THE WALKER CUP

September 3, 2023

Caleb Surratt

Quick Quotes

Q. Caleb, big first point on the board for Team USA. How does that feel to go out there and have two big points for you guys today?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I mean, I got a lot of confidence from yesterday afternoon, and to come out here and do it like that, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm happy I was able to lead us off, but I know and trust the guys behind me have my back the same way I did the past couple hours.

Q. Very energetic today. What was going on inside you and why so much emotion?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, you know, kind of after the sixth hole this morning really had to give my partner, Ben, a pep talk, and it was just kind of the fact that we're not going to let them think they have us beat at all. Even if they do beat us in the end, we're not going to let them think they have us beat.

So at no point in the match, no matter if was down or didn't have the tee box or whatever, I wanted to be acting and playing and swinging like I at all times had the lead.

Q. What made you capable of doing that, because like all the players, probably haven't always been able to kind of compartmentalize things. What allowed you to have all that positivity even when down after last night?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I think it's just kind of the perspective that this isn't everything. Like obviously Walker Cup is probably the biggest event in amateur golf, but this is not a life-defining moment for me, whether win or lose.

So playing thinking that and playing knowing that nothing about me as a person is going to change on how I play gives me a lot of freedom out there. In the end, probably helps me play better.

Q. Did you have to give yourself a little kick in the butt after the foursomes yesterday? Just the shot on this hole, and then to be standing basically on the same hole three sessions later, three wins...

CALEB SURRATT: Honestly, not at all. To be honest, I was probably more confident after that foursomes match than when we tee'd off, because me and Ben, we went out there and shot a bogey-free 4-under alternate shot, and sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

You know, Connor and Calum are definitely two of their best players, and to see what they did that day against us was just not necessarily a career day, but very impressive. We knew if we played that way it would be fine.

Q. What was your nervousness like on the first tee shot on Saturday morning? Kind of standing up there, what was your nerves level at?

CALEB SURRATT: I mean, I guess I can say it now that I don't have to hit that tee shot anymore. I was just so happy that Ben but me on a downgrain, because that wedge shot into the green, it was just so dicey.

So honestly I was nervous. (Wind interference.)

I felt a little more confident knowing I wasn't going to chunk it in the water probably.

Q. (Regarding last day.)

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I told myself that I was going to have to hit that tee ball again before I hit it in the (Wind interference,) because I knew that I was not going to give any (Wind interference.)

Q. (Wind interference.) You had a great freshman year, NCAA championship. Last summer, what have these two days and how much do you kind of (Wind interference) kind of just juggernaut now?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I think I wouldn't necessarily use the word confidence for me.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, or those two. But I would say overall I feel extremely comfortable playing in front of 10,000 people, which at the end of the week, you know, win or lose, if I can take that on the rest of the career, that's something I'm going to have to find, and this is the first time in my career I've had to do it.

To be able to come out here this focussed and to be honest not nervous in front of all these people was really a big steppingstone, huge testament to who I think I am going to be as a player.

Q. Do you feel like you do a really good job now in match play, like especially the pace and all that? (Wind interference.) Don't let anyone take you out of your...

CALEB SURRATT: My goal every single time I go out there is just to play my golf. If my golf that day gets beat, then so be it. I'm never going to let myself get beat.