VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 21, 2025

Kevin Velo

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Quick Quotes

Q. Great playing. 4-under, one off the morning wave lead. How would you assess your play this week and what's been clicking?

KEVIN VELO: Yeah, I've been playing really good. I've been playing really well for about three or so week, just really the putts haven't fallen, and results haven't shown up, but I feel super confident about what I've been doing. This week is a perfect golf course for me, got to hit it really good off the tee and you got to hit really good iron shots. In college I played a bunch of courses like this, so it kind of sets up well for me.

Q. Is there a course that came to mind this reminded you of at all?

KEVIN VELO: Weirdly, a little bit of Pasatiempo, knowing which sides of the fairway to be on, even the into the grain, down grain parts of these fairways are really important to kind of focus on off the tee, so Pasatiempo definitely comes to mind.

Q. What was it three weeks ago that you found that kind of helped you?

KEVIN VELO: I kind of found that I was good enough. A little bit -- feel like I lost a little bit of confidence early. It's kind of east to do when you get off to a rough start. I think I missed my first five cuts. But working with my coach, my college coach back home, there's a lot things that we kind of worked on to get that confidence back. And feel like it's more of a confidence thing and a little bit of setup with the putter, but that's it.

Q. What's one example of something like how do you help improve your confidence?

KEVIN VELO: My coach last week, or in Puerto Rico, he kept texting me, Just fake it till you make it. So walking around with a taller chest, feeling like I'm the man out there, even though maybe the scores aren't showing up, but that was kind of one of the things. Focusing on being positive all the time. And my caddie Bart and I we were talking about this week about talking ourselves into rounds instead of out of rounds because we did a lot of talking ourselves out of rounds earlier.

Q. Was there a monkey off your back in a way to make the cut in Puerto Rico?

KEVIN VELO: Yes, huge. I really didn't want to be the guys to miss six straight to start my year. But Puerto Rico was a great spot, and happy to make the cut, and make a little bit of cash. So a little bit of a monkey off my back, but I felt like I could have made cut in Mexico and Cognizant as well, just the putts didn't really fall for me.

Q. Taking the next step this week, it's your first made cut in a full-field event. You got Hovland and Xander and you'll go up against some of the biggest names in the game. What are you looking forward to about taking that stage this weekend?

KEVIN VELO: Knowing that I can compete. I've already shown that the first two days and I'm ready to keep it going for the rest of the week.

Q. Is there anything like that surprised you about the PGA TOUR or struck you in terms of what you compared -- like how you would feel to be a PGA TOUR member, kind of you visualize it your whole life, I guess, and now you're here?

KEVIN VELO: Yeah, everything here is so big, so grand. Like all the build outs are huge, there's way more people walking around, there's -- you got to really portion out your time a lot better. A lot more people are pulling from you, whether it's reps, whether it's fans, whatever, there's a lot more people that are in your ear a little bit, so learning how to schedule out my time a little bit better has been a huge help.

Q. In a way is this kind of, just in your career, where you've wanted to be? Kind of like this position?

KEVIN VELO: Yeah, I mean, I'd love to be leading by eight right now, but I think I'm one back currently, I will probably be three, four back by the end of the day, but really happy to be in this spot and I feel like we're playing great golf to contend.

Q. Lastly, about Isaiah Salinda, what is kind of his competitive advantage?

KEVIN VELO: Just confidence. I mean, the kid exudes confidence. I hate to give him props, but he just knows how to talk his way into playing well. And everybody knows he's good and he also knows it and he will tell you sometimes when we're playing practice rounds, so he's just a very confident guy.

Q. What's something that makes hum unique, would you say?

KEVIN VELO: In terms of golf or life?

Q. Anything.

KEVIN VELO: I don't know. He's a very big family guy. And he has a lot on his shoulders with his family. He hold that's weight really well.

Q. Is it impressive to --

KEVIN VELO: Yeah, I mean, it's great. It's always good to see a buddy succeed. And to see him do well and finish third in Mexico was awesome to see. I can't wait to chase him a little bit more. He took this week off or else I could have been kicking his ass, but it's fun to compete with him.