ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

April 23, 2026

Alex Smalley

Hayden Springer

TPC Louisiana

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Record-tying 58. Excellent play. Alex, let's start with you. The birdie, eagle, birdie start right out of the gate. If we can get some comments.

ALEX SMALLEY: Yeah, sure, we both hit good tee shots on one. Both hit decent second shots into the green. Both had, I don't know, 15 feet or so, and I just happened to make mine first.

Number two, I was kind of in between clubs on the second shot. Had to step on a 4-iron a little bit, and it came out perfect. The putt went in on the last revolution, so that was a nice feeling to have.

Then number three, Hayden played first off the tee today, so Hayden put me on the green, and I could be a little more aggressive to where that pin was and was able to push it all the way back there and had a good look, and it just happened to go in.

THE MODERATOR: Then, Hayden, we'll get you to talk about the finish, four straight birdies.

HAYDEN SPRINGER: Yeah, four to finish, can't complain. Kind of got the putter going there. Nice one on 15, which is a good one to take care of there. Then hit a close one on 16. Then 17 is a bonus birdie in my mind. Kind of holed a long putt there. Then nice to finish off on 18, you know get that one, take care of the par-5, especially in this format. So it's nice to do that.

THE MODERATOR: Alex, speaking of the format, how much did you enjoy playing with Hayden today in this?

ALEX SMALLEY: Oh, it's great. My caddie used to be with Hayden for, I don't know, three, four years or so.

HAYDEN SPRINGER: Yeah.

ALEX SMALLEY: They're still really good friends. We knew we would have a good time out there, and we did. I think Hayden and I were the same year in college. Both graduated around the same area. Played some amateur golf together. It's nice to link up with him. He's a great teammate.

THE MODERATOR: Hayden, talk a little bit about the chemistry you guys have out there and how the team came about.

HAYDEN SPRINGER: Yeah, we had fun. I enjoyed it. Yeah, like Alex said, my old caddie is with him now, and so thought it would be fun to kind of all team up. I've known Alex for quite a while now. It's great for me. I mean, he's an unbelievable player. To be able to team up with him and have that opportunity is great.

THE MODERATOR: Talk a little bit about the mind shift now going to alternate shot tomorrow, Alex.

ALEX SMALLEY: Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a different format, a little tougher. I think we just kind of stick to what we were doing.

You know, even in best ball you want as many birdie looks as you can get. You are just trying to get the ball in play off the tee as many times as you can. Similar things for tomorrow. Just try to hit as many fairways as we can, hit as many greens, get as many birdie looks as we can. Hopefully some of them will fall.

I don't think we're going to change our mindset a whole lot. We'll just kind of keep at it.

THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts, Hayden, on tomorrow?

HAYDEN SPRINGER: I feel similarly. It's just, I mean, try to do what we do, try to do every time. Try and hit the best shot we can, the appropriate shot. Then it's try and make a few putts, but don't over-complicate it, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Then I'll ask both of you, both of you are looking for your first PGA victory. How could being in a team format change that in terms of maybe taking a little bit of the pressure off of the grind of an individual tournament?

ALEX SMALLEY: Yeah, I mean, obviously it's nice having someone in your corner. Obviously your caddie is going to be in your corner, but it's nice to have another kind of player to lean on a little bit in your corner as well.

We've got a long way to go before the tournament is over, but yeah, I mean, it's a fun format to have. It's nice to kind of mix it up a little bit, to have a team event like this instead of doing the same monotonous thing that we do week in and week out, just kind of doing our own thing, playing our own ball.

It's nice to play with your buddies and to partner up. It's a fun week for most players, I think.

THE MODERATOR: Hayden.

HAYDEN SPRINGER: Yeah, for me it's kind of nice to have somebody out there with you to kind of feed off of each other. You kind of pick each other up where you can.

You know, even when Alex goes and makes a birdie, it feels like I made a birdie. It kind of keeps you going in that way as well, which is nice.

THE MODERATOR: Are you guys enjoying New Orleans at night or going to any good restaurants or just keeping it pretty low-key?

HAYDEN SPRINGER: I've kept it pretty low-key, yeah.

ALEX SMALLEY: He's got a 1- and a 3-year-old, so he kind of has to keep it low-key. No, I'm keeping it pretty low-key as well. Not staying in downtown.

I've gone to see it before. When you are here, you definitely want to go see it. It's cool, but just kind of business as usual once Wednesday, Thursday rolls around. You try to get in your own little head space. Yeah, just trying to keep it light and keep it easy, but not doing a whole lot else.