U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 23, 2001

Jeff Quinney

JEFF QUINNEY: It was. I was really beat and tired. This heat is really taking it out of me. I'm glad we only have one round tomorrow to play. I can go home and get some rest. I was really tired on that first nine of the afternoon match. Coming down 7 and 8 I just needed something to eat. Just something, some sugar, or something to get in my system and keep me going. But it was a good match this morning against D.J. I played pretty well there. And I got off to a mediocre start, kind of even on the front nine against Kris and then ended up making a couple birdies on the back.

JEFF QUINNEY: I think so. I felt more comfortable this afternoon than I did this morning. I was 3-up with three to play. I kind of got a little tentative, and I kind of learned from that experience and didn't want to make a tentative swing. Go out and get aggressive there.

JEFF QUINNEY: Smell it?

JEFF QUINNEY: Oh, I don't know about that. I mean it's too easy to look ahead. I just take one match at a time. It's so hard because you're going to have to play well and you can't have one off day. Obviously now that I'm into the quarters it's probably the first time you actually are thinking about it because before, you just know it's such a long shot and the odds of you making into match play and then winning some matches and against some good players, so --

JEFF QUINNEY: It's starting to. My putting is really improved. I just got that feel in my hands where I feel like I can make everything out there. I was hitting the driver -- and I was hitting my driver pretty straight last year -- and now I'm hitting more 3-woods and just keeping those in the fairway.

JEFF QUINNEY: I just wanted to see what it felt like behind the ball. There was a blade of grass behind my ball and I wanted to make sure I felt comfortable over there that. It was just a chip that you're going to make 4 out of 10 times. It was just a pretty easy chip and almost like a putting stroke.

JEFF QUINNEY: I think I hit two drivers. I hit them on 9 and 10 and that was it. It kind of varies from hole to hole and the wind and the pins, so --

JEFF QUINNEY: He nutted a few on the back side. He caught some on the screws and on the front side he missed a couple fairways. He definitely -- he's hitting wedge when I'm hitting 5-iron or something into the 15th. So, you know, it's definitely -- I would like to be up where he was, it would make the game easier. But I would rather hit out of the fairway than have to chip out of the rough.

JEFF QUINNEY: That was a huge momentum swing I had a 3-iron in there, I hit 3-wood off the tee and kind of missed it.

JEFF QUINNEY: I probably had like 218 to the hole. Just hit a really good 3-iron. Managed to catch that slope and run down to about 15 feet and actually Kris was about a foot outside me, so it gave me an opportunity to see the line and get a speed for the putt.

JEFF QUINNEY: Definitely. He hit it about six feet, he was very aggressive. He wasn't in for four yet. And I didn't want to run it by like he did. I played more break and hit it softer and it ended up curling in the edge.

JEFF QUINNEY: I wasn't sure if it was going to turn or not. I felt great over it though. I knew I had the line and if I hit it there, it would go in.

JEFF QUINNEY: I think so. Long irons are one of my strengths, I think, but no one wants to come to 18. It's not an easy hole. I hit 3-iron in the morning to the front edge and I hit a 2-iron to the middle of the green this afternoon.

JEFF QUINNEY: I knew where he hit it he was going to have a tough time making 3. And pretty much 2 was out of the question. So if I could put it in the middle of the green somehow that would be great. I really hit that 2-iron about as good as can I hit it. I think it came down a little bit softer than I wanted. I wanted to get it maybe to the top. But knowing that he -- if he would have put it on the green, it would have put a lot more pressure on. It was a little bit more relaxed. But he made a great 3 on 17. So wasn't going to let up.

JEFF QUINNEY: I don't know if we've ever played in college together. I'm trying to remember a time. I don't know, he was always a different number than I was and I've seen him hit some balls and kind of been around him, but I haven't actually played a one-on-one battle with him.

JEFF QUINNEY: He missed a few fairways early but then he really started hitting it well on the back side and making some birdies on me. It was a -- you weren't going to win a hole unless you made a birdie out there for awhile. I don't know, probably from 5 until 14 or 15 or probably until 16 we didn't have any bogeys, either one of us. So I had to feel like I had to make birdies to win a hole.

JEFF QUINNEY: He's not only a teammate, it's a guy I've been playing junior golf with since about 10 years old. He only lives about two hours away from me in Portland, in Oregon. And then he ends up going to the same school as me too. So he's obviously playing well to get here. I'm excited for it though, because I know what he can bring to the table and what style of play he has. So I'm looking forward to the challenge.

JEFF QUINNEY: A little bit. I think he was kind of asking questions about what the program was. He went to the University of Washington first, just raining too much up there, and he wanted to come down to the sun. And he talked to a teammate of mine and we're friends with Brian before and he said yeah, come on down.

JEFF QUINNEY: About Brian? He's streaky, kind of like me. I think he can shoot 68, I think he can shoot 78. He obviously playing well because he's winning matches. But he hits his driver with a little fade. I mean I know what exactly, I can club off him I can do everything. We can probably club off each other so it might be an advantage to both of us.

JEFF QUINNEY: No. He's probably on the older team, he was on my team so we didn't play against each other.

JEFF QUINNEY: Yeah.

JEFF QUINNEY: I think so. I aim for the fat side of the green sometimes and make sure not to miss it short side and give him an easy bogey. So I was a little frustrated this morning when I hit it in the bunker on 17. Where a spot where he had no chance to get up-and-down. And I kind of learned from it this afternoon. I overcompensated and hit it way left. He hit it three feet and it didn't matter. But it was definitely a different strategy out there and almost playing defensive to a point where I'm going to make that guy make the mistake.

JEFF QUINNEY: Yeah, probably. But I just want to hit the fairways. This rough is death out there. I don't know. Hopefully I won't have that happen.