BLACK DESERT CHAMPIONSHIP

October 10, 2024

Kevin Streelman

Quick Quotes

Q. Looks like I think you hit all the fairways. I think you were 14 of 14 and I think you're No. 1 in strokes gained putting. That's a good combination.

KEVIN STREELMAN: That would be the priority on this golf course, yes. Getting the tee shots on line is critical. Actually I had to take one unplayable on 7, so the stats were wrong.

But like desert golf or Hawai'i golf, the fairways are generous, but if you're off them at off, it's pretty much stroke and distance penalty. You've really got to choose your battles. There's two really cool reachable par-4s out there, but if you miss them at all, you're pretty much re-teeing. The other way you can look at it is we can also hit a 5- or 6-iron and guarantee you've got 95 yards staring right at a green-light pin.

It's a cool kind of thought-provoking golf course. One par-5 I hit 5-wood off of. You can hammer driver and have 3-iron in, but it's twice as narrow as 5-wood. It's just kind of trying to figure stuff out like that, which is fun for us playing new golf courses because so often we all play from the same spots. We kind of all play similar styles on courses we know, where in Colonial you hit it here, Hartford you hit it here, but this one we're not quite sure what everybody is doing. Just trying to figure it all out.

Q. I think you had your 300th made cut last week. Does that prompt any sort of reflection or self-assessment?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah, it's just kind of a self-pride thing. It's a cool little feather in the cap. But it doesn't really mean much or anything to anyone else, but for me, for my own kind of pride, it's a pretty cool accomplishment. It shows longevity. It shows consistency. It shows supporting the TOUR. I've played probably 27, 28 events every year for 17 straight years. Not many people, just knock on wood, out of injury-ness, have been able to keep playing. I just feel fortunate that my body has hung in there. I try and take good care of myself and do smart things.

But to still be able to shoot scores like this on PGA TOUR courses is fun. I didn't think I'd be able to do it past 45, but I'll be 46 in a couple weeks and still feel strong and healthy and putting great. See if we can go do something fun this week.

Q. You started fast, three out of four birdies, and then you had a bogey at 7, then bounced back at 8. How did that set you up for the rest of the round?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah, the hot start was great because it's very cool here at 6:00 in the morning. Warming up, had very dim lights on the range. You could hardly even see your lies on the range. It's not an ideal way to start the day.

Then you go to a 490-yard hole that's relatively tight on the first hole here. It's a good golf hole and you've got to hammer driver. I hit a beautiful 7-iron in there and was able to make like a 12-footer on the first hole and then another 20-footer on 2 and then another 20-footer on 4. It was a dream start.

Then the jacket came off and it kind of warmed up into the 80s and 90s and you feel like you can get moving and start hitting your distances again.

The key is we're playing at elevation, we're thinking 3 to 5 percent on most of the shots, but yet it's cool out so we're not quite getting that. That's a big part of this is trying to figure out when to take the elevation, when this afternoon they might go up to 6 or 7 percent. That's the hardest part about playing at elevation here.

Q. (On having the course record).

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah, I've got a course record for at least the next nine minutes.

Q. Finishing like you did, four of the last five, with 17 and 18, as well?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Some really nice 6- and 7-irons in there. Got a nice chipped up-and-down there on the last for birdie. You hit a good drive on 18, you should have a birdie. Most guys will probably have mid to long irons in there. It's a really exciting golf course. It's really cool to have short par-3s, long par-3s, drivable par-4s, long par-4s, par-5s converted to par-4s. I was expecting it honestly to be more of a resort style, kind of gettable golf course without knowing anything about it, but getting here, I'm like, this is a really good championship golf course, and it's exciting.

Q. How do you prepare for that?

KEVIN STREELMAN: We've got very detailed yardage books and we're just trying to see -- I always look first at the widest part of each fairway. Do I want to get aggressive here, is it worth it, depending on where they put the pins, it's a chess game for us, and I've been doing this for a long time, so I know my strengths and weaknesses and it's just playing to those or away from those.

