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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2004

Spencer Levin

MAMARONECK, NEW YORK

PETE KOWALSKI: We've been joined by Spencer Levin, 3&1 winner over Mike Lane and advances to the second round.

Spencer, if you could go through the match a little bit and give us the points in the match where you either won a hole or maybe a turning point.

SPENCER LEVIN: On the first hole, we both hit in the rough and he laid up short and then he wedged it to about two inches. I was short of the green. I probably had like 60 feet, so I needed to 2-putt to have the hole right off the bat. I left it about 12 feet short and looked like I was going to go 1-down after the first hole and I made that putt. That was like the only one I made all day.

You know, I ended up winning the next three holes. He bogeyed the next hole. He bogeyed the next hole and then I hit it pretty close on the fourth hole.

Then after that, I was 3-up, and I just kept, you know, we just kept plugging along making pars.

Then I had a putt to go 4-up on 9 from about five feet and I missed that and then he won 10. So, you know, looked like I'm going to be 4-up and I'm only 2-up going to 11.

You know, both kept halving, halving and then on 14, he hit it in there about ten feet and I hit it right of the green. I hit a chip and it looked like it was going in the hole and it lipped out. I thought, well, I've still got to make him make it and he made it. So I was only 1-up after that.

On 15, I had about five feet again, you know, to win the hole. I missed it again.

So I'm still only 1-up going to 16. He hit a bad second shot, I hit a good drive and I hit my second shot up in the middle of the green, and I need two putts to win the hole. But the way I was putting, I was just thinking hopefully I can lag it stiff. But I hit it like about four feet by again, and I'm thinking, man, you know, I've got to make one of these today. He almost made his par putt. He had about 30 feet and he hung it on the lip and looked like it was going in. I just told myself, you know, you've made this putt a million times, even though you haven't made one today, and I finally made one which was nice.

Then on 17, I hit a perfect drive and he hit it right, so then that was the match. It was nice to finally make a putt on 16. So that was good.

Q. Do you have a lot of experience in match-play, and if so, do you have any memories of unusual situations that may have arisen or unusual circumstances?

SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, I've played a lot of match-play sin, you know, the Polo, U.S. Junior, U.S. Am, State Am North Carolina. I probably played in a lot of matches.

Match-play is all momentum. You could be 2- or 3-down but if you make a nice birdie and then you hit a good drive on the next hole, the guy hits a bad drive, the match could turn just like that. Especially on a USGA course where the rough is really long, you don't get away with bad drives. On this golf course, it doesn't matter how many up you are, I think because it's always within reach. Not very often out here are you going to have a holeÃ‚Â for birdie. You can win a lot of holes with par just because of the difficulty of the golf course.

Match-play is a totally different thing. Like he was saying today, some guy shot 4-under and lost today out there. I was probably 4-over and won. So it just matters who you play on that day.

Q. Does the way you attack the course, is it different once you get to match-play, as opposed to the first couple of days for qualifying?

SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, definitely. You know, if the other guy, if you know all you have to do is 2-putt from par, even if it's from eight feet, you're probably not going to be too aggressive; whereas in stroke-play you want to make that 8-footer.

Whether or not you go at some pins, if the guy is in close for birdie, you have to go for the pin instead of the middle of the green sometimes. It definitely changes the way you think about the kind of shot you play.

Q. Talk about the birdie at 17 that locked it up for you.

SPENCER LEVIN: Well, he was hitting his fourth shot from short of the green because he was in the right trees, hit a tree, and then he had to hit out again. So I'm hitting my second shot from the fairway. I know all I've got to do is get on the green. I probably hit it 20 feet long and he conceded it. It wasn't a real birdie, but I just knew I had to put it on the green and the match would be over.

He still could have chipped in, but when he chipped it long, I knew it was over.

Q. You had three bogeys in a row there in the middle of the round and then somehow or another, you woke up and you got it going; you birdied 11 and you birdied 12.

SPENCER LEVIN: No, I parred 11 and I parred 12, actuallyÃ‚Â -- no, I parred 11 and bogeyed 12, actually. These are wrong.

Q. You birdied 11?

SPENCER LEVIN: I had a 4 on 11 and a 6 on 12. Well, this looks better. (Laughter.)

Well, on those holes, I probably had maybe six or seven feet for birdie on 11; missed. Maybe six feet for par on 12; missed. You know, just kept missing putts. But I was lucky enough to win.

