Danny Walker shot a stunning 7-under 65, led by what he calls his best putting performance of the year. After a rough stretch with eight consecutive missed cuts, Walker opens up in this interview about shifting his mindset, working harder at home, and finally letting go of the pressure to “just make the cut.” He shares how a small but meaningful call with renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella helped him refocus, and how a lucky break on 14 reminded him that things can turn. With brutal honesty and calm confidence, Danny gives a refreshing look into the mental side of a comeback round.
to get in with a 7 under 65. Just uh how special was that round for you today? Yeah. Yeah, it was really good. Um it was really just the putter got heated up. That was probably my best putting round of the year, I would imagine. Um I didn’t verify that statistically, but it sure felt like it was. Uh so yeah, that was really the difference. I just made a bunch of putts. Everyone’s saying the greens are pretty good. They must be pretty good. We’re saying the black Yeah, they’re they’re really good surfaces. So if you’re putting good, you can make a lot. Talk to me about 14 and 15 in your round. I mean, from what we saw on television on 14, it looked like that ball was headed in the trees. I don’t know if you saw it, but it bounced out. It was pretty favorable. And yeah, uh, it’s felt like I’ve had a lot of breaks not go my way the last few months. So, I think today there was one or two times that was the main one where I think I kind of kind of got a little bit of that back. So, that was that was a really good break for sure. And then 15, the strategy there. You went with driver. Probably hit it in a kind of a I don’t know what the lie was like there with your second shot, but Yeah, was fine. It was just an awful shot. Like like I I was fine like hitting it over there. Like I looked at that area and figured right was was okay. I just didn’t execute the shot. So, but bounced back from that and finished up the round well. Can you kind of explain, you know, you started the year pretty well and top good finish at the players and it seemed you’re on your way, but you’ve come in here off eight missed cuts. What What’s the mindset for you, you know, going through that process and getting here and now shooting a good score? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s really hard when you’ve missed a bunch of cuts to not go into a week just all you’re thinking about is hoping you make the cut and that’s kind of where where it got to. Um and when all you’re thinking about is is results and especially, you know, you’re not coming to a tournament just to make the cut. So, uh it got it really got in my head and I felt like going into this week I finally got in a place where um I just wasn’t really worried about that. I made sure I worked really really hard the last couple weeks in my in my time off so I could come here and just kind of trust what I what I had done and not worry about what the results were going to be as much. How did you get to that place? Did you get to it on your own? Did you have some help? How did that process work? Um, a lot of it was on my own. I did have a a quick call with Rotella um maybe two weeks ago. Um nothing was earthshattering. It was just the stuff I already know. just kind of re reiterating it. Um, but whenever I do get a chance to talk to him, it it makes me just be a little more self-reflective like afterwards. Um, but I think the biggest part of it was just really kind of stepping up my my preparation at home before I got here. So, I didn’t feel like I had to do as much Monday to Wednesday. Um, like I felt like I was already kind of prepared once I got here. I just had to learn the course and that was it. What was the highlight for you today out there? Um, I don’t know. There’s a lot of putts that I’d say were highlights. Maybe the last one just to kind of cap off the round. Perfect. That’s all we need. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Danny. Good plan. Keep it going. Okay.