Having a hot putter is always the key, and today I had a hot putter. Go do my drills and warm down and try and do it again tomorrow.

Q. Do you remember your first made cut?

KEVIN STREELMAN: I do.

Q. Where was that?

KEVIN STREELMAN: It was the '05 Milwaukee Open at Brown Deer Park. I was on the mini-tours. I Monday qualified. Talk about a nerve-racking Friday afternoon round because I had nothing to my name. I was living out of my mom's car in my parents' basement just crisscrossing the country, trying to play mini-tour events, and I Mondayed there and made a cut, which I knew at the time last place was like $10,000, which would pay for my Q-school and pretty much the Dakotas Tour. It was a very meaningful thing for me.

I think I finished 25th and made like $25,000, and I was like, this paid for the rest of my year and my entry fees, and I think it actually paid for Courtney's engagement ring.

Q. What kind of car was that?

KEVIN STREELMAN: My mom had a Nissan Altima. It was a 1993 Nissan Altima. It was a little tight in the backseat.

But those are great memories.

Q. How many miles were on that baby?

KEVIN STREELMAN: I put about 250,000 on my mom's and then I got a second one and put about 200,000 miles on that one, and then I had just bought a new Camry my fifth year on the mini-tours and I got my PGA TOUR card and traded that in for a Porsche 911 after I had my first year on the PGA TOUR.

Q. When you wanted a hot shower you'd go back to mom and dad's?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah, Motel 6s, Super 8s. It was whatever I could do.

Q. Your parents were in Chicago?

KEVIN STREELMAN: They were in Chicago at that time, in Wheaton.

Q. You're smiling as you're describing this. Was it especially difficult? It sounds difficult.

KEVIN STREELMAN: It's gut wrenching, but it's like -- there's like a beauty to it, too, where you have nowhere to go but up. I was fortunate to have a diploma from a nice university, but I wanted to get our here. There was no other option. There wasn't a second option.

I think when you have a second option, you don't achieve the first option. I truly looked at it that way. Whatever I've got to do, if I've got to work at Kierland, if I've got to caddie at Whisper Rock, if I've got to substitute teach at my high school, which I did all those things, then I'm going to do it to save money to give myself a chance. Then when I have the opportunity you've got to grab it, and I was fortunate to do it on my sixth try in '07 at Q-school and I've been out here 17 years later.

Q. If you had to work at Kierland --

KEVIN STREELMAN: Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale. That's where I used to scrub golf clubs. I made $6.15 an hour, and I worked 6:00 to 1:00 and then I'd golf from 1:00 to dark, and then I'd caddie at Whisper Rock on the weekends. Did that for two winters. I'm now a member at Whisper Rock.

Q. I think you're in the 160s or 170s right now in the FedExCup Fall?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah.

Q. If you need it, would you use career money or something next year?

KEVIN STREELMAN: Well, I think the 300 made cuts gives you a conditional status, and then with the changes the following year, I think everything is kind of up in the air and thrown away anyway. It's kind of like, I don't have much to lose. It's go for it this fall. If it doesn't, I'll get in a few events, and if I'm done at age 47 after next year, it's awesome. I'll be home with my family for three years before the Champions Tour.

Whatever is meant to be is meant to be, but I'm going to go out swinging, that's for sure.

Q. Not many people get to hit the opening tee shot at a tournament. Have you done that before?

KEVIN STREELMAN: I don't think so. Yeah, I was kind of up there, people had their phones out, and I was like, wow, this is actually the first shot of the tournament. It was kind of cool. I had not thought about that, nor do I have -- I'd really like to get a place in Park City sometime. It's really awesome up there.

But yeah, to make a birdie on the first hole was a nice way to start it off.

Q. (Indiscernible).

KEVIN STREELMAN: Yeah, I'm pretty accustomed to the break here, kind of either going early-late or late-early. This situation, it's like a lazy lunch, a nice coffee, kind of get in a cold plunge and kind of do a warm-down and just kind of a slow afternoon, then try and sleep in as much as I can and come putt before tomorrow's round.