Barracuda Championship

Saturday, July 20, 2024

Truckee, California, USA

Tahoe Mountain Club

Ian Gilligan

Press Conference


Q. Third round. Four consecutive bogeys and and then birdies and close it out for three of your final four. How did it go today?

IAN GILLIGAN: Yeah, it was good. Obviously I had a really good start. Probably about as good as I would have liked. Then I had a really, like, probably six or seven feet on five for five in a row and then missed it and just didn't really make any putts for a while. I had a lot of good looks and then kind of a careless three-putt on eleven.

Then I made one on thirteen for par. Just kind of changed momentum a little bit and then good up-and-down on the par-five 15 and then a really good shot on 18.

That was pretty nice finish. Overall, pretty happy.

Q. Going back to Thursday first round, were there nerves on the first tee?

IAN GILLIGAN: Yeah, yeah, of course. Obviously for a PGA TOUR event and being my first, I was definitely nervous. But, you know, kind of once you get into the groove of things, your nerves settle, and you are just trying to compete.

Q. By the time you were today for the weekend were nerves settled? Was it freeing you knew you made the cut?

IAN GILLIGAN: Yeah, a little bit. Still just a little nervous getting started, but then once you get the first tee shot, it felt pretty good. Then I had a good chip-in on one, which settled the nerves too.

Yeah, it was a good start today.

Q. Heading into the week, what were your goals?

IAN GILLIGAN: I think obviously making the cut was one, and then just kind of see how good I could play. I felt like my game was in pretty good shape.

I played the pre-qualifier for this event, and I shot 7 under. I knew I was playing good. Then obviously Chris Hoff gave me the call and said I was playing, so I was really excited about that.

I think if I could get, whatever, top 20, but just kind of tomorrow focus on the good and what I did well today and just try and keep it going.

Q. Where were you and when was it when Chris called you and you found out?

IAN GILLIGAN: Yeah, I think I was actually in the drive-through of In-N-Out when he called me. I was with my girlfriend because she had never been to In-N-Out before.

I knew he was going to tell me if I was in or not, like, basically that day. Then he called me, and he was, like, Yeah, great playing at the pre-qualifier. Game seems pretty good. You want to pull out of the Monday qualifier.

I was, like, Yeah. That was pretty awesome.

So, yeah, I was just super excited. Definitely a lot of emotions because I was, like, now I have to kind of get my mind ready for the tournament. But, yeah, it was really awesome.

Q. From the call you knew you would be playing Shriners, and that was possibly going to be your PGA TOUR debut. When did the decision kind of go into possibly make Barracuda?

IAN GILLIGAN: Well, it kind of just depended because I had talked -- I knew Chris obviously from a while ago when he took me out here. So we kind of had talked about the possibility of him giving me an exemption.

Then he said I would probably just go into the pre-qualifier just because he wasn't sure yet who he was going to pick. So I was getting ready for that qualifier and then obviously played really good. Maybe that helped make the decision a little easier.

Yeah, kind of just was preparing for the qualifier, and then Monday qualifiers and pre-qual you know you just have to go low, so yeah.

Q. How comforting is it to make your debut at a place for family and friends were able to attend and making birdies and allowing them to cheer?

IAN GILLIGAN: It's really fun. Obviously it's not -- I've never played here before so it's a little different, but being able to sleep in my own bed is pretty nice.

Yeah, just having friends and family out this week and hearing them cheer and even just people, locals in Reno who have come out in support, is really awesome. I can feel the support when I'm out there playing. Yeah, it's just really fun to play in front of a crowd like that.

Q. Who do you have on the bag this week?

IAN GILLIGAN: I've got a guy named Scotty. It was kind of just -- I guess you could say he's a local guy. Not really because he's from Houston.

But, yeah, my dad and I just were thinking about getting a local caddie. The head pro here kind of gave us his name, Scotty, and so yeah, I feel like we've done a really good job this week meshing well. Yeah, just going to try to keep it rolling tomorrow.

Q. How nice is it to not have to carry your own bag?

IAN GILLIGAN: Yeah, it is nice, especially the TOUR baste bag. I not very fun.

Q. Just out of curiosity, what's the In-N-Out order for you?

IAN GILLIGAN: In-N-Out? Depends on how hungry I am, but I would say usually it's probably a Double-Double, no tomatoes, with pepperoncini and then probably another burger and then fries and then probably a drink, so yeah.

Q. Regular fries or animal style.

IAN GILLIGAN: Regular. Keep it normal.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
146617-1-1878 2024-07-20 19:14:00 GMT

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