McNeill's Brilliant Day Ends in Sadness


Though he recorded a career-best 9-under 61 in the final round of the Greenbrier Classic, George McNeill's Sunday ended with a great deal of sadness.

As soon as he got off the Old White Course at Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, McNeill learned that his 46-year-old sister and oldest of his five siblings, Michele, had died from breast cancer.

Per his usual daily routine, McNeill called home in Fort Myers, Fla., Sunday morning and the reality wasn't promising. "They said it's going to happen soon," the 38-year-old, two-time PGA Tour winner later told reporters. "They said it might be the next couple of minutes, it might be the next couple of hours, but it's going to happen soon."

McNeill then went to the driving range and tried to shift his focus on playing golf. And what a round he had, carding seven birdies and a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole to take the clubhouse lead.

Though he didn't win - Argentina's Angel Cabrera did with a closing 64, McNeill finished in solo second, two strokes back, at 14-under 266.

McNeill wasn't sure what was going on as he played. "I don't know … I really don't know," he said. "I'd be over a putt and (Michele is) going through my head.

"Maybe it was good that I had something else in my thoughts. I knew what I was doing, I was aware of what I was doing, but it really wasn't the first and foremost thing that I was concentrating on."

McNeill was asked about his perspective of the day's events by a reporter. He started to speak, but choked up as tears formed in his eyes. "Golf doesn't really mean a whole lot. So it's hard. I played good today. And got finished, and you know, it was a nice middle part of the round. And so like I said, you know, golf doesn't mean a whole lot sometimes."

His runner-up finish earned McNeill a cherished spot in the British Open, which starts July 17 at Royal Liverpool. But he's not sure he'll be making it to England as he concentrates on family.

"I'm going home tonight, as soon as we're - as soon as the tournament's over," he said with sadness. "I don't know what time that's going to be for me now. But I'm going to head home tonight, and I'm taking the next few weeks off. I don't know if I'm going to get in the British now."

The following is the full transcript of McNeill's post-round interview.

Q. Here with George McNeill who had eight 3s and a 1 by my accounting today. 61. Some brilliant golf. When you went to bad last night, did you have any visions that this would happen today?

GEORGE McNEILL: I had no idea. I've been playing okay this week. There's some things going on elsewhere. You know, it's nice to have a good round.

Q. I know it's really difficult, and I will not press the issue with you. But sometimes perspective comes in different forms, doesn't it?

GEORGE McNEILL: It does. It's - yeah, you go out and, you know, golf doesn't really mean a whole lot. So it's hard. I played good today. And got finished, and you know, it was a nice middle part of the round. And so like I said, you know, golf doesn't mean a whole lot sometimes.

Q. Well, we'll let you go collect yourself. It's not over yet. You may have a little bit more golf to play. You may not. We'll wait and see, but brilliant, brilliant round today.

GEORGE McNEILL: Appreciate. Thank you.

Q. Fun day. How special and magical was this day at the Greenbrier Classic for you?

GEORGE McNEILL: It was pretty good. Obviously, getting off to the start, making a few pars early, and then four birdies and then a hole in one. So it's not really something that you plan on. It's nice when it happens, and I was fortunate to kind of keep it rolling and take advantage of all the opportunities that I had. And made a few more birdies coming in. So we'll see what happens, obviously, with the rest of the players. I think I'm two hours ahead of everybody. So there's a lot of golf to be played. But either way, I'll take what I did.

Q. For our listeners, can you describe that hole in one on the eighth, because that green is so slanted from right to left. The right edge is so much higher than the left, yet somehow you were able to find the bottom of the cup with just one shot. Take us through it.

GEORGE McNEILL: Well, it was playing a perfect number. It was about 220 to the pin, which is a 4 iron for me. And I just hit - I just hit a nice cut 4 iron right up against the slope and then I saw is rolling left. Really didn't pay too much attention. I just figured hopefully it wasn't going to gain too much speed, and then everybody started getting a little louder, and they jumped out of their seats. So obviously we knew it went in. Again, it's not something you can really plan on. It's nice when it happens.

Q. Congratulations on a special day.

GEORGE McNEILL: All right. Appreciate it. Thanks.

Q. Did you see that coming today when you teed off? Did you feel like you had that in you?

GEORGE McNEILL: I've been playing okay this week. I've been hitting the ball nicely. Didn't really take advantage of a whole lot of putts yesterday, but felt good with everything that I've been doing. And I played good last week up in Washington. Not to say I saw a 61 coming, but I saw 3, 4, 5, 6 under, and it obviously went a little lower than that, and I'm happy it was today. And it's always nice to get that on a Sunday.

Q. Your birdie, birdie, hole and one kind of kick started the round?

GEORGE McNEILL: Yeah. Four birdies in a row and then a hole in one, obviously, that doesn't hurt any round. I've never seen anybody get upset over that. I was, again, pretty fortunate to kind of keep it together and make a few birdies coming in.

Q. Can you shed some light on your sister's situation?

GEORGE McNEILL: I'd rather not talk about it right now. Thanks.

Q. Okay. That hole in one, that hole bends a lot. You really just try to get it to funnel down there. Did that surprise you how that worked?

GEORGE McNEILL: It did. I mean that's what I was playing for, hitting it up the right and letting it go left. It's hard to keep it around the hole if you hit it at the hole. So I think that's how the hole was designed to hit it up to the right and let it go left. So that's exactly what I did. It just happened to have the right track and went into the hole.

Q. Can you talk about what you plan on doing over the next few weeks?

GEORGE McNEILL: I'm going home tonight, as soon as we're - as soon as the tournament's over. I don't know what time that's going to be for me now. But I'm going to head home tonight, and I'm taking the next few weeks off. I don't know if I'm going to get in the British now.

Q. You are.

GEORGE McNEILL: Right now I'm in? Okay. So obviously I'll have to make plans and arrangements for that, but right now I'm just going to go home and take care of some family stuff.

Q. How much would you say mentally you were in a zone there, especially on the front nine?

GEORGE McNEILL: I mean my mind was - it was elsewhere for a long time, and I started making a few birdies, but it still never really I didn't really think about it a whole lot. Just to put things in perspective, I was just trying to play golf and get through a round, and I know I have about a four and a half hour flight home from here. So it's going to - I got a long day ahead of me still, but it's just a matter of, you know, just getting out there and playing golf and getting through it.

Then when I started playing, you know, making birdies and hole in ones and everything else, I said, wow, okay, I'm going to try and take advantage of what I can right now.

Q. How many hole in ones have you made in your career?

GEORGE McNEILL: I've made two on the PGA Tour and I think seven total.

Q. Is this the low round of your career?

GEORGE McNEILL: It's the low round of my career, yes. I shot 62 twice at the end of last year. So it was the beginning of the 2014 15 season. And then I shot one at Frys.com and then also at the McGladrey in Sea Island, but this is definitely my low round on tournament golf.

Q. And you say there's a long way to go today and a lot can still happen. But if you do hang on, I mean to go back to back with Jonas is pretty cool.

GEORGE McNEILL: Absolutely. Yeah. Jonas and I are going to have to find a place up here and relocate. But no, just - it would be really cool to follow him. Jonas has played great starting his career out on the PGA Tour. So I would hope that he's kind of following me, but I'm almost kind of following him since he's ranked higher than I am. Either way, it's nice to know some people that have won this event and it's a nice event and I'm glad to be here.

Q. Can you share your thoughts about what Quicken Loans is going to do with your hole in one, free mortgage for the year? Her name is Janet Alexander. I mean any thoughts on that?

GEORGE McNEILL: I mean, I would love to have a free mortgage for a year. That's great. Congratulations to Janet. And I mean thanks to Quicken Loans. You know, that was the title sponsor last week up in D.C., and looks like it's going to be a great sponsor for a while. So congratulations to her and to Quicken Loans and thank you to them.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.