The University of Mississippi Athletics
Chris Malloy Press Conference
11/7/2016 | Men's Golf
Men's golf coach Chris Malloy met with the media Monday recapping the record-setting fall season and Braden Thornberry's early success.
Opening Statement…
"The guys have had a great fall campaign. I couldn't be any happier. We are ranked 21st in the country. We have a 65-2 overall record. Guys have done a great job. It is hard in our sport to show up every single time that you are out in every single tournament that you play. You are bound to have a bad round coming. We have five guys that travel to each event and four scores that count on each round. To have these guys show up and compete every time is unlike anything I have ever seen. For that, my hat is off to them. We almost hate to top the season right now. In golf the fall season counts the same as it does in the spring. Basically we are pressing pause on our season, which is nice, because all of this success carries over and counts towards the NCAA Tournament, but you wish you could keep playing when you are playing well like these guys are. We will get into the meat of our schedule when we head into the spring. I think we will even see our ranking and points move up as we get into that part of the schedule. A major reason for our success is because of Braden Thornberry. The best part about Braden is that he is a sophomore. We need him for a little while. We will relish having him here. He's ranked 18th in the country. I think that is a worse ranking than he should have. I can promise you there isn't another player in the country I would trade him out for. Having him and especially as a sophomore is very important for us. I think that our best golf and his best golf is ahead. He has tied the school record for most victories in a season. We aren't even half-way through our season and he has already tied a record. Any time you can have a school record like that aurally on is pretty impressive. He is a special, young player. We are excited about the future, but we feel like we have come a long way in the first two years of the program and the best is yet to come for sure. Hopefully we can carry the momentum as the season goes."
On Noah West and Braden Thornberry and how they balance each other out…
"With Noah, you have to check him for a pulse sometimes. He doesn't say a whole lot. Braden doesn't close his mouth. They are two totally different guys that go about it in their own way. Both ways work. Noah, I'll tell you, is one of the guys that I am proudest of. He's a senior this year. He and Ben Wolcott are a major part of our success and a major part of our turnaround in the program in all aspects, on and off the golf course. He stepped up to be a true team leader. Noah is really getting into his own and playing his best golf. He just finished fourth in this last event. That has been great to see. You like to see these seniors really buy-in what you are doing. You are asking a lot of those guys. They can do all the great things and sometimes it doesn't work out. For those guys and Noah, it's good to see it work out."
On Braden Thornberry and how he compares to some of the greats he has coached…
"He's certainly got to be at the top. I would say Jonas Blixt and Brooks Koepka were two special players that I have had that have moved on and had success in the PGA TOUR ranks. But with Braden, he is doing it at such an early age. The guy is in his first semester of his sophomore year. So, to do what he is doing, I have never had a player win this many times in his career. He doesn't look great doing it. He's a guy that everyone can relate to. His swing doesn't look great, but he puts the ball in the hole. He is special."
How the rankings reflect the team standings in the Southeastern Conference…
"It's a tough conference just like any other sports. This is why people come to school at Ole Miss, to compete in the SEC. I haven't looked at this week's rankings, but I would guess we are fifth or sixth in the conference at this point. I really look for our ranking to move up. As long as we take care of business in the spring the way we do is basically a staggering ranking and once you start playing in the meat of your schedule and against some of the elite teams in the country, even when you don't play great, you see yourself move up a little bit more. I expect that to move up right when we get into competition in the spring."
On whether there is an instinct to change Braden's swing…
"There is naturally an instinct. As a coach, you are taught to look at technique and fundamentals, but that instinct goes away when you see him sign a score card. I don't want to change that. Ultimately you have to shoot the score that day. He does it so consistently. If I am being honest, it certainly was something we looked at through the recruiting process. But we thought maybe we could look into this. And don't forget, last year at this point, he was struggling as any freshman does at getting acclimated to life. He did such a tremendous job. He played well, playing his best golf at the end of his freshman year last year, and it has carried over into the fall."
Players Mentioned
