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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2015

Bryson DeChambeau

Olympia Fields, Illinois

Q. (Question regarding the 2-stroke penalty that was overturned yesterday).
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I still went off at 7:50, but Tuesday they had me at 1:05, so with that 90-minute delay I thought I was at 2:35. Me, I don't like looking at scores online, so I never went on the website to check it out. I just thought that whenever the USGA gave me a piece of paper that I trusted myself and them, that that is the correct tee time, and that was unfortunate on my part. I should have checked through another source, but I was adamant that I was at 1:05 and ultimately playing at 2:35. So I got up there around 2:20, walking up, I was 15 minutes before my tee time, what I thought was my tee time, and one of the rules officials came over and said, you're on the tee, you're going to be late and DQ'd. I said, what? I thought I was at 2:35. So I got up there. I didn't know that I actually received a two-shot penalty. He never told me. He said, you're able to play, go ahead and hit your shot. So I went and played without knowing that I had a two-shot penalty, being a little frazzled and out of words on the first couple holes, not knowing what was happening, and I made bogey on 2 and made a par on 1. It wasn't really the start I was looking for. Not knowing that I was actually 3-over at that point rather than being only 1-over. So I came around and finished, made a six-footer on the last hole for par, so if I wouldn't have made that and I would have got the two-shot penalty, I would have been in the playoff. So I was glad that I made that putt on 18 and eventually got over to the scoring tent and sat down and the rules official said, so you're aware that you got a two-shot penalty; did you already include that on the first hole. I said, wait, I got a two-shot penalty. He didn't say anything about a two-shot penalty. He said, yeah, you were late to your tee time. The officials looked at the players, and he said, it's 2:20 now, he's late. Knowing the rules of golf, I know it's a two-shot penalty, but at the time I wasn't thinking about it, all I was thinking about was playing golf.

And so I essentially had to erase my score and put a 7 down and sign for it, and I probably shouldn't have done that, thinking after, about 15 minutes going, wow, I probably shouldn't have done that because it's official now. But since there was a committee there, they talked for about an hour and 15 minutes about it, about all the possible situations that could have happened. They understood my position, and I was calm and relaxed and appreciative of their help on my part, and they eventually came out and rescinded the two-shot penalty. So that was a pretty nice moment from the USGA.

Q. Who did you make that presentation to?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Well, it was first to an official. I didn't have the piece of paper with me, so I ran all the way to my house where I'm saying on the property down there. I just sprinted and said, guys, I'm telling you, this is not correct. I had a sheet of paper that told me 1:05. I'm going to try and appeal this. So I went over, sprinted over -- they must have been going, what is Bryson doing. So I came back and showed him the piece of paper, and he goes, well, that's interesting. So that's when he took the piece of paper to the committee, and they told me that they'd be out in a little bit. It was an hour later. They came up with a conclusion that I was fine.

Q. Can I ask you about your putter? I was reading something about it's torque balanced. What does that mean?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: So most putters have either face balance or toe hang. My putter is what's called torque balanced, and David Edel came up with this idea, the guy that made the putter and makes my irons and wedges, and it's actually pointed toe upwards. So what happens is when you try and move it on an incline plane in a free environment without anything, just swirling on an incline plane, it'll stay square to the plane of motion. It'll be 90 degrees to the plane since it's on a tilted -- this is kind of difficult to explain, but since it's on a tilted plane and you're swinging it up in an arc, it's still going to go inside, still going to open its face, but it's going to be square to the plane, 90 degrees to the plane. And that's what happens.

With a face-balanced putter it actually opens, and even with a toe-hanging putter, it opens even more. Intrinsically that's just what happens. But with a torque balance, it intrinsically wants to stay square.

Q. You're a physics major?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yes, sir.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your match. Usually at this point in the tournament you don't get the scores that you want like today.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, especially in this wind today. I had a great day out there. For some reason, everything was clicking, and I was hitting the ball great. I'm a guy that starts to get comfortable on the golf course over time. I never really play well the first day or even the second day, but lo and behold, the third and fourth day comes around and I start getting used to the golf course, used to my golf swing, what I can and can't do with my swing, and today it was awesome. I hit driver down the middle, irons on the green and made a couple putts. Made it simple today. Never let him have the opportunity to take a hole, which was great.

Q. So once he got down a little bit, you kind of force him into taking some chances that sounds like probably didn't work out for him?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Absolutely, and the bunker shot on 7 really helped propel me to maintain the pedal to the medal and forcing him to hit some difficult shots that he couldn't pull out there.

Q. The way you finished, you had two putts from, what, 20-ish feet?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It was 20 feet. Knocked it in. I was trying to lag it up there, but gave it a little extra effort and went in the hole, which was nice, the left side.

Q. Considering everything you'd been through this week and tomorrow is a potential two-match day, how nice did it feel to get through as quick as you did today?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, well, this is the first time I've won a match 8 & 6 or whatever it was, so it's going to be nice to be able to relax a little bit, get my wits about me from what happened yesterday and the day before and get ready to go tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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