It's hard playing your friends sometimes. Mike is a friend of mine from home, and we've played a lot of golf together in Sacramento. It's kind of weird sometimes playing your friend.

You know, we were hanging out last night and I've got to go play him this morning. It's just weird sometimes. But I'm glad I won.

Q. Biggest thrill of a lifetime, right here in New York State on Long Island this summer?

SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, that hole-in-one in the Open was unbelievable. Never felt like that.

Q. What hole?

SPENCER LEVIN: It was No.Ã‚Â 17 at Shinnecock.

New York has been good to me so far. I've played well at the Open, would be the Porter Cup and then playing okay here. Hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. Speaking of Shinnecock, you've played two of the most revered courses in the last few months. Can you compare Winged Foot to Shinnecock, not in terms of the setup or the criticism that took place of Shinnecock, but in terms of the courses themselves.

SPENCER LEVIN: I'd probably say too to green this course is probably harder. But around the greens, Shinnecock is probably harder. That's probably the way I would compare it.

Q. Is this course Open ready? They have the Open in 2006, rough-wise, this seems thicker than the first cut at Shinnecock.

SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. If you hit it way off-line at Shinnecock, you're in the hay. But this is probably perfect course for the Open because it doesn't get much harder than this golf course.

This is definitely, this is probably my favoriteÃ‚Â -- it's probably my favorite course. I've played a lot of courses, I might even like it better than Pebble. That's hard to say. But in terms of golf course, like each hole, this is the best course I've ever seen in terms of difficulty.

Q. Why is that?

SPENCER LEVIN: Because it's so honest. There's no tricks. There's noÃ‚Â -- you can't get lucky out here. You can't get lucky by hitting a bad tee shot and still have a good hole. You have to play well to shoot a good score out here, and that's what I think makes a good golf course.

So in terms of honesty, this is probably the best course I've ever seen, each hole.

Q. Do you think the match was tighter than it should have been?

SPENCER LEVIN: Yeah, but it's hard to say that. You can say that all you want, but Mike still hung in there. He made a couple of good putts there on 13 and 14 and 15. He hung in there good.

Yeah, I mean, I could say that, but all in all, I won and I tried my hardest. I didn't make some putts today but if I make those, then I wouldn't' have been as close, but I didn't. So the way it ended up is the way it ended up.

Q. How different a golfer are you now than the beginning of the year, January when you started at New Mexico?

SPENCER LEVIN: I'd say physically I'm not that much different. I guess I tend to forget shots better now. I don't really worry about a bogey anymore.

That's probably the only difference. Since last summer, I'd say I'm a lot better. Since January, I'd say I was still pretty good in January,[] but I think just as I've been getting a little bit older. I'm starting to get a little more calm out there. Probably not as much physically, but mentally probably a little bit better.

Q. And the run this summer, what's that done in terms of your confidence?

SPENCER LEVIN: You know, I've always been pretty confident with my game. It's just I think sometimes I get mad and then it might affect my next shot, but I never didn't believe in myself. I'd say it's helped it, but I think it's just I don't reallyÃ‚Â -- like I've been playing well this summer consistently because I'm not still thinking about, oh, I did good last week, it's okay. You've just got to keep doing well. []

Retief Goosen right after he won the Open, I think he won a tournament in Europe and they asked him, and he said, "You've just got to continue to prove yourself. Each week is a new week." All in all, nobody cares what you did the week before, you've got to go out and do it again the next week.

Q. Did Shinnecock improve your game?

SPENCER LEVIN: I think so. I think it did. Playing with Lee Janzen and Stephen Ames the last two rounds and watching what they do and how they act and everything, I think it's helped my game. Definitely hasn't hurt it. Definitely hasn't hurt it.

Q. Talking to Mike, he said you're probably playing better than any Amateur right now. Do you feel that way about yourself?

SPENCER LEVIN: Ryan Moore is playing pretty good. I feel like I'm playing pretty good. Ryan Moore is going to be awfully tough to beat this week. But I've got a lot of other guys I've got to beat if I want to play him, so we'll see.

PETE KOWALSKI: If you could, on the holes where there's a discrepancy on the score card, would you tell us what you actually did make.

SPENCER LEVIN: I parred 11 and bogeyed 12. Then it's all right after that.

PETE KOWALSKI: The match status didn't change; it was a par for Mike?

SPENCER LEVIN: It was the same, exactly.

PETE KOWALSKI: Enjoy your win, my friend, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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