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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2019

John Augenstein

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina

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THE MODERATOR: Welcome John Augenstein, a winner 3 & 2 over John Holcomb in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur here at Pinehurst. You played strongly to get to this point, and another good day for you. Your match play experience has another nice notch in it. Tell us about the day and where you are now, what it means to you.

JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, it was a really tough day out there, and of course I knew it was going to be, just dealing with the normal nerves of being in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur. And then also not knowing -- I didn't know anything about my opponent, and not that it matters too much, but it's kind of almost a wild card. You have idea kind of what he's good at, what he's not good at, do I give him some putts, do I not. So just having to figure those little things -- those things being unknown to me are not normal. Usually at this stage you know everybody you're playing against. So it was a tough day, and physically I wasn't as strong in my kind of ball-striking, but I chipped and putted very well and was able to kind of hold off.

Q. Andy just said that after the round of 16, he looked at the bracket and he thought that he was going to be facing you in the finals. I'm curious if you were as confident, and if so, why?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: No. I mean, I've been through this match play thing too many times to assume that somebody is going to make it just because of their name. You know, teams get beat in college that aren't as good, and players get beat all the time that aren't as good. Will Gordon is one of the best players I've ever been around, and his match play record isn't that great, and that's not a knock on him at all, it's just things happen. People get beat in match play.

But it doesn't matter how good of a -- how much better you maybe are than somebody else or maybe how much worse you are. Everybody has a chance with match play.

So no, I did not look at the bracket and think that him and I would be sitting here. Of course I believed in my abilities to get here, but you never know who's going to rise from the other side.

Q. Is that a nice compliment?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, that's very nice of him, yeah. Andy is a great player, as well, and so it's -- not at all, I don't mean it as a shock, Andy is a great player and rightfully should be here, and so that doesn't at all surprise me.

Q. We're going to get you out there to talk about the U.S. Open, but you win tomorrow, you also get an exemption into another major championship; it's called the Masters, and a tee time with the defending champion the first couple of rounds. His name is Tiger Woods. How does that make you feel?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Well, aren't I in already, the Masters?

Q. Yes, but the winner -- the defending U.S. Amateur champion plays with the defending Masters champion.
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: You know, that's -- I hope more than anything I have that opportunity. I would probably be pretty intimidated on the first tee shot of the Masters playing with the guy that I've idolized my whole life. And so yeah, that would be pretty -- that would be fun. Hopefully I'd be able to settle down by the eighth or ninth hole. But it would be pretty cool.

Q. Curious, forgive me for not remembering exactly what hole it was, but I think it was 12, you had a short putt for par that was not conceded after you had given your opponent one that was similarly short. Any extra motivation there, or was that just kind of water off your back, so to speak?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: You know, I would be doing probably the same thing if I was in his position. When you're down, you don't want to give anything. Of course you have to give them the ones that are obviously just you can knock in with your foot, but I mean, I don't blame him at all. No, it wasn't any extra motivation. There was plenty of extra motivation going on out there, but that wasn't one.

Q. Given what's at stake for you, you've been grinding throughout the process to get to this point. What do you have to summon within yourself for that extra day? What extra motivation or what extra things do you need to do to make it through tomorrow?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: You know, I don't think I'll need any extra motivation. I have an opportunity to win the biggest amateur tournament in the world. You know, having that opportunity, there's 310 guys that don't have that opportunity that teed it up this week, and I'm one of the two that does.

You know, I'll just approach it like any other match. I think you'll definitely have to kind of pace yourself. It's going to be a really long day, and not getting too high and low early on and just kind of feeling out the match as it goes.

But I just -- I'm excited to get out there, and I'm sure I will be -- I'll be feeling the week long of golf when we get done, but I'm not feeling it right now.

Q. Was there any anxiousness last night? Was it hard to sleep or anything along those lines?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Actually pretty crazy, I -- going into my quarterfinals match, I slept terrible, awful, like one of the worst nights of sleep I've had. But last night I slept awesome and felt great. I don't know why, I guess like -- I don't know, I couldn't tell you why, just I wasn't as anxious last night or really this morning. I slept long and hard, so it was good.

Q. Did you receive any encouragement last night by any of the Vanderbilt support crew?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, yeah, I got lots of encouragement, and talked to Theo a little bit, who was in my position a couple years back about what he kind of felt going into that round, and then also was fortunate enough to get a text from Justin Thomas about what he was feeling when he was going through it, as well.

