U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 1997

D.A. Points

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. Really, it was one of those things. That was my gameplan. It worked last year. Hit it in the fairway, that's what I did on the first couple holes. And I 3-putted No. 3. I won 1 and 2, and I lost 3, and I lost 4. So, you know, right back, we were, you know, no one's leading after 4 holes. And then we halved on the par 5, and I hit it on the middle of the green. I did basically what I wanted there and just didn't quite get the putt to fall. You know, and then 6 is that long par 3, I believe -- is that right?

D.A. POINTS: And I hit a shot that I thought I made. It was right all over the flag, and I made a good swing, and it came up and hit the lip of the bunker and jumped back in the track. Then I hit a good bunker shot and made my par, and he 3-putted so that got me back to one up. And then I believe I won the next hole, and then I lost 8, and then halved 9 with bogeys. And so it was one of those things where neither one of us were playing well at all. But it was kind of an ugly match, and I happened, at the end, to make a par to his bogey.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. I made a good bogey, if there is such a thing, but I just made a poor swing off the tee and pulled my drive. Usually you try to hit it up the left side and let the hill bring it down, and I just pulled over it and got up there behind a tree and tried to hit a shot that put me up in front of the green, maybe I could get up-and-down, but it didn't really quite work out that way. I hit it over in the trees, and then I hit it in the hazard, and I chipped it up and made about a 12-footer for bogey.

D.A. POINTS: Did it? You know, obviously I couldn't even see where the flag was. My caddie gave me somewhat of a line, and I hit it at it. You know, I basically tried to get it around, just get it done, you know. They always say you need one tough match, you know, before a bunch of good ones. So hopefully, this is my one bad one out of the way, and I can go ahead and prepare for tomorrow. I don't know who I'm playing.

D.A. POINTS: Right. On 17, it was a straight uphill putt, and I really didn't think that it was going to be that slow. You know, sometimes when your opponent leaves himself a long putt for par, you know, you try to just get it close to the hole, and you maybe get a little aggressive or you just think, well, at the last minute, make sure you get it there. I was trying to ease it up there, and it was a little slower than I planned, and then really I'd been making my 3-footers all day, and I felt confident. It was a left center putt, just hit it in the middle, and I just kind of -- I just pulled it. I mean, there's nothing else to it, I just pulled it.

D.A. POINTS: I hit a 3-wood. I've been hitting -- a 3-wood goes real far. I mean, it's maybe 15 yards shorter than my driver sometimes. Once I saw him hit it over there, I thought, you know, I haven't been swinging great with my driver, so make a solid swing on my 3-wood and up in the fairway somewhere.

D.A. POINTS: Second shot or off the tee?

D.A. POINTS: Right. No one could see really. I was hoping I could get some idea because that road is kind of close over there. You know, it couldn't come too far from maybe even catching that. I was trying to figure out where I was, back up, you know, I have to -- you really have to concentrate on hitting it in the fairway and hitting it in the middle of the green. I mean, I could have won this -- he could have won this match in 14 holes, and I could have won it in 14 holes. It was one of those things where neither one of us played as well as we could, and I just grinded it out.

D.A. POINTS: 18, I had 191, and I hit a 6-iron 190 yards. And I don't want to go over the green because that's, you know, it's really fast, and I was, you know, kind of hoping to hit it in the right center or something. I hit it right on my line and got a nice kick left and rolled down about 4, 4 1/2 feet from the hole.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. I think I hit three greens in the whole back 9, you know. I hit 17 and 18, and then I think my other green that I hit was 10 and the par 5. So I hit four greens, which is just -- I mean, my game, I usually average 13 to 14 greens around, and that's just -- you know, I wear them out on the greens with pars. Today I couldn't quite execute, and that's why I'll be going to the range in a little bit.

D.A. POINTS: Today I was.

D.A. POINTS: Well, I don't like to say that one part of my game is that much weaker, but I usually just hit it on the green. So I don't have to get up-and-down too many times.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah.

D.A. POINTS: No, not really. Other than 17, I made some good strokes, and I putted well today. I didn't, maybe, take advantage of some of my birdie opportunities. But like you say, you know, a win is a win. You'll take one up or 6 and 5. It counts the same, really.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah, 16 and 17 -- yeah, 16. And 14 was another big par for me because that kept it at even after I made a bogey on 13. I made about a 13-footer, I believe, for par and that was huge.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. Well, I wasn't necessarily behind it. I just had to hit it under it. It just clipped a few leaves, but it was, you know, it was -- I think if it wouldn't have hit the leaves, the outcome would have been about the same.

D.A. POINTS: You know, I'm -- tomorrow, you know, really, I've got to -- I'm not really worried about my opponent tomorrow. Either one of them are great players. It's really -- I just have to go to the range, figure out what I was doing with my golf swing and try to get something together where I can play with it and just go back and really try to focus on my gameplan and hitting it in the fairway and on the green.

D.A. POINTS: I really think it helped a lot. Because Charlie is a really nice guy and a good player, and I just kind of kept trying to think about what it was like last year, some of the big putts I made and how I needed to continue to make some big putts today, and I was fortunate to come through.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. Basically, you know, South Louisiana is kind of different from anywhere else in the country. Just like, you know, maybe New England area is a little different and, you know, even the Midwest is different compared to maybe out West, but I just didn't quite fit in, I don't believe. Everybody was fairly nice to me, but I went there not knowing a soul and made some okay friends, but just nobody I could really relate to. And, you know, I missed my family and friends, is basically what it came down to.

D.A. POINTS: No -- everybody said I picked up some little accent, but I don't know about that.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah. I'm an hour and a half from home. I'm 50 minutes from my golf pro. I went from playing six months a year to one month a year. Now, I'm going back to playing about seven months a year, which is maybe a little more my speed. I've been a big basketball fan and football fan. I like to maybe take a little break that I really couldn't have at LSU because, you know, I thought that's what I wanted. I thought I wanted to play 12 months a year in college, and that made my grades suffer. It made my golf game suffer in the fact that I just went to the range and tried to work on things I didn't need to work on. I started fiddling with my swing, and my swing was fine, and I just kept causing more problems for myself.

D.A. POINTS: No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I've been fortunate. A lot of people have come out and pulled for me and watched me. Starting next year at U of I, it will just make it nicer to have some familiar surroundings, you know. You know, the last two years, I spent my birthday and Thanksgiving by myself. I don't have to worry about that this year.

D.A. POINTS: Junior, third year.

D.A. POINTS: Two years' eligibility.

D.A. POINTS: My mom, my aunt, my grandmother, my father, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend's husband -- not husband -- girlfriend's father. There we go. That makes more sense.

D.A. POINTS: Yeah, right. Thanks guys.