U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

June 16, 2021

Wilson Furr

Torrey Pines Golf Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Just some clarification, I know this is your pro debut, but I saw on Pgatour.com they have you listed as an amateur. Is that a clerical thing?

WILSON FURR: No, it's just I turned professional, but because I played the locals as an amateur they haven't updated it on some things, but I am playing as a pro this week.

Q. Pro debut, U.S. Open, that's got to be pretty surreal. What's going through your mind as you made the journey out here knowing that your first time on the PGA TOUR is going to be at a U.S. Open?

WILSON FURR: Yeah, I mean, couldn't ask for anything better really there. Just trying to enjoy it and learn as much about the course as I can. It's pretty straightforward. It's very hard, but it's straightforward, which is nice. There's not -- there's a lot to learn, but it's very much in front of you. That's been nice.

But like I said, it's just been a really cool experience this week and trying to take it all in.

Q. What's the biggest thing with this kind of event, of course there will be a lot of hoopla, Phil has the, quote-unquote, home court advantage, even though he hasn't had success there, but how are you approaching this mentally trying to stay in the moment and not get distracted by the fact that this is a U.S. Open? How are you just approaching this week?

WILSON FURR: Yeah, I mean, I think it's actually kind of a blessing that it's like a USGA, a U.S. Open, because it's so hard that you can't really afford to lose focus for that long, so it kind of snaps you back into it. Kind of every shot, it's crazy all the fans, but like you've got a hard shot coming up so you'd be really stupid to not be focused if that makes sense. It's kind of nice. You can't really take any shots off and you know that going in. There is a lot of hoopla and I'm sure it'll be a lot to handle, but I'm trying to lock into every shot because it is tough, so I think that's actually an advantage in that regard.

Q. Do you have your pairing for tomorrow, who you're playing with?

WILSON FURR: I do, actually. I'm playing with my college roommate, which is unbelievable.

Q. The one I asked you about?

WILSON FURR: I am, yeah. They paired me.

Q. What was the conversation like when you guys talked to each other about that?

WILSON FURR: He sent me a text, like you've got to be kidding me. He's like, I hope I play with someone cooler. So it was great.

But no, it's awesome. The comfort level will be high, and that's all you can ask for in these kind of things. It's really cool. It's going to be a cool experience for the two of us.

I know we're both -- we talked on the phone after getting in. We were both excited, and now to be paired together is really cool.

Q. Is it a twosome or is there a third guy?

WILSON FURR: There's a third guy. His name is like Miguel. I don't know him.

Q. What did you think of the course today? I'm assuming you just got done with your practice round?

WILSON FURR: I did. God, it's awesome. It's definitely firming up, but like I said, it's everything that I think it is. Thick rough, narrowish fairways, but it's awesome. It's been a lot of fun walking around and playing for sure.

Q. What's going to be the biggest challenge for you in your game right now playing well tomorrow?

WILSON FURR: Just patience probably is the biggest thing. You play all the time and you're able to make a lot more birdies. You can still make birdies out here. It's not that it's impossible. It's very fair. But it's more difficult. So trying to force birdies where they probably shouldn't be or whatever will probably be the thing that I'm most focused on because it's not a normal setup. It's the hardest setup in golf. I would say that's probably the biggest thing for me is just playing to my spots and not trying to do too much.

Q. How much bigger of a stage is the U.S. Open and what's it felt like being there?

WILSON FURR: It's definitely bigger, I'll say that. There's just all the hospitality and all that, there's a lot more going on around the event, but the course itself is even different a little bit. We'll see as the week goes on how it shapes out, but there's also some similarities. Obviously all USGA events are great courses with great condition, so that's the same, but everything is turned up probably another level here, and then off the course turned up about 50 levels.

Q. What's the name of your college roommate that you're paired with?

WILSON FURR: Davis Shore.

Q. What's it like to represent Jackson and the state of Mississippi in the U.S. Open? Any reaction from old JA coaches and teammates? What's that like representing Jackson?

WILSON FURR: Yeah, it's been really cool. I've gotten a lot of support from home, a lot of people texting me, and I just saw Hayden Buckley, so me and him I guess are the two guys from Mississippi. He's from Tupelo. So we were just kind of talking about that. We were both playing together as juniors not too long ago, and now we're the only two guys here. So it's super cool. It's been cool to see all the junior golfers I grew up with have a lot of success. There's been players, but there haven't been as many from Mississippi, so it's been really cool to follow everybody with Davis Riley, Hayden. There's been a really good crew of people.

Q. Playing with your college teammate tomorrow, there's got to be kind of a mentality you're going to have going into it. Do you think that could help you or almost make it feel too comfortable?

WILSON FURR: I know what you're saying. Like I said about the course, I think comfortable is nice. I definitely would rather have it that way. But because the course is the way that it is in difficulty, like I said, you can't really get distracted. No one is going to be joking around that much because there's just not time for it. Maybe walking down the fairways or whatever, but when you're stepping up to your shot, it's going to take it all out of you. I'm not too worried about that regard.

Q. Is there anybody that you saw out there where you had maybe a star-struck moment?

WILSON FURR: I mean, I was talking about that with someone the other day. It's interesting, you watch people on TV all the time. I grew up watching all these people on TV and I've modeled my game, tried to learn as much as I can from them on the TV.

When you see them in person, actually for me it was actually kind of nice because you're like, yeah, that's just a 30-year-old guy. He's really good at this game. There's nothing taken away from him there, but it kind of puts it into perspective that they're not superheroes. They're very good at what they do, but they're just people. When you see them on TV you just don't look at them that way. It feels like they are just like not human.

But it's cool. I think that's the biggest takeaway for me was everybody is just a normal person. They're just really good at what they do.

Q. Who's on the bag tomorrow?

WILSON FURR: Michael Sims is his name. He works for the agency that I'm working for, and he's great. He's got all the Cali vibes going out here. He's hilarious, and he's going to keep me laid back for sure out there.

Q. Who do you usually have caddie for you, your dad?

WILSON FURR: I don't really have caddies very much to be honest with you. In college golf and amateur golf you only get at the USGA events. My dad caddied for me at the USGA events. I guess my dad, but I really don't have caddies too much, so I guess I'll have to get used to that a little more.

Q. Assuming this caddie knows the course well, so that'll be good for you.

WILSON FURR: Yeah, I'm excited.

Q. Is it just you or is your dad out there?

WILSON FURR: My parents are out there and then I've got a host of friends coming. They're coming in this afternoon, and then my girlfriend is also coming, so we've got a good crew coming.

Q. Most of your friends from Jackson coming?

WILSON FURR: Yeah, most of my high school friends. They couldn't miss it, so they're on the way out.