AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Pebble Beach, California, USA

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Kyle Westmoreland

Quick Quotes


Q. 5-under, 67. Great debut here at Pebble. Got to feel good.

KYLE WESTMORELAND: Yeah, it was just an awesome day. Looking at the water almost every hole. This is a golf course you grow up wanting to play for so long. I'm just happy to be here and happy to be able to playing it and happy to make birdies on it. We caught it on a good day. So it was pretty calm out there, pretty gettable. Played some good golf.

Q. Birdies and no bogeys today. How did you manage that?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: No bogeys helped the card. It was good. I hit it pretty well for the most part. When I was out of position kind of chipped it up there and made a couple 10-footers for birdie -- or for par. There's a few birdies that I wish would have gone in. There's always would'a could'a should'a in a round. But just being here, just trying to make birdies, trying to compete in this tournament and hopefully we can tear it up on Sunday.

Q. Coming in on some missed cuts. What is the key this week? Is there something you've been working on, is it Pebble Beach, what is it?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: I think it's just sticking to your game plan. Knowing what you need to get better at. There's so much good data, so much support out here that you can kind of identify those weaknesses in your game. Every week you try to get a little bit sharper and just continuing on with your game plan.

It's easy to get caught up in the past in most things in life. Here you just operate in the present. Try to hit the next shot good, execute it as best you can and see what it adds up to at the end of the day.

Q. You played with two celebrity veterans around here. What was that experience like with Ray and Chris?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: It was cool. You can tell they have been here a few times. They definitely worked the crowd great. They're awesome guys. Great players. So it was just a fun day.

I think this tournament's very unique in that you play with celebrities, you play with leaders of business around the world. It's awesome to be able to bring that together, put it into a golf tournament and just have a good time.

Q. One of the benefits of being here is exactly that. There is some discussion about the possibility of maybe making this a designated event in the future, at least for one year. What are your thoughts on that? Even though I know you haven't been here before, but talking about what you've been talking about.

KYLE WESTMORELAND: I think there's pros and cons, but I think how it's done right now brings a lot of people that may not have come to this tournament, may not be spectators at this tournament, it brings them out and helps them to sport the cause.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, the PGA is a charitable organization. So if you're trying to do that, getting as many people on the course as possible is a great way to do it and I think this tournament does it as good as anybody.

Q. Did you play a practice round here?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: I did. I played one and a half. I didn't need to play another nine holes, but seeing the sights and how good the weather was yesterday I decided to tee it back up here again.

Q. Is that the first time you've been to Pebble?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: First time I've been to Pebble. I looked at the water for most of the time the first day so I needed to play a second one.

Q. Which shots were you looking forward to playing when you came out here?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: I love the second shots out here. I think it's an awesome opportunity. It's truly built on the terrain. No lie is level. No fairway's flat. Just getting to hit some different shots. The greens are small so you kind of test your ball-striking ability. Then the greens are also very undulated, so you're going to have some big breaking putts. Trying to match speed and break is everything out here. I just, shoot, I mean, you can't beat this in golf.

Q. Was there one big surprise playing Pebble that you didn't think that would be out there?

KYLE WESTMORELAND: No. I was a little surprised to find where my ball was on 18. We were hugging the left side. We were kind of hoping, leaning for it to stay right. But I just, from what you can see on TV it truly doesn't do this place justice. I hope everyone can get out here and see this tournament at some point or see this course at some point in your lives. Because if you're a golfer, this is as good as it gets.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
128913-1-1044 2023-02-02 22:31:00 GMT

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