Los Angeles Golf Club 5, The Bay Golf Club 3
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by The Bay Golf Club. We have Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark and Min Woo Lee, who came in tonight as the undefeated team. Just had your first loss but projected as the No. 2 seed going into the Playoffs. Just want to start off with some opening comments about the night.
MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, honestly, it doesn't feel great. I think this is what it feels like to be on a team sport. You don't want to let anyone down. There was a couple shots where I felt like I left out. But you've got your teammates to back you up, too.
We're looking forward to the Playoffs, and hopefully we bring our good stuff there.
THE MODERATOR: Wyndham and Shane, comments about entering the Playoffs?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I feel like we had our worst match. We gave away holes which we haven't done at all the previous matches. Then we missed some putts. We missed some drives. We really had our worst day.
Yet we were still in it. So if I look at the positives, we lost by one on the final hole, and I felt like we played our worst golf.
Going into the Playoffs, I feel like we have a lot of momentum because I feel like we're still one of the best teams, if not the best team, and hopefully, we get a W and get in the championship.
Q. Anything else to add to that, Shane?
SHANE LOWRY: I like Wyndham's confidence. Good to have Wyndham on your team.
Q. Shane, hole 4, the par-5, it looked like Collin kind of rolled you guys into a bad lie. Obviously you guys practice those drops. Is there a world where you go for that if the lie was better?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, that's what we were hoping, to drop it into a good lie. But that rough that they've got the last couple of weeks is a lot thicker than it has been.
Yeah, it dropped down very good. If we got a good lie, we were going to throw the hammer there. Yeah, but it's important to hit the fairway.
Q. Now that you guys are approaching the Playoffs, and the novelty of the league has sort of -- everyone understands it now, has it shifted at all into more of, like, let's win this competition, whereas at first, everyone was going, what is this?
SHANE LOWRY: I've always been, like, coming in here to win every night I come in. I think we have, as a team.
I think that's the one thing that surprised me about this whole experience is how much I care and how much I want to win because obviously it's something new, like you said. We didn't know what to expect. I'm pretty pissed off that we lost tonight.
I think, if anything, it might be a blessing in disguise going into the Playoffs. Might be a bit of a kick in the back side that we need. We can get our head down and focus a little bit better going in there.
I think we played that first hole badly today, get off to a better start the next time, and yeah, you never know.
WYNDHAM CLARK: People also forget we have one of the best players in the world sitting on the bench.
SHANE LOWRY: Ludvig is at home on the bench, so that's a nice little key to have.
Q. To Shane's point, we've been here for a couple weeks now, I'm curious how much this starts to mirror real golf life? How motivated are you to go up to API and play well because you lost today?
WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I don't know if they necessarily correlate from TGL to regular TOUR events where now I have motivation to play even better at Bay Hill. I'm mean, I'm always gong to have that. I would say the motivation is for the next match to come in more prep, be more prepared.
I mean, today I showed up with an hour and a half, two hours before the match. I didn't get a proper warm-up in. Some of the other matches we actually were really practicing and we were really ready. That's on me. It's no excuse, but I think in these next ones, we're not going to leave anything to chance, and we're going to prepare the best we can.
Like you said, we really care. I hated that I missed that putt. I hated that I cost us a few shots. We want to make some changes and do better the next time.
Q. Kind of looking at the rough, you're talking about it's getting a little bit longer, but Wyndham, I noticed you were really dialed in as those drops were happening. You were right there in the zone. What were you looking for there?
Were you just wanting to be in that moment or were you waiting to see something happen?
WYNDHAM CLARK: No, so on both times when Collin came over and then I was over there,, if you get a good lie or a jumper lie or a nice lie, then it changes what you do out of that rough. So you know, hats off to TGL, they made it to where now the rough is more -- you know, early in the first few matches, if you hit it in the rough, it was almost the same thing as the fairway, and you were able to hit the green.
Now it's -- really matters if you get a good lie. So you saw we didn't get good lies each time we had to lay up, and it was kind of a half-shot penalty.
Each time I was looking more for how good that lie is and if we could advance the ball farther than a lay-up.
Q. Shane, there's a little bit of -- it's floating around social media, you made a chip shot. Was that today where you threw up the little --
SHANE LOWRY: That was last Friday.
Q. I just want to know about the friendships and the bonds. Have they grown increasingly since TGL? It seems like it has from our end.
SHANE LOWRY: I think so. I obviously knew the guys, but I didn't know them. Then you're coming in here and you're hanging out with them a few hours every couple of weeks and you're on the same team, and you've got the same goals in mind, it does create a bond.
We have done that on Friday and I noticed they did at that tonight. I think it's quite disrespectful to do someone else's celebration. But maybe we'll have the last laugh.
Q. Holes 9 through 14 really seemed to change the match. Obviously, a lot of hammers were thrown during that period and LA went on a 4-0 run, and Min Woo, you had that big shot on 13, that second shot to put right over the hole, and then Tommy makes that chip. What was that thought process as holes 9 through 10 when all those hammers started to fly? Did you feel it slipping away a little bit or did you still feel like you were right there to take the match?
MIN WOO LEE: When I was over that shot, I felt really good. We threw the hammer, and I had a 5-iron in, and obviously unfortunate to pull it into the water, and that kind of cost us a couple shots. That was a pretty big turning point.
But that's the beauty of this game and TGL, that it can turn so quickly. I feel like we've had a couple of those moments in previous matches, and again, it seemed like I didn't play very good at all, and we only lost by one.
That's the same as a real golf tournament, too. You hit one average shot, and that can cost a tournament.
Yeah, looking forward to the next one.
Q. Shane, five consecutive days, five straight days of competitive golf, but all just about 10 minutes from where you're living. How has that been playing competitive golf but sleeping in your own bed?
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, it's nice. It's nice to not have to pack a bag and fly and do all that and stay in a hotel or a rental. It's nice to have your own stuff.
I enjoyed Cognizant last week. I played pretty good at times. I had a really busy week, and it's kind of going into a pretty busy week this week, as well. We're heading up to Bay Hill, and we're getting into a busy part of the season. But this is what we look for and this is what we love.
That is why we do it Masters only around the corner obviously we've got Bay Hill this week, then the PLAYERS, then the Playoffs here. It's a nice run of events and it's nice to be involved in this. If I was sitting at home watching this on TV, I'd want to be involved in it. It's been helpful the last couple weeks that it's been where I live, and I love that tournament, and yeah, it's been good.
WYNDHAM CLARK: I'm jealous.
SHANE LOWRY: Wyndham has been back and forth to Phoenix a lot, so I don't envy him.
Q. Shane, for you and Rickie and some others, Rory, that did Seminole today and tonight, talk us through playing in the early morning and then scooting over to here and playing here.
SHANE LOWRY: Yeah, I'm not going to lie, my 6:00 alarm call wasn't much fun this morning. I went there, played Seminole, had a nice time. I like playing there. I love that event. Just coming here, I felt like I was good to go. I jumped in the ice bath in the dressing room for a couple minutes, got myself going, and yeah, it's fine. It was easy. But I'll sleep well tonight.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports