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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 2015

Derek Bard

Olympia Fields, Illinois

Q. We'd like to welcome our quarterfinalist Derek Bard, who was a 2 & 1 winner over Hunter Stewart, and that's got to be a good win for you. You got a guy who's a Walker Cup player, and you got the victory. Tell us how you feel about that.
DEREK BARD: No, I mean, it feels unbelievable. I knew after I finished my morning match that I'd either play him or another really solid player, Will Zalatoris, who I've played with before plenty of times, so I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon. Yeah, it was great. Hunter played well. He didn't really make too many mistakes. He was just down the fairway, on the green, and really put some pressure on me, but it feels great. He has a lot of credentials to his name. He's a great player, and to get by him is huge.

Q. And he ends up after nine holes he's got a 2-up lead, and you come back, and what happened in that stretch?
DEREK BARD: Yeah, he was 2-up through 9, he won 8 and 9, and then I hit a good tee shot on No. 10 and hit an iron shot in there to about two feet and he conceded birdie.

And then 12, I won 12, 13, 14, I made a great up-and-down on 12 from behind the green for par, and then birdied 13 and 14 to go 2-up. Didn't make a great swing on 15, lost that hole, but won 17.

So yeah, it was a tough match. He had me early, and I just told myself to stay patient and knew it was playing tough out there. Obviously really windy, anything could happen. I mean, par is a great score out there. I just told myself to stay patient, keep grinding, and it fell my way.

Q. There are no bad 2s. You had three of them today.
DEREK BARD: Yeah. I didn't even realize I had three of them. Wow, I've got to think for a second. The first one, yeah, 7 was conceded, actually. Hunter hit a bad tee shot and actually skulled his chip across the green, so I picked up that birdie, so who knows if I would have made the putt or not.

4, tees were moved up. It was a pitching wedge, and Hunter was up first and he hit it in there pretty close, about four feet, and I just stepped up and hit it the same distance. We both made.

And yeah, 17 obviously was the big one. I was 1-up at that point. He was teeing off first, and hit it in there about 10 feet below, and I hit a great shot on top of it about five feet behind the hole, and luckily his rolled by the hole and I made mine. Yeah, three 2s on a course like this in that weather is pretty phenomenal.

Q. We've talked all week about the greens running so fast, and that's got to be extra difficult under these wind conditions.
DEREK BARD: Absolutely, especially downhill putts are so fast. Downhill, downwind even faster. Yeah, they're definitely getting faster day by day, too. Like I can definitely tell. Actually my morning match today on No. 2, I had about an eight-footer down the hill and rolled it by 10 feet, three-putted for bogey. I knew from that point that the greens were going to be faster, and obviously with the wind, it multiplies, and I'm sure tomorrow they'll be even a little quicker.

Q. This is kind of a spot in the match where endurance has to kick in. I mean, a lot of guys that play this much golf, beyond this, it's a stretch?
DEREK BARD: Yeah, it was a long day, and that's what the goal was coming into today. Obviously you want to win your morning match and play in the afternoon, make it a long day. I just tried to drink plenty of water, eat a little bit, had a nice lunch in between. But I didn't really feel too tired out there. I had a lot of adrenaline going, especially coming down the stretch there with Hunter. But yeah, a long day, and I'm sure I'll get a nice sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and go at it again.

Q. Are you planning just to go rest now or are you going to go do any work?
DEREK BARD: Yeah, I'm going to go back to the hotel, probably get something to eat and get to bed pretty early. I think the tee times are a little later tomorrow, which is nicer, sleep in a little bit, which is nice, and tee it up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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