Q. Max, well played today, 67. How would you describe the round out there today?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, played nicely. I haven't played a tournament in quite a while, so didn't really know what to expect. But I kept it tidy out there. Very few mistakes, very few bad shots. I was happy with my round.
Q. How long has it been since you've played in a tournament?
MAX KENNEDY: About a month and a half.
Q. But you didn't feel any rust out there today?
MAX KENNEDY: No, not at all. I played great. Didn't miss a golf shot all day, so I was very happy.
Q. You came to Promotions as an amateur, I think, in 2023. How would you say it's been since then, the last two years, especially since you turned pro?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, I've made a lot of progress since 2023. I was an amateur back then, still in college. So I finished college in 2024 and moved on to the pro scene in Europe, playing in the HotelPlanner Tour and the DP World Tour, and I had a really good first year. I was happy with my performances. Always stuff to work on, but going forward, I'm quite happy where I'm at right now.
Q. When you were here in '23, it seemed like you were young and still kind of just feeling things out. Two years later, do you feel like you're a lot more prepared to take a big step and get a potential spot in LIV Golf?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, I'm definitely a lot more comfortable. Back then, it was kind of new to me, so I was a little bit more nervous, didn't know what to expect.
Going out there tomorrow, I'll know how to feel. I know what I'm going to feel. There's going to be nerves and stuff like that, but that's kind of what you prepare for. I'm looking forward to it.
Q. What's the mindset when you know that it's top 20 and ties, you don't have to finish first? Do you play a little bit more conservatively, or do you still feel like you have to keep it going?
MAX KENNEDY: For me, it's really important just to keep with my game plan. You don't really want to let your foot off the gas. You want to keep it down and keep playing well because in order to get those three LIV spots you've got to play well at some point, so you might as well get into some really good form early in the week, and I'm glad I was able to do that today.
Q. What would it mean if you could go on Sunday afternoon and finish top 3?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, it would be fantastic. Yeah, that's what I came here to do, so that's the plan.
Q. When you haven't played in a month and a half, how do you either knock the rust off quickly or keep the rust off in the beginning?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, I actually find when I take breaks that it helps me, so I take maybe a week off in Ireland and just chill out, hang out with friends, and it gives me -- I always say I forget about all the bad shots. That's kind of the way I look at it.
Q. What's kind of the system, especially when you're in Ireland and it's cold and all of that to actually get back into golf shape ready for an early January tournament?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, you kind of do what you can. It's not ideal. I'm lucky that I play at a links course, so it's still open most of the year, so we're still able to practice. You kind of do the basics. You're working on technique, and yeah, you just do what you can to prepare for tournaments like this. I think I did a pretty good job.
Q. Cuts are nothing unusual to a golfer, but to come to an event knowing that if you don't make the cut after one day, you're one and out, does that bring any sort of additional pressure, and how do you balance that?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, I suppose so. I tried to come to this with the same mentality as any other tournament, trying to win, rather than just trying to make the cut. If you just try and make the cut as a pro, you're not going to make it very far. I just try and win and try playing my best and see where that leaves me at the end of the day.
Q. Besides the top 3 will get into LIV Golf, this event also offers the top 10 a spot to play in the International Series on the Asian Tour this year. How do you think about that opportunity, to branch out to a different region?
MAX KENNEDY: Yeah, yeah, I played an Asian Tour event at the start of December. That was my last event. I loved it. I thought the event setup was amazing. The course was really good.
I'd love the opportunity to play out there. But the reason we come here is to play on LIV, not just the International Series.
The plan is to get the LIV Tour card.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports