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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 14, 2014

Nathan Smith

JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA

PETE KOWALSKI: From Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Nathan Smith, winner over Byron Meth, the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion in 21 holes. Two matches in one day, 21 holes and you have the most experience in terms of life on the field but you made it through. Well done. Talk a little about the turning point, the last few holes against Byron first.

NATHAN SMITH: Thanks. It was a great day. It was a great match. I knew the quality of the player he is. I just tried to, yeah, I played my heart out. It was pretty even on the front there. And then just coming down the stretch, I was getting a little tired coming down the home holes and managed to make a big putt on 17. Lo and behold, played 18 how I wanted. Missed a 5- or 6-footer. I just couldn't stop the putt down the hill. It was a decent putt. I thought I still made it and it just missed. Then we took off and played a bunch more and ended up working out.

Q. You seem to keep winning.
NATHAN SMITH: It's nice of you to say. I haven't thought about it a lot but it's nice to have some success in this tournament. I haven't had too much through the years. It's nice to win a few matches and get deep and see you guys and just be here. It's exciting for me and everybody back home. It's been fun.

Q. Is there something special about your game in match play that it just sort of suits you?
NATHAN SMITH: I don't know about that. I just try to play hard and try not to give too many holes away and just try to stay with the guys and it's worked out. So far, so good.

Q. How long was the putt on 17?
NATHAN SMITH: The putt on 17 was a good 30 or 35 feet. That pin was tucked up front and you just couldn't get cute with it the way the match was going, and so we both went long. He hit a great lag putt down there and I was just trying to lag mine down there and lucky enough it went in.

Q. It looked like from these highlights that you were hitting the putter pretty well at the beginning, but in the playoff and even at 18, it looked like because you said you got a little tired, you were having trouble getting the ball to the hole.
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, on 18, I couldn't stop the putt down the hill. Made an okay putt on 18. That might have been a nervous pull there to win the match, 5- or 6-footer coming up the hill. I thought I still made it. It kind of hit the grain of the lip and pushed it left; I was surprised. Then the putt on 1, I hit a really good putt there, 15-, 16-footer for birdie. Then 2, the chip, I didn't really have a good look. 3, I was trying to make it, hit a good putt and just missed. Of course you're in lag mode, and at the same time -- I feel good putting it.

Q. Did you ever feel like you weren't in control of the match, because down the stretch, I think the last six or seven holes it kept going back and forth but you were always either one square or 1-up?
NATHAN SMITH: I think where I was 2-up after, what was it, 12, I made birdie there. I hit two really good shots on 13, and the iron, I thought it was on green. It went over and then he stuffed it in there. Probably would have made birdie anyway. Then we kind of went back and forth. I kind of made a mess of 14. He hit it in the water on 15, and just back and forth, and he won 16 and made the putt. So just back and forth. It was kind of up in the air coming down the stretch, that's for sure.

Q. How do you feel after the longest day here?
NATHAN SMITH: I'm pretty tired. I think that -- yeah, kind of hit me out there, trying to get in -- even back Tuesday night here watching the scoreboard till 8:00, you leave and then you have to be here for the playoff and everything. But it's fun. It's fun for me and you're pumped up and you're excited to play. I'll just keep playing as long as I can.

Q. Beyond the golf, how much conditioning do you do?
NATHAN SMITH: I do quite a bit. I do quite a bit. I think that's one of the things that might be the only thing; if you stay in shape for these days and for the USGA things. I think even when I've managed to win some Mid-Ams, that was even so many years ago, I was in pretty good shape. I think days like this, even in the Mid-Am, every day is like this. Once you start playing 36, you just keep going. So you don't really have the 18 and take a break. So I do quite a bit of that. That's something I try to do.

Q. In the gym four times a week? Five times a week?
NATHAN SMITH: Yeah, people tease me. I go in there like I'm at Curves or something, just go to the machines. I'll do stuff. I'll do some cardio.

Q. You've been around these tournaments so long; you're around all these young, skinny kids, have you noticed that players are just getting in better shape and they are much better prepared for this than they were when you were younger?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, yeah, I think the game of golf exploded. We've been kind of touching on it all week. I always thought when Tiger came on the scene, the money went through the roof and he kind of changed everything, the physical conditioning. Now you have guys on Tour, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, they can play different sports and now everybody is gravitating towards golf; the academies are better; the swings are better. Used to be 15 or 20 years go, I kind of thought everybody had their own individual swing. And now, the academies, and you see like 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds, their swing, it's just so solid at such a young age. The game has exploded on every tour and at the Amateur level, and you kind of see it here.

Q. Why didn't you ever turn?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, coming out of college, my game was never what it is now. I just kind of kept progressively getting better. I won the Mid-Am; Pennsylvania, that was -- graduated in 2001. Went right into grad school and I finished up grad school and I won the mid am. I thought about it then but I had to have some shoulder surgery in 2004. Right after the Masters in 2004, I missed the rest of that season. That kind of took me back, and then amateur golf was kind of a pretty good fit for me. You know, it's worked out. But I thought about it in my mid 20s, I did. But you know, made the right decision.

Q. Byron said that he wanted to pick your brain about playing in the Masters because you've played four times. Did you guys actually talk at all about that?
NATHAN SMITH: Well, yeah, we were out there, a lot on the front, we were talking about the Crow's Nest, the course and what to look forward to, just the week itself. He's going to have a blast. You can see the glow in his eyes. He's really excited to get down there and be a part of that.

Q. The three kids on your side of the bracket that are left, average the age of half your age, but do you have an advantage going into tomorrow considering they know you but you don't know them?
NATHAN SMITH: No, I don't think -- I haven't even looked at the brackets or what's going on. All these guys are so good. I don't think with age or experience or different things; you know, like I said earlier, it's just all about good golf and whoever plays the best and everything.

Q. You said you went to grad school. Where did you go?
NATHAN SMITH: I did my under grad at Allegheny College and went to Clarion University and got my MBA in finance there. -

Q. We keep driving investment advisory because that's what you wrote --
NATHAN SMITH: Sure --

Q. -- on your bio. What exactly do you do?
NATHAN SMITH: Investments, insurance. I'll give you a cold call after this week and we'll talk. Why don't we do a conference? (Laughter).

Q. It's not a cold call if you know me.
NATHAN SMITH: I'll take you through the steps, it will be great.

Q. Is it retail?
NATHAN SMITH: It's personal.

Q. And your wife's a doctor?
NATHAN SMITH: She is, yeah. She got her Ph.D in pharmacology and she works at ZOLL Life Core in Fox Chapel. She does research in life jackets, you know, if you have a heart problem, they shock you into place.

PETE KOWALSKI: With all of the USGA experience that you've had, you haven't gone as deep in the amateur as you have in other places. Can you use some of the knowledge and experience you have to help succeed here?

NATHAN SMITH: Well, your question, I think you have a formula that works at a certain level that I've been successful at a certain level but I don't know if -- at this level so far, I've been getting through. But you know how to get your body ready and what to do and what to practice and how many balls and things like that. I have a formula but it's never worked at this level because the quality of competition is through the roof. Like I said, it's exciting for me. Yeah, there's some experience there but at the same time when you're going into up charted territory there's excitement and nervousness, which is exciting for me because I don't get nervous anymore when I play, so it's nice to have that feeling.

PETE KOWALSKI: What is the formula?

NATHAN SMITH: Well, I don't know, we're not going to get into that. I just think it's a combination of things -- come an Alex, come on.

Q. But it is the logical follow-up. You said uncharted waters. When you were at the Mid-Am the first time, how did you deal with that?
NATHAN SMITH: I think when you get this far and you get into USGA events and different things -- I think it's funny because at that point when you're 25, a lot less those through your mind as you get older and different things creep in. Yeah, in these events you just have to turn your brain off and just go play, play hard. Whatever happens, happens. You can't worry about what the stakes are or what's on the line. Just go play your heart out, and if somebody dusts you up tomorrow, it is what it is; and if you keep going, it's great. So it just is what it is.

Q. To think at your age -- not saying you're an old man, but if this you're thinking about it, this would have been the day you would have had a hard time getting through. Did you think about that last night or any point this week about getting through Thursday?
NATHAN SMITH: No, I didn't think about that. I knew -- it's funny. It's like I really honestly feel like I'm not getting through anything. I'm just trying to get through my match. It's not like I'm looking ahead to any other day or any other match. I'm just trying to stay with these guys and play my heart out. That's the honest truth.

Q. (Inaudible.)
NATHAN SMITH: It sounds like it but I don't know. Tree falls in the woods, you can hear the sounds (laughing).

PETE KOWALSKI: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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