THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2023

Max Schliesing

Quick Quotes

Q. Through to the quarterfinals in Amateur Championship. You must be very pleased with how your week is going

MAX SCHLIESING: Yeah, great so far. I've had a caddie who has been really helpful throughout the entire week. My opponents played some great golf and have challenged me throughout the entire week. I was able to stay focused, do my own thing and prevailed through these last few days.

Q. You've given your caddie a shoutout. Who is on the bag for you?

MAX SCHLIESING: He's a teammate of mine in America, also my roommate. We argue a lot but we get also get along very well and he's been great on the golf course.

Q. What's his name?

MAX SCHLIESING: He's called Greg Holmes. He's a bit of a special character, I'll say that much.

Q. And has he been just there for moral support?

MAX SCHLIESING: He's really helpful on the bag to be honest with you. He's a great player himself and has got a lot of knowledge when it comes to links golf. He's a member at Royal Birkdale, so he's been able to help me and guide me through how to best navigate these golf courses.

Q. Looking at your golf, what's been working well for you?

MAX SCHLIESING: My long game is usually the strength of my game and this week it's been the same. I've been struggling a bit with my lower irons, 6-iron through 4-iron but this week has been pretty solid, and then my putter as well which usually lets me down quite a bit on the golf course. This week it's been very solid and kept me in quite a few matches. That's been my strength.

Q. Tell us about your background. How did you get started in golf?

MAX SCHLIESING: So my grandparents used to live in Florida, so we used to go visit them over the summer when I was really young. They got me out with plastic clubs. Got me out on the golf course in Florida and I just never looked back, really. Kept going when I got back home to Switzerland.

Q. Do your parents play?

MAX SCHLIESING: They attempt to play. I wouldn't call it playing but they love to play, especially when we are on vacation or all together. They love to play with me and I love to have them around the golf course as well.

Q. Who would you say your greatest golf inspiration is?

MAX SCHLIESING: Besides Greg Holmes, it has to be Tiger Woods. I mean, everything he's done for the game, it's been incredible. I've always looked up to him.

Q. What's your natural shot shape?

MAX SCHLIESING: I'm more of a fader of the ball.

Q. And favorite yardage for your wedges?

MAX SCHLIESING: Anything I can get a 56-degree to. So anything between probably 105 to 115 is probably my favorite yardage.

Q. What's your favorite club?

MAX SCHLIESING: My 56-degree. I use Titleist irons but I use three wedges and have a standard setup from there pretty much.

Q. What's your miss?

MAX SCHLIESING: My miss is definitely a big pull, which somewhat has been avoided this week luckily.

Q. Were you working on anything to fix that?

MAX SCHLIESING: Not really. I have my Swiss coaches as well and my technical coach came to have a look this morning and we are pretty happy with how everything was going. So no new changes anyway.

Q. What's the biggest strength of your game?

MAX SCHLIESING: Probably my tactics. I'm a very aggressive player, so when my driver is on, I have the ability to go quite low, but when it's off, can go the other direction for sure.

Q. You just said your tactics. Do you feel like particularly that's helping you in match play?

MAX SCHLIESING: Definitely. Because I feel like match play is very mental. So you're able to kind of intimidate your players, sometimes, especially at the start, if you let out a few really good drivers where they potentially are hitting irons off a tee and you hit some good ones out there, you can definitely strike a bit of fear in them or change their mindset about how they go into the game as well.

Q. Okay. And just what are a few holes that really suit your eye?

MAX SCHLIESING: Hole 1 I really love for my driver. I actually prefer the tighter holes just because you need to commit to your shot shapes and just hit it hard, and when I'm able to commit and not focus on what's left, is definitely where my driver comes into play a lot. So I'd say hole No. 1 definitely suits my eye the most.

Q. You just mentioned the Swiss golf team. You've got another Swiss player through as well. Do you know him very well?

MAX SCHLIESING: Yeah, I do know him quite well. Played with him for quite a few years for sure.