U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 1997

Allan Zimmerman

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, thank you. I don't really know what to say. I guess if you go over my round, I started on the 10th tee. I made like a 20-footer for par right there, right off the bat. I was in the bunker and had a bad lie. Got up-and-down, made a good putt. Kind of got my round started. And then, let's see, 11th hole, No. 2 course, par 5, and I made birdie there.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Hit 3-wood on the green, had like a 80-, 90-foot putt. It was a long putt. The pin is all the way back. Next hole, is that what you want me to do, hole-by-hole? I birdie 11, and then bogeyed the next hole, hit a bad drive and a bad second shot. Then the next hole is a short par 4 and -- 14 -- 13, actually, is short par 4, made about a 15-footer for birdie there. Then not until 16. I birdied 16, 17 and 18 on the back course, so I had five birdies and a bogey.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: 16, I hit driver off the tee, right in the middle of the fairway. Hit a wedge to about 2 1/2 feet, so it was a solid hole. Then the 17th hole, I hit 4-iron, and then wedge to about 20 feet past the hole, made a pretty good putt there. And then the next hole is 18. Hit driver into the middle of the fairway and then 9-iron just short, because the pin is all the way back right, and then made about a 25-footer there.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Turned in 32. Then went on the cart ride and started thinking, I guess, a little bit. Then I bogeyed the first hole. No. Actually, I parred the first hole, hit it under the tree, but ended up with par. Then the 2nd hole -- after a great save on the first hole -- hit it in the trees right, punched out, and then just 2-putted for bogey. Then the next hole was par 5. Hit a great drive, probably like 30 yards past my competitors. So I was really pleased. Then had 62 to the pin, 237 to the front and hit a 3-wood to about 15 feet pin-high, made the putt for eagle. Let's see, the next -- I parred the next hole. Then 5th hole, the long par 4, dogleg left. I hit it right, hit the cart path, then went further right, and then just proceeded to make a dumb bogey. And then nothing else then until the 9th hole, which was my last hole. Hit a good drive right in the middle of the fairway. Had 201 to the front, hit 3-iron to about 30 feet and 2-putted.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Right. I just matched it. This is much more important to me than the Eastern Amateur. That was a good bridge to get over at that time, and I'm coming off a win last week back in Maryland, so obviously that situation helped, and, you know, it's all going good. I've been hitting it well. I hit 67 in the practice round two days ago on Saturday on this course, and then I played well yesterday at the Dubsdread, too, so playing well.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Well, I watched the Dubsdread on TV in the Western, and it was, you know, it played a lot firmer as far as off the tee and stuff. You're not going to get much roll, but you can pretty much fire at the pin obviously because it's so soft, and that makes a difference. The greens are really good. They're not fast, but they're rolling well. So, I mean, you can't say that conditions are good for scoring, but they're not bad. You can get it in the hole. If you hit it in the fairway and hit it on the green, then you've got a chance of making a putt.

But on No. 2 today, the key there is keep it in the fairway. The rough over there is not as bad as the Dubsdread, but it is shorter, and if you keep it in the short grass, you're going to be able to fire at some pins. My only bogeys were when I was in the rough, so I didn't make any bogeys from the fairway.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: I won the Washington County Open. It's in Maryland. It's one of my neighboring counties. I'm from Frederick County, and actually, I won last year too. So I was the first person to defend. So it was a really big confidence boost. And last year I won coming into the Amateur.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: In '96, and I guess immaturity, I didn't know how to continue the role that I had and just patience, and that's helped the last year's -- not failure -- but I played pretty bad at Pumpkin Ridge last year. So that helped in carrying through the momentum from the Washington County Open to the first round today obviously.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Right.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah. It was actually totally different. I really can't explain why I played well. I guess it's just I played well. I'm playing well. I'm hitting it good, and I'm putting really good. And off the tee, I'm okay. That's what I'm going to go work on as soon as I get done here.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Actually, I went to two years in junior college in Frederick, Maryland, then transferred to Old Dominion. It took me three years. I had two years of golf left. When I transferred, all my credits didn't go. It took me five years total to complete my college education.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: From here on out is a tunnel. I really don't know where it's leading me to. I want to try Q-school, like I'm going to turn pro eventually this winter. But as far as Q-school goes, you know, I have the desire. I feel like I have the game. You hate to say, but I don't really have the funds, so I'm looking for the funds obviously is what I'm trying to do, but that's in my future. Like I'm going to turn pro, so....

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: No, it didn't.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: I have a small record in match play. I played in the Maryland Amateur -- gosh, it was probably three years ago -- and I was lucky enough to play well, and I made it to the Final Four semifinals, so I won three matches and lost in sudden death on the 19th hole to get to the finals. That's my only match-play experience.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, it's fun. Because you can take those gambles, and you have to think the game out a little more. You can make a 7 and make a 3 on the next hole and win the next hole. It's not like -- it's not so hole-to-hole as, you know, stroke play. You have to be at the top of your game every hole. And with match play, you can hit it bad and get up-and-down, and that can be good for your game, and then that just takes the wind out of your opponent if you get up-and-down from everywhere, which, you know, you can do. So I enjoy match play.

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I tried to qualify the year before and didn't make it, and then last year was my second try and I made it, so....

ALAN ZIMMERMAN: No, I didn't. I just worked and practiced. I'm not a big crowd person as far as being in the crowd. I don't mind if the crowd is watching me, but I don't like crowds, so I just watched it on TV. You see more. Thank you.