U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2020

Michael Thorbjornsen

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Michael, you have to be ecstatic to get your first-ever U.S. Amateur match play win.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, finally. I mean, missing match play last year was kind of disappointing, but finally got a good rebound this year and on to the next round, I guess.

Q. It's kind of odd that you would play the Phillips brothers both times you're in match play. What were those thoughts going through your mind, having to play the younger brother this time around?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: So I mean, two years ago, I lost to his older brother Trevor. He played amazing that day. I can still remember. I think he shot 3- or 4-under at Pebble, and I just -- I was helpless out there. I couldn't do anything against him.

But coming into this round today, I really didn't think too much about it. I know Trent is a really good player, as is his brother, but I just had to take it like a normal match, like any other person.

Q. You pretty much came out firing early, started off with a birdie on 3 to win that hole. Tell us how you won that hole.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: So Trent and I both hit good drives in the middle of the fairway and he hit his approach shot probably 20 or 30 yards short of the green, and I was thinking with Karl (Vilips) whether I should hit 4-iron or 3-iron and Karl advocated to hit a 3-iron and kind of fade it up against the wind to take some off of it. I hit a good shot, it was a little left and then it trickled down into that collection area left of the green. Hit a decent chip under the circumstances of just trying to get it over that false front and then down toward the pin. Had probably like 12 feet for birdie. Hit a good putt, actually hit a rock midway, and it jumped up a good amount, and I thought it was going to maybe stop short of the hole, but it ended up rolling in, which was nice.

Q. And also you birdied 7 and 9, and then you were up three at that point.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, 7 was a really good hole just in general. I hit a decent drive but just trickled into the rough, and then hit a smart shot on to the green, not really trying to screw with that pin being up close and front on that right side. Made a good 30-footer, which was really nice. Those are always great.

And then heading into hole 9, just on that hole I feel like if you on the tee just hit your driver as hard as you can, just don't go straight into those bunkers, and I think I had probably 225, probably something around that, downwind, hit full 7-iron to around seven feet, and that forced Trent to hit it close, and he lipped out his putt for birdie, and it was basically a routine two-putt or just lag it up there from seven feet.

Yeah, it was a good solid front nine.

Q. When you get that kind of a lead, do you play a little more conservatively on the back, or do you just keep doing what you're doing?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: I really just try and keep doing what I'm doing. You can think about it the other way; if you play a little bit more aggressive and it pays off, you can just build off that lead. I was just trying to stick to the game plan, as always, and especially out here. Just trying to play smart golf and really get as many pars and birdies as I could.

Q. Yesterday we talked about the relationship between you and Karl, and that was in stroke play. What was the relationship like today in match play, because you're thinking a little differently.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, it didn't really change that much, just because we were still playing the same course. Everything is the same except I'm just playing against the person in my group.

Yeah, Karl is a very smart person. We looked at what Trent did on certain holes, and obviously some of his shots affected and had influence on what we did. But nothing too much. It was basically another round that we played out at Bandon.

Q. And then like yesterday where you thought of a couple of things that maybe Karl influenced you on or helped you with, was there a couple of those today?

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah. Going back on hole 3, I was in between a 3- and 4-iron and Karl was really feeling that 3-iron and fading it up against the wind, and then I'd say on probably hole 5, it was like 155 yards or so into the wind, and I was thinking either 7 or 6, and I wasn't really feeling the 7 that much because it just felt like it was going to balloon up, but Karl really was feeling the 7. I said, okay, it is better to be a little bit short than long so we don't have that long downhill putt downwind, and 7-iron ended up being probably two feet short and then 10, 15 feet right, which was the right club.

Q. It sounds like in the limited time that he's caddied for you that he's already got a good feel for what's inside your head.

MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN: Yeah, I've known Karl for so long, and he knows my game and I know his. It's basically like a puzzle piece, just finding what fits and what doesn't. Yeah, I think we make a pretty solid team out there.