MYRTLE BEACH CLASSIC

May 7, 2026

Ryan Ruffels

Dunes Golf and Beach Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Great playing today.

RYAN RUFFELS: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: First off, what's it feel like after getting a round under your belt?

RYAN RUFFELS: Yeah, it's kind of a strange feeling out there today. More nervous than I've ever been because so many people were watching, but less nervous than I've ever been because it's not everything to me I guess this time.

So, yeah, very strange, very strange feeling. I was happy to get that first tee shot away straight down the middle. Played a beautiful first hole. Then from there, the course was kind of out in front of me.

We definitely had some adversity. Had to stop kind on the back of two birdies there for a half an hour or so. Wind was blowing on the back nine. SO proud of myself for handling everything the golf Gods threw at me today.

THE MODERATOR: Started with a birdie, like you said, and then kind of a little bit of a mishap on two, but you bounced back and kind of fought hard. How did you kind of change the momentum again, get yourself back under par?

RYAN RUFFELS: Two was a weird one. It's a hard tee shot with the wind blowing hard out of the left. You have to hit a bit of a hook around the corner. Just kind of went through the fairway and the bunk. Hit a good bunker shot. Picked the wind a little wrong, and it spun off the front, which is a tough chip, and I didn't hit a good one.

I wasn't too fast. I had kind of been two holes and felt like I hit one bad chip. Other than that, all pretty good shots.

So I wasn't too stressed, and there were a lot of people out there supporting me. Such a cool opportunity. I was out there smiling all day. Kenzie, my girlfriend, just told me after the round -- she was like, I've never seen you smile so much out there on the golf course. It's true. I was having a great time. Yeah, that's all.

Q. Is that what you envisioned it would be out there on this first walk back?

RYAN RUFFELS: Once again, I've used the word a fair bit this week, but I kind of hoped it would be like that. I believed that I could. I didn't want to put any real expectation on it to say that I was going to do anything or not do anything, but I know that I'm capable of playing great golf under a lot of different circumstances, and I was able to show that today.

Q. You had the stoppage. The weather kind of kicked up. It was kind of fighting you all day really. How did you kind of fight through the elements out there and continue to take whatever it gave you and continue to roll it well and play well throughout all different changes?

RYAN RUFFELS: You don't really have a choice, right? Like, I mean, if it was YouTube, we wouldn't have played. So, no, we've got to be a little tougher when we play on the PGA TOUR.

Yeah, no, you don't have a choice. I'm hitting the ball good. The wind was a little tough to pick on the back nine. We had a few that we thought were going to be good, and the wind went the other direction. I mean, you've just got to roll with the punches.

I feel all parts miff game are pretty good. I'm a good putter. I've switched to cross-handed chipping about a year ago, and that's made my a great chipper. My bunker play has come a long way. I've always been a great iron player, and I'm really driving the ball good.

I feel like I can hit a lot of good shots, create a lot of opportunities, and when the bounces or the breaks don't quite go my way, I can have a decent chance for recovering.

Q. Just a couple more. Two birdies in your last four holes, kind of highlighted by that 9-iron on 15 out of the trees where you were, like --

RYAN RUFFELS: Pretty crazy.

Q. I don't know if anyone saw this. Can you walk us through that shot?

RYAN RUFFELS: Yeah, worst drive of the day by far. I got a little excited on the tee, let's call it. Straight downwind finally. Felt like I was battling the wind all day, and finally got this hallway downwind. I was, like, I'm going to hit this 400 yards down here, and I did just 400 yards to the right.

I just had a good lie in the rough. 219 straight downwind. Just hoist it as high as I can. I thought anywhere up by the green, I could just try and get it up and down.

Yeah, and I guess I hit a 224 9-iron just as high and hard as I could straight at the pin and ended up 15 feet, and I was able to two-putt for birdie. Yeah, that's definitely a bonus, and I got lucky to have a shot over there.

Q. Finally, you rolled it well all day. You left a couple in the heart, but made a lot of other ones. What goes into picking up the greens so fast? I feel like you probably know them well. Maybe more than others since you've been kind of at Myrtle Beach for qualifier rounds.

RYAN RUFFELS: It's funny. I've always been a great putter. I've always been a confident putter. I switched to a mallet at the start of the year, which is new for me. I've used the same putter for ten years. I'm not much of a tinkerer.

This putter seems to just give me a little bit better speed on mis-hits, so just keeps the speed up a little bit. Because of that, I've always thought I could start the ball online. Duane, my caddie, is kind of confirming a lot of the lines I have. Important to see the grain around here because the grain has a lot of influence, especially as the putt starts to lose it's pace.

So, yeah, just seeing them well, putting the well. I expect to putt well whenever I play golf. I think that's a really strong part of my game.

Maybe people who watch The Q didn't think so because I really putted poorly at The Q, but generally putting is a good thing for me.

Q. Off late today; off early tomorrow. What's the mindset going into tomorrow, round two?

RYAN RUFFELS: Just keep enjoying. This is so much fun. Today was, like, the hard day for me. Today I've been anxious about getting started today for weeks probably. I've been thinking about what it's going to be like when I finally get there. When The Q is finally announced and once The Q is announced, what it's going to be like with all the extra subscribers and followers and fans that are out here. Yeah, it's been on my mind.

To kind of get today done and out of the way and play the way I did was a big confidence boost for me. There's going to be nerves all week, for sure, but today showed that I'm capable, and that gives me a lot of confidence to try and do something similar tomorrow.