	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. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 16, 2017

Hayden Wood

Pacific Palisades, California

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Hayden Wood, who has won his first-round match after winning the medalist honors in record-setting fashion at the 117th U.S. Amateur.

You won your first-round match. How does it feel? What's does that say about your you have how you're continuing to play well?

HAYDEN WOOD: It was good. I didn't hit it as well today, but I found a way to get it up and down. (Laughter.)

So that was good. I started hit ting it better on the back. I made a little adjustment and started hitting my driver better. It's really hard out there. It's blowing and the greens are firm and fast. It was tough.

THE MODERATOR: You chuckled when you said you found a way to get up and down. What's the reason for that?

HAYDEN WOOD: My buddy who is the bag was making fun of me because he said I would say something like that when asked that question.

THE MODERATOR: Very good. Was there a point in the match where you felt it was a critical turn in your favor? When did you kind of feel like this is one I can take home?

HAYDEN WOOD: I was 2-up after --

THE MODERATOR: 5?

HAYDEN WOOD: 14.

THE MODERATOR: Okay.

HAYDEN WOOD: No, after 13. I hit a bad shot in the bunker, really bad, but I hit it to gimme, and then he three-putted and I thought that that really was a big momentum swinger.

I was never down, but really I was making long putts and chipping it close. I didn't hit very many greens on the front. I hit it close. It took the ridge on 9, and I had -- he gave me -- like I didn't have to putt it, so that was nice.

I think that was my only birdie. I mean, that just shows how -- the pins are three paces from the sides. It's blowing 15, 20 miles an hour. It's hard.

I didn't give myself too many looks, but they weren't bad slots. A lot were on the fringe. I was chipping them close. On 2 and 3 I made two nice putts to halve the hole.

Yeah, I was never down. I never felt like I was playing -- I was kind of always playing catchup, but luckily I had a lead after the first hole and then I got it back to 1-up after 9.

He made an incredible birdie on 10 from the bunker. I hit it over the green. I hit another good chip to save par and he just made his putt. Then I had made the adjustment on 9 and I was kind of playing with that. Started hitting my driver a lot better and my long clubs better.

So that was good. That's good going forward. Yeah, I would definitely say when I got that ball up and down. It was a long bunker shot on 14, and then I hit two nice shots on 15.

He made bogey.

THE MODERATOR: You seem to be a pretty confident player. That kind of buoys you when things aren't going right, I would guess, right?

HAYDEN WOOD: Yeah, absolutely. Whenever you can always count on something it's nice. Today it was my chipping putting. Most of the time it's the ball-striking, but it wasn't there. Luckily I've been working really hard this summer on my short game.

That's kind of been the thing that hasn't been there in the past. So to have that kind of come in at a big time, that really speaks a lot about how hard I've been working.

To be able to bring it out in competition, that means it's clicking upstairs, too.

Q. Are you the kind of guy that's going to go out and try to make the adjustment stick? Will you go back and hit more balls or are you finished for the day?
HAYDEN WOOD: I'm going to hit a few more balls. Mainly, I mean, that part of the game is usually what's there. Today could have been just a little off.

Yeah, I'm going to hit a few just to keep working on that feeling, keeping my head down. That's what I need to do.

Q. All the work you've done on the golf course management side of things like you talked about yesterday and how you have not gotten the results until you worked on the golf course management, did all that work and training kick in today when you needed it?
HAYDEN WOOD: Yeah, I mean, a lot of the times -- the hard part today was definitely the weather -- not the weather, the wind. It was hard.

I was kind of hitting it all over the place. I chose the right targets and I kept doing what I've been doing and it definitely helped.

I was giving myself looks, even though it wasn't clicking. When that's happening, you know you're doing a lot of things right.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297