KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

Quick Quotes

Harbor Shores

Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Greg Chalmers


Q. Greg Chalmers after his final round at the 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. How was your round today?

GREG CHALMERS: Look, I thought I drove it a little better. Really pleased with how I was playing. Keeping bogeys off the card.

You know, obviously Richard was playing very well and very solid and I wasn't really aware of what everyone else was doing. There were some birdies out there I think if you hit some solid shots.

And then with Richard birdieing 9 and 10 to go out in front a little bit and then I bounced back with a nice birdie on 10 -- sorry, 11 and 12 with some nice shots in there, which I was really pleased with.

And then with that combination of a three-putt for Richard on 13, the par-3, and then me making a 40-footer for birdie on 14, I thought from that point -- at that moment I thought, this is going to be really interesting.

But to Richard's credit, he iced in about a 10-footer for par, stepped up on the next hole, hit two beautiful shots on the par-5 to six feet above the hole and made it for eagle.

Then the second shot I thought he hit on 16 was world class. To be able to be in that right rough there and turn it into that pin, he won this golf tournament. He played beautiful golf today. He played the best golf and absolutely deserves the trophy.

It was fun to watch.

Q. What does this finish do for you moving forward?

GREG CHALMERS: You know, it does help me down the line. Doesn't help me in the immediate future in terms of getting opportunities. Still got to go qualify on Tuesday for next week in Des Moines. Down the line I think I'm going to get some more opportunities. Certainly helps some steps towards gaining playing rights for next year in terms of money and points, so however it works.

And mostly I'm just -- even though I didn't finish as strongly as I would like I have, to take solace in the fact that I was 3-over at the start of the tournament on Thursday and here I am, finished third outright. It's a great week in any first major, first real taste of being in the last group and seeing some things about what it takes and what I need to work on and improve.

So I take a lot of positives about it. I'm hopeful I can get another opportunity down the line. Ironically, I'm in the U.S. Open and the British Open coming up, so hoping I'll get some chances to get in this position again.

Q. What did you feel you did best this week?

GREG CHALMERS: Honestly, I rolled the ball nicely and my iron play was really beautiful yesterday; not as strong today.

I had some wedges today that I didn't really give myself what I would call great chances, but I did roll in some nice putts here or there.

I have to drive the ball better or get more confident with the driver than I was as I struck it today. That was probably the thing that separates me from someone who's holding the trophy.

Q. The drive that you made at 15 kind of was off.

GREG CHALMERS: Yes.

Q. And then take us through 16, how you played your shots there.

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, I read the lie -- talking about the one I went straight underneath it?

Q. Well, not that, but the shot you hit in there was a little bit left of the green.

GREG CHALMERS: Yeah, so basically I had a 7-iron in. Just trying to hit it like a low kind of sliding, riding the wind in towards the pin.

I missed my target by, I don't know, eight paces or ten paces. It was in the rough and I actually read the lie pretty sitting down, so I went with speed and an open face and I actually went straight underneath the golf ball, which has an element of shock for a player. I just didn't see that happening. Which is regret I didn't choose a different method to play that shot.

I just misread that lie. In that moment, even though I think still Richard was pretty much in control, he had eight feet for birdie, it would've been nice to get a par there and just see what happens over the last couple holes.

Q. That occurred about around the time when things were starting to -- weather was starting to get -- so you weren't distracted by anything? Seemed like there was a thundercloud.

GREG CHALMERS: I wasn't distracted by that. We were being updated and knew what was about to happen after that. Just frustrating when you're about to make bogey and you have to sit there and wait for an hour and a half to do it now.

So, you know, it's a fine line between -- with that 7-iron I've hit, it's a fine line. To be honest, after he's hit his shot into pretty close and putting well, I need a birdie opportunity there; I didn't get it.

I played some frankly tired shots on the last couple holes, and that's cost me. I'm still pretty pleased with how I've managed the week.

Q. So definitely an interesting way to finish up the championship. How do you feel your game held through going back out on the course after getting delayed?

GREG CHALMERS: Oh, after the delay?

Q. Yeah.

GREG CHALMERS: Not very well. You know, I didn't feel like I was moving particularly well and I didn't strike it very well. Hit a poor strike on the par-3. I didn't trust my bunker shot that I was -- I fatted it. Didn't trust that I was going to contact it correctly.

So a lot things at this level that you just have to back yourself to hit a good shot, and probably didn't do as good a job as I should have in some of those occasions.

It was pretty ugly golf to be honest the last two holes. I would like to have two-putted the last, but that happens when you're putting down some of those slopes.

If you sat here at the start of the week and said, you're going to finish third I would be like, okay, that's a pretty nice week in my first major as a senior golfer.

Q. You have another qualifier you said coming up Tuesday. Curious, playing these, has it helped you? You've got to hit the ground running in these 54-hole events. Has it helped you into an aggressive mindset? You're playing qualifier and have to go low to earn your spot.

GREG CHALMERS: Shooting low is a habit and you have to do that on qualifiers. I've definitely had some luck there. I think I'm two for three or two for four on those. Just depends what the golf course sets up like when you get there.

I got a bit of a drive. Got a six-hour or four-hour drive, and I'll get across there and take a look at it tomorrow and pick it up there on Tuesday and see if I can get in the tournament in this case week.

Right now, biggest thing is just trying to get some energy in me and relax a little bit. Probably won't be a big day tomorrow.

Q. What's the name of the course you're playing on Tuesday?

GREG CHALMERS: (Wakanda,) I can't remember. It's in my maps.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
144510-1-1041 2024-05-26 20:40:00 GMT

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