Six days ago, Matt Every birdied his final hole at PGA National, the par-4 ninth. It was whipped cream on you know what, as Every finished with a 15-over 85 to miss the cut. That earned him a dead-last finish, and his third missed cut in four weeks. Better stretches of golf have been had.
But if anyone could get over such a big number, it’s Every, a two-time champ at the Arnold Palmer Invitational who has never been afraid to go both low and high throughout his career. On Thursday at Bay Hill, Every went very low, shooting a seven-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over World No. 1 Rory McIlroy. It was an improvement of 20 shots from his disastrous Friday at the Honda Classic, which included an 11 at the par-3 fifth. Every was asked about that rough day at the office, specifically about the 11, following his first round at the in Orlando, and he answered in vintage Matt Every fashion. Here’s the full exchange:
Q. The record will show that you were 20 shots better than the last round of golf you played on the PGA TOUR. What do you think of that?
MATT EVERY: I think it’s, I think it’s awesome. I wouldn’t read too much into that last round.
Q. A little skewed —
EVERY: Yeah, I mean there was a hole last week, where, the way I was hitting it, I could have just — yeah, I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Q. I mean, there’s one hole you made an 11. Just curious, what happened on that? Were you just —
EVERY: No, so, okay, I’ll tell you what happened. It was a back left pin. I was already going to miss the cut. It was — the wind was off the right. I had been having problems all week holding the wind and I’m, and I normally can hold the wind. And I’m not going to learn anything by skanking one out to the right and bailing out. I know I can do that. So I wasn’t leaving that tee until I hit the shot I wanted and I flushed every one of them, like, exactly in the same spot in the water. And then finally I hit one that held it. But, yeah, that’s just —
Q. You hit, what, a 4-iron?
MATT EVERY: I hit four 5-irons and then one 4-iron.
Q. What took you four shots to go to the 4?
EVERY: I think I had like two balls left and it was, I just didn’t want to have to deal with that talking about, you know, it’s just — I was ready to get out of there.
Q. But you finished.
MATT EVERY: I did, yeah.
So, not only did Every go full “Tin Cup,” he was almost proud to admit he went full “Tin Cup,” and that’s why there may not be a better quote in golf. Golf Channel’s Steve Sands also caught up with Every on Thursday evening, and it was the full Every experience. Some “I don’t know”‘s some “ummmm”‘s, some staring off into the distance, but mostly, blunt honesty. The PGA Tour needs more Matt Everys:
Whether he shoots 65, 85 or 105, this is likely the type of interview you’re going to get from Every every time. When he hangs it up some day, he needs to slide directly into an analyst chair, preferably one where he can say literally anything he wants.