PGA Tour: Andrew Landry Recaps His 2020 American Express Victory

PGA Tour professional Andrew Landry speaks with the media following his victory at The American Express, Landry’s second career victory on the PGA Tour.

PGA Tour: Andrew Landry recaps his final round performance at The American Express

Q. Your second PGA TOUR win. It didn’t come easy. It looked like smooth sailing until the 13th hole. You looked so in control but then three bogeys in a row. How did you overcome that?
ANDREW LANDRY: I just, I’ve been swinging it well all week and putting the ball well all week. The putt on, what is it, 15? I don’t know how that ball didn’t go in. And then I hit another great putt on 16 and so I was look, hey, look, I’m stroking the ball really well. I got a little bit closer to my shot on the par-4, 15, on the tee shot, and it kind of flattened the driver out for me and so I was able to get a little bit more extra out of it, and so I had a good swing thoughts coming down the stretch and just got the job done. Made, I mean, I think the biggest shot of the tournament was probably the one on 17.

Q. No argument there. How about the fact that two years ago you lost in a playoff to Jon Rahm. How satisfying is it to get a win on this very golf course?
ANDREW LANDRY: Yeah, for sure. This is a golf course that has suited me very well in the past. And just to look back on some of the things that happened a couple years ago and then now, just to be able to finally get it done. I didn’t want to have to go back into a playoff again and we’re running out of daylight so it’s good to finally get the job done again.

Q. Almost a year ago we were talking, when you were defending your title at Valero, you were saying it almost hurt you to win because then you started doing things differently, things started creeping into your head. What happened after that?
ANDREW LANDRY: I just, honestly, they have still been crept in my head. I’m not doing anything different. I’m just trying to just have fun out there. And the biggest thing is to just believe in myself. I haven’t had a lot of success lately, but it’s bittersweet now.

Q. You got your son waiting here. Maybe made you a little bit sick last week. The whole family is the out here. How special is it to share this with them?
ANDREW LANDRY: It’s great. This has been the second time they have been out and just to have them this here to do this again, it’s awesome.

Q. There is a change that you made, by the way, because we were talking about the 3-iron and one of your wedges. How impactful was that?
ANDREW LANDRY: Big. Wedge on 18. That was a number that I was feeling really comfortable with. It was actually, I’ve been hitting that club a little bit further than I normally hit it, so we knew right on the last hole that it was going to be a perfect wedge. And so it was a good shot, hit my line perfectly, struck it nice and went up there close.

Q. What kind of confidence can a win like this give you?
ANDREW LANDRY: Big confidence. I’m still riding the confidence from Valero and Oakmont. So I’m just going to continue doing the same thing that I’ve been doing and just try to get better every single day. If you wake up and try to get better every day, you’re going to be look back at the end of the year, you should be getting better. So I haven’t had a year, but last year — last year was the first year at that I’ve looked back and I’ve been like, hey, look, I didn’t get better at all. So I worked really hard over this off-season. I just got sick right before Hawaii for a weak and it just didn’t work out it. I mean, it definitely showed in Hawaii. I think I shot a pair of couple hockey sticks or something, but it was bad. But just to come out here, get some good weather, get some good practice in and work really hard and it definitely paid off.

Q. That was an awesome fight. Really enjoyed watching it. Two-time PGA TOUR winner. How does that sound, Andrew?
ANDREW LANDRY: It sounds good. Ready to get back to Maui and the Masters, so it’s going to be pretty cool.

Q. How much of a test — look, we were just talking about how it looked like were you in complete control. How much of a test was this part of the middle of the back nine?
ANDREW LANDRY: You know, it was a test, it was a big test because the tee shot there on 13, that’s a tough tee shot. 14 was kind of a hole where it was kind of an in between and I didn’t really want to hit driver, but I was just trying to take the bunker out of play completely and I wanted to have more of a full shot in there. And I pulled my next shot, my second shot into that hole and thank God it didn’t go in that bunker, because that was dead. And then just didn’t really hit the iron shots that I needed right there in that three-hole stretch, and then a bad chip, most likely it was nerves on 16, just a bad club selection, chipping-wise. And then just kind of calmed myself down and said, hey, look, these are two holes that we can go out and get, they suit my game very well, especially 18.

Q. Let’s go to 17 first. We got these in here. On this tee shot, mentally from yourself, thinking you got to step up, there’s pressure from that leaderboard as well right now.
ANDREW LANDRY: For sure. Yeah, I didn’t really pay any attention to the leaderboard until, honestly, hole 18. I looked a little bit — I actually looked up one time on 15 and then Scottie made that eagle there on 16, and I just said, hey, look, we need to make a birdie coming in.

Q. Rickie gave you a good look at the line, didn’t he?
ANDREW LANDRY: Yeah, he did. He asked me if I wanted him to go first and I said yeah, go ahead and I took a little bit of time. And it was a good visual that he just hit one close. And so, but —

Q. What’s this feel like?
ANDREW LANDRY: Great. It’s one of the greatest feelings. This is what we play golf for.

Q. Masters beckons now. Maui. What does this do for you going forward confidence-wise, belief in yourself? We were talking about it just now, validation in you that you can get it done?
ANDREW LANDRY: Yeah, for sure. It’s great because I kind of blew it a little bit there at Oakmont, and that U.S. Open really hurt me, but it also helped me to where I can go out and win a WEB.COM event — or a Korn Ferry event that following year after losing my card and just getting my brains beat in out here. And then winning out there and then, on the Korn Ferry TOUR, and then just having a great season out there and then leading it into a great fall season on the PGA TOUR. And I eventually picked up, you know, I lost in a playoff here that year, and then I picked up a win later on in the season. All those moments help. It’s one of those things that you just keep looking back, and the biggest thing for me is to control my pace, and the more that I can control my pace of walking and the more that I can just try to relax my shoulders, and just small things like that as a player you figure out. And those are some key things for myself that help me get the job done.

Q. Those three straight bogies kind of derailed you a little bit. What’s going through your mind when that’s happening?
ANDREW LANDRY: Just stop the bleeding somehow. I didn’t hit that many bad golf shots. It was a 3-putt — well, it was my first one of the week — just bad speed — and then maybe a poor decision on the next hole for chipping in. And then I hit a great chip on 15 and it just kind of got stabby and stuck in that collar there and didn’t want to get on. If that ball rolls another 2 inches it’s down there by the hole. So I just kept telling myself just keep grinding this out. You don’t want to go into a playoff. You don’t — you had a big cushion and just try to go out and make a birdie on 16, and I didn’t do that. I hit a great putt. And ball position got a little bit farther back on some putts and I moved it up just a tiny bit there on 16 and hit an unbelievable putt, and then I finished it off with the next two.

Q. Clutch tee shot at 17.
ANDREW LANDRY: That was probably the shot of the tournament for me. Just to be able to go over there and, to that right hole location, and just hold one up and hit a good distance and have a 7-, 8-footer to look at. And Rick said, man, I was trying to hit it just a little left of your ball so I could show you the line. Thankfully it went in and kind of made 18 a little bit easier.

Q. Golf’s a funny game. You missed seven of eight cuts to start the season and here you are in the winners circle and you putted out of your mind this week. Isn’t it crazy?
ANDREW LANDRY: It’s crazy. This is the wildest game that you can play. That’s why you just got to keep grinding it out. We all search for these weeks, and the majority of players out here are going to have them, four, five, six times a year and top-10 players are going to have them a little bit more often. So these are the weeks that we search for and we just continue to just play our ball and keep doing what we do, and hopefully they come sooner than later.

January 19, 2020

La Quinta, California

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports