|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPMay 31, 2016Zach FousheeThomas LimCasey MartinSulman RazaAaron WiseEdwin YiEugene, Oregon THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the Oregon Ducks. Coach, just a quick comment about advancing on to the championship match. CASEY MARTIN: Well, as I mentioned before, it's just been a magical, incredible week so far. Everything I could have imagined didn't get close to this. I'm just really proud of these guys, so thankful that we could galvanize as a team and get this done. Of course we haven't got it done yet, we've got one more day, but to get to this point is really special. Q. Aaron, how much do you guys have left in the tank after a long, emotional week? AARON WISE: I don't think it's going to matter tomorrow. I think we'll be pretty high on adrenaline, and we're going to have a lot of people out there supporting us. We're going to be ready to go. You know, especially for me, it's been a long stretch, but even when I saw the crowds out there when I made the turn in my first match today, it was like I had never played golf before. It was just so exciting to be out there. I'm having the time of my life out there, and I'm sure all these guys are, too. SULMAN RAZA: Yeah, I could say the same, honestly. We're going to have a lot of adrenaline going into tomorrow, and I think it's just going to feel like it's going to be a fresh day. Everything that's happened is now over, and we can only focus on tomorrow. I think I can feel the same way. We've played a lot of golf, but I think with what's going on where we've put ourselves doesn't really affect us now. Q. Casey, can you talk about your strategy going into the pairings and what your thought process was knowing the situation with Beau Hossler? CASEY MARTIN: Yeah, awkward situation, and certainly with the level Aaron is playing, if a guy is not going to play, you'd like to protect that. We talked about it. We were going to have the second and fourth pick kind of protected, and so wanted to make sure if they put somebody up that we felt we wanted Aaron to play. Whether it was second or fourth, we were going to put him there. Q. You wanted to get him on the board as quickly as possible? CASEY MARTIN: Yeah, I didn't want to take the chance of screwing anything up. Q. I would imagine this is a dream come true. What has your experience been like throughout this week and to be sitting here? SULMAN RAZA: It's been really special. Being able to play in front of friends and family and playing on the golf course that I grew up playing, it's really special. I couldn't ask for a better outcome, being able to play for the national championship tomorrow. Q. Edwin, you made a pretty crazy par on the first hole. Can you talk about how that sort of settled you down or -- EDWIN YI: Yeah, I didn't hit a good tee shot at all, and then chunked my bunker shot and then chunked my next shot, then I had this par chip, I'm like, okay, cool. I've chipped in many times before playing golf, so just visualizing shots, and it went in. So yeah, it was big momentum. It felt like it put less pressure on me because I'm in the hole with par, so I just took advantage and played well after that. Q. Sulman, what did you see on that final bunker shot on 18? What was that feeling like? SULMAN RAZA: Well, Casey and I were talking before I hit the bunker shot, and he explained to me, he said -- CASEY MARTIN: "Don't screw this up" is what I said. SULMAN RAZA: He basically said that, but he said, see the shot going up, hitting the slope, and going down to within a few feet, and hearing the crowd like going crazy. So hitting that shot, being able to do it, and then when I was over the putt, even though I felt so confident with all my reads all week, I just wanted to have a second person to look at it, and he just said, just back of the cup and just trust everything you've worked on for the last four years of your life. So I just went through my routine and just executed my putt, and seeing that ball drop was a really, really good feeling. Q. Casey, besides Sulman, how important were Edwin and Zach? CASEY MARTIN: Oh, my gosh, so huge. When you have two guys out there that win dominantly -- it came down, obviously Thomas had a really tough match and has been struggling physically, so it came down to basically Aaron and Sulman, and giving them -- just had to get one of them, and they were both battling. It was tremendous. Zach has done an unbelievable job. To see him yesterday how he finished winning his last, I think, four holes and chipping in for eagle and making that incredible birdie and starting the round with a birdie, I mean, just amazing for him as a senior to be able to do this. And Edwin as a freshman, Edwin hit one of the best shots to close out that match on a tough par-3, just flushed an 8-iron to three feet, and just special times. So like I said, regardless of what happens tomorrow, these are special moments that these kids will have for the rest of their lives, and that's why we did this. Q. Thomas, how are you feeling? What kind of treatment have you received? And how much of a grind was this double dip today? THOMAS LIM: I'm still feeling a little under the weather, not really 100 percent at all. As far as treatment, I mean, I haven't -- I didn't get an IV, but I've just been drinking a lot of water, taking Tylenol, stuff like that. What was the other part of your question? Q. How much of a grind was the double header today? THOMAS LIM: It was a grind. I made it through the first match, but the second match was a death march for me. (Laughter.) Q. Zach, describe your stretch the first round of the day and how you carried the last three, four holes of the quarterfinals into the semifinals. It was a pretty remarkable birdie-birdie performance there. ZACH FOUSHEE: Yeah, Van came up to me on hole 7 and kind of got me pumped up for the last few holes. He just basically said, don't give up and let's do this. Yeah, it was a pretty epic stretch with the chip-in on 8. I didn't expect it to go in, but right when it was rolling I knew it had a chance. And then a couple of crazy shots coming in from the trees was pretty fun to do, too. And then to start the round today, or in the second wave, it was nice to get off to a hot start because I was down all day in the quarterfinals until the end, so it was nice to get an early lead and sustain that. Q. (No microphone.) ZACH FOUSHEE: Yeah, and Ed chipping in on the first hole, you may not think it rubs off on everyone, but it really does. To get off to a solid start and then to continue that was nice. Q. Aaron, after clinching the individual title yesterday (inaudible) this morning, what was it like to know that you didn't have to hole putts? AARON WISE: Yeah, relief. No, just pure excitement. My focus today was just to get this team to have a chance tomorrow to win a national championship. I didn't care how it was done actually. As long as we got three points on the board, that's all I wanted. I knew Sulman was out there grinding, and I was doing the same back in my match. I was in good position there. I had a shot coming into the green on the last hole, but to watch Sulman make a clutch up-and-down out of the bunker and knock a three-and-a-half footer in down the hill was one of the best feelings I've ever had, to just sit there in the fairway and watch instead of having to do it myself. Q. For any of the players, what was it like to hear the fans out there? AARON WISE: I think it's awesome. Q. Casey, talk about tomorrow's match, keys to winning. CASEY MARTIN: Keys are going to be to play great. Texas is unbelievable. I mean, all those kids were the top-ranked kids in junior golf, and they're all top-ranked guys now. They've had incredible tradition, so it's fun to be able to go up against a team like that, and it's going to take our best effort. I know there's a lot of talk about Bo, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he plays, and we've got to be ready. They're amazing and they're going to feel like the underdog if he's not able to play. So to come out with the crowds and they know they're against that, and they might be down a man, they're going to feel like the underdog, so it's really up to these guys and us to play with that underdog mentality and keep being the aggressors. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|