THE MODERATOR: Here with our 2026 U.S. Senior Open low amateur, Haymes Snedeker. Before we get into what it means to win the low amateur, can you just tell me about your round today?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: Yeah, the round today was on the struggle bus today. I think it's been such an exciting week. I've been operating on adrenaline, and today I kind of -- just kind of ran out of a little steam today.
My swing, as you can probably tell, takes a toll on my body. So if my time gets out of sync, it's a struggle. Today was a struggle.
Still had an incredible time. It was just a struggle getting around the golf course today.
Q. You're the first amateur since 2023 to make the cut. What did that mean to you?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: You know, I didn't know that until a couple of friends sent it to me off Twitter and sent me a screenshot. I'm completely proud of that accolade. But I'm really shocked. There's so many great senior players. It's been a few years since they've made a cut; that's surprising to me. But what an honor it is, especially on a course like this, to pull that off.
Q. You had told me your goal was to win the low amateur this week, among other things. What does it mean to you?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: Oh, my expectations were high, but to meet my short-term goal of being the low amateur, it's hard to put into words how special this week has been. To make the cut and be low amateur with the exemptions that come along with it, I mean, for an amateur golfer it's -- I don't want to say too dramatic -- it's kind of life changing a little bit.
These USGA events, for those people that don't know a lot about amateur golf, they're very coveted. It's like the elite of the elite, and these events are extremely difficult to qualify for, Amateurs, Mid-Ams, used to be the Pub Links. So to get in these and then be exempt into the next couple, I'm just really -- I couldn't be more pleased.
Q. You had also said that this is the biggest tournament you've played in to date. Can you just talk about the fans, the venue, the stage?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: Well, I was just explaining to the gentleman that walked me over there, the tournament has been -- I played in a PGA event, I've played in numerous USGA events. I've never been at an event that was run this well. It's pushing close to -- nothing is the Masters, but everything here was planned out perfectly.
What's made the week really special is I've had a good friend, David French, on the bag, who's the club champion here. His mom is 19-time club champion. I had so much local knowledge. The membership basically adopted me once I got here. I felt like kind of the hometown kid.
Walking through the galleries, they were yelling at David or yelling at me, and I really felt like the stars were aligning early in the week. I got here, got to play, got acclimated, and really for the first time in a long time turned off my cell phone and didn't worry about work. And Mid-Amateurs know what I'm talking about. You can never really disconnected from work.
This week was -- it's just hard to put into words how special the membership made me feel. I feel like I should be like an honorary member now or something like that. Maybe get David to make the push for that.
Q. You had mentioned it already a little, but you qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2022. You're now exempt to the next one coming up this summer and the Mid-Amateur. Can you just talk about what that means and if you're excited to play in the events?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: Oh, I'm beyond excited. It just changed my whole schedule. Now I'm trying to figure out where I can fit in work in between my golf now. You start pulling up the calendar, and holy cow, my golf schedule looks amazing. Trying to find a way to make a living in between.
But going to play at a course like Merion that has such history, and then up at Sand Valley, my expectations are going to be high, having played well here, but U.S. Amateur is a little different kind of course. This is manageable for people that hit the ball solid. These U.S. Amateur courses, you know how they set them up. They're extremely long. But if I can play like I did this week, I'm really optimistic about my chances, and then at the Mid-Amateur, also.
Don't forget, I get to come to this next year, too, which I'm super excited about. When you get to be a certain age, you have things on the calendar that just keep you motivated. Without a big tournament or something like that -- I don't play a lot of social golf, so this kind of gives me something to be practicing and playing for and improving for, and with a goal to come back and try and repeat some of this magic.
Q. You're walking home with a medal. You obviously share a special bond with your brother, with David, your immediate family. Any plans for celebration?
HAYMES SNEDEKER: No immediate plans for celebration at the moment other than just to rest. I now know a little bit like what my brother goes through and how taxing these can be physically and emotionally. I'm worn down but in such a good way. I think I'm just going to decompress. I don't think there will be much celebration. Maybe fast food at the airport. That's going to be my celebration. But looking forward to the trophy ceremony and standing up there with the winner.
For somebody like me that just plays amateur golf, again, I don't know how to put into words how this has made me feel this week with all the people that have reached out to me, childhood teachers, friends in the golf community, you name it. Everybody has reached out. It's just been incredible. I don't want it to end. I was telling David when we got done on the last hole, man, I don't want to walk off this green because then real life is waiting for you when you're off the green, right?
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports