Ahead of the U.S. Open Championship, we caught up with PXG Troop and TOUR Professional Kyle Westmoreland who played his way into the tournament with a final qualifying round of -9 under par.
TALK TO US ABOUT HOW YOUR SEASON’S GOING SO FAR?
The season is going well. With improvements over the last year and the new GEN4 Driver, I think we are ready to do some damage.
ARE THERE ANY PARTS OF YOUR GAME THAT YOU’RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
I have worked for a long time on shallowing out my swing earlier in transition to help with consistency. With the help of great coaches Jeff Smith and Allen Terrell, we have gotten more hand depth and I’m now able to swing as hard as I want.
MORE THAN 9,000 U.S. OPEN ENTRIES WERE RECEIVED FOR THE 121ST U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP – TALK TO US ABOUT WHAT IT TOOK FOR YOU TO GET TO THE FINAL
QUALIFYING STAGE?
There are a lot of numbers that can be thrown out when talking about the process of getting to the U.S. Open. What it honestly took for me was trusting in my process, focusing on the shot at hand, and having the confidence to know that if I execute accordingly, I’d get to where I wanted to be.
AFTER THE FIRST ROUND IN THE FINAL QUALIFYING STAGE, WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET?
To trust the process and give myself as many looks at birdie as possible. The first-round scores throughout the field weren’t great, so I knew I wasn’t out of it by any means.
HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THE FINAL ROUND?
After a terrible start 3-over through four, I welcomed the first rain delay. It was nice to hit the pause button for a couple hours. We knew the conditions were going to be bad, so I think more than anything we just focused on staying in the moment, welcoming the bad weather (I honestly root for the conditions to be as bad as possible), and focusing on the task at hand. The second round we knew that we had to make a run, so we went at pins as much as we could. If you are going to miss qualifying, you might as well go out swinging… so that’s the mentality we took out there.
YOU’VE TEED IT UP ON THE PGA TOUR BEFORE – HOW WILL YOU PREPARE FOR THE U.S. OPEN?
I’m going to continue to invest in the process we have laid out on and off the course, trust in the perspective and mental toughness the military has instilled in me, and hit a lot of long drives!
I’m looking forward to competing… we are going there to do some damage!
HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR TIME IN THE U.S. AIR FORCE HELPED PREPARE YOU FOR MOMENTS LIKE THIS?
Firstly, the perspective I received throughout my service time is invaluable and I’ll keep it forever. Golf is great but making a difference means much more!
Secondly, facing adversity is a norm in the military so I think I am more comfortable than most at being uncomfortable.
Lastly, knowing I was going to play professionally after my five years of service time and watching guys that I’d played against in college having success and climbing through the ranks of professional golf throughout that time made me hungry to get out there and compete…As my wife says (not sure she means it in the same way) “I’m always hungry!”.
BIG HITTERS ARE DOMINATING RIGHT NOW. HOW DOES YOUR DISTANCE OFF THE TEE HELP YOUR GAME?
Distance is a huge advantage if you can maintain dispersion. We (both my coaches and PXG) have worked hard to get to a point where we are comfortable going at the ball as hard as we want. I’m excited to play a place like Torrey where I think we can fully take advantage of the distance we are producing!
With the new GEN4 XT Driver, my cruising ball speed is in the low 190mph range, and up to low 200mph range when I want to spice things up!
WE’RE EXCITED TO WATCH KYLE AND OUR OTHER PXG TROOPS COMPETE AT THE 121ST U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, JUNE 17TH-21ST.
IS THE PXG GEN4 X, XF OR XT THE RIGHT DRIVER FOR YOUR GAME?
New GEN4 Drivers deliver incredible sound and feel, unbelievable forgiveness, explosive distance, and drop-dead sexy looks. More advanced golfers, may enjoy the TOUR inspired head shape of the GEN4 XT. The tear-drop head design offers a smaller, shallower face that reduces drag forces and increases ball speed.
For golfers seeking maximum forgiveness and power off the tee, our GEN4 XF (Xtreme Forgiveness) features a confidence inspiring, larger profile head. With a wider, longer face – the hitting zone is expanded, and mishit performance is improved. The lower side profile and a deep front-to-back shape ensures that MOI (forgiveness) is maximized.
Our GEN4 X Driver offers the best of both worlds – the ideal mix of distance and forgiveness. With a tall, deep face, players will enjoy high-launch, low-spin performance.
WHERE CAN I BUY A PXG DRIVER?
Fast fit your new GEN4 Driver online, over the phone with PXG Player Support at 844.PLAY.PXG, or via an in-person fitting with a PXG Fitting Specialist at a location near you.
