's going on. That can inspire, say, the local area, and that's just obviously an added bonus of what's going on.

Q. Weather looks like it's going to change the next couple days. Looks like it'll be quite wet. Do you have any particular thoughts about that?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Rain is rain. We've all played in rain, haven't we?

I actually haven't really looked at it too much as of yet, so I'll say what it's like and see how wet it is.

As I say, I have obviously played the course in the wet, but as I say, everyone has played in rain, so nothing will change too much in terms of that.

Q. I'm sorry if you talked about the bunkers. Did you get any notice that they were changing them a little bit today?

MATTHEW JORDAN: No, I just heard this morning, which I think was probably worthwhile. I think we all want to see them as hazards, don't we. We don't want to see people hitting in there, getting perfect lies and flicking them out. It's just hard to get a balance between -- I had a couple yesterday which were just unbelievable. I've never seen that around here before.

I think that was probably the right decision, but at the same time, I'm all for them being hazards.

Q. Yeah, because Richie was saying he had buried lies...

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, I think one thing that is happening is if the ball flies in, it's flying in hard, it's hitting up the face, and then because of -- it's not that steep, and there is a bit of sand there, so it's just coming up and then coming down and semi-plugging, which isn't great.

I don't know how the guys are preparing, but it's just a difficult one, isn't it, to get right. I think they're close. I think they're close.

Q. Was there any blue paint on your ball from the railing on 18?

MATTHEW JORDAN: There was, yeah.

Q. So it did hit the rail?

MATTHEW JORDAN: It hit the rail. Certainly wasn't that much ground fade.

Q. There's certainly some big names in golf that are not going to be here over the weekend. How does it make you feel that you are?

MATTHEW JORDAN: Yeah, look, their kind of problems doesn't determine my success, does it? I know it's a great field and it's obviously great to beat those guys, but at the same time, what they do is obviously what they do.

I love playing against the best, and it adds to the pressure, and I love it, and I find that I normally play best when it is the best players in the best tournaments. It is obviously great, but for me it doesn't really obviously change too much, does it.