U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 25, 2001

Manuel Merizalde

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Thank you.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Yes.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Well, it was working pretty good the first nine holes. I hit my driver pretty well. I just didn't make some key putts that I had to make. But then on the second round, just didn't give myself a chance. I just kept hitting it in the rough and you don't get good lies very often in that kind of rough. So I'm just disappointed because I didn't make Robert play his best. That's it.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Well, it seemed like everything happened so fast. I was one up and then all of a sudden I was two down and that was at 15. And I think I just didn't play each shot at a time. I just lost a hole and just kept going and then lost the next one and kept going. I think for a moment I should have stopped and kind of said, no, okay, you've lost two holes. You got to try to do a change, should I do something, just hit a 3-wood, get it in the fairway and that's probably what I should have done on number 13 after he hit it in the rough on the left side. I had a lot of confidence with my 3-wood, but after I missed the tee shot on 12 I was trying to hit a cut and I just hit it straight into the rough. So I said you might as well just try to rip your driver. And I think that wasn't the very best decision.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Well, yes, I knew I had to hit a good driver on 17, which I didn't. But all the time I thought that I could still maybe pull it out. But, unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: I think so. Yes, I think when I see the guys on TV then probably is where it's going to hurt the most.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: It's been great, really. It's not very often, you know, when I pick up my cell phone and I have like 21 unplayed messages. So it's fun to go through all of them.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Not really. I have my streaks. Sometimes I can go for two months hitting it really well and then could go really bad. But I think what I'm going to try to do is switch my drivers. Because I've been playing with the Ping driver for the last like year and a half, and I think that year and a half that's been the toughest one was my driver. But with this Titleist driver, I felt pretty good today. But fortunately I think I made just some bad swings. And that's what cost me.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Titleist.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Yeah, the new one.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Well, I think if he keeps driving the ball how he is right now, it's going to be tough for whoever wins to beat him. I know he'll get ready for tomorrow with his putting. And it's going to be tough to beat him if he keeps hitting that driver like that.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Like I said before, it's just, it wasn't because I didn't think I couldn't do it, because I knew I could do it. Just my golf game wasn't there for the last couple months. But I was a little surprised, yeah, because I was able to start to get out of this slump and hopefully it's going to keep progressing.

MANUEL MERIZALDE: Thank you.