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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 2015

Paul Dunne

Olympia Fields, Illinois

Q. A little rattled with that putter today?
PAUL DUNNE: Only thing that was working.

Q. Yeah, the just the driver wasn't on. That was the problem.
PAUL DUNNE: Yeah, I was happy with how I committed to all my shots, apart from a couple out there that didn't really go my way.

But yeah, golf swing just wasn't there today. I don't know what it was. If I could have scraped few today's round, I need a long range session to figure it out. So yeah, a little disappointing. Happy to only make one bogey. The way I was playing, I wasn't hitting it well. So managed to keep myself in it for a long time. Just Bryson had his game today. 5-under par is hard to keep up with on a U.S. Open golf course.

Q. Just getting up on the wrong side of the bed or a bit of tiredness? You committed, at least, which is what you always like to do?
PAUL DUNNE: I don't know what it was. Just wasn't hitting it well today; all the other days where I hit it great I don't think it's a fundamental flaw in the golf swing or anything. Just everyone gets days where they just don't hit it well. Unfortunately mine was today. But yeah, I never gave up. I still kind of putted well.

Q. 3, 5, two big saves there, and he does what he does on 6, and then on 8 --
PAUL DUNNE: 6 was a bit of a turning point. I got good saves 3 and 5 to stay in it and he looked like he was dead in the hazard and managed to make a bomb for birdie. He got a good birdie on 7. We both got nice birdies on 8.

9 was playing tough, so I got a nice par to win the hole to get back to 1. But managed to get a good save on 10. Then he birdied 11. Hit two good shots in, made the putt. So went to 2-down.

Q. Did his putting put your driving under more pressure, where you felt you really had to hit the fairway and make it more difficult --
PAUL DUNNE: Not really --

Q. He was holing the putts, as well.
PAUL DUNNE: Not really. I thought at some point if I could get some pressure on him, you find out if he is really hitting it well. It's easy to get up there -- it's not easy but it's easier to get up there and keep hitting good shots when you're ahead and there's not that much pressure on you.

The putts I was making was kind of more to stay in it than to put pressure on him. It was disappointing that I didn't get to put a little bit of pressure on just to see how he would respond to that.

Yeah, it was basically I was just trying to hang in there while I was playing him on a day he had his game. It was always going to be difficult.

Q. What do you think makes him such a good match-play player?
PAUL DUNNE: Bryson?

Q. Yeah.
PAUL DUNNE: I don't know. This is my first experience playing against him. Obviously he's a good player in general. He does well on a lot of stroke-play events, as well. Good players will play well in match play. He seems like a really good competitor, as well. He grinds a lot when he's out of position and he's a good putter.

So all these things kind of come together. At the end of the day, match play, you've just got to hit it in the hole less shots than the person you're playing begins. Yeah, good players tend to win a lot of matches.

Q. What will you take from this week when you look back on it?
PAUL DUNNE: I don't know. I mean, I just finished, so I'll have to look back on it going back. But today, I was happy with how I grinded and tried to stay in the match just as I said, it was a little unfortunate that I couldn't really put some pressure on him to see how he would respond to it.

Q. Hopefully you get a phone call from the captain on Monday or Sunday night or whenever they do it. What will you do between now and then if that happens?
PAUL DUNNE: I don't fly back till Monday. So we kind of booked our flights back with positive expectations (laughter). So until then, I don't know. I'm just going to go have lunch now, see what the story is the rest of the day. Might have to go shopping or something, I don't know. Go into Chicago and see what it has to offer.

Q. It was an historic week. Irish guys haven't played often in the U.S. Amateur. I think Joe Carr in 1961 was the last guy to get to the semis; he was pretty handy. You must be pretty proud of the way you played this week, even though you've lost to a great player?
PAUL DUNNE: Definitely, proud of how I played but it not really a surprise for Irish golf, really. We have five people in the top 40 in the world. For a small country, amateur golf, that's pretty strong. I don't think it's a surprise that one of us did well this week. Just happened to be me this week. Every week a different Irish guy seems to be up there competing. So Irish golf is in good hands, especially in the pro ranks, as well, with Shane winning a couple weeks ago. Looking forward to the next few weeks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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