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NCAA MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJune 1, 2016John FieldsTaylor FunkGavin HallBeau HosslerScottie SchefflerEugene, Oregon THE MODERATOR: Good evening. We're joined by the University of Texas. Congratulations to Coach Fields and the team. Coach Fields, if you would just make a quick opening statement and then we'll take some questions. JOHN FIELDS: Well, first of all, I'd like to thank everybody here at Eugene Country Club, the NCAA, all the volunteers, everybody that had anything to do with this golf tournament. It was a first-class championship. We were excited to be here. We came up short today just a little bit. The NCAA crowned a great champion in Oregon. It is their moment, and we gave it our best. We didn't lose this golf tournament, they won it. I'm excited for them. I'm appreciative that we had the opportunity, and I'm really proud of every one of my guys, Gavin Hall, Doug Ghim, Scottie Scheffler, Taylor Funk and Beau Hossler, and my assistant coach Jean-Paul Hebert. We have an outstanding team that gave their heart and soul this week. We had a lot of great things happen. I know everybody here wanted to play just a little bit better and get this done, but we'll be back next year giving it our all. Q. Taylor, when did you realize that you were the match that would decide the championship? TAYLOR FUNK: I realized Scottie won and Doug was basically closing out. I knew at that point it was going to come down to our match for the national championship. I played some good golf, and he played a little better golf. Q. What did you see on that putt? TAYLOR FUNK: To win? I think we misread it just a touch. The putt I had earlier to extend the match went a little left, and that one I played right center, and that's when it broke off a little bit to the right. And out here, like Beau was saying, when you're on these greens and you're just a couple inches off, the reads can change quite a bit. Q. Just talk about how proud you are that they stayed composed and had a chance down the stretch. JOHN FIELDS: Well, I'm very proud of all these guys. Our three sophomores, they wanted it bad, no question about it, and our two juniors did, too. Everybody gave it their best this week. Top to bottom we had guys that won matches. We had guys that lost close matches. Beating Oklahoma and then beating USC was no small chore, and going up against Oregon the way we did was a little bit of a climb. I mean, that's just a fact. We had some unfortunate circumstances that we had to overcome, and we just almost did it, so you've got to give a lot of credit to every one of these guys. They gave it their best this week. They gave their heart and soul. They worked really hard, and just came up a little bit short. We'll sting for a while. There's no question about it. Probably until we get back here next year, that taste in our mouth will be present. It was that way last year when we got beat in the first round of match play. It was a stinger. And I think everybody saw the heart and soul of our team this week, no question. I've got 100 texts that have told me that already. That doesn't make it any easier for these guys to take. Top to bottom they are five of the most competitive individuals I've ever been around, and that's what it takes to be right here, right now. Q. Coach, what are your thoughts on a possible scenario that would allow you to either sub out an ill player or an injured player? JOHN FIELDS: You know, I've heard people talk about that. I think the NCAA really has it right right now. Just a tough set of circumstances. I know things can happen like that, but if you tried to plan for every circumstance that could possibly happen, we'll have like 15 to 20 new rules. This is a great championship. We had to overcome some difficulties today, and we almost got that done. Can you imagine how proud and how glowing we would have been if we had done that? But if we would have substituted somebody in, it would have detracted from that. I'm proud of these guys, and unfortunately Beau had a tough, tough injury that made it more difficult for us to win this golf tournament. But nobody in here fretted about it. Nobody said, yeah, I wish we could substitute somebody in. They said, let's go play those guys and let's go win, and we almost did it. Q. Scottie, I know you were going up against Oregon's top player, and talk about how big it was for a guy like Taylor coming down the stretch. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Well, I was riding some momentum from our win yesterday afternoon and our team's win, and I knew going into that match it was going to be pretty important, and it would be big for our team if I was able to take down their best player. I got off to a pretty solid start and I just kept it rolling. The crowds are pretty loud out there, and I just tried to create a spark for our team, and just did the best I could. Q. Coach, how did the atmosphere compare to any other NCAA championship? JOHN FIELDS: Well, first of all, playing a home team on their home golf course, that's tough. I'm excited for college golf. I mean, they got there today, it was absolutely awesome. These guys, they love that competition. They love to have people care about them, and that's what happened this week. You could tell it. It was about the kids and about their opportunity to compete in front of a lot of people who cared about what we are doing. The difficulties are what Taylor just alluded to. You know, the sight lines on this golf course are very difficult, and the nuances of the greens are extreme. So probably reading that green today on 18, we make a minor, minor mistake. Oregon doesn't make that mistake most likely. You know what? That's what we had to overcome. We almost did it. There is no sour grapes here. We came here knowing this was a great golf course. We came here knowing that Eugene Country Club was committed to amateur golf and to putting on the finest tournament that we're ever going to play in collegiate golf. No sour grapes here. It was a challenge, and we almost got it done. Really proud of our guys. Q. John, can you talk about what Beau has meant to this program? JOHN FIELDS: Well, I can't talk about Beau without talking about all five of these guys. I mean, part of the reason that you become a really fine player is because you're coached by the other guys, whether it's Taylor Funk or Scottie Scheffler or Doug Ghim or Gavin Hall. They helped make Beau Hossler what he is today. I will say this, also: We've had a lot of great players at Texas, whether it's Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Justin Leonard, Mark Brooks, Jordan Spieth, just to name a few major champions. So when you're compared with those guys and you have a chance to win the Player of the Year or the Fred Haskins Award and you're compared with those guys, well, then you know that you are a powerful difference maker to this program, and that's what Beau Hossler has been to our program. I'm very appreciative of what he's done for our program over the three years that he's been here, but I will not detract from what everybody else has done up here because they each push each other, and sitting in front of you to my right or to my left might be the Player of the Year next year. It stings, and they'll all work harder, I promise you. GAVIN HALL: I've got a couple things to say. Coach Fields is just an incredible coach to be playing for, and to all the four guys that I play alongside for the special ride this whole season, it's been incredible, the fall into the spring, and I can't speak for Beau, but I know how hard it must be to be on the sidelines watching all day not having a chance to try to win the national championship, but it's been one hell of a ride, and I don't take for granted what we just did, and I know Coach Hebert and Coach Fields are certainly proud of the way we battled through today. I'm stinging, we're all stinging, and I just know that we've got a good chance to win next year. THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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