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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2015

Alex Burge

Olympia Fields, Illinois

Q. We've got Alex Burge first match winner and first round of Match Play at the U.S. Amateur. Take us through the match a little bit, tell us how you played, first of all, and then maybe some key points in the match where the match turned in your favor?
ALEX BURGE: I played solid. I was even par through, I don't know, 14 maybe. Just a solid start. Just a couple pars. We both struggled on the third hole, and then I birdied 4 and 5 to go 2-up, halved 6, halved 7, no, we halved 8. He made a good putt. I won 9 and 10 and 11 to kind of give me a good, solid lead. Just, you know, hit fairways and greens, try to make pars and let them make up.

Q. Those first two birdies you made to get the lead, what did you do on those holes, and then after that how did that ignite you?
ALEX BURGE: 4, I hit a good shot in there on the par-3 to eight feet or so and made that. And on 5 I made an 18-foot kind of a curler down the hill, left to right putt. I was just trying to lag it down there and hit it about ten feet for par. So just to get those to fall in and make a couple putts was good.

Q. How familiar do you feel on the North Course?
ALEX BURGE: Pretty familiar. Obviously we get to play up here quite a bit, but when we play up here, it's opposite wind. It's colder, obviously. But just getting comfortable with the line and the visuals of it, it helps a lot.

Q. Does the fact that you're from, somewhat nearby, put anymore pressure on you to succeed in this?
ALEX BURGE: No, not at all. It's just another tournament trying to play your best and make it as simple as can be. I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself. It's Match Play which kind of helps alleviate some of that because it's just you and another guy.

Q. What were your expectations through the week?
ALEX BURGE: The first one was make the Match Play, so I expected to do that. Now it's just go play and see how deep I can go.

Q. How many local folks were watching you when you played? Do you have family here?
ALEX BURGE: Mom and dad came up today and there are a handful of people from down around Bloomington, and there are a lot of Illini people out here.

Q. Is your coach out here?
ALEX BURGE: Yes, he's bouncing back and forth between me and Detry. I think he's got some type of engagement tomorrow. He'll hopefully be up here later.

Q. Is it fun to have some guys from the team to hang around with? Does it kill time away?
ALEX BURGE: Yeah, for sure. It's like we're at any other tournament or down hanging out at school. Me and Detry have a hotel together. Yeah, it's fun.

Q. So you're saying it's just another tournament, but that's the way you keep yourself focused. It is the U.S. Amateur. So you're not just dismissing it?
ALEX BURGE: Oh, no, not at all. You just have to tell yourself it's another tournament, another round of golf.

Q. Do you thrive on being on the big stage? Do you like that?
ALEX BURGE: I do. I really do enjoy it. I've been lucky enough to play in some national championships, nationals and stuff like that. It's fun. It's what you practice for. I don't see why you wouldn't want to do that.

Q. Do you guys as a team because you're close by and at home, do you shine the colors? You've got the hat, do you do as much branding as you can?
ALEX BURGE: A little bit. I mean, we don't just kind of wear whatever shirt you have clean. But, yeah, I mean, obviously we've got the bags and the hats and the shirts and stuff. Yeah, it's cool.

Q. Do you think because you've played an early match and it's been a long couple of days you might have an advantage on your next one?
ALEX BURGE: Maybe. I don't know. As a player, you try to cope with whatever you're dealing with. So I'm sure whoever I'm playing next, if they're playing late, it will be just fine tomorrow.

Q. There is a possibility with the bracket playing out you'd have to play your teammate.
ALEX BURGE: That would be fine. It will be an interesting match with the sneaky tactics we try to pull on each other to maybe irritate each other or whatever. No, I mean, it would be cool. It would be fun to do.

Q. It was nice to be able to, the way the bracket fell, that you were able to, once your match finished that you were able to watch your teammate. That was cool.
ALEX BURGE: It was really neat. It felt like we were just at another tournament in the collegiate season.

Q. The chances of that happening at the U.S. Amateur?
ALEX BURGE: They're very low. We were joking this morning. I got a call at 9:20 and they said I'm on the tee at 9:45. So I ran down, hit a couple balls. And I texted Detry, he was kind of laughing at me, and then he showed up on the range and said I'm right behind you. So, yeah, it worked out weird.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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