ASCENSION CHARITY CLASSIC

September 10, 2023

Steve Flesch

Norwood Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about doing this with your son on the bag.

STEVE FLESCH: The win was great, but today winning with my son on the bag means more to me than anything because he's caddied for me so many times, had other chances I've screwed up, and today when I got off to such a quick start -- I mean, we both knew. It was like the elephant in the room. We both knew what we were trying to do out there.

I was just kind of grinding it. When I made the turn, I don't know what my lead was, but I figured if I can make two or three birdies on the back nine, I probably was going to be able to win, and having a big enough lead made the last two or three holes a lot easier because then I could enjoy it more with Griff and we could laugh.

We're both pretty serious kind of guys, and especially on the golf course, but we had a good time walking up 18 for sure.

This week it's nice to be with him during the rounds, but we spent the evenings together watching football and baseball and just chatting, and I'm on the road so much, he's working full-time, so we haven't been able to do that a lot in the last year or two.

We had a great week aside from the golf.

Q. All athletes talk about being in the zone. With a baseball player the ball looks bigger, with a basketball player the basket looks bigger. What's your zone look like?

STEVE FLESCH: Everything is just kind of slow, but I actually alluded to it last night with Griff, I said there were a couple times yesterday where I felt like I was almost kind of there, like I made a birdie putt on 17, and when I made the birdie putt, it's almost like you're watching yourself do it. You're doing it but it's almost like you're right here watching yourself do it, and I told him, I said, I kind of had that feeling a couple times today, and I don't know if that was a precursor to what happened today, but it's been a while since I've hit -- played many rounds or hit many golf shots that really mattered, and this week I felt like they mattered because I felt like I was playing better or I was contending. I haven't been contending much this year.

You worry is it gone, is it slipping, I'm 56. They say 55 is kind of the hump on this tour. You've got to make your hay your first five years out.

You're just always like any athlete, you've got that doubt in the back of your mind like is this it, is it going to get better, are we not going to get better, is this the beginning of the end, and yesterday I had glimpses of having those feelings when I really was playing well on TOUR. Hopefully it lingers, but having my son out there with me today, no disrespect to anything, that's what I'm going to remember most about this one.

Q. Because he's your son, does he get more than those standard caddies, or does he get less?

STEVE FLESCH: Well, once I pull out his room charge and his food charge -- I don't know. He'll get the standard fare. He earned it. He did the work.

I've got to make sure I pay him one dollar more than Freddy made him at the SAS this past year, so I can't let Freddy have one up on me.

Q. How about winning in St. Louis with the fans and all that stuff cheering for you coming up here. How about winning here at Norwood hills?

STEVE FLESCH: Like I said, being from Cincinnati I think our towns are similar. We're baseball towns, passionate sports fans here, and you have great golf fans. The crowds here have been fantastic every year, and it reminds me so much of Cincinnati that I felt like I was kind of playing at home.

I got off to such a good start today. Everybody was kind of, hey, keep it going, this is yours, you've got it, keep at it.

It's nice when fans encourage it. St. Louis people are like that, and they're passionate, and it was fun playing here.