U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2020

Jonathan Yaun

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. So that is the first question: How surprised were you last week to get the phone call that you were in the field?

JONATHAN YAUN: It was phenomenal to hear that because with June 24th WAGA ranking I was ranked 473. I had a bad freshman year, and my sophomore year I finished honorable mention All-American and I had a great year and won a tournament, Baylor, and I had a really good run at the North and South and played really good at Sunnehanna, and kind of played my way to be inside that bubble, but because of the June 24th ranking I wasn't able to be in for sure, so I was an alternate.

When I got the call from I think it was Reese (Moseley), he told me that I was going to be an onsite alternate. I think it was the Tuesday before the tournament. So because we were on-site we just got a flight and we said we were going to go. We planned on going, my assistant coach Jeremy Alcorn, he's caddying for me this week, he came with me. I think when we were driving from Liberty University, that's where I was at, to D.C. to fly out that next morning, we got the call from Reese saying that I had got in the tournament.

So within four hours of him telling me, I was in the field. So it was like right away, and I was like, okay, let's go try and win this thing.

It was just a great experience for me to play with Davis today because he's probably one of the best players in the country, and just to get that battle back and forth, winning holes, losing holes, it was just a great experience for me to move forward in this match play tournament.

Q. Obviously in the tournaments you've played in, he might have been in the field in a couple of them. Had you been paired with him at all or been in his group?

JONATHAN YAUN: I haven't been in his group before, but I remember in Hawai'i he was like well-known in collegiate golf, this past fall in 2019. He ended up beating me by a shot and I was in third place alone paired with Oklahoma's Quade Cummins, who shot 28 on the front nine that round.

Q. That's the same thing he shot at the North and South.

JONATHAN YAUN: Yeah, he shot like 61 that round. Ended up in a playoff with Trent Phillips and Trent Phillips won the tournament, but I think it was like a school record for both schools, like 21- or 22-under for three rounds, something crazy. I ended up shooting like 3-over, a really poor round, probably the worst round of the day out of the whole field, finished like 20th. I just remember Davis beating me by a shot. I was like, hmm, I can play with these guys. And then after that I won a tournament, and I remember seeing him -- I remember hitting balls next to him the day before he shot 28 at North and South and I was like, wow, he's playing -- he was hitting balls right next to me. To be paired with him today, it was like ironic that we were playing together I felt like.

Q. When you heard the bracket and the matchup last night, what was your first thought?

JONATHAN YAUN: My first initial thought was like -- I didn't say dangit in my mind, but I was almost like, wow, I got a tough draw I felt like, but then I was like, that's a bad thought because I've been playing great golf, and I can beat this guy if I play my game and play one shot at a time like I've been playing this whole summer and this past school year.

Just trusting in the process that God has put me here for a purpose, and with Liberty University and all that stuff.

Q. Tell me about that last run where you birdied four of the last five holes to win the match.

JONATHAN YAUN: Yeah, that -- I mean, it was one shot at a time. I really -- I'm not trying to make that many birdies. They really came so quickly, and the game plan this whole week was to stay one shot at a time, not get ahead of myself, forget about the last shot, don't focus on the next hole, just focus on getting prepared to hit your next shot and trust that it's not about forcing anything. You don't have to force to win, you have to let the win come to you by being patient.

Q. In terms of your game, was there anything spectacular in your game today that pulled off the victory?

JONATHAN YAUN: Yeah, so this whole week I haven't been hitting the flighted shot down well in the heat of the moment in the tournament. I can do it on the range, like it's there, but when I get in the tournament it's like something happens where my lower body kind of slows down and my hands get flipping at it and the ball just gets up in the air and it goes nowhere. You know, it's committing to keep the swing going even when it's into your face, to not slow down but to stay accelerating through that ball and continuous on your left axis point and let the club dead fall, then rotate. Gravity golf, that type of motion.

But on top of that, I would say to finish, I hit those shots under pressure like I did, it was not like -- it wasn't like I was -- I had prepared for it. I hadn't been doing it, and for it to happen -- it was literally like a stripe show like I'm hitting on the range. It was like I was hitting balls on the range on the course. It was that easy. That's what it felt like.