U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 2000

Laura Myerscough

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Oh, my God.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Lorena and I both killed our drives, right down the gut. We both had like I think 145 yards in.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: 7-iron.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: She hit first, a little short, left of the green. You can't see the green from down there either. We had no clue. She hit hers just short left. I hit mine right by the pin. You could hear the crowd. You knew it was good. That's how you go, by the reaction of the crowd.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: You heard, "It's in." You know it must have been tight.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Three inches away. Like the best shot I hit all day.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: It was. It was (laughter).

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: I haven't hit a hole-in-one, but it was still a good shot, under the gun, under the pressure. That was by far one of the better shots I hit.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: No. I was like, "Okay." I heard the crowd. I'm like, "Okay, whatever." It was hard to breathe almost. I didn't want to go too many holes. We were both playing really good, Lorena and I both. She's going to be a teammate of mine next year. I was like, "Okay, let's get in confidence, can't let the freshmen beat us."

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: That's great. It's such an honor, such an honor to be here. I'm so excited. I could barely breathe after I won that match. It was unreal. I was like shaking, I couldn't believe it. I mean, we both are good players. It was going to come down to whoever was playing the best. All of a sudden, you know, it was like it was over. I was like, "Oh, good, I'm on the happy end." What an experience. I mean, this is my second US Am Last year I didn't even make the cut in North Carolina. I've had a good summer. I'm glad that I'm closing it like this. Playing well.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Yes.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Of course, we both are like, "Good luck," at the beginning of the match. I mean, for the extra holes, I just looked at it, it's just another hole. I'm sure I said, "Good luck," or something. I think I said, "Good luck."

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: No. I red-shirted last year. I red-shirted. That's a tough team.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Well, that's the thing. We have Lorena, Nancy Abicuneus, Natalie Gulbis all coming into Arizona. We lost two seniors. No matter what, that team is always stacked. I was there last year, Ann Lee, Cristel Cuzon. We all pretty much were great players. I pretty much red-shirted and sat out that year. That top 5 was unbeatable.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Julia and Christina Montero.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: I better have. We got a new coach. I hope he's watching.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Yeah, I have. I know Greg Allen.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Exactly. I knew him from junior golf. He's a great guy. I'm really excited that he's our new coach. Todd seemed to go to Georgia for some reason.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: No. I made the final 16 at the Western, and the final eight at the North-South and the Trans. I qualified to come to this. I couldn't seem to get past that final eight until today. It's a great feeling.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: My coach all week is like, "US Am, Buddy, it's all ours." Of course your goal is to win. I was like, "If I play well, keep it going, I knew I would go far." When it comes down to the final eight, final four, you're not playing scrappers. Either you're on or you're going to lose, pretty much how it goes. I knew as long as I played my best, don't make stupid mistakes, don't be dumb on the golf course, I knew I would be okay. The qualifying rounds, really I felt I played absolutely terrible. I just kicked it around. I shot 77, 75. I honestly felt like I played terrible. I didn't have any huge mistakes. It's coming around a little bit. Like today I hit the ball a lot more solid than I had this whole week. The rhythm is starting to kick in gear a little bit. Hopefully I'll be able to play better and better and better.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: I think so. I think so. Definitely. I'm feeling better with my driver, where at the beginning of the week it was left, right, not hitting too many fairways. Today I seemed to be hitting it farther and a little more straighter.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: I had a feeling on 18 tee, I knew we both had just parred 17. She stuck this like wood on 17, but missed the putt luckily. I mean, I knew it. This girl just turns it on when there's like all this pressure. Then 18, she hit a great drive, great second shot, middle of the fairway. I told my caddie, "She's going to stick this." She did, six feet, rolled in the putt for birdie. Pretty much I think I expected it. Seriously, I knew she was going to birdie it. I knew I had to roll in that putt on 18 to win or we were going to go extra holes. Before she even putted, I was like, "We might as well get ready to go to the tee." I just knew it. I had it in my head. I knew she was going to do it.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: It's hard because it's like you could tell, we were both feeling it. We were both just, "Go." On 10th tee, she cranked her drive. I knew I was hitting my driver good. You've got to aim it, trust it, hit it, and it goes. We were both side-by-side on 10, on our 19th hole, both side-by-side. She didn't hit her iron shot very good. I knew she was a little left. I had been there earlier. I made this birdie putt. I was like, "She's okay." It's a pretty straight putt. I was just like, "Hit the green, you can make a putt." Luckily I didn't have to putt.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: I birdied 10 twice today on Lorena. I birdied 10 twice on her.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Par, I think. 10 has been a good hole for me, it seems like, this week. Lorena, that was by far the best I played all week. Gosh, that was the best match I've had out of all the four matches I played, that was by far the best.

LAURA MYERSCOUGH: Tomorrow's another day. I'm playing Yvonne Choe tomorrow. Apparently she's in the top four. She's a player. Just any other day. You know, you just get ready to go out to battle. Got to hit your own shots. I mean, really I can't explain it. It's just a new day. Some days you hit it better than others. I've just got to keep in the mind frame that I will hit it even better than today. Just hit each shot at a time. That's the only way you can look at it. On the range, I mean, I always have a tendency if I'm hitting it bad on the range, I'm like, "Oh, no, I'm hitting it bad on the range." My coach has been helping me, "You're warming up on the range. Range is for warming up. That's not how you're going to hit it on the course." It's true. There's times I hit it bad on the range and great on the course. There's times I hit it great on the range and skank it on the course. I'm really fortunate to have my coach, Mike Moncel, here with me. We've worked on pitch shots, flop shots, a lot of stuff where why get to work with him in that area as much. Reading the greens, he's been such a great asset, because he's great at reading greens. He likes to hear my input, but I'm like, "What are you thinking?" It's comforting to have him right there behind me.