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U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 30, 2018Jeff WilsonEugene, Oregon Q. It's been a long time coming, your 34th USGA championship, and finally after the two Mid-Ams and the semis and quarters and Ams and the Opens -- JEFF WILSON: I think Sean said it best. It's really hard to win one of these things. You have to battle -- first you've got to get over yourself, and then you've got to beat the guy playing with you, and that's difficult. Q. Today, though, you played really well. It seemed like kind of when you were behind, it seemed like you were playing pretty well. JEFF WILSON: You know, holes 4, 5, 6, 7, there was a stretch of holes in there on the front nine where I was pretty scrappy, and I just tried to get myself to settle down and not think ahead and just keep hitting shots, and I played a pretty good back nine. Q. Especially with the birdie at 13, par 14, birdied 15, birdied 16? JEFF WILSON: Yeah, I was 4-under for the last eight holes or something like that. Q. How long was the birdie on 13? JEFF WILSON: 13 was two feet, three feet. Q. 15, you're way right, and then what did you knock that to, three feet. JEFF WILSON: Really that was kind of my strategy on that hole because you can use a shorter club and take the chance of getting blocked out by those trees, so I just said I was going to send it and go gouge it out of the rough, and that's kind of how my philosophy was this whole week because the fairways are narrow enough, if you hit a shorter club off the tee, there's no guarantee to hit them, and you're coming in with a lot longer club, so I just said heck with it, I'm going to send it and go find it and at least I'll have a shorter club to the green. Q. How long was that putt, like four feet? JEFF WILSON: On 15? No, more like five. Q. I heard on 16 you decided to putt it because maybe you were a little nervous? JEFF WILSON: Oh, God. You know, really Sean hit a -- I was looking really good right there. That's why I kind of left it short of the green right there because he had 100 yards or something, and I figured, well, I'm not going to push it all the way back there, so I just left it near the front of the green thinking, okay, I've got a good chance to make 4 from there, at worst 5, and then all of a sudden he hits this wedge shot three feet, so my shot became a little more difficult, and at that point, low works. The ground works. The ground is your friend. So yeah, anyhow, I didn't hit a very good putt, but I made a nice 12-foot putt right there that was really probably the match. Q. Did your father come out today? JEFF WILSON: Yeah, he did. He was actually with some buddies fishing a couple hours away. Q. In Oregon? JEFF WILSON: Yeah, he was fishing in Oregon with his friends, so he actually came up today. Q. Is he a big golfer? JEFF WILSON: No, he's a fisherman. He plays golf -- Q. But he was following online or something? JEFF WILSON: Well, he knew where we were, and he, whatever, took the car a couple hours down today. Q. When did he get here? JEFF WILSON: I think I saw him on about 8, 7 or 8 or something like that. Q. Has he come to a lot of your stuff? JEFF WILSON: No, probably not in the last few years because it's harder for him to get around a little bit. Q. How old is he? JEFF WILSON: 84. Q. He's 84? JEFF WILSON: Yeah. Q. What's his name? JEFF WILSON: Jack. Q. So it's pretty cool to have him -- JEFF WILSON: No, it was cool. Q. To win your crowning achievement of your golf life, to have your dad here? JEFF WILSON: Yeah, it was pretty good. It was good. Q. Can you sum up in words what this journey has been for you, going back to the late '70s and the Juniors and obviously all the Opens? JEFF WILSON: You know, it's funny. It's like, I always thought I was good enough to be a USGA champion, but I never put the work in. And that shows up when the matches are on the line. And this year, I put the work in. I started working last year -- actually the funny thing, I got this dog, and so I walk to the range with him every morning at 5:30 in the morning. There's a range about a mile away. I walk to the range with him, I hit balls for probably an hour and a half to two hours, and then I go to work. But the repetition of doing that six or seven days a week for eight or nine or ten months, and all of a sudden your misses aren't so bad. You know, and the progress is really slow, but I think I put the work in this year. Q. What kind of dog? JEFF WILSON: It's an Australian shepherd. Q. And you own a car dealership, right? JEFF WILSON: Yeah, a single point Toyota store in Vallejo. Q. When are you due back to the office? JEFF WILSON: I'll be back tomorrow morning. Q. How many more cars do you think you'll sell because you're a USGA champion? JEFF WILSON: Oh, I don't know. I tell them a lot -- I'd sell them a lot more. Q. Is the trophy going to be sitting in the dealership there? JEFF WILSON: I'm not sure where I'll put it. It'll probably be at my house, but who knows. Q. There were 2,381 people who entered this tournament. To end up as the one is an astronomical number -- JEFF WILSON: Yeah, you know what, it's hard. You know what, I've played pretty well in Mid-Amateurs and stuff, and I think I got beaten in the semifinals by Zahringer and Tim Jackson, and I got beat bad. It's like when the heat gets on, you need that practice to be -- to give you kind of calm in your peace of mind. Q. You're going to be paired next year at the Senior Open with David Toms and Miguel Angel Jiménez. How cool is that? JEFF WILSON: Oh, that'll be really cool, but I was already in it, so can I just take my normal time. Q. You get the feature pairing now. You already played with Nicklaus this year -- JEFF WILSON: You know what, the U.S. Amateur was really eye-opening for me because I can't practice like those kids do, but I sat on the range and I watched these kids, and they hit it hard, and they don't really -- there's no real thought of the result afterwards, so I watched the way they play, and I just go, I can do that. You know, and that's kind of the way they play. They hit it really hard, and then they go run it down. You know what, and I said, God, you know, there might be something to that. Q. You don't run it down, you just walk it down there? JEFF WILSON: I drive it down in my cart. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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