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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 14, 2017Mark Lawrence, Jr.Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Q. Let me ask you about that start. Start with an eagle and a birdie. How did you do it? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I hit it in the right rough and then I had a little bit of a tree in my way, so I just had to hit a high fade with a 5-iron and hit it to about ten feet left of the hole and putt. Q. Then you go onto birdie 2. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: No, I parred 2. Q. Sorry. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I birdied 5, par-3. Q. Yep. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: That was about a -- made a nice like 20-footer on that hole. Q. Okay. And then you eagled 8. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I hit a good drive and a wedge in on 8; hit it to about eight feet and made it for eagle. Q. How far did you have with the wedge and what kind of wedge did you use? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: It was a 46 degree; I had 140 yards. Q. What gave you the confidence to have this round today? Was it the win at Virginia State Amateur? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: A little bit of that and just my swing. I feel good about my golf swing and where I'm going with my game. Just kind of tried to take it shot by shot. I got a great caddie that's helping me a lot. Q. Is this your first USGA Championship? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Uh-huh. Q. What were your expectations coming here? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I mean, I was just really excited. To play Bel-Air and Riviera, that's pretty cool. Q. Had you ever played in Southern California before? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: My grandfather lives in Palm Springs, so I've played there, but I've never played in L.A. before. Q. What could have prepared you for this day and playing in these conditions? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I mean, just practice. The golf course was perfect. Helps a lot when the course is in really good shape. Q. (Wind interference. ) (Regarding 11 and 13.) MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: 11 I had a good number with a wedge and I hit it to about 15 feet and made that one. Then 13 wasn't necessarily going for birdie on that hole I guess. I hit a 5-iron in the middle of the green and had 30 feet and hit a good putt and it went in. Q. Right. And then 18, I know the wind picked up a little bit. Did that have anything to do with your second shot in there? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I just didn't commit to the shot. It was an in-between clubs and I knew you half fast that putt was behind the hole. I was also not trying to be short in that bunker. Probably should have hit an extra club and just swung smooth, but I took a lesser club and swung it harder and just didn't hit it good. Q. Uh-huh. And then it was like an eight-footer downhill. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Uh-huh. Q. Pretty tricky? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I thought it was going to snap right but it almost went dead straight. Just misread that a little bit. Q. What kind of player are you now? You've got the 64 your back pocket. Obviously trying to get to match play. Will you keep your foot on the pedal or be a little more conservative tomorrow? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: I kind of have a game plan for both courses, and I'm going to try to stick to it. I mean, it's one round. Golf tournament is a lot more than one round, so... Q. Right. What would you consider your biggest accomplishment before you came here? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Probably the Virginia State Am. Q. And before that? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Maybe the Mid-Atlantic Am. Q. I saw also that you shot a 60 once. MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Actually twice. Q. Were those days anything like this day? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Not quite. Those days the hole looked like a garbage can. I was making putts left and right. It was unbelievable. Those days we just -- maybe a little bit of luck involved in those. But today just felt like I hit the ball really well and put myself in the right positions. The greens are so good that if you're rolling the ball well you can make a lot of putts. Q. Would you say this is the most proud of yourself that you are after one round of any golf tournament you've been in? MARK LAWRENCE, JR.: Yeah, definitely up there. I'm confident with how I played and happy with how I played. Again, just one round. Got to play well going forward. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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