ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 7, 2024

Justin Lower

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you take me through watching last week or, if you did, not knowing whether you were going to get into this event or not, and the emotions involved?

JUSTIN LOWER: Yeah, it was kind of nerve wracking. My wife and daughter were with me, and we were at PGA National at the resort, so we just hung out. I didn't do anything, or, I practiced a little Saturday, I didn't do anything Sunday. I was supposed to play Seminole, a practice round at Seminole on Sunday, but it got rained out with all the rain that came through. Yeah, I was, trust me, I was looking at the tracker pretty religiously there for a little bit. Then it went down at some point, which said I was just in the whole time, and I was, like, this can't be right. Yeah, very fortunate it worked out and that I'm here.

Q. (No Microphone.)

JUSTIN LOWER: Probably when the tournament was over. When Austin tapped in for his win. No, I was at Seminole at the time, so I wasn't coming up here, regardless. But if I wasn't in this week, I wasn't going to play Puerto Rico, I was just going to go up to Ponte Vedra early and get ready for the PLAYERS. No, just happy to be here, for sure.

Q. What was the best part of your game today?

JUSTIN LOWER: Maybe a little bit of everything. I putted well, which is nice. I hit some shots really close, which is always nice. Kind of hard to do around here, but the greens were a little more receptive than I thought they would be. Hopefully, they don't go and change that overnight. No, just an overall solid day.

Q. Have you paid attention to the World Rankings of the guys who have won this year, and does that in any way influence your thinking about your prospects of winning, or basically any of your peers who are not in that top 100?

JUSTIN LOWER: That's a loaded question with all the World Ranking talk. I don't really pay attention to 'em. I pay attention to 'em to know what I can, if I get to a certain number, I know what I get in and whatnot. But I really don't pay attention to what guys are when they win. Obviously, like, it takes something special to win out here, especially a week like this, with this field and whatnot. Even though it's limited and it's half the guys, it's a very strong field and every field on the PGA TOUR is strong. Even Puerto Rico. Like, you're going to have to shoot really good scores to win that event. Winning is tough in golf. There's only one winner and there's a lot of people that don't win. And I've got three more rounds, so I'm not really thinking about winning.

Q. I wondered if there was any inspiration to it as well.

JUSTIN LOWER: A little bit, but I got a lot more to worry about than that.

Q. What does it mean to you to be in one of these signature events?

JUSTIN LOWER: It's pretty awesome. The schedule, if you're not in 'em, the schedule kind of chooses itself for you, like what tournaments to play in and whatnot. Obviously, I didn't think I could get in until after Mexico. It would have been a lot less stressful had I made that putt on the last hole in Mexico for solo 3 instead of T-3. But other than that, yeah, I was planning to play the Seminole pro-am or the pro-member, excuse me, and then go up to Ponte Vedra from there. But, luckily, I got in and I'm here, so really just trying to take advantage of the week, for sure.

Q. Do you have a, did you ever meet Mr. Palmer or have a favorite story related to him?

JUSTIN LOWER: I do have one -- so I won the Arnold Palmer Award in college. Didn't get to meet him for that. But I played in the NAI, so I was one of five guys to win it my junior year in college. But one story, I think it was the 2003 PGA at Firestone. I was volunteering for the week, but I had the day off, so I was out watching a practice round. It was Arnold, Jack and Jim Colbert, I think. I was left of the green on number 8, and Arnold pulled his second shot left of the green, left of the bunker, and it hit some guy standing next to me. I'm from here to that leaf from Arnold's ball, and he comes up, and he's like, Did it hit anyone, and the guy's like, Yeah, it hit me. And he's like, It will grow back though. And Arnold got a big kick out of that. He kind of looked at it, and it was a tough shot over a bunker, and he goes, Does anyone want to hit this shot? And I was, 2003, I was 13, maybe 14 at the time, and I stepped right up, I was like, I'll hit it. And I had my hand on his wedge, and this huge hand out of nowhere just comes back and he grabs me like that and he's like, Don't worry, son, I'll take it from here. And I was like, Yeah, okay, go ahead. But I was so, like, excited, I was like, this is going to be awesome, all these people to hit it. In the end, I didn't get a chance to hit it, but, yeah, just a cool story, for sure.

Q. When there was talk about how do people from, quote unquote, outside get into these signature events, how much did you follow that, and how much were you concerned, among all the things the golfers are concerned about, that it would be tougher than perhaps not to be able to make it here?

JUSTIN LOWER: Obviously the way the TOUR has it set up you have to be playing very well, which is what, it's what the product is. These events, you want the best players in the world playing at the time. Whether you get in through sponsor's exemption or Swing 5 or Next 10, it's, you're obviously playing pretty well. Because the sponsor's exemptions have to go to PGA TOUR members, which is nice. Hopefully, they're playing well at the time and they can take advantage of it, especially with the Next 10 and Swing 5.

Q. Do you think that this is a benefit in the changing ecosystem of golf since 2022, do you think it makes it more interesting, more fun?

JUSTIN LOWER: I'll definitely say it makes it more interesting. I will say, for the majority of the TOUR, I don't think it's more fun, if I'm being honest, just with the points structure and everything from these events. I do know a lot of guys are unhappy with that. I will admit I am. There's a lot of points available this week, and just, like compared to last week in Mexico, it's just, like, you're still playing for a lot, and you're playing against double the field, really. So that's all I'll really say.

Q. What would you like the field size for these events to be?

JUSTIN LOWER: There's no telling. I would be fine with 120 like they were, like the invitationals were. But I understand the want and need for it to get all the top guys together. I feel like I'm slowly going through a rabbit hole right now, and I could, I could talk about this for awhile, but, because it's an ongoing subject, but it is what it is and I'm here and I'm just trying to take advantage of it.

Q. Favorite putt you made today?

JUSTIN LOWER: Favorite putt I made? Number, what is it, 5? The pin's front left, it's kind of in a weird little grain change area and I, it's kind of a little up and over. I had about 16 feet or so, and I usually struggle with those, but I, it's something I've been working really hard on, and it went dead center perfect speed, so I was pretty proud of that one.