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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2019

John Augenstein

Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: We're here with the 2019 U.S.Amateur runner‑up John Augenstein. It's probably tough for you to sit here. You had a 4‑up lead through 11 and Andy came back and put it to you, and you fought back and couldn't get it to where you wanted to be. Give us your emotions as you sit here.
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, I got off to the start that you always want to get off to on one of these days. But kind of like Andy said, although I was 4‑up through 5, it's 36 holes. If I was in his position, I'd be thinking the same thing. There's a lot of golf left. I wasn't at all complacent about thinking I've got this thing won through six holes. I played well, really well on No.4 this morning, and he snagged that putt on 18, which kind of flipped momentum a little bit I feel like, and then you have the two‑hour break.
I think that's an underrated turning point of the day was him making that putt on 18 and then coming out and birdieing the first hole, as well.
You know, I played well. I fought my hardest. But in the end, I didn't make enough putts or hit enough great shots out there to beat him. He was super solid and really made no mistakes.

Q. You've talked about earlier this week the importance of getting out, winning the first six holes. You did that. What was it about the match today where it started to slip away from you? I know Andy played a great final 18 there, not that you played poorly or anything, but when did you start to feel it slip away, and why do you think it happened?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: You know, I think that the 9‑iron on 7 from the middle of the fairway, I hit my irons so well all day, even on the first six holes of the second 18 I had flagged a lot of really nice iron shots, and so that was kind of a weird little turning point. He kind of takes that hole. And that's not at all when I felt like it was‑‑ I never really felt like it was slipping away. I try not to, I guess, think about that.
But on I'd say 13 when he tied it up, I went for the green, he laid up. No matter what he hit off the tee, I was going for it. I personally don't love the wedge shot from down there to that flag, and so I wanted to hit driver. Kind of like Andy said in the initial interview out there on 17 green, it went his way this time and didn't go my way on that specific decision. But that was definitely a big kind of momentum shift and kind of just changed things.

Q. The match didn't end the way that it was throughout the day. It was such a close match, and I'm sure you weren't happy with the way that it ended on 17. If you had to go back, would you maybe not have been as aggressive with your first putt there?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: You know, of course if I knew he was going to miss, yeah, I would lag it up there, or try to, and make a par, go to 18. But I can live with myself hitting an aggressive putt, trying to make it and losing. But I can't live with myself if I leave that short and he makes. I don't regret that. That's not where the match was lost.

Q. Nine rounds in seven days in this weather. Did fatigue set in at all down the stretch?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: No. I mean, of course I'm tired now and I'll be tired on the way home. But it's just‑‑ when you're out there, you're trying to win a big tournament, you feel the adrenaline, and it doesn't matter how much sleep or how rested you are, you're just going to rise to the occasion.

Q. What's your takeaway going through this week and taking in your senior year of college coming up?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Well, Coach told me I probably won't have to qualify for the first tournament, so I feel pretty good about that. But no, I think that it's just‑‑ you know, there's definitely a lot of good things to take away. I'll think more about that on my way home. But right now it just feels defeated and not as good as if I was out there holding the trophy.
I'm just‑‑ I love where my game is at, and although I didn't come out on top today, with how I've played throughout the summer, it's really fun to kind of get back and play like I know I can.

Q. What about Andy's play today impressed you?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: He holed out really, really well. He made a lot of those 50/50 putts, the seven‑ to 10‑footers, and that's something that I didn't do very well on the second 18. That's kind of the deciding factor in our match coming down the stretch was he made a lot of those nice seven‑, eight‑footers, and I didn't. I kind of thought that on 16, even though I was 1‑down, I initially thought the iron shot from the middle of the fairway was perfect. It sailed a little bit, and then I also did not really‑‑ you know, you always expect your opponent to make the putt or make the par, whatever, but after his second shot into the left bunker, knowing that that's a really tough spot to be, I kind of thought I was in the driver's seat, even though I was over the green. I knew I was going to make par.
But he just‑‑ he played really, really well, and I was very impressed with how he putted and how he‑‑ his approach shots were just really on target.

Q. I was going to ask you about the shot on 16. How difficult an up‑and‑down was it do you think?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Mine or his?

Q. I'm sorry, his.
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, that's a really tough up‑and‑down, especially under the circumstances. He knows I'm making par. I was in a great spot back there. And so he hit a really, really nice bunker shot but an even better putt. The bunker shot is in a way the easier part because you know it's not going to check, you know it's just going to roll out and kind of get up there. So as long as he kind of made decent contact, it was going to be pretty good. But the putt was impressive.

Q. The 15th hole, the 33rd hole, you had a good look for the birdie. What was the read that you had, and how did the grain affect that putt?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, the read was absolutely right to left. There's no‑‑ the hill, the slope of the green was right to left. But the grain was going left to right, and I just kind of felt that it was going to‑‑ in my opinion, I thought that it was going to be a right‑edge putt. It's going to break half a ball and go in the right center, and I hit a perfect putt right where I was aimed, and it held the entire way. I'm sure the camera kind of showed it, it just kind of held its line right up the green. But yeah, that was a really good opportunity.

Q. You had a fabulous summer last year playing so well in the major amateur events. How hard was it for you to repeat that performance, and obviously having the Walker Cup in mind, playing some of the events like Northeast, Players and Western, you produced results coming in. How proud are you of the performance this week and getting selected for Team USA?
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: I'm very proud of being selected for the Walker Cup. That was a major goal, obviously, as I've voiced all this week. And so that was‑‑ it hasn't really sunk in yet, of course, because I was told about 30 seconds after I lost the match.
You know, that's going to be a dream come true. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait.
But you know, I think‑‑ I didn't approach this summer any differently than last summer. I just kind of was a little bit hitting on all cylinders last summer and playing really good golf. Like I've mentioned a few times, I was never far off this summer. I was always kind of trending in the right direction, but there's a difference in trending and then actually doing it, and this week I was able to actually kind of put it together.

Q. Along with the Walker Cup, also Masters, U.S.Open. That's a huge step to be able to have those opportunities.
JOHN AUGENSTEIN: Yeah, yeah. It's going to be an awesome spring and early part of the summer next year. It'll be a‑‑ I love the new rule that you can play the U.S.Amateur‑‑ the U.S.Open as a professional although you qualified as an Am. That will be really cool. That will be probably my first start, if I had to guess, as a professional. So yeah, that'll be‑‑ I can't wait. I mean, to tee it up at the Masters is just something that few get to do, few professionals and obviously few amateurs, so I'm very fortunate to have that opportunity.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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