You know, both of those guys helped me, and then also just talking normally to Coach Limbaugh and my parents and whatnot, so it was good.

Q. With this unique format of final, playing two different golf courses, I know you played on Monday the No. 4 course, just curious to see your take on playing different courses in one day, and you've been playing No. 2, but any challenge on what you see on No. 4?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: I mean, 4 is a great golf course, and from what I understand the renovation has served it really well. I like the golf course a lot. I enjoyed playing it in the practice round and the first round. It has some similarities to 2. It's certainly not as severe around the greens, and so it should yield a few more birdies, a few more kind of opportunities. But still, the greens are still really firm, really fast, and you still can't fake it around there. You have to hit a lot of good shots.

It'll be fun. It'll be -- I think it'll be kind of cool to not have to -- you won't be playing the same 18 over and over, so I think it'll be kind of a cool format to play two different courses.

Q. Anything different in the firmness of the greens? I know those greens are new, but do you see a little bit of different in that?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Absolutely, there are a few greens on 4, specifically No. 4, the short par-3, that green is crazy firm. There's a few out there that are like that. So we know that. We have it written down in our yardage books, so it shouldn't be an issue, but there's definitely a few inconsistencies amongst all of the greens compared to No. 2.

Q. With all that was at stake, is tomorrow easier than today?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: I think in a way it is, in a way it's not. From one kind of point of view, you could say that today was the tougher day because you were kind of playing for everything that -- well, you were playing for another opportunity to win the U.S. Amateur, but also everything that comes along with being a finalist in the U.S. Am is pretty special. And so that was tough, but at the same time, kind of like I said yesterday, I mean, who knows what's going to happen tomorrow, but when you've come this far, you want to win. You want to get it done. So it's going to be a tough day tomorrow, but I think that after -- when it's all said and done, it'll be just normal.

Q. I was fortunate to talk to Mr. Curtis Strange after the round, and he was very impressed with your short game, especially the shot on 13 and 15. Was there any chip shot yesterday or today that you didn't think you really had a chance to get up-and-down but you did that really impressed yourself even?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, No. 7 today I was pretty impressed with myself. I didn't think I was going to get that up-and-down. I was kind of hoping to halve the hole. I thought he was probably going to make bogey after where he hit his chip shot to. But I kind of took a chance and pulled it off, and so it was pretty cool.

But yeah, that was -- that's probably the only one that I didn't think -- I knew I could get it up-and-down, but I didn't really feel that I would.

Q. Is that the one you hit it high and --
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, I was in kind of the native area and had to throw it upstairs and hopefully it lands soft. I don't know what the percentage -- not very high. I'd say probably if you gave me 10 balls from there, I might get maybe two up-and-down.

Q. Andy described you as a bulldog. How would you describe him?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: He's a great player. Very well respected, and he's accomplished a lot. I don't know. I just look at him as another guy who's a good friend and good competitor.

Q. How would you describe yourself?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Competitive, gritty, determined. I don't know. Something like that.

Q. How much will the Walker Cup scenario be on your mind tomorrow?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: A little bit. I try to kind of block out the results while I'm kind of playing. Today I didn't really ever think about getting in the U.S. Open or the British Open or the Masters or all the exemptions that come with being in the position I am now. I did a good job of blocking that out.

But I want to solidify it tomorrow. I don't want to leave it up to the committee because if I do that, it's out of my hands. But if I can get the job done tomorrow, then I won't have to worry about much.

Q. In the 45 minutes or so since you finished your match, who have you heard from? How many texts, tweets --
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: I don't know who all I've heard from. I've texted my girlfriend a little bit, and I texted Coach Limbaugh, but I have like 115 unread messages right now, so I don't know who's all in there.

Q. You talked about talking to Coach Limbaugh and various other people throughout the week. Is that something you've always done in terms of talking through your feelings and nerves? Have you struggled with internalizing any of that, especially knowing how much you said at the beginning of the week you really wanted that Walker Cup spot?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: No, it's never really been much of an issue for me. I've always been really close with Coach Limbaugh and all the other people in kind of my inner circle, including Dr. Mo and Matt Killen and my parents and Coach Limbaugh, I've always been very transparent with them, and I think everybody needs to be able to talk about things. If you internalize it, how are you going to figure it out or get better at it? I've always talked to Coach and all those other people a lot.

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