U.S JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 27, 2022

Caleb Surratt

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Is it nice to have an 8 & 7 win this early?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, it's nice, put more rest and fuel into my body and get prepared for hopefully a really long week to come. But if not that's no big deal. But it is nice to get as much rest as you can at a long event like this.

Q. Obviously you played at a high level today; what did you do well?

CALEB SURRATT: I felt like I just had a better plan and I had a better strategy with my caddie, and I felt like I did a great job executing. I didn't really let anything rattle me, and I got off to a great start and just kind of never looked back.

Q. Talk about the start; the birdie on 1, how did you make it?

CALEB SURRATT: I hit a good 3-wood down the middle and hit a shot in there really close after I executed exactly what I was trying to do. It was kind of relieving just to see shots go where I wanted them to go early and I just kind of got in a rhythm and once again, just never looked back.

Q. How close was the shot into 1?

CALEB SURRATT: About three feet.

Q. You birdied 5?

CALEB SURRATT: Yep. I hit it to about a foot on 5.

Q. What did you hit there and what was the yardage?

CALEB SURRATT: I hit a 50-degree from 133, and on the next hole I made birdie, as well, hit a 50-degree from 131. Then I eagled 9.

Q. Tell me about those two shots in there.

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, 9 was just -- it was kind of -- I just felt like I did everything right on 9. I committed to my tee shot and hit it right where I was looking. Then I did a great job of executing what I was trying to do with my 5-iron and I hit it really close, and Lord willing it worked out.

Q. You said it was about five feet?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, five, six.

Q. What was your yardage?

CALEB SURRATT: 231 downhill, wind off the right.

Q. Can you talk about the conditions today, because obviously --

CALEB SURRATT: That was something I've never seen before like with the fog on the first six holes. I felt like I was really proud of my caddie, and I felt like we did a good job of still getting numbers. I felt like we had the knowledge to get through some things because the range finder wasn't picking up the pins so we were going off sprinkler heads. I feel like we did well getting numbers, and that was actually the stretch where I hit some really good shots.

Q. Did you have to readjust your mind because there wasn't really much wind out there?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, I did. It's easier to not focus on the whole field. Sometimes when you're playing in a massive stroke play and you're playing in no wind, people playing with a lot of wind, you just start thinking about what's fair and what's not fair. I didn't really think too much about it just because I'm just playing the guy next to me. It doesn't matter what the guy in the group behind me shoots. I wasn't really concerned with it. I knew we were both playing the same conditions, and it was just going to be who handled it the best.

Q. The other day I asked you about consistency because you've had a nice run here. You talked about the mental side. What about the physical side of your golf game?

CALEB SURRATT: I mean, just this year I felt like I've been taking a lot more effort into rest. I rest my body and how I prepare my body for what's to come. That's something that has become more of a factor and I've been trying to do better at, because it's not always just about working out and stuff. It's more about are you 100 percent to go.

A lot of the time you're not, but if you can stay around 75 percent to 80 percent, like you're ready, then you're going to put yourself on a level to succeed more weeks than one.

Q. Are you doing different things in terms of nutrition?

CALEB SURRATT: Yeah, not really, actually. I've been trying to eat more just because I've begun to learn how much our body really burns off and how much energy I'm really using. I've been trying to eat more and just fuel it with good things and stay hydrated is kind of the biggest thing I've learned. It's such a valuable thing.

Q. Any workout regimen that you've changed up?

CALEB SURRATT: I haven't changed anything. I've been doing the same pre-round workout for the same three years. It is the same stretch, same routine. It takes 35 minutes, and I've kind of stuck with that and trusted in that, and it's been good to me.