	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 21, 2017

Matthew Wolff

Andover, Kansas

Q. Can you talk about your emotions right now being in the junior amateur final?
MATTHEW WOLFF: It's pretty exceptional. I mean, I didn't play last year, and I only made it to the round of 16 in 2015. To advance this far and playing as well as I am, I mean, I'm really excited. Like I said, this is such a prestigious tournament with so many great players, and to just make it to the final, I mean, let alone quarterfinals or semifinals is unbelievable. I mean, I'm just going to have to go out there, stick to my game plan, and hopefully I take it down tomorrow.

Q. You're familiar with your opponent; you know it's Noah Goodwin. What can you tell us about him and what kind of match will it be?
MATTHEW WOLFF: It's going to be very hard. Obviously he's a great match play player. He made it to the finals last year at the Honors Course, and he's in the finals again this year. It's really going to be competitive, probably going to have to make a lot of birdies, minimize my mistakes, and hopefully I can drain a little bit more putts than I did today. He's a really good player, and it's going to be a hard-fought match.

Q. How did you get through your match today considering, as you said, that your putting game wasn't totally on?
MATTHEW WOLFF: I think I was just hitting it pretty well, giving myself a lot of opportunities, and I kind of played a match play round today, as in like he was -- it was kind of going back and forth throughout the middle of the match, and I kind of like played my game based off of what he did. If he was in trouble off the tee, I played it a little more safe, and if he stuck it, then I went and attacked it. But I mean, like I said, it was a really good match. He's a great player. Garrick is a really good player. I'm glad I lasted, though.

Q. Obviously the match was all square when he incurred the penalty. From your viewpoint, what was that like? What was going through your mind?
MATTHEW WOLFF: As soon as he rolled up on that cart, I kind of knew that something was a little wrong because the rules official behind me said, oh, this is going to be a problem, or something like that. I knew that there was going to be like either a loss of hole or like an equality penalty for getting the ride, which ended up happening. I felt like that was a little turning point in the match where out of nowhere I just went 1-up. I mean, it was a little weird. That's the first time it's ever happened to me in match play, or ever. But yeah, I felt like it was a little turning point.

Q. You did capitalize, though; you birdied 13.
MATTHEW WOLFF: Mm-hmm.

Q. Tell us how you did that.
MATTHEW WOLFF: Pulled my 4-iron off the tee. It was really far downwind, so almost hit it through the fairway but just a little left, too, and had about 75 yards to the hole, but only about 60 to the front edge. I mean, the rough is so thick here that I knew if I just landed it -- if I landed it anywhere on the front of the green, it would kick all the way to the hole, and that's exactly what I did, landed it maybe just off the green, front edge, and rolled up to about eight feet and then put a nice stroke on it and made birdie.

Q. You picked up a caddie today because you've been pushing your bag all week. How much did Austin help you today?
MATTHEW WOLFF: A lot. With all of his knowledge, I mean, I took him out in the quarterfinals, but I think he -- I heard some crazy stat, he was 26 under par for all the rounds that he played. He only made four bogeys throughout the tournament. He was obviously playing great, knows the course well, reads the greens really well, and also he keeps me calm out there. We were laughing all day, making jokes, and when it came down to it, we were pretty serious, but it's always nice having a teammate and someone who can really -- plays pretty much the same game as you.

Q. Is he going to stick around and caddie tomorrow?
MATTHEW WOLFF: Yes, he is.

Q. Can you imagine a more unique and fun environment? You're playing with your buddy who's going to be your roommate against someone you've known for a really long time?
MATTHEW WOLFF: It's going to be awesome, like I said. It's going to be a hard-fought match, and we both want to win. Obviously it's the U.S. Junior. But it's pretty cool having Austin on the bag, playing against Noah. Noah is a tremendous player and a good friend. I've known him for about two, two and a half years now. We want the best for each other, but we're going to go out there and try to step on each other's throats, but it's going to be fun.

Q. Obviously you want to win, you want to stay mentally focused, but do you ever step back and think, I have a chance to win the U.S. Junior championship?
MATTHEW WOLFF: I mean, if I do that, it probably wouldn't be the best idea. It is the U.S. Junior and everyone talks about how prestigious it is, and I know how prestigious it is, but at the same time, you've just got to go out there and play your game, can't look at it as any other tournament. I know how to play golf. I know how to play well. I know how to shoot good scores, know how to make birdies. I've been doing it all week, and just go out tomorrow and do it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297