Eagle McMahon, of Boulder, CO, shot a 57 (-8) during round 1 and is tied for the USDGC lead. I caught up with him after the round to hear his thoughts on his performance.
Q: What are your thoughts after the round?
Eagle: It’s a four round tournament and I’m just setting myself up for the rest of the rounds. I’m planning on doing the same thing again…Right now I’m in a good spot.
Q: It was a little breezy today. Did that affect you much?
Eagle: No, I like it. It makes me disc up to more overstable which generally puts me in bounds. I know how the read the wind angles really good, so if it’s right to left, I’ll throw a sidearm to fight the wind and put me in bounds. The wind didn’t really affect me at all aside from a few putts.
Q: Watching you play Hole 5, you really had a methodical approach, not biting off more than you could handle. Was that your approach to the hole?
Eagle: Absolutely. Off the first drive, you’re really just trying to put yourself in the fairway and the next shot is just a routine sidearm. Then you think about attacking on the next shot. But, basically getting a par on that hole is nothing to laugh at. So, I knew if I got over the water I’d get my five, and if I was over there and hit my putt – great I’m going for birdie. So I played it how I wanted and I was happy with the result (which he birdied by the way).