Muñoz, a new reference for Colombian golf, still does not believe he is champion

[Akrapovic]

The winner of the Sanderson Farms Championship spoke with EL TIEMPO about his triumph and his future.

With a stunning tranquility for a 26-year-old Bogota boy who had just achieved the most important achievement of his career, Juan Sebastián Muñoz declared, he was just crowned champion of the Sanderson Farms Championship: “I have safe work for the next couple of years. I smiled and kept smiling. ”
But not only that. Although he had already debuted in 2017 on the PGA Tour, he had his full card just this year. And that allows him to take risks.
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He did so that afternoon of February 2016 in which he changed his life: he sent the ball over the trees in the 18th hole of the Country Club of Bogotá, secured the title of the Colombia Championship Club and began adding the points to get to the 'big tent'.
Now you will enjoy the benefits of being a champion, including two majors, the Masters and the PGA Championship. Muñoz, the second Colombian to win on the PGA Tour, after Camilo Villegas, talked about his achievement with EL TIEMPO.
How is the day after winning a PGA Tour tournament?
A bit of not believing it. The first thing I did when I woke up was to tell my girlfriend that it was true that I had won. I'm very happy. Like I still don't feel it.
The Sanderson Farms Championship trophy is very curious, it has the shape of a rooster. How did he keep it?
Noooo! That trophy is very heavy, weighs like 20, 25 kilos, a very heavy thing. I left it at the club and they will send it to my house.
He had already given a warning last week to be seventh in The Greenbrier. What changed to start this season?
It was a very good start. Actually, I had been doing things right since the end of last season, but the pressure level was much higher then, I had to measure every hit to save the card. This year I knew that I was entering full season, that I didn't need to take care of blows, but that I could take risks, that's why I entered with a little more confidence.
How much did it help him to have played the last round with his great friend, the Mexican Carlos Ortiz?
It was very bacano. It was one of those things that I always dreamed of, being able to define a tournament between the two. It's already our third season together, it's very cool, and getting to this was relatively fast. When he saw that I had no chance and I did, he encouraged me a lot.
Even Carlos returns to congratulate him in full interview ...
They were interviewing me for the radio and Carlos had a flight for the night, so he was leaving, he came back and gave me a hug.
When (Carlos) saw that he had no chance and I did, he encouraged me a lot
Did you make any changes to your game for this season?
I kept what I brought. It was simply a change of trust. Instead of being so careful, now I can risk a little more. That lets me let go with my game.
Does the tournament plan that I had for this season change with victory?
Yes total! I still don't know what I'm going to play, I meet with my coach in Napa (California), and knowing that I have a secured card for two years, I can have a different planning. The truth is that, for now, I play this tournament, the Safeway Open, and I think that next week I go to Las Vegas.
Do you plan to come to Colombia?
I do not know yet. If anything, at the end of October. But in December I am sure.
About Colombia, how did your family live here your victory?
Absolute madness: my whole family met at my house, they sent me videos, it was amazing how they lived it, very exciting. They stayed there and waited for about two hours while I fulfilled all the responsibilities of interviews, acts and so on. They called me there, I talked with them from the car for half an hour. It is very nice to see tournaments live with such passion. Even more than me.
Let's talk about the round. What happened in hole 15, with that bogey?
Before that, the 14 was important: a drive that escaped to me on the right. Then, in 15 I wanted to "rock" the face of the stick a little more and I went over. When I got there, I was in Bermuda rough and the floor was not firm, it was almost muddy. Then I tried to play the heroic: I got toad and the bunker. From there I took it out well and made perfect, but the ball gasped. It was like the third mouthful of the day and there was a moment of doubt: I thought that I was escaping, that I was leaving, that I had it in my hands and I was running between my fingers.
Was he aware that the Korean had passed it and had done three birdies in a row?
I found out when I made the bogey. Before that I didn't know anything: I was walking and people were encouraging me, telling me that I was winning by two strokes.
And he arrives at 18, where he puts tremendous putt to force the tiebreaker for the title ...
I arrived at 18 and hit a shot. He was 15 feet away. There I did not try to think about technique or the fall, only to hit him as best I can. The ball was on its way to the hole and there was a moment when it began to fall to the right. There we began to make full force to enter.