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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2018

Cole Hammer

Pebble Beach, California

Q. You go to Texas?
COLE HAMMER: Going to be a freshman.

Q. Let's talk about today. Just give me an overall how you felt you played.
COLE HAMMER: I really felt like I played solid. 2-under is a great score out of Pebble today. It's playing tough. It was chilly. It was probably around 60 degrees the whole day, and the wind kicked up every now and then. I got off to a shaky start. I had a few weird breaks up against lips of bunkers and went into a tree root on 18 and made bogey. I had a little bit of a shaky start, was 1-over through 9 and then turned it on. I had a nice comeback birdie on 1, made about a 15-footer, and then I rattled off three in a row on 6, 7 and 8. Made a good par on 5. It was playing really hard, then two-putted on 6, made about a 15-footer on 7 and about an eight-footer on 8, and unfortunately three-putted 9, but it was a solid day, and I'm excited to have shot 2-under on a day like this.

Q. What was working really well for you today?
COLE HAMMER: I had a good feel for the greens, and I putted well. I made a lot of putts that I felt like I should have made, and also I had great distance control with my irons and wedges, and especially out here with how pitched these greens are, it's really important to be able to keep it under the hole or pin high. I felt like I did a great job of that today, and that was a big reason why I was able to make some birdies.

Q. What do you think you need to work on for tomorrow's round at Spyglass?
COLE HAMMER: Normally I hit the ball really straight, and I had a couple loose tee shots today, which is a little bit uncharacteristic for me. I'm not worried about it, but if I can get that straightened out a little bit, I should have a good chance to make some birdies out there tomorrow.

Q. You might have said it to me, but what was the toughest thing out there today for you?
COLE HAMMER: I think the wind was the toughest thing out there. It kind of kicked up in spots and laid down in others, so you really had to judge the gust, and I think that was the trickiest part of the day. But I was able to figure it out for the most part.

Q. 2-under, great way to start. Very happy with that?
COLE HAMMER: Very happy. I took a quick look at a leaderboard. It's one of the better scores of the day. It was just a tough day of golf, and to shoot 2-under is a good start. But my main goal is just to make match play hopefully or just play the way I did today and hopefully should take care of itself tomorrow.

Q. You played with Isaiah today?
COLE HAMMER: I did.

Q. Were the two of you kind of feeding off each other a little bit?
COLE HAMMER: We were talking about that coming up the stairs, Isaiah and I. We were making a bunch of birdies and he made eagle on 6 and we were just kind of feeding off each other, kind of swapping holes. I played with Alex Smalley, also, who was making a lot of great par putts and some birdie putts, as well, so it was -- we were seeing the ball go in the hole with our playing competitors, which helped a lot, because sometimes when you play with players who aren't making putts or making big numbers, it's hard to make yourself go low.

Q. Obviously you practiced out here, but is this the first time you've played a competitive round at Pebble?
COLE HAMMER: This is the first time I've played a competitive round at Pebble.

Q. You've seen it on TV; what were your thoughts?
COLE HAMMER: I played a practice round on Saturday when it was just a perfect sunny day and it was just like unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. It was a top-three golf experience for me. Playing it in a tournament was really special, like being able to do the same stuff as some of golf's greats. It was pretty special. I've had a fun run so far.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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