|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 15, 2018Cole HammerPebble Beach, California Q. You had a chip-in eagle on the last hole, No. 18 at iconic Pebble Beach. Tell us about that shot. What does that mean, how you did it, where you did it? COLE HAMMER: It means a lot. This is the first time I've ever been to Pebble Beach, second U.S. Amateur, but the first time out here in Carmel. To hit a shot like I did on the last hole was just really unbelievable. I've seen so many greats like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer come down the stretch and do amazing things, and to kind of pull something off like that out of the rough, out of a tough lie, needing at least a birdie, was pretty special and something I'll remember for a long time. Q. Really riding the momentum of winning the Western. Tell us how your game feels. COLE HAMMER: It's the best it's ever been. The Western Amateur is arguably one of the best fields in amateur golf. It's a marathon, and to go I think it was eight rounds in six days and to stay alive the whole time was pretty special. There's a lot of momentum that goes along with that, and I was able to ride that into here. I got off to a shaky start the first day, but started making a bunch of birdies, and it just kind of snowballed from there. Q. Were you able to -- how did you refresh after the Western; did you take a little time off? COLE HAMMER: I flew home. I think I got home last Sunday and took a few days off. I live in Houston, and luckily the weather wasn't too great. It was like 105 degrees and afternoon thunderstorms. It's just not something that appeals to me, especially coming after a long week. I took a few days off, hung out with some friends, which was probably much needed. I hadn't been home much this summer at all. But I got back on the grind like two days, three days before I come here, practiced a little bit but nothing crazy. Q. What did you have at 18? COLE HAMMER: I had 217, adjusted it was like 220, and then there was some wind into me off the right and hit 4-iron. Hit pretty firmly on the green. I thought it was going to be perfect, just skipped over the back. But yeah. Q. With the year you've had, how do you keep things in perspective knowing that you're entering college, got a lot of things on your shoulders? Are you keeping calm about your upcoming college career? COLE HAMMER: I am. It's going to be a big step for me. I know that junior golf is a ton different than college golf, but luckily I've kind of exposed myself to the amateur circuit for the past couple years, just after the U.S. Open, it allowed me to get in some of the better tournaments. I don't know, college golf should be a good experience for me and something that should help me down the road. Q. Including the Four-Ball, you've now won 10 consecutive matches. Of course the Four-Ball was with a partner. Where did you learn how to play match play, and what do you attribute your success to? COLE HAMMER: Well, I actually lost in the semis of the U.S. Junior -- Q. I forgot about that. COLE HAMMER: If you throw that out, yeah, I've won like 10 matches in a row. I really hadn't had much match play experience up until 2015. The U.S. Junior was really the first time I've ever played match play. And luckily after playing the U.S. Open, I got a few of the pros' phone numbers, and actually Patrick Reed gave me some great advice about match play, and I kind of used that that year and made a decent run as a 15 year old in both the Junior and the Am, so he just told me to kind of play the golf course, and then if you're more than 2-down after 14 holes, then you can kind of start to press. I've also started working with Dr. Rotella this past year and kind of was talking to him about it on the phone, and he's like, you've just got to play the golf course and play like you play stroke play because if you play the way you can, then it's going to be hard for the other person to beat you. Q. The other momentum you have is you're co-medalist, so you're riding that, as well, and that's got to feel good, too. COLE HAMMER: Yeah, it definitely does. I think I was co-medalist at the Western amateur, as well, and to do that two times in a row is pretty special. I think I saw a Tweet that I was maybe only the fifth person ever to do that. But there's definitely a lot of momentum that goes along with that. I mean, maybe a little bit of an intimidation factor. It's always nice have been the tee on No. 1 and being able to have the honor because if you stripe it down the fairway, then it puts pressure right on your opponent at the very beginning. It's huge to be co-medalist. Q. You know who one of those guys is that has that record? COLE HAMMER: Bobby Jones. I saw that. Q. As someone who's advanced in USGA championships, you know this is where the grind really starts. This is basically your only day where you might just play one match. You've got a day ahead where you're going to play a lot of golf if you keep winning, so how do you prepare? COLE HAMMER: Luckily the U.S. Junior might be even a little more rigorous than this. It's 36 holes three days, four days in a row. To have that in my back pocket is huge. I'm probably going to go home and get some good sleep tonight. I'm staying here at the Lodge, so that helps. But tomorrow will be a grind. Hopefully it's a grind. Hopefully it's a long day. But I'm kind of used to the rigors of a 36-hole day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|