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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 20, 2015

Jordan Niebrugge

ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

MIKE WOODCOCK: We'll make a start. Very pleased to welcome Jordan Niebrugge to the interview room. Jordan, that was an excellent turn to par-70 today. That places you at 11-under par for the championship and currently in position to win the Silver Medal at The Open. What would that mean to you at this stage in your career?

JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: That would mean the world to me. I would rank it up for sure the top accomplishment I've had so far, just the Silver Medal in a major championship, especially at St. Andrews. It's definitely a dream come true.

Q. Is that it for you as an amateur?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: No. I've still got one more year left at Oklahoma State.

Q. I'm sure a lot of parents are going to be calling their sons Jordan in hopes of producing a champion golfer, but more seriously, looking back at the Olympics and golfers in it next year and the traditional model of it being for amateur players, I just wonder how you feel about being deprived of a place in the true spirit of the Olympics by the top professionals being able to play?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah, I haven't thought much about it, but it's obviously pretty cool to have golf in the Olympics now. I don't know what it's going to be like or what the format is even, but I've represented my country a couple times, the Spirit International, as well as Walker Cup, and it's just like unlike anything else, just playing out for your country is just an awesome experience.

Q. Do you think it should be for amateurs or younger players or are you quite comfortable --
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: I'm quite comfortable with having the best players. I feel like in any other sport it's the pros pretty much playing, professionals playing, so I feel like that should be the way for golf, as well.

Q. This is your second major, obviously after playing in the 2014 Masters. Didn't play so well there, played outstanding here. Do you think that experience playing in a major before really helped you relax and kind of play your best here this week?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah, for sure. Just getting in a couple -- I played in the Masters last year, John Deere this last summer, this past summer. Both of those experiences along with other experiences out there has definitely made this a little easier. Nothing like coming down the last hole, though. It's just an awesome amphitheater with people all around you. I was a little nervous, but it's just amazing just to walk down there, especially playing with Sergio. I mean, there's a lot of people out there all day. It was just cool to get to play with him. Growing up he was a young gun playing with Tiger, and you got to see a lot of golf from him. So it was cool to finally get to play with him and definitely a dream come true.

Q. Just wondering if you have thoughts beyond the Silver Medal because you got it to 13. Were you aware of where you were on the leaderboard and what were you thinking then?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah, I was a little. I knew the guys behind me were getting it going. I knew Zach Johnson played really well out in front of me, so I knew I had to get a couple more birdies, but those last four holes or so were playing really tough. Even 18 with that pin location, it's just tough to get it close or flirt with that. I knew I had a lot of tough holes left, and I just thought I just needed to get fairways and greens and just give myself opportunities.

Q. Just to confirm, you say you've got one more year as an amateur. Is that because of the Walker Cup, your choice?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: No, it's because I want to graduate from Oklahoma State.

Q. Obviously the Walker Cup is in the frame for you, as well?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah, just try and do everything I can to play my way onto the team. I've got a couple more events this summer left, and we'll see how it goes.

Q. I wonder if you have any feelings for young Irishman Mr. Dunne who went out there this morning, the pressure on his shoulders, and I wonder if you know him and have played against him before?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: I'm not sure if we've ever played together, but I know of him from playing at UAB. We played with him a couple times last year. He's a great amateur golfer, and I'm not sure how he's doing today, but it's just an awesome way to -- he's up there with the best of them. Just to see all the amateurs competing on a high level just says a lot about the amateurs coming up and how good they may be.

Q. Jordan Spieth said yesterday that he thought an amateur might well win a major within the next few years. Do you share that optimism?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah. You see a lot of young guns coming up and playing really well, and I think that just gives all of us amateurs the most confidence, because I grew up playing with a lot of the guys that are playing well right now on the PGA Tour and out here, and just gives me the most confidence, seeing that we can actually compete with those guys and we're not far behind.

Q. Did you develop any friendships here with maybe some of the more veteran players, anybody offer any advice or kind of take you under their wing, if you will?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: No, but I met a lot of guys this week, and they were all very generous, especially after my first round. A lot of them came up and said congratulations and stuff like that and introduced themselves to me, which is always cool to see, guys like -- when I had the off day on the third day, I believe -- yeah, the third day, a lot of guys came up to me on the putting green like Zach Johnson, Justin Rose. Those guys just came up to me and introduced themselves to me, and I was like, I know who you are. It was just cool to see that they care that much about us and the way we play.

Q. You've played a fair bit of golf over here this summer. Is this the first time you've been over here, and was it important what you've been able to achieve this week?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah. A, it was the first time being overseas over here. I was over here a month, or three weeks or so last month, and I played in the British Am, the Brabazon Trophy and then I played in the qualifier before I went back for about six days or so before I came back here. And yeah, I think it just showed me how -- it's cool because it's just two different types of golf I feel like from back in the States and here, and it's awesome to see that I can kind of compete in both territories. I played well this week and just got to see how much my game matched up to some of the best in the world.

Q. I wonder if you could comment how amateur golf is and the R&A being comfortable with amateurs across the board?
MIKE WOODCOCK: I think we can discuss that afterwards, but if Jordan cares to answer, then he's used to.

JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: I didn't really understand it that much.

MIKE WOODCOCK: I think that's maybe a question we can address afterwards if that's okay.

Q. Could you just clarify what is it that you study at Oklahoma State, and do you have any regret about not walking away with any of the prize money?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: I study entrepreneurship and sports management, basically just typical business classes, just kind of get the variety of all types of business in, entrepreneurship, and with a sports management major, I kind of get that side of it. If golf doesn't work out, I'd still like to stay in the golf field and do something business-wise that way.

Q. How do you feel about not walking away with an absolutely massive check?
JORDAN NIEBRUGGE: Yeah, that would have been nice, but no, it's just something to build on. This experience is to build on. I wouldn't have been here in the first place if it wasn't for some of my amateur play.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Jordan, congratulations. Very well played today. Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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