LIV GOLF CHICAGO

September 22, 2023

Louis Oosthuizen

Sebastian Munoz

Rich Harvest Farms

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Louis and Seb, you guys are both sharing a lead at 5-under. Louis, tell us a little bit about your day. I think you had a bogey-free day.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, just a good solid round. Didn't make a lot of mistakes, and made a good par on 18, and other than that, it was one of those stress-free rounds.

THE MODERATOR: Seb?

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: I had one bogey, and it was a little more stressful than Louis'. But I made some good up-and-downs coming in and definitely rolled the putter pretty good today, so really happy where I'm at.

Q. Somebody just told me there are 19 players within two shots of the lead right now, so that's basically half the field. What do you have to do tomorrow to get a lead and get out in front of the pack?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Well, last year we played this golf course and it was quite firm, and now all of a sudden you need to really get on a drive or two because wherever you pitch it, that's where you're ending up. So you can attack your second shot on the greens and you can expect loads of birdies around here.

I think the next two days we probably need to do something similar like we did today.

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: Yeah, same as Louis, probably even make more birdies. I feel like the course is giving you a lot of chances, and people are good.

Q. Louis, the Stingers are currently in first place. What are you going to do tonight as a team? I know you always do some big team activity.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, we'll just give that to whoever was struggling. I think Branden is going to so far have it on 2-under. No, we'll relax. We'll have dinner together. We've got all our families here.

I know Branden has got a lot of things on his mind. His little one is due very shortly. Hopefully he can manage to get through this week.

Yeah, we're a pretty easy bunch together, and we'll just enjoy the night.

Q. Seb, you got to play with your teammates today. Do you enjoy doing that, or does it take away a little bit of the competitive fire?

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: I mean, we haven't struggled playing as a team together, but it has been a weakness. We didn't play good in either Australia or London, so it was finally good to have every guy shoot under par and not be way in the back.

Definitely happy with the way we played together today.

Q. Louis, you guys have finished third place in the last three events. Obviously that's a good sign of consistency, but has there been any source of frustration that you haven't gotten that second win of the season, and is that especially important going into the final stretch here?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, I mean, look, you need three guys to play well. We had such a poor start at Bedminster and we went from tied to the lead to six or seven behind in not many holes.

I think the start is always crucial on that last day, but we're playing well. We try to let all four -- we help each other out to try and get into form, and especially now with Miami around the corner, we really want to give a good push to the end.

Q. Do you like this course better in these conditions than last year? I assume so.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I prefer a firm golf course. I'm short right now, so I need the run on the golf ball.

Q. Seb, obviously you guys have four team victories, but still searching for that first individual win. How important is that in the scheme of things? It's more of an individual thing, obviously, but you'd still like to have it?

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: Yeah, of course. There's something going that we haven't cashed out because no one has won individual, but really happy with the way that -- we've played good, and I feel like that team, it's extra motivation for us, trying to finally catch up to the Aces. It's been a long season, but we're still in second. That's right now what we're focused on.

Q. Both your teams could probably clinch a bye this week; is it trying to chase the Aces down or more just making sure you've got that bye going into Miami?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: You know, the top spot going into Miami doesn't really mean a lot. You still need to play match play on that Saturday then, and anything can happen.

The bye I think is more important sort of to know that you're only starting on Saturday and you can prepare a little bit more.

But it would be nice to chase them down, as well.

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: Yeah, I just feel like if you chase No. 1, that top 4 is kind of given. Yeah, I'm just aiming high right now.

Q. Louis, you guys have a rugby watch party tomorrow perhaps?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, it's going to be a difficult one because there's no way that all of us will not look at our phones to see the score. We're playing Ireland tomorrow, and it's a 2:00 start, so we've got a TV in here, and afterwards we're going to go straight there and try and put the game on and rewatch it.

But yeah, it's going to be a tough one not knowing the score.

Q. Somebody is going to spoil it?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Someone is going to spoil it. I just know that.

Q. Louis, I know you mentioned you've got to lean on the driver a little bit, but with the amount of rain that's fallen in the last week here, even before you probably got to town, how are the overall conditions out there?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Look, it's wet. The fairways are wet. But the greens are holding up really nice. Still runs out pretty decent and a good speed to it.

I was surprised that the speed of the greens was still the way they are.

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: Yeah, course kind of played easy today. It was darts. Wherever you landed it, it would stop. We took advantage of that.

Q. How do you overall like Rich Harvest Farms? Would you like to see LIV Golf come back to Chicago next year, come back here again?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: We always have a good time here. It's good.

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: I enjoy it. I came here in 2013 for a collegiate event, and it just brings back fond memories. Really like the property.

Q. Tell us about the atmosphere, playing the 17th hole and the way they've set it up this year.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Well, I think it was so loud that you don't really hear anyone screaming. The music was so loud, which helps. But it's fun. I think if you're close to a lead maybe there on Sunday, a little bit more nerves will be there, but it also pumps you up to stand there and know if you're going to hit a good one or make a birdie the crowd is going to go crazy.

I think most of us really enjoy it.

SEBASTIAN MUÑOZ: Yeah, for me I found it tough to hit a little shot with the adrenaline kind of pumping behind the music and the atmosphere. That was a challenge of today.