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U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 26, 2018

Stewart Hagestad

Charlotte, North Carolina

Q. Have you ever seen a putting exhibition like that, especially the length of putts that were made?
STEWART HAGESTAD: Yeah, it was fantastic. I mean, I feel like in match play I was able to kind of put some pressure on. But he played great. Kind of became a buzz saw there on the back nine. I don't know what he shot, 31 or something like that.

Q. Yeah.
STEWART HAGESTAD: But, gosh, he had the crowd on his side and kind of got the ball rolling. When you're feeling it, you're feeling it. When you're hot, you're hot. Hole must have got real big for him.

Q. On the front side looked like you just didn't have it quite nailed down. Just missing a little bit. Did you feel that way?
STEWART HAGESTAD: I mean, I wasn't far off. Let's put it this way: I didn't do anything well enough to pull away or to give myself an advantage.

I also didn't do enough to give him anything. Like it wasn't great, and then I make just an amazing up and down on 9 to kind of save one there.

I mean, I have very high standards for myself, and even I walked away and I was like, Wow. Way to go, Stew. That was a good one.

Anyway, yeah, so I didn't do anything, which you kind of need to do as you go along in this tournament, you know, as guys continue to get better and pressure continues to elevate. I didn't hurt myself, but didn't help myself. Unfortunately, just played better.

Q. Did you feel like you got yourself into it when you made the birdie at 11 on top of his to keep it even?
STEWART HAGESTAD: I don't know about getting myself back into it, but you're kind of pushed up against a wall. So like what's going to happen is pretty binary. It's either you stay where you are -- 1-down is heck of a lot different than 2-down. Either you kind of stick in a position where you can make a comeback or you're in a hole.

So it's a lot easier to kind of roll in a putt -- you can gas it by the hole. I don't how to describe it. Anyone that's been there, they know -- it's just A or B.

And then when that went in that was huge. And then when I made the a putt on 12 I think that maybe gave me a little bit more momentum.

I felt like in the closing stretch with some of the longer holes I was -- I may be able to kind of, you know, at least, I don't know, hit fairways and greens and do what I do.

Q. You had a pretty good two-putt at 13 to go 1-up.
STEWART HAGESTAD: Yeah, I had a great two-putt. I had a very similar putt this morning, so I kind of knew what it would do and I was prepared for it. It was kind of the same thing. It was a great lie.

Q. And obviously you've got the lead now. You had to be feeling a little better. And then he starts rolling in the putts.
STEWART HAGESTAD: Yeah, to me, while going for 14 is something you do 100% of the time when you're with your buddies, in tournament golf -- I feel like I'm a pretty good wedge player even though I didn't hit a great one there.

To me, I was like, I'm not going for this green. Super tight bermuda. Anyone that's chipped on tight bermuda they either really like it or they don't. I was like, No. I'd rather have some kind of a full wedge in.

He just kind of got the ball rolling. Great wedge shot in there and then made a good one, and it kind of became one of those exhibitions where as long as he was going to get it to the hole, it was probably going to go in.

Q. Any loss is tough to take, but is it easier to take when the opponent wins it?
STEWART HAGESTAD: For sure, yeah. I've hid it a couple times. I actually felt bad that Brett got me. It was kind of like when Erin Andrews had Richard Sherman like seconds after his major play or whatever.

Your adrenaline is firing. I mean, your emotions are high. You don't really know what to think. You kind of just wanting to separate yourself. That's something that a lot of the tour pros are good at. They go take 10, 15 minutes to go do their thing. That's a tangent, but either way.

But, yeah, I'm bummed and upset, and like I'll go and reflect on this. But it's going to be a lot easier knowing -- and really genuinely knowing -- that when the pressure was on and your back was against the wall, you hit good shots.

Like everything for me on 18 had slowed. In my eyes -- I mean whoever wants to read this can say whatever they want -- but there was no way I was missing.

Everything began to slow down. Adrenaline was up. Anxiety was there, but it had kind been taken over by focus, which is a cool feeling.

Q. You had about 141 in on 18, and what did you hit?
STEWART HAGESTAD: I think it was 34 or 7. I don't know. I hit gap wedge.

Q. Yeah. And it was on the mark.
STEWART HAGESTAD: I mean, when I hit that and saw where it was on the green everything began to slow down. Like everything you do, like breathing, moving, everything like turns into slow motion. It's a cool feeling, and I'm sure that Brett felt that, too.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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